should not, having the practice and
incidents of modern warfare in mind,
reject the Mahabharata narrative as mere
myth with no relation to fact.
Only about a century and a half ago, the
English admiral Nelson fought great sea
battles and won undying renown.
The weapons used and the vessels that
actually took part in Nelson's battles,
would seem almost weird and even
ridiculous if compared with those of
modern naval warfare.
If a hundred and fifty years can make so
much difference, we must be prepared for
very strange things in the procedure and
events of a period, so long back as that of
the Mahabharata war.
Another matter to be kept in mind is that
we cannot expect, in the books of poets
and literary writers, accurate or full details
about weapons and tactics, although the
narrative may be of battles.
Military affairs were in ancient times the
sole concern of the military order, the
kshatriyas. Their culture and their training
were entirely their own charge.
The principles and the secrets of warfare
and the science and art of the use of
military weapons were handed down from
generation to generation by tradition and
personal instruction.
There were no military textbooks and
there was not any place for them in the
works of poets and rishis. If a modern
novel deals in some chapters with the
treatment and cure of a sick person, we
can not expect to see such details in it as
might interest a medical man. No author
would care, even if he were able, to
include scientific details in his story.
So, we cannot hope to find in the epic of
Vyasa, precise details as to what is
tortoise formation or lotus formation. We
have no explanation as to how one could,
by discharging a continuous stream of
arrows, build a defence around himself or
intercept and cut missiles in transit, or
how one could be living when pierced all
over by arrows, or how far the armor worn
by the soldiers and officers could protect
them against missiles or what were the
ambulance arrangements or how the dead
were disposed of.
All these things appertaining to ancient
war, however interesting, will have to be
in the realm of the unknown in spite of the
vivid narrative we have in the
Mahabharata epic.
Bhima killed eight of Dhritarashtra's sons
early in the battle that day. Duryodhana's
heart lost courage before this. It seemed to
his friends as if Bhimasena would
complete his revenge this very day, even
as he swore in the assembly ball, where
the great outrage was enacted.
Arjuna had a great bereavement in this
day's battle. His dear son Iravan was
killed. This son of Arjuna by his Naga
wife had come and joined the Pandava
forces at Kurukshetra. Duryodhana sent
his friend, the Rakshasa Alambasa, to
oppose the Naga warrior.
Iravan was slain after a fierce fight. When
Arjuna heard this, he broke down
completely. Said he turning to Vasudeva:
"Vidura had indeed told us plainly that
both sides would be plunged in grief
unbearable. What are we doing all this
wretched destruction up on one another
for? Just for the sake of property. After all
this killing, what joy are we or they likely
to find in the end? O Madhusudana, I now
see why the far seeing Yudhishthira said
he would be content if Duryodhana would
give five villages to us, keeping
everything else to himself and he would
not resort to fighting if that were agreed
to. Duryodhana, in his obstinate folly,
refused to give even these five villages
and so, these great sins have to be
committed on both sides. I continue
fighting only because men would