Dhanurveda- The Lost Science of Ancient Indian Warfare

In India, the government gives two special awards for excellence in sports. The Arjuna Award and the Dronacharya Award. These awards are not just honors for achievement, they also represent the deep respect for the ancient teacher-student bond, especially in the field of archery. Archery is not just a sport in India, it has a long rich history. In fact, it is deeply connected to the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India. One special branch of these scriptures is called Dhanurveda, the science of archery and warfare. In ancient Indian tradition, when a conflict or war situation arose, there were four peaceful ways to solve it before picking up weapons. The first way was called Saam. This meant trying to solve the problem through calm discussions. If that didn't work, the second method was called Dhaan, offering gifts or forming friendly alliances. If that also failed, then came Bhed, trying to break the enemy's confidence or scare them. And the final step, only if nothing else worked, was Danda, actually going to war. Dhanurveda explains how to carry out this final step properly and ethically on the battlefield. It is believed that Lord Shiva was the first to teach Dhanurveda as an extension of Yajurveda. Later, Sage Vasistha, who was the guru of Lord Ram, wrote about it in a text called Vasistha Dhanurveda. Other ancient texts like the Mahabharata by Sage Vyasa and the Ramayana by Sage Valmiki also talked in detail about the knowledge of Dhanurveda. Together, these four works provided a complete understanding of the subject. Dhanurveda is divided into four major parts. The first part is about weapons and how to train with them. The second is about how armies should be organized. The third part deals with war strategies and planning. And the final part focuses on war ethics, how to fight with honor. Let's begin with the first part, weapons and training. Weapons in Dhanurveda are grouped into four types. The first type is called amukta. These weapons are like maces which are not thrown but held and used directly. The second type is mukta, like a discus or spear which is thrown at the enemy. The third type is a mix of both weapons. Weapons like axes that can either be held or be thrown. The last category is yantra mukta, weapons that are released using a device like bows and arrows. Dhanurveda teaches about the seven main ways of fighting using spears, bow and arrows, swords, wrestling, daggers, maces and discuses. It goes into great detail from how to make these weapons to how to train with them and use them in a battle. Take archery as an example. Dhanurveda explains everything. How to make a bow, how to make arrows, how to aim and how to shoot. It describes Lord Ram's bow called Sharanga which was around 5.5 feet long made from a special horn found in Kashmir. For regular archers, the ideal bow size depended on the person's height, usually around 4 feet long. Bow strings were made from silk or animal tendons like those of deer and bison. Even arrows were of different types. Some had more weight at the back, these were good for long range shots. Some had more weight at the front, used for short range attacks. A third type had balanced weight for practice. Arrowheads also had unique designs based on their purpose. Some were made to cut through skin, others to cut enemy weapons, destroy bow strings, damage armour or even confuse the enemy. Dhanurveda also describes how to create poisonous arrowheads using natural materials. For example, it says that grinding the bark of the peepal tree with rock salt and a special plant in cow urine and then applying that to an arrowhead and heating it creates a poison that causes instant harm when it strikes. After covering the physical side of warfare, Dhanurveda explains a more mystical side. It talks about two kinds of weapons. Shastra, which are physical weapons like the swords and arrows and astra, which are weapons powered by mantras or sacred chants. One of the most powerful of these is the brahmastra. To use it, an archer must chant a special mantra 10 billion times, a practice that shows the level of focus and discipline ancient warriors followed. While this might sound mythical, it reflects the seriousness with which knowledge was treated. Dhanurveda even describes the type of targets and movements in archery. If both the archer and the target are still, it is called sthira. If the target moves but the archer is still, it's called chala. If the archer moves but the target is still, it's called achala. And when both move, it's called advaita. Based on the target and distance, there were eight body postures for shooting and five ways to hold the arrow. There were also five different ways to draw the arrow before releasing it. This shows how precise and advanced ancient Indian archery really was. Let's look at how this knowledge was brought to life in modern times. A Danish archer named Lars Andersen tried to recreate some techniques mentioned in the Mahabharata. He showed how to shoot multiple arrows quickly, hit targets in unusual ways and even destroy incoming arrows mid-air. These skills reflect the high-level training ancient Indian archers went through. But this is just a small part, only around 5% of what Dhanurveda explains about archery. The same level of detail is given for other types of combat as well. Moving on to the second part, Army Organization. The Mahabharata gives a detailed picture of how armies were structured. Both the Kauravas and Pandavas had 18 large army units called Akshauhini in the Kurukshetra War. Each Akshauhini had four major types of fighters. Food soldiers, horsemen, charioteers and elephants. This four-part structure is called Chaturanga and it's actually where the game of chess came from. Let's understand what an Akshauhini looks like. The smallest unit is called a Patti. It includes one chariot, one elephant, three horsemen and five foot soldiers. Multiple Pattis make a bigger unit and it continues all the way up to the full Akshauhini which has over 21,000 elephants and chariots each, more than 65,000 horsemen and over 100,000 foot soldiers. That's a huge army. There was also a strong command system. A group of 12 foot soldiers was led by one horseman. 12 horsemen were under one elephant commander and so on. The ranks went all the way up to the topmost level, the Mahamaharathi who led the entire army. Now, let's explore the third part, war strategy. Winning a war was not just about strength but smart planning. Dhanarveda explains how to prepare for a war by considering the battlefield, the weather, the enemy's strengths and weaknesses and the goals of the war. Based on these, it describes seven different formations. Each one is named after a shape or animal it resembles. One example is the Varaha view or boar formation which is useful when danger is expected from the sides such as when moving through mountain passes. Another famous formation is the Chakra view or lotus formation. This one was used in Mahabharata and is known for being extremely difficult to break. It had rotating circles that confused the enemy, stronger fighters placed deeper in the formation and a center that collapsed once an intruder entered making escape nearly impossible. Dhanarveda also talks about training war animals, treating battlefield injuries and changing formations quickly depending on how the war unfolds. Lastly, let's talk about one of the most important parts, war ethics. Ancient Indian warriors followed strict rules during battle. For example, it was forbidden to attack someone who was unarmed, unconscious, retreating or had surrendered. Women and children were never to be harmed. Even when victory was in sight, honor and ethics came first. These principles are still followed today in traditional martial arts like Kalari Payattu from Kerala. It is believed that Lord Shiva taught this art to Parashuram and it continues to be practiced today. In the same way, the martial art of Kung Fu also traces its roots to India. It was introduced in China by Bodhidharma, an Indian monk, and it too gives great importance to discipline and ethics. And with that, we reach the end of this incredible journey into the world of Dhanarveda, a complete science of war, training, strategy and honor.