PROJECT SUBMITTED BY: RIDDHI RAJGOR,

PRN : 8022013790

Submitted to,

 THE MAHARAJA
SAYAJIRAO
UNIVERSITY,
ITRODUCTION TO THE DHANURVEDA
 GUIDED BY : Dr. Anjana Tiwari
VADODARA.
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INDECTION TABLE :

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A. INTRODUCTION
B. Some Wonderful Details from धनुर्वेद
C. व्युहादिभिर्युद्धकथनम् (Arranging Army in Battle Array)
D. व्युह (Military Array)
E. संग्रामविधिः
F. अस्त्र प्रकरणम् । (Chapter on Missiles)
G. अस्त्र नामानि (Name of Weapons)
H. CONCLUSION
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

- I would like to thank Maharaja Sayajirao University forgiving me the

excellent opportunity to carry out this project, explore, and learn such
educative content available.

- I would like to express gratitude towards Dr. Shweta jejukar, and Dr.Anjana
Tiwari for their Guidance support.

- I sincerely thank to The Oriental library for provided me the best of the
resources and study material.

- Here I tried to Study The Dhanurvedasamhita of Vashistha.

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A. INTRODUCTION :

There is a profound knowledge of each subject in Sanskrit literature. Sanskrit is

not only literature (drama/poetry) but also a confluence of every subject like
Mathematics - Science - Geography - Ayurveda. Along with this, our forefathers,
our great sages also taught us the art of war, which we call as "धनुर्वेद" like the Vedas.

Information like,sWho is eligible for arms? What are the characteristics to be an

archer? What qualities should one have to become a आचार्य(principal)? What are the
seven types of wars? How should the bow be? How many types of arrows are
there? War strategy, Military Array,Many types of missiles-weapons & their
process & uses etc. is very finely woven in Dharnurveda.

The rishis determined the names of all things and duties for behavior in the
beginning of the creation from the Vedas only. Vedas are the oldest among the
available literature of the world. His knowledge came in the hearts of four sages
with the inspiration of the Supreme Father Supreme Soul. There are four
Upavedas of these four Vedas.
1. AYURVEDA OF RIGVEDA,
2.DHANURVEDA OF YAJURVEDA,
3.GANDHARVAVEDA OF SAMAVEDA,
4.ARTHVEDA (SHILPASHASTRA) OF ATHARVAVEDA are well known.

In Maharishi Vaishampayan's Niti Prakasika, Brahma is believed to be the first

spokesperson of Dhanurveda, who preached Dhanurveda consisting of one lakh
chapters to Maharaj Prithu, the son of Ven. Summarizing this, Rudra preached
Dhanurveda consisting of fifty thousand, Indra twelve, Prachetas six and
Brihaspati three thousand chapters.
There are some amazing details about war, war strategy & weapons from version of
Dhanurveda of Sage Vashistha.

B. Some Wonderful Details from धनुर्वेद :

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 Mode of shooting (स्थानमुष्टयाकर्शनलक्षणानि)

Eight poses have been prescribed for an archer while
snooting the arrows in standing position.

1. प्रत्यालीढम् ।

2.आलीढम् ।
3.विशाखस्थानम् ।

4. समपाद ।

5. विषमपाद ।

6. दर्दुराक्रम ।

7. गरुडकर्म ।

8. पद्मासन ।

 Holding the string (गुणमुष्टि) –

1. पताका (Banner)
2. वज्रमुष्टि (Thunder Bolt)
3. सिंहकर्ण (Ear of A Lion)
4. मत्सरी (Fish)

5. काकतुण्डी (Beak of A Crow)

 Drawing The Bow (धनुर्मुष्टिसन्धानम्) –

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1. अधसन्धानम्।

2. उर्ध्वसन्धानम्।

3. समसन्धानम्।

 Position of Draw(धनुर्व्यायाः) –

1. कै शिकः

2. सात्विकः

3. वत्सकर्ण

4. भरत

5. स्कन्ध

C. व्युहादिभिर्युद्धकथनम् (Arranging Army in Battle Array) :

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- In the battle field, the king should keep beside him only the faithful,
truthful, and dedicated feudal princes. The warriors who are fond of each
other, who are capable of handling ‘Sarnga’ bows and also the equestrian
warriors who are skilled in war strategy can only win the battle.

- A Large organised body of armies loses battle & get scattered if led by a
coward chief. A chief, no matter how brave and expert he is, cannot win a
battle with the help of scattered armies. So the king should not appoint any
such coward in the army. The warrior who dies in the battlefield and the
ascetic who is Yoga-Yuktah cross over the Suryamandala and attain heaven.

- The warrior who breathes his last in the battlefield surrounded by the
enemies and also he who does not utter any nonsense or cowardly words at
the deathbed, surely attains the heaven. मूर्च्छितं नैव विकलं नाशत्रं नान्ययोधिनम् ।
पलायमानं शरणं गतञ्चैव न हिंसयेत् ।। - means One should not kill the enemy who is lying
unconscious, who is crippled, devoid of weapon or is stricken with fear and
also who has come for shelter. A strong and brave warrior should not chase
and kill any fleeing enemy, who is stricken with fear.

- If the enemy is found in the chase, he should be interrogated. Accordingly,

arrangements can be made either for his asylum or for the battle. The king
should create an array in the battlefield through accumulation of the four
types of armies. The strongest warrior should be placed in front. If the wind
blows or the Sun shines on the back and also if it thunders or the bird like
crow, etc, fly on the back of the king in the battlefield, then he is sure to
win.

- तस्माद्वैर्य्यैं विधायैव हन्तव्या परवाहिनी। जिते लक्ष्मी र्मृते स्वर्गः कीर्तिश्च धरणीतले।। - means The warrior should
fight with great patience and kill the enemies. While fighting, he should keep
in mind the fact that if he wins over the enemy, he will be a wealthy person.
In case of death, he will attain the heaven and will be known for his deed.
The greatest virtue of the ‘kshatriya’ is to fight in the battle and die. The
most disgraceful for him is the death through disease and physical ailments.

D. व्यूह ( Military Array) :

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- Each soldier, placed in the middle and having names which start
with yuvasvara(युवस्वरा) would come forward and fight. The king
should keep two group of armies on his each side and one group at
his back. One group of army should remain Car and move here and
there (mainly for vigilence). The Commander-in-chief should know
that there are various types of arrangements of व्यूह or military
array. Some of them like this –
 दण्ड व्यूह (Staff array),

 शकट व्यूह (car\chariot shaped array),

 वराह व्यूह (boar shaped array),

 मत्स्य व्यूह (Fish shaped array),

 mythological aquatic animal like crocodile, which called as मकर

व्यूह (crocodile shaped array),

 पद्म व्यूह (lotus shaped array),

 सूची व्यूह (needle shape array),

 गरुड व्यूह is the bird shaped array and snake shaped array.

- Thus he will be able to arrange the army every where and on all
fourside.

E. :
संग्रामविधिः
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The warrior should perform yoga mudras and then he may start battle. One may
surely win if he does Sarpamudra, And warriors used to meditate and praying
silently to the gods and goddesses.
- For Example :-

1). Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga :

 For God Rudra = ॐ नमः परमात्मने सर्वशक्तिमते विरूपाक्षाय भालनेत्राय रं हुं फट् स्वाहा ।
Obeisance to the Supreme, Almighty soul Salutation to the one
possessing the Universe! Salutation to the one possessing eyes
on forehead !

 For Goddess Rudrani = Thereafter one should also meditate and pray to
Haimavati (Durga) before commencement the war.
ॐ ह्लीं श्रीं हैमवतीश्वरीं ह्लीं स्वाहा। ॐ ह्लीं वज्रयोगिन्यै स्वाहा ।
Goddess Rudrani (Durga) seated on lion should also be
meditated upon.

2). Sun & Moon :

 He who has constellation of stars along with planet Rahu, at his back or on the
right side, will be able to defeat lakhs of enemies. thus if the Sun remains on
the backside or on the right or if the moon remains infront or on the leftside
and also if the air flows either on the back or on the right side of the warrior
then he will be able to destroy the enemies at once.

 If the Sun remains either on the eastern or northern end or the Moon on the
western or southern end of the fighter, then the General can at case send his
troupe to the battlefield.

 The fighter can win if he faces the eastern or northern part of the Sun. The
wise one wins by facing the southern and western part of the moon. The battle
may last long if the moon is in favourable position. If the Sun is in favourable
place, then the battle has short span. The moon helps to win a distant battle
and the Sun helps to win a battle held nearby.
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F. (Chapter on Missiles)
अस्त्र प्रकरणम् । :
The weapons, which is used in the hands is called, & The weapon, which is thrown
from the hand is called .

धनुर्वेद describe in detail the uses of various types of & .

In which about the are….

They are of various types – ब्रह्मास्त्र, ब्रह्मदण्ड, ब्रह्मसिरा (missiles presided over by God
Brahma), पशुपतास्त्र (missiles presided over by God Shiva), अग्नेयास्त्र(missiles presided over
by God Agni), नरसिंहास्त्र(missiles presided over by God Narsimha),
One should know in detail about the sciences of weapons—how to
cast and also the act of warding off the missiles.

For Example =

 ब्रह्मास्त्र & ब्रह्मदण्ड –

- Before applying ब्रह्मास्त्र, the archer should utter a hundred thousand million
times the Savitra mantra - ॐ प्रचोदयात् भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि धियो यो नः in a reverse manner and
purify his arrow before showering it on the enemies. By doing so, he can
destroy young, old, the foetus in the womb and everybody present in the
battle field.

- For applying ब्रह्मदण्ड the fighter has to utter such hymns as — प्रणवम् (Om), प्रचोदयात्
and then धीमहि देवस्य भर्गो वरेण्यम् and then the particular enemy’s name should also be
added. After uttering हन हन हूं फट् for two lakh times, he can cast the ब्रह्मदण्ड
weapon on the enemy. The enemy, even if he equals to Yama will be perished.
For counteracting the same missile, he has to utter the same hymn in a
reverse way.

 पशुपतास्त्र -
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- If one is well versed in पशुपतास्त्र weapon, he can kill all enemies. For applying
Pasupat weapon, the warrior should utter प्रणवम् and then for two lakh times “श्लीं
पशुं हुं फट् " …
and then he can throw the weapon upon the enemy. In case of counteracting this
weapon one should recite it in a reverse way.

 अग्नेयास्त्र –

- For अग्नेयास्त्र, the fighter has to say for two lakh times – “ॐ अग्नि स्त्यता ह्यद्ञ्च शिवं
वनाश्वाविणि च हगादशरूपनः सदावेति ततः कमात् हादति तोयति राम तथा मसो हित्वा वान् सुसेदवेदया च वदेत् ।" and also the
name of the enemy should be uttered. Then he can cast the weapon upon the
enemy. He has to utter it in a reverse way in order to counteract the same
missile.

 नरसिंहास्त्र –

- While worshipping Sri Narasimha with chanting of the mantras “ॐ

वज्रनखवज्रदंष्ट्रायुधाय महासिंहाय हुं फट् ।“ for one lakh times, the archer should fix up his
arrow which is as mighty as a lion and cast it on the enemies Thus he will be
able to destroy all the enemies.

So, this are the different ways of purification and application of different missiles
Lord shiva explained all these to Parasurama earlier.

G. अस्त्र नामानि (Name of Weapons) :

- There are many types of weapons are mentioned in Dhanurveda. =

1. असि-Sword 41. त्रिकू च्र्चक- A Short of Knife with 3 edges

2. अङ्कु श-A hook, Elephant goad 42. दन्तकण्टक - A tooth-shaped weapon
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3. अविद्या-A Missile of illusory Power 43. दण्डचक्र - A mythical weapon

4. असिपुत्रिका - A Dagger 44. दण्ड-Stick, Staff
5. अर्द्धधार - A knife or lancet with a single edge 45. दिव्यास्त्र - Divine weapon
6. अन्तर्मुख - A Kind or Scissors used in Surgery 46. द्रघन - A Kind of Club
7. आटीमुख - Surgical instrument employed in 47. दन्तुशङ्गु – A pair of pincers for drawing
blood letting teeth
8. आारा - A Knife 48. धर्मचक्र - Mythical weapon
9. आस्तर - A missile like a boomerang 49. धनु- A bow
10. इली - Short Sword, stick shaped 50. नखशास्त्र - Weapon shaped like a claw, (also
can be fitted to the nails)
11. इषु - Arrow 51. नरच- Iron Arrow
12. उत्पत्रपत्र-Broad blade Knife or laneet 52. नालिक - A kind of arrow of metal
13. एषणी-Iron Arrow 53. नागपाः - A Sort of magical noose (used in
battles) to entangle an enemy.
14. ऐन्द्रचक्र - The discus of Indra 54. नागस्त्र- A Serpent shaped missile
15. कवच - Amulet, Armour 55. निस्त्रीश - A Sword of thirty angulas
16. करपत्र-A Sew 56. नन्दन - Name of a sword
17. कालचक्र - The Wheel of Time, Cycle 57. परिघ् – An Iron blade on or club studded with
Iron
18. कु ठार - An Axe 58. पट्टिश- An spear with a sharp edge or some
other weapon with three points.
19. कु न्त-Spear 59. परशु - A hatchet, axe
20. कु ठारिका - A small axe 60. पशुपत्- A celebrated weapon given by Siva to
Arjuna.
21. कु ण्डिका – Kundika 61. प्रशमन – A shooting missile.
22. कु द्दल-A Pick-axe or Spade 62. प्रश्वापन - To spoil, destroy.
23. क्रकच-A Saw 63. पिनाक- A staff or bow of Rudra-Śiva.
24. नेटक - A Shield 64.प्रस्- A barbed missile or dart.
25. खङ्ग - A large Knife, a Sword 65. वज्र-Thunderbolt.
26. खट्टाङ्ग - A Club or staff with a skull at the 66. बाण – A reed shaft, shaft made of a reed, an
top, dered as the weapon of Siva and carried by Arrow.
asceti Yogins.

27. गदा-A mace 67. वासि-A carpenter's adze.

28. गान्धर्व्वं - Arjun received this weapon from 68. वरुण - Varuna (magical formula received over
tribe Term Gandharvas weapons)
29. गारूडास्त्र-A mythical weapon used by Rama in 69. ब्रह्मशिर - Name of missile.
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the of lanka
30. गोशीर्ष - A Kind of arrow 70. वायुस्त्र -The missile that creates storms and
kills large number of enemies.
31. चक्र (सुदर्शन)- A discus of sharp circle 71. वड़िश - A hook.
32. चर्म - A Shield 72. ब्रह्मास्त्र-Brahmastra.
33. चाप-Bow 73. वर्षण - Missile causing rain.
34. छू रिका-Small Knife. 74. ब्रह्मदण्ड - Brahmadanda
35. जम्मन - Quiver 75. वेतसपत्रक - A lancet shaped like a pointed leaf
of the cane.
36 जिम्भकास्त्र - A mythical missile 76. व्रीहिमुख- Mythical weapon.
37. तुलागुड़ा - A Kind of hornball with handle 77. विलापन - The wailing missile.
38. तुणीर-Quiver 78. भिन्दिपाल - A short Javelin or arrow
throwan from the hand or shot through a
tube.
39. तोमर - A Lance, Javelin 79. मण्डलाग्र - A bent or rounded Sword.
40. त्रिशूल- A trident 80. मौष्टिक - Sharper.

- According to Vasishtha’s Dhanurveda Samhita By Purnima Ray, There are total 117
different weapons mentioned in Vasishtha’s Dhanurveda.
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H.CONCLUSION :
- In the Agni Purana, there are five types of Dhanurveda – 1.Yantramukta,
2.Panimukta, 3.Muktasandharit, 4.Amukta and 5.Bahuyudha. Shastra and Astra are
said to be two distinctions. There are also two types of weapons, straight and
illusory. Along with weapons, strategy also comes under Dhanurveda.
Along with weapons, the formation of strategy also comes under Dhanurveda.
Performed by bow, chakra, kunta, khadga, kshurika(छू रिका), gada (गदा) and bahu (बाहु) -
these are the seven types of warfare. is addressed to.

- The war done by mantras is called divine, the war done by naladi (cannon-gun) is
called asura or mayik and the war done with weapons in hands is called manav. There
are four types of weapons, divine, serpent, human and demonic.

The use of crooked weapons and firearms has been said to be prohibited in Dharma
Yuddha, but their use is seen in Maya Yuddha (माया युद्ध) and Kutyuddha (कू टयुद्ध).

The purpose of Dhanurveda is to protect the people righteously, to protect the

saints from the evil dacoits. In a village or town where there is even a good archer,
enemies and evil men run away from there like a deer from a lion.

From Dhanurveda, not only the bow and arrow is accepted, but the word Dhanu,
despite being stereotyped, accepts all the four types of weapons in a symbolic
form.
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- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Dhanurveda By Dr.Devavrat Acharya,
- Vasishtha’s Dhanurveda Samhita By Purnima Ray
- Dhanurvedasamhita By Khemraj Shrikrushndas Prakashan.
( From webservices.archive.org )
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 Vyuha :
s