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Kripacharya mentioned all these four types. Arjuna taught ten ‘angas’ or ten disciplines to the Upapandavas. Vimoksha here is a form of salvation, ‘Sanhara’ or compilation are not in Arjuna's list. Kripacharya included these under other headings. The method of teaching is different for all teachers, but the first two methods remain the same.
Kripacharya mentioned all these four types. Arjuna taught ten ‘angas’ or ten disciplines to the Upapandavas. Vimoksha here is a form of salvation, ‘Sanhara’ or compilation are not in Arjuna's list. Kripacharya included these under other headings. The method of teaching is different for all teachers, but the first two methods remain the same.
The ten disciplines or parts of Dhanurveda are being elaborated as listed below-
The ten disciplines or parts of Dhanurveda are being elaborated as listed below-<blockquote>आदानमथ संधानं मोक्षणं विनिवर्तनम्। स्थानं मुष्टिः प्रयोगश्च प्रायश्चित्तानि मंडलम्॥ रहस्यंचेति दशधा धनुर्वेदांगमिष्यते॥ (महा० आदि० 220। 72)</blockquote>'''Aadaan -''' To control the arrows i.e. to shoot down the enemy's arrows/weapons or to pull or throw them away. Destroying/confiscating enemy weapons, firing weapons while sitting on horse also come under this category.
आदानमथ संधानं मोक्षणं विनिवर्तनम्। स्थानं मुष्टिः प्रयोगश्च प्रायश्चित्तानि मंडलम्॥ रहस्यंचेति दशधा धनुर्वेदांगमिष्यते॥ (महा० आदि० 220। 72)
'''Aadaan -''' To control the arrows i.e. to shoot down the enemy's arrows/weapons or to pull them away and throw them away. Destroying/confiscating enemy weapons, firing weapons while sitting on horse also come under this branch.
'''Sandhan -''' Combining two weapons or arts (styles) together such as therapeutic weapons, aerial weapons, illusionary weapons or inventions. (Divyastra) is said to be of two types, Nalika and Mantrika.<ref name=":2" /> War fought with ‘Naalik’ weapons are termed as ‘Asur Mayik’ or illusory weapons by demons and ‘Mantrik Daivik’ or weapons controlled by mantras are used by devatas.
'''Sandhan -''' Combining two weapons or arts (styles) together such as therapeutic weapons, aerial weapons, illusionary weapons or inventions. (Divyastra) is said to be of two types, Nalika and Mantrika.<ref name=":2" /> War fought with ‘Naalik’ weapons are termed as ‘Asur Mayik’ or illusory weapons by demons and ‘Mantrik Daivik’ or weapons controlled by mantras are used by devatas.
'''Mandal''' - This is the art form, where the chariot moves fast in circular motion and you have to focus on the enemies or targets by considering them as stationary while they are presenting a moving target by moving fast. Along with this strategy one also has to target the enemies by using ‘Staihana’. ‘Mushti’, ‘Prayog’ and ‘Prayashchit’ and other arts to be engaged completely to establish dominion over the battlefield.
'''Mandal''' - This is the art form, where the chariot moves fast in circular motion and you have to focus on the enemies or targets by considering them as stationary while they are presenting a moving target by moving fast. Along with this strategy one also has to target the enemies by using ‘Staihana’. ‘Mushti’, ‘Prayog’ and ‘Prayashchit’ and other arts to be engaged completely to establish dominion over the battlefield.
'''Rahasya''' – This is the use of sound as a means of striking a target or use of sound to locate the target.
=== व्यूह संरचना ॥ Strategic Formations ===
Placement of the army in various locations on the battlefield is called Strategic formation. Strategy has special importance in the science of warfare.
समग्रस्य तु सैन्यस्य विन्यासः स्थानभेदतः। स व्यूह इति विख्यातो युद्धेषु पृथिवीभुजाम्॥ (हलायुध कोष पृ० ६४६)
Presently it is called barricade, which means positioning the army in a specific way in the battlefield. An army equipped with an array, can defeat another stronger army, even if it is in minority. On the contrary, even a strong army without an array, cannot defeat a small army with an array. The names of some major arrays are as follows
* श्येन व्यूह - Shyena
* क्रौंच व्यूह - Krouncha
* शकट व्यूह - Shakata
* सिंह व्यूह - Simha
* पद्म व्यूह - Padma
* सर्प व्यूह - Sarpa
* अग्नि व्यूह - Agni
In Atharvaveda, it has been taught, how to protect the army through arrays or vyoohas. Shri Ramchandra had laid siege on Lanka by creating Garuda Vyooha. In the Mahabharata war, strategy formation was a common thing. Similarly, in Kautilya's Arthashastra and Kamandakiya Neetisara, the differences of many types of arrays have been mentioned, but its most authentic description has been obtained from the quotes in the texts named Rajvijaya within Veeramitrodaya.<ref>Devavrat, Acharya (1999) [https://archive.org/details/ssRf_dhanurveda-dr.-devavrat-acharya-missing-pages/page/n14/mode/1up?view=theater Dhanurved]. Delhi: Vijaykumar Govindram Hasananda (p.14)</ref>
=== युद्ध के प्रकार ॥ Types of Wars ===
Wars were carried out using a bow and arrow (Dhanush), Spinning disk like weapon (Chakra), Spear (Kunta), Sword (khadga), Knife (kshurikā), Mace (Gadha) and Arms (Baahu) - these are the seven types of war –
धनुश्चक्रं च कुन्तं च खड्गञ्च छुरिका गदा। सप्तमं बाहुयुद्धं स्यादेवं युद्धानि सप्तधा॥ (विष्णुध०पु० श्लो० ९)
Warrior who has knowledge about Seven Wars- Acharya
Warrior who has knowledge about Four Wars- Bhargava
Warrior who has knowledge about Two Wars-Yoddha
Warrior who has knowledge about One War-Ganaka
In this way, experts in wars are addressed by the above listed names. The war waged by chanting mantras is termed Divine, the war waged by Naaladi (cannon-gun) is called demonic or magical and the war waged with hand held weapons is termed as human. There are four types of hand held weapons – Divya, Naga, Maanush and Rakshas.
=== बाण का उपयोग ॥ Use of Arrows ===
Different types of dangerous arrows were used in archery. In comparison to these monstrous and dangerous arrows, even the explosive bombs of present times are insignificant. These arrows were endowed with divine power. The description of some major arrows are as follows –
'''Agreya Baan''' - This is an explosive arrow. It rains fire and reduces everything to ashes, which can be neutralized by the Parjanya Baan.
'''Parjanya Baan -''' When this arrow is shot, artificial clouds are formed and it starts raining and leads to thunderstorms.
'''Vayavya Baan''' - This arrow leads to terrible storms and causes darkness to engulf the surroundings.
'''Pannaga Baan''' – The use of this arrow gives birth to many snakes and it can be defended by shooting the Garuna Baan.
'''Garuna Baan -''' It is due to this arrow that Garuna is born who eats the snakes.
'''Brahmaastra Baan''' '''-''' This is a very formidable and infallible weapon, and it terminates only after destroying the enemy. It can be only by defended only by shooting another Brahmaastra and nothing else.
'''Paashupata Astra''' '''-''' This has the power to destroy the entire world. Arjuna had the knowledge to release this arrow, during the period of Mahabharata.
'''Narayana Astra''' - This is also a terrible weapon like Paashupata. This Narayanastra has no defense at all. When the arrow is fired, no power in the whole world can challenge or defend it except by surrendering to it with devotion.
Apart from these divine arrows, there is also mention of many other types of arrows like Brahmashira, Agni etc. At present, after Maharaj Prithviraj, this archery has completely disappeared. Amidst today's explosive materials like atomic bombs, amazing military science like Dhanurveda science has its own importance. Therefore, even in the present era, it is necessary to emphasize on the use of archery science for national defense. However, in the new environment, attention is being paid again to archery.
== सारांश ॥ Summary ==
Dhanurveda covers the topics such as the quality of military officers, rules and regulations of various types of wars, recruitment plans, information about injured soldiers, spy network recruits, requirements for weapons and food for war soldiers, animals etc., medical department, role or participation of women in war, types of war, military testing and military training etc. But as per Dhanurveda described in Agnipurana, the process of making of weapons and their use etc. have been specifically described. The Agnipurankar (Veda Vyaas ji) has elaborated in detail in Agnipuraana, about the bow and arrow.
An important conclusion that emerges from the study of Dhanurveda is that there is reference of the science of warfare in many scriptures. No warrior can become a complete warrior unless he studies and gains knowledge in the various scriptures like Metallurgy, Astrology, Patanjalyoga-Ayurveda, Yudhajayarnava-Karma Kaanda, Science of voice modulation (Svara Shastra)-Grammar (Vyakarana Shastra), Smriti-Ethics (Neeti Shastra), Chants (Mantra Shastra) etc.<ref>Jaysinh Gohil. (2022). अग्निपुराणानुसार धनुर्वेद (धनुर्विद्या) की मीमांसा / Analysis of Dhanurveda (Archery) according to Agnipurana. ''Haridra Journal'', ''3''(10), 3–12. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.54903/haridra.v3i10.11388</nowiki></ref>
== References ==
== References ==
[[Category:Upavedas]]
[[Category:Upavedas]]