CASUALITIES IN THE MAHABHARATA BATTLE

CASUALITIES  IN THE MAHABHARATA BATTLE

The Imperial Gazetteer defines the circuit of Kurukshetra as 80 miles i.e.1300 sq. km in area, which is   the extent of the battle field.( The main field probably lay between the present Thanesar-Pehowa plain alongside the Bibipur lake, a big water body) The Mahābhārata says, that kingdoms from all over ancient India supplied troops or provided logistic support to either the Pandavas  or the Kauravas  depending upon their alliances. Even Lord Krishna provided his military support to them. The Battle was fought around 1500 BC, as per archaeologists and the population of India in about 2000 BC is estimated to be just ten million, by the experts. There is thus no conclusive evidence to suggest that any foreign tribes or kingdoms participated in the war. The battle commenced just after a week of the final call and no one from distant lands could  participate in the war that too with his troops.There were no high speed carriers at that time.

In reply to a query about the casualities in the war by Dhritrashtra, Yudhishtra  makes it known, ‘One billion 660 million and 20,000 men have fallen in this battle. Of the heroes that have escaped, the number is 240,165’  (MBh., XI.26).

Well, these are mind boggling figures, considering the population of India at that period of time, and the extent of Kurukshetra region  i.e.1300 sq. km in area , the site of the war; as per our estimates, no more than 40,000 soldiers from both the sides could have possibly been killed or injured. Even in the battle of Lanka,as mentioned  in the Ramayana, or the Battle of Ten Kings, the casualities were much less .

WAS THE MAHABHARATA BATTLE FOUGHT ON ALTERNATE DAYS ?

WAS THE MAHABHARATA BATTLE FOUGHT 
ON ALTERNATE DAYS ?

It is a well known fact that the Mahabharata battle was fought on 18 days but the text also mentions a series of dates when  the war events took place. Scholars are baffled  and have failed to synchronize the dates given with 18  days if taken as consecutive. An analysis of the text  gives a  clear evidence that the war was actually fought on alternate days - the intervening days having been needed to clear the battle field ! Here is what is stated in the relevant section of the Mahabharata:

‘Balarama casting his eyes on Krishna and the Pandavas, and looking at Duryodhana also of Kuru's race who was standing there armed with mace, said, "Two and forty days” have passed since I left home. I had set out under the constellation ‘Pushya’ and have come back under ‘Sravana’. I am desirous, O Madhava, of beholding this encounter with the mace between these two disciples of mine!" At that time the two heroes, Duryodhana and Vrikodara ( Bhima), looked resplendent as they stood on the field, both armed with maces.’

This statement of Balarama is very significant as he had  left  on a pilgrimage tour seven  days before the start of the war; and on the last day of the war, which was after forty-two days when he returned  he witnessed the mace duel.  This very clearly suggests  that the war was fought for thirty-five days,  that is fought on alternate days.

AMAZING AND INTERESTING FACTS OF THE MAHABHARATA-NOT GENERALLY KNOWN

AMAZING AND INTERESTING FACTS OF THE MAHABHARATA-

NOT GENERALLY KNOWN

2.Venue of the War

The eighteen days’ battle is traditionally reported to have been fought in the vast plain of Kurukshetra, bounded by rivers Saraswati and Drishdavati, at a place called Samanta-panchaka during the transit period  between the Dwapara  and the Kali Yugas  ( Mbh.1.2.265 ). The war started after the rainy season was over ( Mbh V / 149 II). This place has been identified with Bhagwanpura considered particularly close to the supposed site of the battle where late Harappan settlements, dating  from 1400 BCE have been discovered.

The Imperial Gazetteer defines the circuit of Kurukshetra as 80 miles i.e.1300 sq. km in area, which is accepted as the extent of the battle ground.

 The Kuru king Dhritrashtra ,presided over his empire from the capital city of Hastinapur whereas the Mahabharata war was fought some distance away in the field of Kurukshetra.However, the exact location is  debatable on two counts viz. the availability of water and the accessibility to Hastinapur. As the Saraswati was already a dried up river, the huge armies had to be stationed at or near a big source of water. This could be the Yamuna only. Secondly, to reach the present place called Kurukshetra from Hastinapur involved crossing  the Yamuna, a big river of course.  There is no record of any bridge having been constructed over the river.. If there was no bridge and a river had to be crossed to reach the venue of the war, how could the fast speeding chariots, horses and the elephants of the warriors, run between the two places so smoothly and expeditiously.  In our opinion,therefore, the exact venue of the battle field seems to have been on the left bank of  the Yamuna opposite Hastinapur, which too was a part of  the Kuru lands- (Sanskrit: Kurukshetra).

Another feasible probability seems to emerge from the fact that the Kurus also had an alternative seat of power in Asandivat, a town close to Kurukshetra, to maintain effective control over their vast kingdom. It seems possible, therefore, that Kuru king had made Asandivat as his temporary headquarters during the period of war. The Imperial Gazetteer mentions that Archaeologists have discovered  a huge mound resembling a big drum with an elongated dome, which yielded 'Painted Grey Ware', early historic pottery, Kushana coins and bricks, Yaudheya coins and medieval relics. The mound whose remains are locally known as Jarasandha-ka-Kila, must have originally been a very gigantic structure as it still rises to a height of more than 25 metres. In that event the headquarters of  both the warring  parties which were temporarily set up, were easily approachable and then  the journeys made by the war heroes would have been restricted  only  between the temporary headquarters and the battlefield.

If we follow tradition and rely on the facts available, there  seems to be a possibility that the venue of the war could be between the present day towns of Kurukshetra and Pehowa where in the ancient times ,the Saraswati ,  flowing past Jyotisar, used to discharge forming a very big lake, the remnants of which are extant  even today.The river Markanda also discharged in this lake, and then traversing the existing Bibipur lake, turned into a big stream  proceeding down towards Cheeka before merging into the Ghaggar. It is a very big water body even now. which makes a circuit of not less than 15 kilometres  and it must have served the water needs of the armies at that time (to be continued)

AMAZING AND INTERESTING FACTS OF THE MAHABHARATA NOT KNOWN GENE RALLY

AMAZING AND INTERESTING FACTS OF THE 
MAHABHARATA

NOT KNOWN GENE RALLY

1 About the   Epic

The Mahabharata is a great national epic. The narrative that gives the poem its name, is the account of a great battle between related but feuding families, the Pandavas and  the Kauravas of Bharata descent. It commemorates a historic battle fought for the throne of Hastinapur (a very ancient place, on the right bank of river Ganga, about 106 kilometres from modern Delhi), the kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan, sometimes in or about 1500 BCE.

 The Story of the Epic is rather very complex, full of emotions, myths and palace intrigues which unfolds with the Kuru king Shantanu who married princesses Ganga and Satyavati in succession.

 It is largest single literary poetical work extant in Sanskrit, that is still read and recited. Originally, however, the Mahabharata was called ' Jaya ' , meaning 'Victory', and contained only 8,800 verses which with the changing times went on growing at a fantastic rate with the ever increasing additions and interpolations. Presently it contains no less than one hundred thousand verses - divided into eighteen books, or parts, roughly ten times the length of the Greek epics Iliad and Odyssey taken together.

Prima facie, it would appear that the Mahabharata had not been the creation of one author or even of one generation of authors. It must have been the outcome of a long and continuous literary activity spread across many centuries. The Mahabharata has been told, retold, recreated, re-enacted and reinterpreted, generation after generation, by all classes of scholars since it was first compiled by sage Vyasa , a distinguished Vedic scholar of abundant intellect. The chronology and locale of the events, the other geographical features, such as names of the mountains and rivers of that time have been almost fairly accurately and authentically recorded in the Mahabharata text. Several places mentioned  in the Mahabharata correspond two modern day towns and cities. Indraprastha is the modern day Delhi. Hastinapur and Kurukshetra, the main centers of the Kuru Panchalas, still exist as such without any change in their name or status. In essence, the epic Mahabharata , besides recounting a heroic  tale contains writings on a broad spectrum of human learning, including ethics, law, philosophy, history, geography, genealogy, and religion. It also features a number of legends, moral stories, and local tales  - all woven into an elaborate narrative . It is generally said of the Mahabharata , "Anything in Creation can be found in the Mahabharata , but if it's not in the Mahabharata , then it does not exist. "

It was recited in the court of Kuru king Janamejaya at Hastinapur for the first time by a learned disciple of sage Vyasa after the war. The capital of the Kuru empire was Hastinapur (to be continued)