CODE OF CONDUCT OF WARRIORS IN ANCIENT INDIA

1. "Waste no more time, Arjuna," cried Madhava. "Send your shaft and slay your
wicked enemy.“ :- KRISHNA
CODE OF CONDUCT OF WARRIOR DURING THE EPIC AND PURANIC AGE
MAHADEV

2. • WAR AS AN HUMAN ACTIVITY.
“During the time men live without a common Power to
keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is
called Warre; and such a warre, as is of every man,
against every man." (Leviathan, 1.13) Thomas Hobbes
• WARRIOR vs SOLDIER.
• EARLY HUMANS : VIOLENCE INEVITABLE FOR SURVIVAL.
• REALIZATION OF IMPORTANCE OF COOPERATION AND
COLLECTIVE EFFORTS.
• FORMATION OF BANDS AND TRIBES
• CONTROL OVER VIOLENCE AND ESTABLISHMENT OF SOCIAL
ORDER.
• DEVELOPMENT OF VALUES : LOYALITY, MUTUAL RESPECT,
ESPRIT DE CORPS etc--
MAHADEV
DEVELOPMENT OF CODE OF CONDUCT OF WAR

3. • FORMATIONOF SOCIETIES AND KINGDOMS.
• CHANNELIZATIONOF VIOLENCE TOWARDSEXTERNALFORCES.
• GLORY OF WAR AND ELEVATIONOF WARRIOR TO HIGH
STATUS .
MAHADEV
DEVELOPMENTOF CODEOF CONDUCTOF WAR

4. MAHADEV
CODE OF CONDUCT OF WARRIOR DURING THE EPIC AND PURANIC AGE
WAGING WAR ONLY FOR PROTECTION
OF ‘DHARMA’
SHOULD BE GOVERNED BY
ETHICAL AND MORAL CODES.
 CONCEPT OF DHARMAYUDDHA
(JUST WAR) AND KUTAYUDDHA
(UNRIGHTEOUS WAR).
KUTAYUDDHA :- “Unrighteous war in
which principles were sacrificed at the
altar of expediency”
 HINDU PHILOSOPHICAL INCLINATION
FOR DHARMAYUDDHA

5. BHAGAVAT GITA
O son of Kunti, either you will be
killed on the battlefield and
attain the heavenly planets, or
you will conquer and enjoy the
earthly kingdom. Therefore get
up and fight with determination.
(Chapter 2, Verse 37)
Do thou fight for the sake of
fighting, without considering
happiness or distress, loss or
gain, victory or defeat--and, by so
doing, you shall never incur sin.
(Chapter 2, Verse 38) MAHADEV
CODE OF CONDUCT OF WARRIOR DURING THE EPIC AND PURANIC AGE
"Victory or death in battle
has always been the religion
of the Rajputs from
the time immemorial.
It is his character
that he knows no fear."
---MAHABHARAT

6. MAHADEV
CODE OF CONDUCT OF WARRIOR DURING THE EPIC AND PURANIC AGE
 EFFORTS WERE MADE TO AVOID
WAR THROUGH DIPLOMACY WITH
THE MESSAGE ‘ FIGHT OR
SUBMIT’.
 IF DIPLOMACY FAILED WAR
BECAME INEVITABLE.
ANCIENT INDIAN SOCIETY
PERSONIFIED WAR AS ANOTHER
TYPE’YAJNA’ WHERE THE
SACRIFICE WAS MADE OF THE
WARRIOR.
 WAR FOUGHT ON STRICT CODE
OF CONDUCT Prince Angad as the ambassador of Ram
Meets Ravana to avoid war

7. • A warrior in armour must not fight with one does
not clad in a coat of mail/armour. ( Mahabharata)
• One should fight only one enemy and stop
fighting when the opponent is disabled (
Mahabharata). This practice must had aimed at
preventing avoidable loss of life.
• A warrior should fight only with their equals. A
cavalry man should not attack a foot soldier
( Mahabharata)
• Poisoned or barbed arrows should not be used
(Baudhayana Dharma Sutra )
• A weak or wounded man should not be killed nor
one has no son . One whose weapon is broken, or
whose bow-string is cut, or who has lost his
chariot should not be hit ( Mahabharata )
MAHADEV
CODE OF CONDUCT OF WARRIOR DURING THE EPIC AND PURANIC AGE

8. • A warrior who requests to be rescued, or join hands in
supplication or throws his weapon must not be killed . But
he can be taken as a prisoner of war ( Mahabharata)
• A king should fight only with a king and not with
warriors with inferior status (Mahabharata)
• If a Brahmin enters the field to bring about peace between
the contesting parties both should stop fighting and no
injury should be inflicted on such a Brahmin
( Mahabharata)
• Aged men ,women , children and the retreating enemy
should not be killed (Baudhayana Dharma Sutra)
MAHADEV
CODE OF CONDUCT OF WARRIOR DURING THE EPIC AND PURANIC AGE

9.  It was forbidden to fight those who do not offer to fight, who
hide themselves in fear or those who are spectators
( Mahabharata)
 Prisoners of war were generally accorded generous treatment
and no mercy less mass killing were organized . Similarly the
womenfolk of enemy kingdom was not ravaged as was usual
practice of other civilizations.
 The wounded soldiers were given proper treatment and on
getting cured were set at liberty. After the battle the victor was
bound to show mercy to the wounded enemy’s soldiers as in
the case of his own soldiers.
 Also it was a common practice that the victor after the battle
return the kingdom to the defeated enemy king or to his
inheritor if the enemy king was slain in war
MAHADEV
CODE OF CONDUCT OF WARRIOR DURING THE EPIC AND PURANIC AGE

10. It was forbidden to destroy orchards , temples
or other public places. It was observed by
Megasthenes in fourth century that “the tillers
of the soil even when battle is raging in their
neighborhood are undisturbed by any sense of
danger from the combatants ------ engaged in
their usual business” The normal life of people
never disturbed by the war. This was in total
contrast to the modern days where the entire
society has to suffer in a war. The ancient
Indain armies “ neither ravage the an enemy’s
land with fire or not cut down it trees’ The
farmers , artisans and husbandmen were
regarded as public benefit and left unharmed
even by the enemy forces.
MAHADEV
CODE OF CONDUCT OF WARRIOR DURING THE EPIC AND PURANIC AGE

11. CONCEPT OF ‘DHARMAYUDDHA’ COULD NOT
STAND THE TEST OF TIMES WITH MUSLIM
INVADING FORCES.
FIRST BATTLE OF TARAIN IN 1191 .
PRISONERS OF WAR OF PAKISTAN WAS RETURNED
WITHOUT EXTRACTING EQUITABLE RETURN FROM
PAKISTAN .
CODE OF CONDUCT OF ANCIENT INDIA HAS BEEN
ABSORBED IN GENEVA CONVENTIONS
NEED OF THE DAY TO BE PREPARED FOR
‘KUTAYUDDHA
MAHADEV
CODE OF CONDUCT OF WARRIOR DURING THE EPIC AND PURANIC AGE

12. MAHADEV
‘Krishna says in Mahabharat “What they are
doing is adharma; what we are doing is also
adharma, but we are doing it with an
intention of establishing dharma. They are
doing it with the intention of establishing
adharma.” It is not a question of right and
wrong. It is a question of purpose, and of
whether you would be successful within the
limitations of the law or not.’ :- Jaggi
Vasudev
CODE OF CONDUCT OF WARRIOR DURING THE EPIC AND PURANIC AGE

13. "VICTORY OR DEATH IN BATTLE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE RELIGION OF THE RAJPUTS
FROM THE TIME IMMEMORIAL. IT IS HIS CHARACTER THAT HE KNOWS NO FEAR."
---MAHABHARAT MAHADEV