The Greatest Indian Epic - Mahabharath

[Sudhaama]

sudhamma sir,

again and again you are ignoring my request

My Dear Mr. Raghu,

I am NOT IGNORING your request.

I have already replied on your point... that about NAKULA and SAHADEVA....

....I had detailed in my Old-postings.... under this thread itself... more elaborately too...

... especially in reply to a question from our Moderator Mr. Thiru.

Please find out such of my Old postings and ask me further if any point specifically you want me to clarify. I need not repeat the same matter once again now...especially under the same Thread. ...Is it Not?
...

[Sudhaama]

We are interested ONLY IN HEALTHY DISCUSSIONS...

...and Not in PROVING the Dubious Veracity and Ill-worth of OTHERS PERSONAL FAITHS AND BELIEFS..

...even if Contrary to ours which is based on WELL-FOUNDED TRUTH justifiable by WISDOM
...

By the word.... "others" ...here I mean... only the person whom I am referring about.

Not.... ALL OTHERS... as a Sweeping generalisation.

Questions with HEALTHY INTENTIONS... I Welcome for my reply.
I am not interested to continue further argument on this Personal considerations.

If OTHERS are interested to answer such "others"... it is left to them.
...

[Nakeeran]

Ok. Let me make a beginning on the great war

To start with, lets list the representatives from both sides

Soon, I will do the posting

[Nakeeran]

The Pandava army :

The Pandava army was organized into seven divisions. Each of these divisions were led by Drupada, Virata, Dhristadyumna, Shikhandi, Satyaki, Chekitana and Bhima. After consulting his commanders, the Pandavas appointed Dhristadyumna as the supreme commander of the Pandava army.

Interestingly , kingdoms from all over ancient India supplied troops or provided logistic support on the Pandava side. Some of these were: Kekaya, Pandya, Cholas, Keralas, Magadha, and many more.

[Nakeeran]

The Kauravas :

Duryodhana requested Bhishma to command the Kaurava army. Bhishma accepted on the condition that while he will fight the battle sincerely, he will however not harm the five Pandava brothers. He also said that Karna was opposed to his leadership and perhaps Duryodhana should consider making Karna the commander. Karna had declared that he will not fight under Bhishma and had withdrawn from the army. Duryodhana however agreed to Bhishma's conditions and made him the supreme commander of the Kaurava army.

The army was divided into eleven divisions. Apart from the one hundred Kaurava brothers, headed by Duryodhana himself and his brother Dushasana, the second son of Dhritarashtra, the Kauravas were assisted in the battlefield by Drona and his son Ashwathama, Kripacharya , Shakuni, and many more who were bound by their loyalty towards either Hastinapura or Dhritarashtra.

The kingdom of Vidarbha and its King Rukmi were the only neutrals in this war

[harishkumar09]

I do not understand why the tamil brain always works in such an abnormal fashion.But its good that tamils think differently .

[Nakeeran]

Army divisions and weaponry:

Each army consisted of several divisions; the Kauravas had eleven

Pandavas controlled seven.

A division (akshauhini) includes 21,870 chariots and chariot-riders, 21,870 elephants and riders,
65,610 horses and riders,
109,350 foot-soldiers (in a ratio of 1:1:3:5).

The combined number of warriors and soldiers in both armies was approximately four million.

Each Akshohini was under a commander or a general, apart from the Commander in chief or the generallisimo who was the head of the entire army.

During the Kurukshetra war, several weapons were used. The weapons, and their most notable users, included the Bow and arrows, the weapon of choice for Arjuna, Bhishma, Drona, Karna and Abhimanyu, the Mace, chosen by Bhima and Duryodhana apart from the Spear and the Dagger / Sword.

This war was perhaps the bloodiest war in history as most of the warriors and soldiers perished during the brief period of only eighteen days.

Arjuna, in a fit of extreme anger over the death of his son Abhimanyu, alone killed one akshauhini of Kaurava soldiers in a single day.

The war left an extremely large number of widows and orphans

[Nakeeran]

Military formations

At various times during battle, the supreme commander of either army ordered special formations ("vyuhas").

Each formation had a specific purpose; some were defensive while others were offensive. Each formation had its specific strengths and weaknesses.

Mahabharata list the following :
1.Krauncha vyuha (heron formation)
2.Makara vyuha (crocodile formation)
3.Kurma vyuha (tortoise or turtle formation)
4.Trishula vyuha (the trident formation)
5.Chakra vyuha (wheel or discus formation)
6.Kamala vyuha or Padma vyuha (Lotus formation).

It is not clear what the formations actually indicate. They may be formations bearing resemblance to animals, or they may be names given to strategies and formations

[Nakeeran]

WAR RULES THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO BE FOLLOWED !

WHAT HAPPENED ACTUALLY WAS ABSOLUTE BREAKAGE OF WAR RULES

Lets go through the rules :

The two supreme commanders met and framed "rules of ethical conduct", dharmayuddha, for the war. The rules included:

1.Fighting must begin no earlier than sunrise and end exactly at sunset.
2.Multiple warriors may not attack a single warrior.
3.Two warriors may "duel," or engage in prolonged personal combat, only if they carry the same weapons and they are on the same mount (no mount, a horse, an elephant, or a chariot).
4.No warrior may kill or injure a warrior who has surrendered.
5.One who surrenders becomes a prisoner of war and a slave.
6.No warrior may kill or injure an unarmed warrior.
7.No warrior may kill or injure an unconscious warrior.
8.No warrior may kill or injure a person or animal not taking part in the war.
9.No warrior may kill or injure a warrior whose back is turned away.
10.No warrior may attack a woman.
11.No warrior may strike an animal not considered a direct threat.

The rules specific to each weapon must be followed. For example, it is prohibited to strike below the waist in mace warfare.
Warriors may not engage in any "unfair" warfare whatsoever.

Unfortunately , many of these laws were broken at least once by both sides.

I will try to give examples of who & how the above rules were broken during the war once we start running through the day by day account of the war

[pizzalot]

Sudhama Sir, in a forum set-up, there could be others joining the thread with exactly opposite views. Some of the members can really be very assertive and may not be telling the truth according to others. But what is important is their sincerity of expression. And how sincerely others contend them. Sometimes the outcome will seem nothing but that may not be true. Each of us or the silent observers will carry home a balanced view which is what the outcome is. Even Buddha is said to have told not to argue with a contender, but you must remember he himself argued with rational explainations when the time came. His disciples also contended and waged intellectual wars in proper forum for reasons they believed was good.

My views may be different and you might feel they are perverted and am messed-up, but alas, be it, if that is what you think I am. But atleast I will know if any others share my views. This is what I expect in forums like this, at a minimum. Feeling connected.

That being said, I sincerely wish someone contends my views.

Raghu's thirst about Nakula and Sahadev have been quenched in your previous posts. His duty is to think proactively of other ideas to place in front of us.

Nakeeran is coming-up with great list war rules broken in Mahabharath. (Nakeeran, please also be able to tell us how the people of those days reacted when such rules were broken. Especially Sri Krishna's reactions).

So our job is to think proactively and keep issues at hand to discuss while simultaneously contending others' views.

In you we saw a person reacting and contending our views. And you ARE important here. If not you someonelse should play this role. Otherwise who are we talking to ? That is what I meant when I said "convince me". So you see, how we respect and need your presence ?

Kannannn rescues me when I was branded perverted and obnoxious element and not worthy of reply.

Badri, as usual refrains from taking sides as behaving as a true moderator.

You see, everyone's presence is vital here. More people the better. And contradictions=liveliness.

I unintentionally included one other contentious point to my long list that “Gita Upnanishad is a later-insert and not a part of Vyas Mahabharath”. It may be a belief out of ignorance, but explain otherwise so several others who are messed-up also know the truth. I am not here to "silence" or drive away others with my "assertions". I like them to be vocal so we can feel connected even though we might be thousands of miles apart physically.

If we do not contend with each other sincerely, any thread will be boring and die. Do other's agree ?