sloka on Akshouhini

[K.N.RAMESH]

Dear all,

I'm looking for the measurements of Akshouhini in the form of sloka.

If any comes across please post

thanks

knr

 

 

[Hnbhat B.R.]

Here is the calculation of अक्षौहिनी - multiplied beginning from पत्ति the basic Unit according to अमरकोश: =

२. ८. १०९२) एकेभैकरथा त्र्यश्वा पत्तिः पञ्चपदातिका
( २. ८. १०९३) पत्त्यङ्गैस्त्रिगुणैः सर्वैः क्रमादाख्या यथोत्तरम् ।।२-८-८०।।
( २. ८. १०९४) सेनामुखं गुल्मगणौ वाहिनी पृतना चमूः
( २. ८. १०९५) अनीकिनी दशाऽनीकिन्यक्षौहिणी 

Hope you can count the numbers yourself from the श्लोक composing अक्षौहिणी unit from the above principle.

 Here is the account given in the महाभारत 1, 2, 15-18, 

 itself about अक्षौहिणी - with further analysis from 18-23.

एको रथो गजश्चैको नराः पञ्च पदातयः / (१५.२)

त्रयश्च तुरगास्तज्ज्ञैः पत्तिर् इत्यभिधीयते // (१५.३)

पत्तिं तु त्रिगुणाम् एताम् आहुः सेनामुखं बुधाः / (१६.१)

त्रीणि सेनामुखान्येको गुल्म इत्यभिधीयते // (१६.२)

त्रयो गुल्मा गणो नाम वाहिनी तु गणास् त्रयः / (१७.१)

स्मृतास्तिस्रस्तु वाहिन्यः पृतनेति विचक्षणैः // (१७.२)

चमूस्तु पृतनास् तिस्रस् तिस्रश् चम्वस् त्वनीकिनी / (१८.१)

अनीकिनीं दशगुणां प्राहुर् अक्षौहिणीं बुधाः // (१८.२)

अक्षौहिण्याः प्रसंख्यानं रथानां द्विजसत्तमाः / (१९.१)

संख्यागणिततत्त्वज्ञैः सहस्राण्येकविंशतिः // (१९.२)

शतान्युपरि चैवाष्टौ तथा भूयश्च सप्ततिः / (२०.१)

गजानां तु परीमाणम् एतद् एवात्र निर्दिशेत् // (२०.२)

ज्ञेयं शतसहस्रं तु सहस्राणि तथा नव / (२१.१)

नराणाम् अपि पञ्चाशच्छतानि त्रीणि चानघाः // (२१.२)

पञ्चषष्टिसहस्राणि तथाश्वानां शतानि च / (२२.१)

दशोत्तराणि षट् प्राहुर् यथावद् इह संख्यया // (२२.२)

एताम् अक्षौहिणीं प्राहुः संख्यातत्त्वविदो जनाः / (२३.१)

यां वः कथितवान् अस्मि विस्तरेण द्विजोत्तमाः // (२३.२)

You have got the "shloka" you have asked for from two sources. More sources would be available if you yourself search for. And the counting is available in English if you search for the word Akshauhini with google in many pages including Viki dictionary and VS Apte's dictionary which gives the account following Amarakosha.

अक्षौहिणी akṣauhiṇī

अक्षौहिणी [ऊहः समूहः संविकल्पज्ञानं वा सो$स्यामस्ति इनि, अक्षाणां रथानां सर्वेषामिन्द्रियाणां वा ऊहिनी; णत्वं वृद्धिश्च P.VI I.89 Vārt.] A large army consisting of 2187 chariots, as many elephants, 6561 horse, and 1935 foot. अक्षौहिणी = 1 अनीकिन्यः. अनीकिनी = 3 चम्वः. चमूः = 3 पृतनाः. पृतना = 3 वाहिन्यः. वाहिनी = 3 गणाः. गण = 3 गुल्माः. गुल्मः = 3 सेनामुखानि. सेनामुखम् = 3 पत्तयः. पत्तिः = 1 रथः + 1 हस्ती + 3 अश्वाः + 4 पदातयः.

 

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[Hnbhat B.R.]

One more chart in painting of अक्षौहिणी

 

Here is one more Chart:

http://diwali.upakram.org/2008/node/29 

[Hnbhat B.R.]

[Ajit Gargeshwari]

I came across the above verse if on searches Vacaspatyam , Sabdakalpadrumah or Mahabartha one can find more slokas

Regards
Ajit Gargesahwari

On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 2:35 PM, K.N.RAMESH <knra...@gmail.com> wrote:

knr

 

 

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[Arvind_Kolhatkar]

I attach an excel sheet giving the calculation of the total strength of men, horses and elephants in 18 akShauhiNIs that fought on both sides.  I have presumed that each chariot needs two horses and each elephant and each chariot will need two men - one to drive and the other to fight and, on this assumption, calculated the total number of  men, horses and elephants in 18 akShauhiNIs.  

This gives in all  3,93,660 elephants,  3,93,660 chariots,  11,80,980 horse riders,  19,68,300 foot soldiers,  47,23,920 total men and  19,68,300 total horses.

This creates several difficulties in visualizing whether the numbers can be real.  We know the tremendous amount of time and staff-work involved in gathering such enormous numbers of men and animals at a given time in a short space, arranging for the food for men and animals and a myriad other requirements that necessarily follow as a sequel of a war.  Even with modern means of communications and transportation this will be well-nigh impossible. Added to this consideration is also the fact that India of 3000 and odd years ago was not as populous as it today is.

I would think that when MahAbhArat went on expanding over centuries and underwent embellishments, someone gave a free rein to his imagination and put in these exaggerated and unreal numbers, which have caught the imagination of the trusting believers, just as 33 crore gods did.

The propensity of old Indian writers to weave in ever-expanding tables of numbers in their writings - witnessed in Manu's scale of time, division and subdivision of small quantities of time, classification and subclassification of Alankaras in Alankarashastra to cite a few examples - appears to be the cause for the 18 akShauhiNIs of MahAbhArata.

Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, May 16, 2012.

[Sunder Hattangadi]

A friend of mine suggested that a compilation of this thread may be added to Wikipedia by someone familiar with its operation:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akshauhini

 

 

 

Regards,

 

sunder

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[Ajit Gargeshwari]

Nothing is said about what number makes a Akshouhini in older texts

The word Akshouhini is used by panini in his sutra to mean an army




The word Akshouhini, is mentioned clearly mentioned in Ramayana to mean an army. It is also mentioned in Arth Shasta .

Please see
http://tinyurl.com/c3xramc

The word of Akshauhini  is also used in the Bhagvata and other puranas.

I am of the opinion that it was during the time of Alberuni that an exaggerated number to mean Akshouhini was in use.


http://books.google.co.in/books?id=LmojzoCC5F8C&pg=PA408&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Composition of Units here is a different opinion

There were 9 divisions in the army namely patti,sEnAmukha,gulma,gaNa,vAhini,pruthana,chamu ,anIchini ,akshauhiNi . The largest division is a Akshouhini.

Patti -  1 Elephant, 1 Chariot, 3 Horses, 5 foot Soldiers (chaturanga Sene)

sEnAmukha - Patti X 3 - 3 Elephants,3 Chariots, 9 Horses, 15 Soldiers

gulma - sEnAmukha X 3 - 9 Elephants,9 Chariots, 27 Horses, 45 Soldiers

gaNa - gulma X 3 - 27 Elephants,27 Chariots, 81 Horses, 135 Soldiers

vAhini- gaNa X 3 - 81 Elephants,81 Chariots, 243 Horses, 405 Soldiers

pruthana- vAhini X 3 - 243 Elephants,243 Chariots, 729 Horses, 1215 Soldiers

chamu- pruthana X 3 - 729 Elephants,729 Chariots, 2187 Horses, 3645 Soldiers

anIchini - chamu X 3 - 2187 Elephants,2187 Chariots, 6561 Horses, 10935 Soldiers

akshauhiNi - anIchini X 10 - 21870 Elephants,21870 Chariots, 65610 Horses, 109350 Soldiers


For a different Statistical account please

http://www.mahanbharat.net/mahabharat/the-war/statistics

About 2,000,000 infantry had gathered Let's see the army maintained in the same area in later times. In 300 BCE Chandragupta Maurya's army was an incredibly large force of 700,000 men, 9,000 elephants, and 10,000 chariots. In Ashoka's time, the army consisted of 600,000 infantry, 130,000 cavalry, thousands of chariots and elephants. Still later in 16th century, Ibrahim Lodi, the sultan of Delhi, maintained an army of 100,000.


Please  note:
Details of how many people were killed in the war is not clearly mentioned in the Mahabharata epic. Please see

http://tinyurl.com/bs8e3k2

From this it is clear that the constituents of an Akshauhini is not an exaggeration and might have been possible.


Regards
Ajit Gargeshwari

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[Virtual Worker]

I can help with adding material to Wikipedia. Please share the excel that Arvind compiled. Thanks.

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From: Sunder Hattangadi <sun...@yahoo.com>
To: "sams...@googlegroups.com" <sams...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, 17 May 2012 1:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Samskrita] Re: sloka on Akshouhini

[murthy]

I entirely agree with the view of Aravindji.

Regards

Murthy

----- Original Message -----

From: Arvind_Kolhatkar

To: sams...@googlegroups.com

Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2012 12:04 AM

Subject: [Samskrita] Re: sloka on Akshouhini

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[Hnbhat B.R.]

On Thu, May 17, 2012 at 1:46 AM, Ajit Gargeshwari <ajit.gar...@gmail.com> wrote:

Nothing is said about what number makes a Akshouhini in older texts

The word Akshouhini is used by panini in his sutra to mean an army

I don't think Panini had mentioned this word anywhere in his अष्टाध्यायी text. 

It appears only once in a वार्तिक to the best of my knowledge, as "अक्षादूहिन्यामुपसंख्यानम्" which extends the operation of वृद्धि between अक्ष+ऊहिनी, resulting in the form अक्षौहिणी which otherwise would be अक्षोहिणी by the normal rules operating in this case under the सूत्र ६।१।८६

of अष्टाध्यायी and here it has nothing to do with its meaning whether it means a unit of army with a fixed number as described in the Mahabharata text and other texts or meant as a general term used for the army which is not a mandatory condition for the grammatical operation "sandhi" in this word.

Please provide reference if you have met the occurrence by Panini mentioning the meaning. I could not find in the whole text of अष्टाध्यायी on a search in the document containing the text.

I am of the opinion that it was during the time of Alberuni that an exaggerated number to mean Akshouhini was in use.

And I am not sure about the other texts using this term to mean a generic term for army. Amara lists some of the names in the genereic names:

ध्वजिनी वाहिनी सेना पृतनानीकिनी चमूः। 
वरूथिनी बलं सैन्यं चक्रं चानीकमस्त्रियाम् ।।२-८-७८।

 

before proceeding the deployment of the force:

व्यूहस्तु बलविन्यासः -  which forms the part of अक्ष+ऊहिनी - ऊह which makes it the distinct number consisting of 10 units of अनीकिनी which is again as it can be seen is included in the generic words used for the military force in general along with two others highlighted above. By his time the term was not used as the generic term to denote force military in general or Amara might have missed which could be a wild guess work as he has included the terms generic and specific units classified in two classes in verses 78 above and in verse 80 below quoted in my previous post.  Though  his dates are uncertain but he is unlikely to have flourished before the 5th century ce. much earlier than Alberuni (973-1048 AD)

http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/itihas/alberuni.htm

With regards

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[Ajit Gargeshwari]

I agree it  is a  vartika and not a sutra.

Panini, Arthsastra, Ramayana, Amara the concept Akshauhini is not clear. But a vartika hints at the word Akshauhini.

Panini knew the four fold division of  army. There is a grammatical rule saying that the names of army-divisions when compounded take singular number, ex a combination of charioteers and horsemen was called rathikasvaroham; and the former and foot-soldiers asthikapadatam. The compounds must have had their origin from the prescribed grouping of these different units for the purpose of military operations.

Panini knows of a Bharata and Mahabharata and refers to three principal characters, Vasudeva, Arjuna (IV.3.98) and Yuddhisthira (VII.3.95)

Now lets see Mahabharata

The Army was divided into Patti, Senamukha, Gulma, Gana, Vahini, Pratana, Camu Ankini and Aksauhini. Patti meant one chariot, one elephant, three horses and three footmen. The next was senamukha, the four arms of the patti multiplied by three.  In this way  one can arrive at the figure of for Aksauhini as 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 65,610 horses and 1,09,350 foot-soldiers.

In the udyogaparva there is a different enumeration of the army units. There is a mention of sena, prtna and Vahini. Sena consists of 500 chariots, 500 elephants, 1500 horses, and 2,500 foot-men. Ten senas constituted a pratna and ten pratna one vahini (Udyoga 155, 22-24)

In Adi Parva there is a different enumeration of the army units.

Unit	Chariots	Elephants	Foot Soldiers	Horses
patti	1	1	5	3
sena-mukha	= 3 Patti 3	3	15	9
gulma	= 3 Sena-mukha 9	9	45	27
gaNa	= 3 Gulma 27	27	135	81
vaahini	= 3 Gana 81	81	405	242
pRitana	= 3 Vahini 243	243	1215	729
chamu	= 3 Pritana 729	729	3645	2187
anikini	= 3 Chamu 2187	2187	10935	6561
akshauhiNi	= 10 Anikini 21870	21870	109350	65610
18 akshauhiNi	393,660	393,660	1,968,300	1,180,980

If we consider, akshauhiNi, anikini and chamu to be one and the same then the army size comes to:

1 chamu / anikini / akshauhini	= 729 chariots; 729 elephants; 3,645 soldiers; 2,187 horses
Paandav army (7 akshauhini)	= 5,103 chariots; 5,103 elephants; 25,515 soldiers; 15309 horses
Kaurav army (11 akshauhini)	= 8,019 chariots; 8,019 elephants; 40,095 soldiers; 24,057 horses
Total (18 akshauhini)	would have about 170,000 people. (including 2 people per chariot, 3 people per elephant, and 1 rider per horse). Considering another 1000 people per akshauhini as support staff; there were about 180,000 people in Kurukeshtra. Considering that about 5% of the force was killed in the war, about 9,000 people must have been killed in the war.

These figures seem realistic. Many kings had sent 1 akshauhini force to help the Pandav / Kaurav. Kings of Sindh / Punjab / Bengal / Gujarat sending an infantary of about 3,000 is a possibility that can be considered. (As against 10,000 infantry.)

Details of how many people were killed in the war is not clearly mentioned in the Mahabharata epic. Please see

http://tinyurl.com/bs8e3k2

From this it is clear that the constituents of an Akshauhini is not an exaggeration and might have been possible.

Please note

The historicity of the Kurukshetra War is unclear. There have been a number of theories put forward

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurukshetra_War

I agree with rest of the information Dr. Bhat and Arvindji have provided.

Regards
Ajit Gargeshwari

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[Hnbhat B.R.]

I agree it  is a  vartika and not a sutra. 

Panini, Arthsastra, Ramayana, Amara the concept Akshauhini is not clear. But a vartika hints at the word Akshauhini.

Panini knows of a Bharata and Mahabharata and refers to three principal characters, Vasudeva, Arjuna (IV.3.98) and Yuddhisthira (VII.3.95)

It is the point in question whether Panini knew the word or not. But only the Vartika mentions the word,  but without any commitment about the meaning attached to it.

But Amara is in agreement with the enumerated usage as with that in Adiparva of महाभारत which also gives the same total number of components of अक्षौहिणी a Amara is certain of it. He didn't consider अनीकिनी as synonym with सेना and has separate mention of दशानिकिन्यक्षौहिणी after the common triple multiplied units up to अनीकिनी is finished. 

 

Now lets see Mahabharata

The Army was divided into Patti, Senamukha, Gulma, Gana, Vahini, Pratana, Camu Ankini and Aksauhini. Patti meant one chariot, one elephant, three horses and three footmen. The next was senamukha, the four arms of the patti multiplied by three.  In this way  one can arrive at the figure of for Aksauhini as 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 65,610 horses and 1,09,350 foot-soldiers.

This is in agreement with the account given by Amarasimha and seems to be in place as far as the total number of each given in further verses of the portion in Adiparva as I have given in my post.

 

In the udyogaparva there is a different enumeration of the army units. There is a mention of sena, prtna and Vahini. Sena consists of 500 chariots, 500 elephants, 1500 horses, and 2,500 foot-men. Ten senas constituted a pratna and ten pratna one vahini (Udyoga 155, 22-24)

Here I could not find it under the precise reference number the enumeration as you have given in the DCS data base corresponding to the number given. Unless we have some other source to concord with the enumeration that differs from the units given in Adiparva, we have to double check the source.

The account given in the table below is also in accordance with the verses cited by Amara and those in Adiparva and there is no difference.

Up to this no difference from the enumeration quoted by Amara and in the total numbers given for the अक्षौहिणी in the आदिपर्व. If it is multiplied by 18, would exactly give the above numbers in the table.

Now the question is the total number of soldiers and elephants and horses. 

There above count given counts infantry (the foot-soldiers) and cavalry (used by horse-back soldiers), and elephants in an unit. It is clear it does not consider in the above enumeration, the chariot and his rider among the soldiers number and the horses yoked in the chariots used for fighting in the unit. Excluding these the above enumeration holds good.

 

If we consider, akshauhiNi, anikini and chamu to be one and the same then the army size comes to:

1 chamu / anikini / akshauhini	= 729 chariots; 729 elephants; 3,645 soldiers; 2,187 horses
Paandav army (7 akshauhini)	= 5,103 chariots; 5,103 elephants; 25,515 soldiers; 15309 horses
Kaurav army (11 akshauhini)	= 8,019 chariots; 8,019 elephants; 40,095 soldiers; 24,057 horses
Total (18 akshauhini)	would have about 170,000 people. (including 2 people per chariot, 3 people per elephant, and 1 rider per horse). Considering another 1000 people per akshauhini as support staff; there were about 180,000 people in Kurukeshtra. Considering that about 5% of the force was killed in the war, about 9,000 people must have been killed in the war.

About this I have given the opinion of Amara, who considers चमू and अनीकिनी are used as synonyms also in addition to their use for the units of the force as given by him, for सेना which is not included in the enumeration in the आदिपर्व. So far everything in order. Only the enumeration as given by you needs checking with the original verses from the source. I could not find it in the DCS corpus. 

 

[Ajit Gargeshwari]

The edition consulted in Kumbakonam edition.  Please see the relevant extract

Thanks and Regards

Ajit Gargeshwari

[Hnbhat B.R.]

On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 5:10 PM, Ajit Gargeshwari <ajit.gar...@gmail.com> wrote:

The edition consulted in Kumbakonam edition.  Please see the relevant extract

Thanks and Regards

Ajit Gargeshwari

Thanks for the relevant extract. and there is another count also, in the next verses 28 on wards which gives another enumeration of count for the basic unit "patti" consisting of 55 soldiers, which is multiplied by 3 in subsequent units, beginning with सेनामुख, up to गण, which is said to be in ayuta numbers forming the fighters on Duryodhana's side.

On the whole this chapter makes a mess of counting while the one in Adiparva in accordance with the one given by Amara. 

Thanks for your contribution to this thread.