Hinduism: Kurukshetra

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Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra is the name of a city in the present-day Indian state of Haryana. The name literally means

"Land of the Kurus" after the famous Kuru vansha (clan), but is also sometimes referred to as Dharam Kshetra meaning the "Land of Righteousness".

It purports to be the site of the Kurukshetra war, described in the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. Nevertheless, this place holds inestimable importance in Hinduism as this is where the Bhagavad Gita ("The Song Celestial") was recited to Arjuna amidst the battle field, just before the great war of Mahabharata.

A few kilometeres from Kurukshetra is the village, Amin where there are remnants of a fort and it is said to be Abhimanyu's fort.

Thanesar, a historical town is located adjacent to Kurukshetra city. "Kurukshetra" is in fact the name of a mythological battlefield, where the Mahabharata war was waged, the actual location of which is impossible to confirm. Local hearsay identifies the legendary "Kurukshetra" with a nearby obscure hamlet, and with the active abetment of the state government, it is presently experiencing a tourist boom.


In some ancient Hindu texts, the boundaries of Kurukshetra correspond roughly to the state of Haryana. Thus according to the Taittiriya Aranyaka 5.1.1., the Kurukshetra region is south of Turghna (Srughna/Sugh in Sirhind, Punjab), north of Khandava (Delhi and Mewat region), east of Maru (=desert) and west of Parin.


Mahabharat states that the war lasted eighteen days during which vast armies from all over ancient India fought along the sides of the two rivals. The importance given to the narration of this war is evident from the fact that while the duration entire story of the epic lasts centuries dealing with a number of generations of the warring families, the narration of the war forming more than a quarter of the book deals with the events of a mere eighteen days.

Much of the narration describes the individual battles of the various heroes of both sides, the battle-field deaths of some of the prominent heroes, the military formations employed on each day by both armies, the war diplomacies, meetings and discussions among the heroes and commanders before the commencement of war on each day, the weapons used, etc. The chapters (Parvas) dealing with the war, from chapter six to ten, are considered amongst oldest in the entire Mahabharata.

Bhagavad Gita, a sacred text of Hindu philosophy, is considered a later addition to Mahabharata is the conversation between the Pandava Arjuna and Krishna arising out of Arjuna's reluctance to fight members of his own family.

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Bhishma's havoc

When the battle commenced, Bhishma went through the Pandava army and wreaked havoc wherever he went. Abhimanyu, Arjuna's son, seeing this went straight at Bhishma, defeated Bhishma's bodyguards and directly attacked the commander of the Kaurava forces.

The Pandavas suffered numerous losses and were defeated at the end of the first day. Virata's sons Uttara and Sweta were slain by Shalya and Bhishma. Krishna consoled the distraught Yudhisthira saying that eventually victory would be his

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Arjuna-Bhishma duel

The second day of the war commenced with a confident Kaurava army facing the Pandvas. Arjuna, realising that something needed to be done quickly to reverse the Pandava losses, decided that he must try and kill Bhishma. Krishna skillfully located Bhishma's chariot and steered Arjuna toward Bhishma.

Arjuna tried to engage Bhishma in a duel, but the Kaurava soldiers placed around Bhishma to protect him attacked Arjuna to try and prevent him from directly engaging Bhishma. Arjuna and Bhishma fought a fierce battle and it raged for hours. Drona and Dhristadyumna similarly engaged in a duel and Drona broke Dhristadyumna's bow numerous times. Bhima intervened and rescued Dhristadyumna.

Duryodhana sent the Kalinga forces to attack Bhima and most of them lost their lives at his hands. Bhishma immediately came to relive the battered Kalinga forces.Satyaki, who was assisting Bhima, shot at Bhishma's charioteer and killed him.

Bhishma's horses, with no one to control them, bolted carrying Bhishma away from the battle field. The Kaurava army had suffered great losses at the end of the second day.

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Shri Krishna's anger

On the third day Bhishma arranged the Kaurava forces in the formation of an eagle with himself leading from the front while Duryodhana's forces protecting the rear. Bhishma wanted to be sure of avoiding any mishap. The Pandavas countered this by using the crescent formation with Bhima and Arjuna at the head of the right and the left horns respectively.

The Kauravas concentrated their attack on Arjuna's position. Arjuna's chariot was soon covered with arrows and javelin. Arjuna with amazing skills built a fortification around his chariot with the unending stream of arrows from his bow.


Abhimanyu and Satyaki combined to defeat the Gandhara forces of Shakuni. Bhima and his son Ghatotkacha attacked Duryodhana in the rear. Bhima's arrows hit Duryodhana who swooned in his chariot. His charioteer immediately drove them out of danger.

Duryodhana's forces however saw their leader fleeing the battlefield soon scattered. Bhishma seeing this came to them and soon restored order, Duryodhana soon came back to lead the army. He was however angry at Bhishma at what he saw as leniency towards the five Pandava brothers and spoke harshly at his commander.

Bhishma, stung by this unfair charge, fell on the Pandava army with renewed vigour. It was as if there were more than one Bhishma on the field. The Pandava army soon began to retreat in chaos.

Arjuna and Krishna attacked Bhishma trying to restore order. Arjuna and Bhishma again engaed in a fierce duel, however Arjuna's heart was not in the battle as he did not like the idea of attacking his grandfather.

Krishna became very angry at this stalemate and said,

"I cannot stand this any longer, I shall kill Bhishma myself,"

...and took his discus and ran towards Bhishma. Arjuna ran after Krishna and prevented him from engaging in the battle. They both resumed their attack on the Kaurava forces and killed numerous soldiers.

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Bhima's valour

The fourth day battle was noted for the valour shown by Bhima. Bhishma commanded the Kaurava army to move on the offensive from the outset. Arjuna's son Abhimanyu was surrounded by a number of Kaurava princes and was attacked.


Bhima appeared on the scene at this juncture with his mace aloft and started attacking the Kauravas. Duryodhana seeing this sent a huge force of elephants at Bhima. When Bhima saw the mass of elephants approaching, he got down from his chariot and attacked them single handedly with his iron mace. They scattered and stampeded into the Kaurava forces killing many.

Duryodhana seeing this ordered an all-out attack on Bhima. Bhima withstood all that was thrown at him and attacked Duryodhana's brothers and killed eight of them. He was however soon struck by an arrow on the chest and sat down in his chariot dazed.


Ghatotkacha seeing this, fell upon the Kaurava army in anger. Bhishma realizing this no one could stand against the angry Ghatotkacha, sounded retreat. Duryodhana was distraught at the loss of his brothers.

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Continuing carnage

Duryodhana, overwhelmed by sorrow at the loss of his brothers, went to Bhishma at the end of day four of the battle, and asked his commander how could Pandavas facing a superior force against them, still prevail and win.

Bhishma replied saying that the Pandavas had justice on their side and advised Duryodhana to seek peace. When the battle resumed on the fifth day, the slaughter continued.

Pandava army again suffered against Bhishma's attacks. Bhima was at the head of the Pandava army with Shikhandi and Dhristadyumna at his sides. Satyaki bore the brunt of Drona's attacks and soon could not withstand it.

Bhima went to his aid leaving Shikhandi to attack Bhishma. As Shikhandi was once a woman, Bhishma refused to fight him and turned away. This was to prove to be cause for Bhishma's ultimate death in the battlefield.

Elsewhere Satyaki destroyed a large army sent to attack him. A battle soon ensued between him and Bhurisravas and Satyaki was soon in distress. Bhima soon drove by and rescued Satyaki. Arjuna fought and killed thousands of soldiers sent by Duryodhana to attack him.

The unimaginable carnage continued during the ensuing days of the battle. The sixth day was especially marked by a prodigious slaughter. Drona caused immeasurable loss of life on the Pandava side. The formations of both the armies were broken.

On the eighth day Bhima killed eight of Dhritarashtra's sons. Arjuna's son Iravan was killed by the Kauravas.


On the ninth day Krishna once again overcome by anger at the apparent inability of Arjuna to defeat Bhishma, rushed towards the Kaurava commander. Arjuna again stopped Krishna.

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Bhishma's end

On the tenth day the Pandavas, unable to withstand Bhishma's prowess, decided to put Shikhandi in front of Bhishma, as Bhishma has taken a vow not to attack Shikhandi as he was once a woman, Shikhandi's arrows fell on Bhishma without hindrance.

Arjuna positioned himself behind Shikhandi, thus protecting himself from Bhishma's attack, aimed his arrows at the weak points on Bhishma's armour. Soon with arrows sticking from every part of his body, the great warrior fell from his chariot. His body did not touch the ground held aloft by the arrowheads from his body.

Both the Kauravas and Pandavas gathered around him. On Bhishma's request Arjuna placed three arrows under Bhisma's head to support it. Bhishma would live on for a few more days and see the destruction of the Kaurava forces

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Attempts to capture Yudhisthira

With Bhishma down, Karna returned to the battle field, much to Duryodhna's joy. He made Drona the supreme commanders of the Kaurava forces.

Karna and Duryodhana wanted to capture Yudhisthira alive. Killing Yudhisthira in battle would only enrage the Pandavas more, whereas with Yudhisthira as a hostage would be strategically more useful to them.

Drona formulated his battle plans for the eleventh day to this aim. He cut down Yudhisthira's bow and the Pandava army feared that their leader was taken prisoner. Arjuna came on the scene and with a flood of arrows made Drona retreat.

With his attempts to capture Yudhisthira failed, Drona confided to Duryodhna that as long as Arjuna was around. The king of Trigartadesa with his brother fighting on the Kaurava's side made a pact that they would kill Arjuna or die.

They went into the battle field on the twelfth day and challenged Arjuna. Arjuna gave them a fierce fight in which the brothers fell dead after fighting a brave fight. Drona continued to try and capture Yudhisthira. The Pandavas however faught hard and delivered severe blows to the Kaurava army.

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Historicity of Kurukshetra war

Attempts have been made to find the exact date for the occurrence of this war based on astronomical and literary evidence from Mahabharata and later literature. There have been a number of theories put forward:

Dr. S. Balakrishna concluded a date of 2559 BCE using consecutive lunar eclipses.
Prof. I.N. Iyengar concluded a date of 1478 BCE using double eclipses and Saturn+Jupiter conjunctions.

Dr. B.N. Achar states a date of 3067 BCE using planetary positions listed in the Mahabharata.
Shri P.V. Holey states a date of November 13, 3143 BCE using planetary positions and calendar systems.

Dr. P.V.Vartak calculates a date of October 16, 5561 BCE using planetary positions(The Scientific Dating of the Mahabharat War).

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DATING THE KURUKSHETRA WAR

Scholars from across the world came together, for the first time, in an attempt to establish the 'Date of Kurukshetra War based on astronomical data.' Undoubtedly, it was an amazing collation of information presented in a colloquium, held on January 5 and 6, 2003 at the Mythic Society, Bangalore. The colloquium was jointly organized by The Mythic Society, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts - Southern Regional Centre and Sir Babasaheb (Umakanth Keshav) Apte Smarak Samithi Trust.

Inaugurating the two day session, Dr. Raja Ramanna, Member of Parliament and eminent nuclear scientist, emphasized that the 'best clock for dating was the sky itself and the position of stars.' He added that 'research and scientific theory should be questioned although he found that many homes and libraries hampered the progress of research by keeping ancient manuscripts to themselves.'





Dr. Kalyan Raman clarified the purpose of the colloquium in his introductory remarks. Well-known historian, Dr. Suryanath Kamath, in his Presidential address explained the objective as an ' exploration of the authenticity of dates using planetary software and textual evidences containing over 150 references.' He felt that 'chronology was most important for the history of any society since history without chronology is like a body without a skeleton.'

He also gave a detailed explanation of the development of the Mythic library and the collections.
The other dignitaries present on the dais were Dr. M.K.L.N. Sastry - Hon. Secretary, Mythic Society, Prof. P.V. Krishna Bhat - Hon. Coordinator, IGNCA-SRC and Shri K. Narahari - Managing Trustee, Apte Trust. The opening session set the tone for the mind stirring sessions with various interpolations found in the Mahabharata. Several scholars put forth their perception and calculated derivations.

Dr. S. Balakrishna (NASA, USA) proved the occurrence of 'two eclipses in (a span of) 13 days prior to Mahabharata'. Analysing the astronomical possibility of Vyasa's statement in Bhishma Parva "Amavasya occured on the 13th day. Two eclipses in a month, on the thirteenth day." he presented the data of eclipses during the period 3300 BCJ (Before the Calendar of Julian Ceaser) to 700 BCJ visible at Kuruxethra, using Lodestar Pro software.

He stated the possibility of 672 eclipse pairs, ten 'thirteen day lunar first' eclipse pairs and concluded that 2559 BC eclipse pair was nearest to the text of Mahabharata.

Prof. R.N. Iyengar (I.I.Sc., Bangalore) systematically dealt with "Internal consistency of eclipses and planetary positions in Mahabharata". Verifying all double eclipses of 501-3000 B.C. and when Satur + Jupiter were near Vishaka, he concluded that 1478 B.C. was the most likely year of the war.

Dr. B.N. Narahari Achar (Dept. of Physics, University of Memphis, U.S.A.) gave a brief description of various available planetary software, a review of the works of astrophysicists Kochhar, Siddharth and astronomers, Sengupta and Srinivasa Raghavan and other astronomical references in the epic.

He critically examined the limitations and the reliability of simulations and concluded that the astronomical events in the Mahabharata pointed to 3000 B.C.E. (Before Common Era)* and simulation of events to 3067 B.C.E., identical to the one given by Raghavan.

Speaking on 'The date of Mahabharata War with reference to Bhishmashtami', Dr. Kalyan Rama (Chennai) validated the ground truth of River Saraswati of Vedic times that established the historicity of the Mahabharata.

Dr. Shambhu Shastry (Franklin, USA) and Dr. Venkateswara Reddy dealt with 'Natural cycles in the Solar System and Chaturyuga Cycles.' Dr. Kalyan Raman (Chennai) validated the ground truth of River Saraswati of Vedic times that established the historicity of the Mahabharata.

Dr. Shambu Shastry (Franklin, USA) and Dr. Venkateswara Reddy dealt with 'Natural cycles in the Solar System and Chaturyuga Cycles.' Dr. Shambhu Shastry showed that the chatuyuga and manavantara schemes of Hindu chronology are directly from natural astronomical cycles and based on this, he stated, that the human race is about five million years old.

He concluded that this helped demythologize the Mahabharata and Ramayana and placed them in the last descending Chaturyuga segment over a time span of not more than 6000 years.

Shri P.V. Holey (Nagpur) was of the opinion that the war began on the 13th day of November 3143 B.C. He sourced this to crucial events with planetary positions after a comparative study of astronomical dates based on nakshatra, the Julian and Gregorian systems.

On the second day, Dr. Mohan Gupta (Ujjain) dealt with Puranic and Astronomical evidences. Based on genealogical and astronomical calculations he concluded that 17th October 1952 B.C. Thursday, Marga Krsna Amavasya kali 1157 or shakapurva 2029, Julian year 2762 as the date when the Mahabharata war began. Dr. S.R. Rao based his derivation on archaeological evidence obtained from onshore and offshore excavations conducted in Dwaraka, Bet Dwarka and in the Kurukshetra region and found 1900-1700 B.C. as acceptable.

Dr. N.S. Rajaram (Bangalore) expressed a need to exercise caution while interpreting astronomicla statements and that it should take into account both the literary evolution and interpolated passages. He felt 3100m B.C. had the best astronomical support. Shri K.V.

Ramakrishna Rao (Thiruvananthapuram), felt that due to periodical corrections in Indian astronomical works, changes had crept it and without the significance of the two ears - kali and saka - dates cannot be determined, Dr. M.V. Subba Rao (Secundrabad) gave astrological references of Sri Krishna and felt that the dates could be calcutated from the day of Ktrishna's birth. Shri M.V. Narasimhan (Mysore) spoke of a research methodology using the shastric and the scientific inputs. Referring to Pulakesin's inscription and comet at Nagercoil he concluded 3100 B.C. as the year of the war.

Despite the inspiring deliberations, it was observed that further resource data from varied fields was required to calibrate supportive evidence. Thus the concluding session unanimously drew a plan of action.

Dr. S. Nagaraju reviewed the colloquium with regard to the two objectives set at the beginning - to establish internal consistency with respect to dates and chronology mentioned in the Mahabharata and whether it could be proved using planetary software and secondly, if a correct date of the Mahabharata could be derived from the 150 astronomical references and have a sheet anchor of chronology of pre-Buddhist India?

He said that at least four papers dealt with the problem directly and clarified a non-discrepancy with respect to the dates given. This is he felt was the most important contribution of the colloquium. But a problem he sighted was, out of the one-lakh odd sholkas, to distinguish what was added at what time. In this context he suggested that more interactions might be had with people who had knowledge of geography and other related areas of study.

Secondly, he felt that the dating of the Mahabharata war could not be done merely on the basis of astronomy alone. Since there are a number of texts one should find out the correct text and establish a critical edition giving all details.

Dr. R. Subramaniam in his observations also agreed that there was a need to develop a critical editions of the verses with interpretations in consensus with astronomy, history, archaeology, Sanskrit astrology and mathematics. He suggested that verifications should take into account occurrence of double eclipse, Saturn in Rohini and the use of all available software and data. Another valid point he raised was the absence of direct reference to winter solstice in the Mahabharata. Once that is available it was felt that 'everything could be nailed.'

'Where do we go from here?' Answering the self-query Dr. Kalyan Raman voiced the common desire to 'trash Western Indological work done with motivation and instead rewrite Indian history.' The fundamental task would bring to light traditional works which can be achieved in a series of colloquiums. Truth, he felt, should be perceived in terms of our national heritage and his colloquium had established the reliability of this tool.

The Chairperson, Prof. K.I. Vasu addressed the various issues discussed and surmized that the Mahabharata could be 'considered a historical document'.

- Report from Southern Regional Centre