The Roots of War
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Akshauhini - the ratio and number
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Articles |
 Dhuriyodhana's words reassured Jayatradha. The possibility of his being the bait leading to the death of Arjuna tempted him. He agreed to stay with Kauravas for the fourteenth day's battle.
As assured, acharya Dhrona gave him all necessary protection. He arranged the army in the wheel formation (chakra or sakada vyuha). Sakada vyuha is known to be impenetrable. He formed the padhma vyuha (lotus formation) inside the sakada vyuha. Padhma vyuha is known to be the most difficult formation to penetrate. Only Arjuna knew how to enter and exit padhma vyuha. Abhimanyu knew how to enter and did not know how to exit. That led to his death. Within these two vyuhas, he formed a needle vyuha. That is, positioning the soldiers in the shape of a needle. Jayatradha was placed within the eye of the needle. So well protected was he. The army protecting him numbered eleven
akshauhinis.
Akshauhini - the ratio and number
It is difficult for the modern mind to perceive such details. It has to be remembered that the Kaurava army consisted of 11 akshauhinis. An akshauhini was formed in the following ratio. 1 chariot : 1 elephant : 3 horse-mounted warriors : 5 infantry soldiers. One akshauhini therefore consisted of 21870 chariots; 21870 elephants; 65610 horse-mounted warriors and 109350 infantry. Multiply this number by 11 and you get the total strength of the Kaurava army. The Pandava army consisted of 7
akshauhinis.
The actual number of horses would differ, as each chariot would have a minimum of two to three horses. Therefore the number of men would also differ, as there would be a charioteer for each chariot. There would be a warrior on the elephant and a mahout. Added to this, there would be the scouts, who would keep collecting the weapons from the dead and pass them on to those who need them. There would be the Red Cross of those days, carrying the injured to safety. Therefore, the number of men and animals and vehicles occupying the area can be imagined. It must have spread over miles and miles of area. When the battle started, the movement would still have been difficult. Just imagine your driving in the plain and almost safe Anna Salai. If such a simple drive in the busy morning traffic can cause nervous strain, anxiety, boisterous, disorderly, turbulent and frayed temper, just imagine a manoeuvre through dead bodies, limbs of soldiers and animals cut and scattered, broken chariots et al.
The deadline
 It can now be seen how far away in safety was Jayatradha and how easy was the task of reaching him, amidst fighting soldiers, running horses, charging elephants, heaps and heaps of severed limbs. Arjuna should penetrate three different formations of valiant soldiers, protected by veterans like Dhrona, who was his teacher, from whom he learnt archery, just to reach
Jayatradha.
Arjuna had the barest minimum time to reach him and to beat the deadline. The battle would not start before sunrise. He had to kill Jayatradha or accept death before sunset. He had to achieve his goal within a specified limit of time of maximum twelve hours. Twelve hours is a very liberal calculation. It might have been 10 hours or so, giving allowances for morning ablutions etc.
It was Arjuna's fight against time. Deadline for once used in its real meaning. Your achievement should be within a specified time frame - or else you accept death.
Hari Krishnan
harikrishnan@vsnl.net
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