Yasastilaka and Indian Culture

SR No.: 001609
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Krishnakant Handiqui
Publisher: Jain Sanskruti Samrakshak Sangh Solapur
Publication Year: 1968
Total Pages: 566
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Story, Literature, & Culture
File Size: 16 MB

Page 130

5. YASASTILAKA AS A SOCIO POLITICAL RECORD
111
delight in momonts of joy: what other vehicle is there in the world, comparable to them?
पुरः प्रत्यक्पक्ष भ्रमिभिरभिहन्तुं व्यवसिते गतैः सर्वैर्गर्वात् समरसमये सिन्धुरपतौ । विदीर्ण मातङ्गैस्तुरगनिवहैश्चापि दलितं रथैः प्रास्तं पत्रैः पिशितकवलीभूतमचिरात् ॥
When, at the time of battle, a mighty elephant proudly begins to charge, stepping to and fro, and turning to the right and to the left, with all possible movements, the foeman's elephants are ere long pierced, the horses crushed, the chariots scattered, and the infantry reduced to pulp. The speed of elephants is praised in Yasastilaka 3. 309, and Somadeva, the writer on polity, goes as far as to offer salutation to elephants (2. 169): सामोद्भवाय शुभलक्षणलक्षिताय दिव्यात्मने सकलदेव निकेतनाय । कल्याणमङ्गलमहोत्सवकारणाय तुभ्यं नमः करिवराय वराय नित्यम् ॥
A large number of technical terms appertaining to elephant lore is used in Books II and III. In the latter Book Somadeva enumerates the different methods of treatment applied to rutting elephants,' and gives the names of certain kinds of elephants and the particular states of intoxication to which they are subject. For example,
Names of elephants
Vasumatitilaka Pattavardhana Uddhatankusa
Paracakra-pramardana Ahitakula-kālānala
Carcarivatamsa
Vijayasekhara
States of intoxication
Samjāta-tilakā Ārdra-kapolikā Adhonibandhini
Gandhacāriņi
Krodhini
Ativartini
Sambhinna-madamaryādā
The above details are in our work reported to the king by an army commander; and elephant-lore, like the science of horses, was regarded as an auxiliary branch of statecraft in view of the important part played by elephants in warfare.
Like elephants, horses are also praised for their utility in war, and mention is made of various characteristics of efficient chargers. Particularly good are the well-trained ones with well-proportioned, symmetrical and compact limbs (2. 206). Good horses have large foreheads, mouths depressed on the outside, smooth skins, stout shoulders, long
1 'सोसाळंहणसं त्रयन्यास्तार मुखवर्धनकटवर्धनकटशोधनप्रति भेदनपवर्धन वर्णकर गन्धकरोद्दीपनहासनाविनिवर्तनप्रभेद मदोपचा रोपदेश बिशारद
P. 495.
2 ergantner: angf@xmı qâft: *: car aftaqı: ageregean 11.