Agam 19 Upang 08 Niryavalika Sutra English Translation

Author(s): Dipratnasagar, Deepratnasagar
Publisher: Deepratnasagar

Page 20

Nirayaavalika-Upang-8- Chapter-1
More details about the Rath-musal battle are mentioned in Bhagavati Sutra the gist of which is as follows:--
Rath-Musal Battle- In the aforesaid aphorism, it is mentioned that for the Rathmusal battle Kunik used the eagle formation. In Bhagavati Sutra there is a mention of two great battles fought by Kunik and Chetak. Of these the Mahashilakantak battle was fought on the first day and the Rath-musal battle on the second. This war ended in defeat of King Chetak's armies and victory of King Kunik. But according to this description in Niryavalika Sutra the first ten days of the war saw the deaths of the ten brothers including Kaal Kumar. From this mention it appears that the Mahashilakantak and Rath-musal battles were fought after the first ten days of the war. Other ancient scriptures also confirm this.
As the story goes, in the first ten days of the great war the ten commanders of Kunik's army (his ten brothers) were killed by just one shot of arrow each by King Chetak. On the eleventh day it was the turn of Kunik and he had the fear of life. He thought-The arrow launched by King Chetak is unsurmountable. I will never be able to conquer him.' And he came out with a solution. He called a cease fire for three days. After a three day fast he evoked Shakrendra and Chamarendra, his friendly gods from past birth.
Shakrendra said "I cannot kill King Chetak as he is a highly valorous and righteous shravak (devout Jain). However, as a friend I will make arrangements for your security. As a gesture of friendship Shakrendra created diamond hard and impenetrable dress and armor with his divine power. By wearing it Kunik became fully protected. With his divine powers Chamarendra created two war-machines called Mahashilakantak and Rath-musal.
In the Mahashilakantak battle missiles including foliage, wood, pebbles, and rocks were launched with the divine war-machine. These missiles hit the opposing army like a great boulder (mahashila) and the fiercest of weapons of the opposition was rendered ineffective like a small thorn (kantak). In this battle eight million four hundred thousand soldiers were killed. In this battle the commander of King Chetak's army was Varun, a devout and scholarly shravak. He was the grandson of Naag and had taken an oath that he will not kill an innocent being. Varun killed the commander of Kunik's army, Vajri. Kunik himself was protected by his divine armour and King Chetak could not penetrate it with his one arrow. According to his vow, Chetak did not use another arrow.
On the second day kunik used the divine machines (Rath-musal) made in the form of automated chariots, which had neither horses nor charioteers or warriors. These chariots were fitted with maces. While moving, this chariot trampled and destroyed the opposing army with its maces in motion. This killing machine turned human beings into bloody slime covering the battle ground. In this battle nine million six hundred thousand men were annihilated. Chetak's unsurmountable arrow was wasted this day also.
Dejected by this defeat Chetak retreated to Vaishali city. Closing the city gates he went into the paushadhshala (place of stay for ascetics) and sat in meditation. Kunik could not open or break the strong gates of Vaishali. At last he resorted to deception and guile to destroy Vaishali.
In context of the size of the army the term "kodi' (koti) has been frequently used in this aphorism. Traditionally it has been translated as crore (ten million) (But in many instances this interpretation does not fit and requires more detailed analysis. At some place kodi (koti) means crore and at some other place it is used to indicate the colloquial term for
Aagam - 19 - Nirayaavalika
Compiled by - Deepratnasagar
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