When Prince Varchaswa entered his study room, Princess Khyaati and Princess Vaibhavee were waiting for him. They greeted him and then proceeded to take their place. It was after all an interaction between a Legendary Awakened Mage and his disciples.
Varchaswa then begin to chant Mantras related to Lord Ganesha and Goddess Sarasvatee. Shortly after, he started to teach the two Princesses about the Ancient Divine Weapons mentioned in the Ancient Texts.
"The Art of war has been described in detail in the Ancient Texts. The Ancient Texts are classified into 6 types by the scholars. They are Shruti, Smriti, Puraana, Itihaasa, Aagama and Sidhdhhanta. Some scholars consider the 7th type Neeti as well. These manuscripts of these texts are found to be written in the Deva-Vaanee language of the Devanagaree Script. The language was originally called Samskrita, but later misspelt as Sanskrita.
I will talk about the details of these 6 types some other day. For today as I told you before, we will discuss mainly about the Ancient Divine Weapons."
"Ok. Though I am curious about the scriptures, I can wait a few more days.", thought Khyaati, the younger sister of Prince Varchaswa.
Varchaswa continued, "Many ancient texts describe the Art of War, Formations and Strategies which include these Ancient Divine Weapon.
Rig Veda considered to be the oldest surviving text, describes the fight between the Sura King Indra and the Asura Vrtra, in which Indra uses 'Vajra' a Divine Weapon to defeat Vrtra. To my knowledge, this was the first mention of a Divine Weapon with its Origin described in detail.
However, we will only focus on Dhanurveda one of the 4 Upvedas, Aagneya Purana sometimes called as Agni Purana and the two Itihaasa – Raamaayana and Mahaabhaarata.
It is to be noted that the word 'Itihaasa' is obtained by combining the words 'Iti Haa Sa' which literally mean 'As it Happened'. Hence these two ancient texts are the two historical records of Tretaa-Yuga and Dwaapara-Yuga respectively. These four ancient Texts the art of War in complete detail – formatting of army units, theory of war ethics, creation and usage of weapons etc.
For example, they even describe the body posture including how to sit and hold the arrows including the one used by the ancient archer Arjuna to aim at the eye of the revolving fish by looking at its reflection in the water. Similarly, they describe in detail, the formation of the Army unit led by Raama, which destroyed the Southern Wall of Lankan Army. It is called the Tri-Shoola Vyuha, literally the Trident Formation.
"Isn't that the same formation you taught us to counter the Layered Phalanx Formation?", a curious Vaibhavee, the Princess of Sinhaalaa Kingdom asked.
"Indeed. Not only that. The 'Chakra Vyuha' Formation that that you learnt was obtained from Mahaabhaarata. Its variations were used by the Kaurava Army Commander-in-Chief Dronaacharya on the 13th, 14th and 15th day of the Kurukshetra War."
"Did you get the formation strategy from it?", Princess Khyaati asked.
"Yes. Its operation, including placement of warriors and different army units is mentioned in great details. It was easy to understand and replicate it."
"It's amazing and sad at the same time that people remember the stories but never learnt the science and art these ancient texts have.", Vaibhavee mumbled.
"Due to the decline in the number of scholars of Samskrita, the real information could not reach the masses. But there have been archers who learnt it even in foreign nations. Away from our Maanasa Continent, towards West lies the Huma Continent.
Like our Maanasa continent, there are several Kingdoms and a few Empires there. One of them is called the Dutch Kingdom. One of their expert Archers, Mars Anderson learnt and replicated these."
"Even foreigners outside Bhaarata continent have learnt it?" a surprised Khyaati asked.
"A lot of foreign Universities have done research in the Ancient Texts, so it is natural that some have tried. However, their understanding is partial, and they lack certain crucial information hence they cannot do it effectively. For example, the texts describe the techniques to create and use the Ancient Divine Weapons, but you need a certain level of Yogic Power and understanding of the Sidhdhaantas, the natural principles of the World."
"So not just anyone can use it, even if they have the basic knowledge?"
"Of course, can you build a castle or create a dress just by reading about its creation process once? You need training and practice for a certain period of time. Also, can you learn about the Science of another Kingdom with partial knowledge of their Language? Translations are not the real thing as many important information is lost."
"True. But then how can we learn that Knowledge?" Khyaati asked.
Varchaswa smiled and said, "You do not need to worry about it. I will tell you. As I said, the ancient texts clearly mention the Science, including Mantra, Tantra and Yantra required for creating and operating the Ancient Divine Weapons. I am telling you about those because I want you to be able to use them against the Demons."
Both Khyaati and Vaibhavee were excited at the prospect of wielding the divine weapons.
"For example, the following shloka describes the Brahma-Asthra, Brahmadanda-Asthra, Brahmashira-Asthra, Paashupath-Asthra, Vaayvya-Asthra, Aagneya-Asthra and the Narsimha-Asthra.
अथास्त्राणि प्रक्ष्यामि सावधानो:अवधारय।
ब्रह्मास्त्रं प्रथमं द्वितीयं ब्रह्मदण्डकं।।
ब्रह्मशिरस्तृतीयं चतुर्यं पाशुपतं मतं।
वायव्यं पंचमं प्रोक्तमाग्नेय स्मृतं।।
नरसिहं सप्तम: तेषां भेदाह्मनन्तका:।
ससंहारं साविज्ञेयं शृणु गाधे ! यथातथं।। "
Amazed at the Shloka, Vaibhavee asked, "Do the scriptures describe the exact Mantra required to operate the individual Divine Weapons?"
"They do. But there are a few things you need to learn first like the classifications of Weapons and their types. Based on Powers, they are divided into two main types – Shasthra and Asthra. Normal weapons are called Shasthra. Magic Weapons are called Asthra. These need Yogic and Spiritual powers. Asthra created by Divine Beings which contain a trace of their Divine Powers are called Divya-Asthra, the Divine Weapons."
He continued, "For your understanding, I will classify the Divine Weapons as Elementary, Advanced and Legendary. It will be easier to understand that way."
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Chapter End.