Sutra 27
स्कन्धावारनिवेशः स्कन्धावारप्रयाणम् बलव्यसनावस्कन्दकालरक्षणं कूटयुद्धविकल्पाः स्वसैन्योत्साहनं स्वबलान्यबलव्यायोगः युद्धभूमयः पत्त्यश्वरथहस्तिकर्माणि पक्षकक्षोरस्यानां बलाग्रतो व्यूहविभागः सारफल्गुबलविभागः पत्त्यश्वरथहस्तियुद्धानि दण्डभोगमण्डलासंहतव्यूहव्यूहनम् तस्य प्रतिव्यूहस्थापनं इति सांग्रामिकं दशममधिकरणम् ॥ कZ_०१.१.१२ ॥
skandhāvāra-niveśaḥ skandhāvāra-prayāṇam balavyasana-avaskanda-kāla-rakṣaṇaṃ kūṭa-yuddha-vikalpāḥ svasainyotsāhanaṃ svabala-anyabala-vyāyogaḥ yuddhabhūmayaḥ patty-aśva-ratha-hasti-karmāṇi pakṣa-kakṣa-urasyānāṃ balāgrato vyūha-vibhāgaḥ sāra-phalgubala-vibhāgaḥ patty-aśva-ratha-hasti-yuddhāni daṇḍa-bhoga-maṇḍalā-saṃhata-vyūha-vyūhanam tasya prativyūha-sthāpanaṃ iti sāṃgrāmikaṃ daśamam adhikaraṇam
“(The topics are:) establishing a military camp and marching from the camp; safeguarding the time of vulnerability of an army and protection against sudden raids; options for covert/irregular warfare; encouraging one’s own troops; assessing the relative strengths of one’s own forces and the enemy’s; types of battlefields; the functions of infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants; the division of battle-formations at the front into wings, flanks, and the center; classification into core and auxiliary forces; the conduct of battles by infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants; arranging combined formations such as the daṇḍa, bhoga, maṇḍala, and saṃhata; and establishing counter-formations against them—this is the tenth book, the Sāṃgrāmika (Science of War).”},{
FAQs
To define the operational scope of state warcraft: how a ruler should organize, move, protect, motivate, and deploy an army, including the use of deception and counter-formations, to secure victory and thereby protect the state’s security and prosperity.
It functions like a defense doctrine table-of-contents: campaign basing and movement, risk windows (vulnerability management), counter-raid security, morale and cohesion, comparative force assessment, terrain analysis, combined-arms roles, and adaptive counter-deployment—concepts mirrored in modern military planning, civil-military logistics, and national security strategy.
No single official is named; the implied duty of the ruler and commanders is to ensure disciplined camp establishment and marching, protect the force during vulnerable periods, authorize and control covert/irregular options, sustain troop morale, evaluate relative strengths, select terrain appropriately, employ combined arms effectively, and design formations and counter-formations suited to the enemy.