Agni Purana — Raja-dharma, Shloka 64
Rājanīti (Statecraft): Ṣaḍvidha-bala, Vyūha-vidhāna, and Strategic Warfare
सारं द्विगुणसारेण फल्गुसारेण पीडयेत् संहतञ्च गजानीकैः प्रचण्डैर् दारयेद्बलं
sāraṃ dviguṇasāreṇa phalgusāreṇa pīḍayet saṃhatañca gajānīkaiḥ pracaṇḍair dārayedbalaṃ
ရန်သူ၏ခိုင်မာသောစစ်တန်းကို မိမိဘက်က နှစ်ဆအင်အားဖြင့် ဖိနှိပ်အနိုင်ယူရမည်။ အင်အားနည်းသောတန်းကို မိမိ၏ စည်းကမ်းတကျ စုစည်းထားသောတပ်ဖြင့် ချေမှုန်းရမည်။ ထို့အတူ စုဝေးနေသောရန်သူတပ်ကို ကြမ်းတမ်းသော ဆင်တပ်ခွဲများဖြင့် ခွဲထုတ်ကာ အင်အားကို ချိုးဖျက်ရမည်။
Lord Agni (narrating Dhanurveda material, traditionally to Vasiṣṭha)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Dhanurveda","secondary_vidya":"Arthashastra","practical_application":"Force-ratio planning and combined-arms tactics: match enemy strength with superior mass; use elephant corps to rupture dense enemy concentrations.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"Procedure","entry_title":"Bala-prayoga: Overmatching force and elephant-wedge rupture","lookup_keywords":["bala-vyuhabheda","dvi-guṇa-sāra","saṃhata-bala","gajānīka","darayeta"],"quick_summary":"Overpower strong enemy arrays with at least double strength; crush weaker arrays with a tightly consolidated force. Break amassed enemy strength by splitting it using fierce elephant divisions."}
Weapon Type: Elephant corps (gajānīka) as shock arm; massed infantry formations
Concept: Yukti (pragmatic means): proportionate application of strength and appropriate arm for the tactical problem
Application: Operational planning: allocate reserves, choose shock arm (elephants) against dense targets, avoid under-committing against strong formations.
Khanda Section: Dhanurveda (Ancient Indian Military Science / Battle Tactics)
Primary Rasa: vira
Secondary Rasa: raudra
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A battlefield where a compact allied formation presses a weaker enemy line, while a larger allied host doubles a strong enemy array; fierce elephant divisions charge to split a dense enemy mass, creating a visible breach.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala temple mural style, flat yet vivid colors, stylized elephants with ornate caparisons charging into a packed enemy vyuha, commanders gesturing to consolidate troops, dramatic red-ochre battlefield palette.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting, gold-leaf highlights on elephant ornaments and armor, central breach scene with elephants splitting enemy ranks, symmetrical composition showing double-strength host behind, rich jewel tones.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting style, fine linework illustrating tactical diagram-like clarity: compact formation pressing, elephants forming a wedge to split the mass, labeled troop blocks suggested through subtle banners.","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, detailed ranks and individual faces, dust clouds, elephants pushing through a dense infantry square, officers on horseback directing a doubled line, intricate armor and textiles."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"epic","suggested_raga":"Bhairav","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"instructional"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: दारयेद्बलं = दारयेत् बलम्; प्रचण्डैर् = प्रचण्डैः (विसर्ग-लोप/रेफ); संहतञ्च = संहतम् च.
Related Themes: Agni Purana Dhanurveda sections on vyūha-bheda and gajānīka deployment (same khanda, surrounding verses)
FAQs
This verse teaches Dhanurveda tactics: match strong enemy formations with superior (double) strength, suppress weaker formations with compact forces, and use elephant-divisions to rupture densely massed troops.
Alongside theology and ritual, the Agni Purana preserves practical statecraft and war-science; this verse is a concise battlefield rule for force-allocation and the tactical use of the elephant corps to break formations.
Within a dharmic kingship framework, disciplined and proportionate use of force is implied: victory is sought through strategy and organization rather than indiscriminate violence, aligning warfare with rajadharma (the ruler’s duty).