Saturday, 25 November 2023

Did the Daśarājñá or the Battle of the Ten Kings really happen?

 



There is a mention of Battle of the Ten Kings (Dāśarājñá yuddhá) in Rig Veda.  

Most of the Western Indologists/translators misunderstood the narration of The Battle of the Ten Kings (Dāśarājñá yuddhá), from the Rig Veda.  Their understanding of the above Battle of the Ten Kings (Dāśarājñá yuddhá) is as follows:

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The Battle of the Ten Kings (Sanskritदाशराज्ञ युद्धromanized: Dāśarājñá yuddhá) is a battle, first alluded to in the 7th Mandala of the Rigveda (RV), between a king of the Bharatas and a confederation of tribes. It resulted in a decisive victory for the Bharatas and subsequent formation of the Kuru polity. It is possible that the Battle of the Ten Kings, mentioned in the Rigveda, may have "formed the 'nucleus' of story" of the Kurukshetra War, though it was greatly expanded and modified in the Mahabharata's account.

The first phase of the battle took place on the banks of the river Ravi (then Parusni) near Manusa, west of Kurukshetra. The Bharata King and their priest are respectively mentioned as Sudas Paijavana and Vasistha, in the Rig Veda; however the names change in Samaveda and Yajurveda Samhitas. The principal antagonist is doubtful[b] and names of the participating tribes are difficult to retrieve, in light of the phonological deformations of their names. Plausible belligerents of the tribal union include (in order) — Purus (erstwhile master-tribe of Bharatas), Yadu (probably commanded by Turvasa), Yaksu (relatively unimportant or a pun for Yadu), Matsyas, Druhyus, Pakthas, Bhalanas, Alinas, Vishanins, Sivas, Vaikarna, and Anu.

Though seemingly an unequal battle, going by the numbers (this aspect is highlighted multiple times in the hymns), Sudas decisively won against the tribal alliance by strategic breaching of a dyke on the river thereby drowning most (?) of the opponents. This sudden change in fortunes is attributed to the benevolence and strategizing of Indra, the patron-God of Bharatas, whose blessings were secured by Vasistha's poetics.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ten_Kings)

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In the 14th century, Sāyana (Sāyaṇācārya), who studied at the Sringeri monastery and held the post of a Minister and subsequently prime minister in Bukka Raya's court of the Vijayanagara Empire, wrote an exhaustive commentary on the complete text of the Rigveda in his book Rigveda Samhita. 

This book was translated from Sanskrit to English by Max Müller in the year 1856. H.H. Wilson also translated this book into English as Rigveda Sanhita in the year 1856. Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith, Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton and others also translated the Rig Veda into English.

Those Western Indologists viewed and tried to understand the content of Rig Veda in their Biblical perspective.  Their myopic perspective of Rig Veda did not allow them to think beyond their narrow understanding of Spirituality.  Abstract thinking of Rig Vedic rishis was beyond their comprehension.

The Indian writers, who followed the works of Western Indologists, simply followed their way of thinking also.  Very few Indians like Shri Aurobindo Ghosh followed their own instincts.

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It is in fact, a spiritual battle of every human being against ten kings or ten (10) strong adversaries, one you fight in order to achieve the Shiva/SELF REALISED state.  The Rig Vedic rishis narrated this battle in every human being, in an esoteric manner, as The Battle of the Ten Kings (Dāśarājñá yuddhá).

The ten (10) strong adversaries are

·         5 jnanendriyas or "sense organs" – ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose and

·         5 karma indriyas - Vak (organ of speech), Pani (hands), Pada (feet), Upashtam (organ of generation) and Payu or Guda (anus, the organ of excretion).

In yogic thought the mind is known as the sixth sense organ, along with the five sense organs: ears, nose, skin, eyes and tongue, through which we receive and perceive impressions.

Swami Sivananda Saraswati explains that the mind and the Indriyas or sense organs are connected, in that the sense organs are an extension of the mind. "...the mind is fed by the Indriyas and cannot exist without them. If you have controlled the indriyas you have controlled the mind.

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Let us consider Rig Veda 7.33.3, where the battle of Ten kings or ten adversaries with human being, was described in an esoteric sense.

एवेन्नु कं सिन्धुमेभिस्ततारेवेन्नु कं भेदमेभिर्जघान

एवेन्नु कं दाशराज्ञे सुदासं प्रावदिन्द्रो ब्रह्मणा वो वसिष्ठाः

In the same manner was he, (Sudāsa) enabled by them easily to cross the Sindhu river; in the same manner, through them he easily slew his foe; so in like manner, Vasiṣṭhas, through your prayers, did Indra defend Sudāsa in the war with the ten kings.

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So it is battle of everyone to be fought with one’s own Indriyas, when the Powerful Indra, the luminous mind, will aid to overcome them.

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The Bṛhaddevatā (Sanskritबृहद्देवता), a metrical Sanskrit work and an enlarged catalogue of the Rigvedic deities worshipped in the individual suktas (hymns) of the Rigveda, is traditionally ascribed to Shaunaka. It also contains the myths and legends related to the composition of these suktas.

Bṛhaddevatā was thought to have been composed around 2,000 years before Sāyana composed an exhaustive commentary on the complete text of the Rigveda.   

The contents of Bṛhaddevatā on Mandala 7 of Rig Veda, does not contain any reference to the physical Battle of 10 kings.


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Thus, the  physical battle of 10 kings did not happen.

 

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