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Exploring Hindu ethics of warfare: The Purāṇas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2024

Raj Balkaran  and
A. Walter Dorn
Raj Balkaran*
Affiliation:
Continuing Studies Tutor, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, Oxford, UK
A. Walter Dorn*
Affiliation:
Professor of Defence Studies, Royal Military College of Canada, Ontario, and Canadian Forces College, Toronto, Canada
*
*Email: raj.balkaran@gmail.com
**Email: walter.dorn@rmc.ca
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Abstract

What rules of fighting (armed combat) does Hinduism espouse? The sacred texts are the pre-eminent sources, so these need to be summarized and compared to each other. Teaching mostly through stories, the texts describe deeds of people (especially warriors), gods and demons to show how to behave and not to behave in war. While the injunctions in the Mahābhārata and Arthaśāstra are already covered in the literature, including in this journal, this present work examines the Purāṇas in depth. After a thorough search of all relevant passages, we find the Purāṇas to be very similar to the epics in terms of the list of prescribed and proscribed actions in war that they provide. We also make comparisons to international humanitarian law (IHL); as in the epics, we find that the Purāṇas contain many similar provisions to those found in IHL but that they go above and beyond what is required by IHL in urging that fighting be fair at the tactical level (i.e., between individual fighters). Being religious texts, the Purāṇas also deal with the afterlife consequences of both righteous and unrighteous combat.

Keywords

combatdharmaHinduisminternational humanitarian lawjus in belloPurāṇassacred textsuse of force
Type
Selected Articles on International Humanitarian Law
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , First View , pp. 1 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the ICRC

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Footnotes

The advice, opinions and statements contained in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICRC. The ICRC does not necessarily represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information provided in this article.

References

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4 Greg Bailey, “Ethics of Fighting in Ancient Indian Literature”, Religion and Humanitarian Principles Blog, 3 October 2022, available at: https://blogs.icrc.org/religion-humanitarianprinciples/ethics-fighting-ancient-indian-literature.

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6 G. Bailey, above note 3.

7 Ibid., p. 1.

8 Z. Špicová, above note 2, p. 43.

9 Ibid., p. 11.

10 R. Balkaran and A. W. Dorn, above note 1, pp. 1171–1173.

11 Ibid., pp. 1769–1781.

12 Scott Dunbar, “Classical Hindu Views of ‘Righteous Warfare’ (Dharma Yuddha) in Light of Michael Walzer's Just War Theory”, PhD thesis, University of Saskatchewan, July 2011, p. 168, available at: https://harvest.usask.ca/handle/10388/ETD-2011-07-28.

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16 Ibid., p. 410.

17 S. W. Jamison and J. Brereton (trans.), above note 14, p. 507.

18 Ibid., p. 374.

19 W. D. Whitney (trans.), above note 15, p. 422.

20 R. Balkaran and A. W. Dorn, above note 5.

21 Raj Balkaran, “The Sarus’ Sorrow: Voicing Nonviolence in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa”, Journal of Vaishnava Studies, Vol. 26, No. 2, 2018.

22 Greg Bailey, “The Pravṛtti/Nivṛtti Project at La Trobe University, with Notes on the Meaning of Vṛt in the Bhagavadgītā”, Indologica Taurinensia, Vol. 19, 2006, pp. 11–30.

23 For a summary of the AgP and the scholarship surrounding it, see Ludo Rocher and Jan Gonda, The Purāṇas, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1986, pp. 134–137.

24 N. Gangadharan (trans.), Agni Purāṇa, Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Vols 27–30, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1998, p. 631.

25 Ibid., pp. 647–648.

26 Z. Špicová. above note 2, p. 6.

27 N. Gangadharan (trans.), above note 24, p. 614. Also, the Nārada Purāṇa (10.21) echoes this: “Some of them confronted the elephants with their elephants, the chariots by means of their chariots, the horses with other horses.” See Ganesh Vasudeo Tagare (trans.), Nārada Purāṇa, Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Vols 15–19, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1995, p. 182.

28 N. Gangadharan (trans.), above note 24, p. 613.

29 Ibid., p. 489.

30 Ibid., p. 586.

31 Ibid., pp. 605–606.

32 Ibid., pp. 617–618.

33 Ibid., p. 611.

34 Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck (eds), Customary International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 2: Practice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005 (ICRC Customary Law Study), Rule 40, “Respect for Cultural Property”, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v2/rule40.

35 N. Gangadharan (trans.), above note 24, p. 614.

36 Ibid., p. 614.

37 Ibid., p. 614.

38 Ibid., p. 614.

39 Ibid., p. 614. In comparison, IHL outlaws pillage, though permits war booty under certain circumstances. See ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 34, Rule 49, “War Booty”, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v2/rule49.

40 AgP Chaps 228–250. See N. Gangadharan (trans.), above note 24, pp. 606–648.

41 N. Gangadharan (trans.), above note 24, p. 630.

42 Ibid., p. 631.

43 Ibid., pp. 606–608, 622–624.

44 G. Bailey, above note 4, p. 7.

45 N. A. Deshpande (trans.), Padma Purāṇa, Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Vols 39–48, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1988, p. 129.

46 Ibid., p. 129.

47 Ibid., p. 151.

48 Ibid., pp. 820–821.

49 Ganesh Vasudev Tagare (trans.), Kūrma Purāṇa, Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Vols 20–21, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1998, p. 522.

50 N. A. Deshpande (trans.), above note 45, p. 463.

51 Ibid., p. 620.

52 Ibid., p. 547.

53 Ibid., p. 822.

54 Ibid., p. 822.

55 Ibid., p. 837.

56 Ibid., p. 824.

57 Ibid., p. 844.

58 Ibid., p. 825.

59 J. L. Shastri (ed.), The Vāraha Purāṇa, trans. S Venkitasubramonia Iyer, Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Vols 31–32, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 2003, p. 77.

60 Ibid., p. 269.

61 G. V. Tagare (trans.), above note 49, p. 479.

62 Ibid., p. 29.

63 J. L. Shastri (ed.), above note 59, p. 629.

64 Ibid., p. 264.

65 G. V. Tagare (trans.), above note 49, p. 267.

66 ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 34, Rule 134, “Women”, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v2/rule134.

67 Baman Das Basu (ed.), Matsya Purāṇa, The Panini Office, Bahadurganj, 1916, p. 130.

68 Ānandasvarūpa Gupta (ed.), The Vāmana Purāvarūpa, with English Translation, trans. Satyamsu Mohan Mukhopadhyaya, All India Kashiraj Trust, Varanasi, 1968, p. 301.

69 ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 34, Rule 54, “Attacks against Objects Indispensable to the Survival of the Civilian Population”, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v2/rule54.

70 Ibid., Rule 27, “Religious Personnel”, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v2/rule27.

71 Ibid., Rule 138, “The Elderly, Disabled and Infirm”, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v2/rule138.

72 Ibid., Rule 135, “Children”, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v2/rule135.

73 Ā. Gupta (ed.), above note 68, p. 301.

74 Ibid., p. 301.

75 McComas Taylor (trans.), The Viṣṇu Purāṇa, ANU Press, 2021, p. 400, available at: https://doi.org/10.22459/VP.2021.

76 Bibek Debroy (trans.), Bhagavata Purana, Vols 1–3, India Penguin Classics, Gurgaon, 2018, p. 44.

77 Ibid., p. 55.

78 Ibid., p. 39.

79 Ibid., p. 40.

80 Ibid., p. 40.

81 Ibid., p. 373.

82 ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 34, Rule 144, “Ensuring Respect for International Humanitarian Law Erga Omnes”, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v2/rule144.

83 B. Debroy (trans.), above note 76.

84 Ibid., p. 44.

85 ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 34, Rule 65, “Perfidy”, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v2/rule65. For helpful background information, see also Michael N. Schmitt, “Assassination in the Law of War”, Articles of War, 15 October 2021, available at: https://lieber.westpoint.edu/assassination-law-of-war/.

86 GaneshVasudev Tagare (trans.), Vayu Purāṇa, Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Vols 37–38, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1960, p. 72, available at: http://archive.org/details/VayuPuranaG.V.TagarePart2.

87 Ibid., p. 121.

88 Ibid., p. 735.

89 J. L. Shastri (trans.), The Śiva-Purāṇa, Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Vols 1–4, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1950, p. 901. This sentiment is echoed in Śiva 53.34, where running away from the battlefield is considered worse than death. Śiva 1.19 states that kṣatriyas who do so have ceased to be valorous.

90 Ibid., p. 910.

91 Balkaran, Raj, The Goddess and the King in Indian Myth: Ring Composition, Royal Power, and the Dharmic Double Helix, Routledge, London, 2019Google Scholar.

92 Balkaran, Raj, “The Essence of Avatāra: Probing Preservation in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa”, Journal of Vaishnava Studies, Vol. 26, No. 1, 2017Google Scholar.

93 Swami Vijnanananda (trans.), Srimad Devi Bhagavatam – English Translation, 1922, p. 120, available at: http://archive.org/details/SrimadDeviBhagavatamEnglish.

94 Ibid., p. 613.

95 Ibid., p. 481.

96 ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 34, Rule 65, “Perfidy”, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v2/rule65.

97 Swami Vijnanananda (trans.), above note 93, p. 621.

98 G. Bailey, above note 3, p. 12.

99 G. Bailey, above note 4, p.12.

100 Ibid., p. 12.

101 Z. Špicová, above note 2, p. 44.