Akshauhiṇī
An akshauhiṇī is the standard measure of an army in the Mahābhārata. It means a complete army that can stand on its own, made of elephants, chariots, horsemen and foot-soldiers in fixed proportions.
The Parvasaṃgraha, the summary of the whole epic found in Chapter 2 of the Ādi Parva, defines the akshauhiṇī exactly. It also says that eighteen akshauhiṇīs in all were destroyed in the war at Kurukshetra. The size of this destruction is what moved Kṛshṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa to compose the Mahābhārata.
What Makes Up an Akshauhiṇī
An akshauhiṇī has this fixed make-up:
| Part of the army | Number |
|---|---|
| Gajas (elephants) | 21,870 |
| Rathas (chariots) | 21,870 |
| Aśvas (horsemen) | 65,610 |
| Padātis (foot-soldiers) | 1,09,350 |
The four parts are always in the ratio 1 : 1 : 3 : 5 (elephant : chariot : horse : foot-soldier). Smaller forces built on the same ratio have their own names as they grow toward the size of an akshauhiṇī: patti, senāmukha, gulma, gaṇa, vāhinī, pṛtanā, camū and anīkinī.
The Eighteen Akshauhiṇīs of Kurukshetra
The Parvasaṃgraha says that the Mahābhārata war used up eighteen akshauhiṇīs:
- Pāṇḍava side: 7 akshauhiṇīs
- Kaurava side: 11 akshauhiṇīs
When the war ended, only a handful of men on both sides were left alive. The best known of them were Yudhishṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva, Kṛshṇa, Sātyaki, Kṛpācārya, Aśvatthāmā, Kṛtavarmā and Yuyutsu. All eighteen akshauhiṇīs of warriors were as good as wiped out.
Vyāsa gives the size of this loss as the very reason he composed the Mahābhārata: to record it, explain it and pass on an understanding of an event of this size in the life of a civilisation. The Parvasaṃgraha opens with this number, eighteen, even before the story of the war begins. In this way the scale of the war becomes a fixed fact that frames everything else.
Why the Number Matters
The akshauhiṇī is more than a way of counting soldiers. It is also a measure of moral weight. When Vyāsa says eighteen akshauhiṇīs were destroyed, he means that all the organised military strength of Bhārata, all its elephants, chariots, horses and foot-soldiers, was used up in eighteen days of war. The Mahābhārata is a text born from the total destruction of the world it describes. The count of akshauhiṇīs is the text’s own statement of what it cost to bring about the return of dharma under Yudhishṭhira.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Parvasaṃgraha, Chapter 2