Caturaṅga

Caturaṅga · catur-aṅga, “having four limbs”

Grammar: adjective and neuter noun; a compound of catur (four) and aṅga (limb, part): “having four limbs”. Caturaṅga-bala is the army of four limbs.

Meaning: (1) the fourfold army, made of elephants, chariots, horse and foot; (2) the game of chess.

In the scriptures: Vyāsa tells the munis that when Śrī Kṛshṇa went against Pauṇḍraka, who called himself Vāsudeva, Pauṇḍraka met him with a fourfold army (caturaṅga-bala) and every weapon, gadā, śūla and śakti. After Śrī Kṛshṇa had slain Pauṇḍraka and the king of Kāśī, the Kāśi king’s son pleased Bhagavān Śiva at Avimukta, and a great Kṛtyā rose from the dakshiṇāgni of his agnihotra-śālā and went towards Dvāravatī. The people of Dvārakā cried out to him for refuge. Śrī Kṛshṇa heard their cry while he was playing at caturaṅga, and, as if in play, he sent the Sudarśana cakra after the Kṛtyā. The cakra shattered her, followed her into Vārāṇasī, and burned the city with its fourfold army, its people, forts and storehouses (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 207).

In the Gautamī Māhātmya, Brahmā tells Nārada that King Ila, who had regained his manhood by the grace of Gaurī and Śambhu, performed the Vājapeya yajña and founded a kingdom in Daṇḍaka with the four kinds of army, elephants, chariots, horse and foot. The city there became famous after the name of Ila; it lies in the valley of the Sahya mountains and surpasses even the city of Mahendra (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 38).

Related terms: Akshauhiṇī · Kṛtyā · Sudarśana · Daṇḍaka

Other meanings

Caturaṅga has more than one meaning in the Purāṇas and Itihāsas. Besides the meaning above, it names those listed here, each with where it is told.

Sources

  • Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 13, 207; Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 38