Dharmayuddha is Hinduism's answer to what a war should look like. Its name comes from the Sanskrit words for Holy/Righteousness (धर्म, dharma) and War (युद्ध, yuddha). Despite its name, Dharmayuddha is not like jīhad or the Catholic Crusade. It is not a war in the name of religion, but rather a war following the rules of religion. Dharmayuddha is difficult to wage due to the fact that both parties have to agree to its terms and not violate the sanctity of warfare. In our time, 5,125 years into the Kali Yuga or 2024 anno domini, adherence to religious law is rare, honour even rarer. Today, death in war is painful, miserable and dirty. Nobody fantasizes about bleeding to death in a dirty trench when drones fly over your head. It was different during the days of the Pítrs! Warfare today is the most unhonourable it has been ever, unfit for humans. There is no death for a hero in war anymore, dharmayuddha changes that. Here's how we could go follow it.
These are the basic rules of Dharmayuddha:
One should not use poisonous arms or deceitful means.
Equals fight Equals
A foe in a disadvantageous position must not be struck
One who has surrendered must be protected
One should not attack the persons who are fleeing, unarmed or non-combatants.
One should not attack people who are fighting with others
न कूटैरायुधैर्हन्याद् युध्यमानो रणे रिपून् ।
न कर्णिभिर्नापि दिग्धैर्नाग्निज्वलिततेजनैः ॥ ९० ॥
na kūṭairāyudhairhanyād yudhyamāno raṇe ripūn |
na karṇibhirnāpi digdhairnāgnijvalitatejanaiḥ || 90 ||
While fighting his enemies in battle, he shall not strike with concealed weapons; nor with arrows that are poisoned, or barbed, or with flaming shafts. (90)
-Manusmriti 7.90
This verse of the Manusmriti is from the section discussing the duties of a monarch, the verses from 7.87 to 7.97 discuss the laws of the battlefield (saṅgrāma). This verse in particular talks about the restrictions of honourable warfare such as not using concealed weapons or poisoned ones as those as cowardly and unfit for a Kshatriya's death. Applying this today, this would mean a ban on snipers, chemical weapons, mines, barbed wire, booby traps and flamethrowers.
समोत्तमाधमै राजा त्वाहूतः पालयन् प्रजाः ।
न निवर्तेत सङ्ग्रामात् क्षात्रं धर्ममनुस्मरन् ॥ ८७ ॥
While protecting his people, if the king is challenged by enemies, either equal in strength, or stronger, or weaker, he shall not shrink from battle, bearing in mind the duty of the kṣatriya. (87)
-Manusmriti 7.87
In this verse, the duties of the Monarch or General commanding an army is clear. It is ‘the duty of the Kṣatriya’ that whenever he is challenged, he must fight, whoever the challenger may be, and he shall take no account of the caste or age or training or ambition etc. of the other party. This duty the King has to bear in mind. War has been enjoined as the last resource for the king, when -all other means nave failed; and when once war has been entered into and the king has reached the battle-field, and has been challenged by his enemy,—he shall not show any sort of indifference; this is what is meant by the present verse; which means that he shall not entertain any such notion as—‘I shall not strike at a weak enemy.’ -Taken from manubhāṣya.
In today's war, this would mean when the time arises, the Army has to fight. There is no option to retreat, cede territory temporarily or any other resolution. This is a relatively forward clause to follow without much need to interpretation.
न च हन्यात् स्थलारूढं न क्लीबं न कृताञ्जलिम् ।
न मुक्तकेशं नासीनं न तवास्मीति वादिनम् ॥ ९१ ॥
na ca hanyāt sthalārūḍhaṃ na klībaṃ na kṛtāñjalim |
na muktakeśaṃ nāsīnaṃ na tavāsmīti vādinam || 91 ||
He shall not strike one who is standing on the ground, nor one who is a eunuch, nor the supp?icant (supplicant?) with joined palms, nor one with loosened hair, nor one who is seated, nor one who says ‘i am yours'; (91)
This verse talks about rules of engagement. It states to not strike "one who is standing on the ground", implying that this rule applies to Charioteers. This would make sense as a Charioteer has a distinct advantage over an infantry soldier and this violates the law where only Equals fight each other. Today, unless you are cool, you do not use a chariot in warfare. The closest modern equivalent to a chariot is a Tank, functionally and aesthetically. This dictates hereforth that Tanks may not engage with Infantry and vice versa, this would ban IFVs and make machine guns on Tanks obselete as well as ban Anti-Tank Infantry equipment.
It states to not attack eunuchs, this comes off as odd considering you wouldn't expect seeing eunuchs in the battlefield in the first place. This could be interpreted as not to attack servants or helpers of the army.
It states to not attack a supplicant with joined palms, this indicates the soldier has given up their will to fight and prays for his safety. Such soldiers should be considered prisoners of war as they have surrendered all will to fight when they drop their weapons. The loosened hair also ties into this as a soldier with loosened hair is indicative that the soldier has broken equipment. Today, this would mean to not shoot a soldier without a vest, helmet or a rifle. This also applies to the section 'nor one who says I am yours' as that is just another form of surrender (entrusting yourself to the enemy).
'He shall not strike .... nor one who is seated' is an interesting one, it took me a while to think of this but a soldier 'who is seated' could refer to those who have zoned out and have started disassociating due to the sheer stress of war. This also ties into where I previously mentioned the ban on snipers as their victims have no idea of their imminent death and are zoned out in some sense. It is unfair to the soldier to die to an unknown assailant.
न सुप्तं न विसंनाहं न नग्नं न निरायुधम् ।
नायुध्यमानं पश्यन्तं न परेण समागतम् ॥ ९२ ॥
na suptaṃ na visaṃnāhaṃ na nagnaṃ na nirāyudham |
nāyudhyamānaṃ paśyantaṃ na pareṇa samāgatam || 92 ||
नायुधव्यसनप्राप्तं नार्तं नातिपरिक्षतम् ।
न भीतं न परावृत्तं सतां धर्ममनुस्मरन् ॥ ९३ ॥
nāyudhavyasanaprāptaṃ nārtaṃ nātiparikṣatam |
na bhītaṃ na parāvṛttaṃ satāṃ dharmamanusmaran || 93 ||
Nor one who is sleeping, nor him who is without his armour, nor one who is naked, nor one deprived of his weapons, nor one who is only looking on and not fighting, nor one who is engaged in fighting with another person; (92)
Nor one who has fallen in difficulties regarding weapons; nor one in distress, nor one severely wounded, nor one who is frightened, nor one who has turned back;—the king remembering the duties of honourable men. (93)
This verses continues on rules of engagement. It references the 'unready soldier' as protected under the rules of war following the previous verse 7.91 with the loosened hair. This particular set of verses also emphasizes the importance of one-on-one combat. This is extraordinarily difficult to follow with rifles and guns considering the chaos of war with such technologies. A frontier this can be, relatively easy, to implement would be in aerial warfare; where one fighter jet only fights another. It talks about also the protection of prisoners of war and injured soldiers, things which are followed in Legal war today as part of the First Geneva Convention
Such rules lead to an honourable battle, honourable battles lead to an honourable war where there isn't shame in loss yet there isn't hubris in victory. The Scholars speak of positive karma in the next life if such rules are followed. As time passes, and we sink deeper in to the dark age, it will be harder to maintain dharma and order in our mortal world. Do contact me if I have made mistakes or if you have any suggestions on fixing the text in this page
