Pre-modern Warfare:India And Elsewhere

[Guest]

Hi all,

I recently posted, asking for details of an English edition of the Dhanurveda. Thanks to your help I now have a copy!

I hope you can help me again. I am after details of a scripture or help from a pandit who knows about celestial weapons. So far I have gathered a lot of information regarding celestial weapons but it is by no means complete and I am still asking questions about how they function.

The Dhanurveda mentions a few, and their mantras, and how they can be counteracted by saying the mantra in reverse. It does not mention elementals, which I have found in other scriptures, for example; a wind weapon can be beaten by a mountain weapon, fire by water etc.

I still have many questions, some are:

- Are they all missile types? And if so what about the divine weapons of the devas that aren’t hurled, (like clubs, swords etc.)
- What makes them unique? The brahmastra can kill enemies in mass but can also be pin-pointed to destroy only a child in the womb, how do the others function?
- Arjuna received these weapons from the devas and yet it seems they can be learnt by anyone?

So, if anyone could point me towards the definitive sastra on celestial weapons, or if you have more detailed knowledge of them, please write me.

Yours sincerely,
Lorenzo Rubbo-Ferraro.