From the Jacket

Dhanurveda, the standard work on Vedic military science being lost, the dissertations on the science found in the Mahabharata, the Agni Purana, Akasa Bhairava Tantra, Kautalya Arthasastra, Manusmrti, and other small works on Dhanurveda like Ausanas Dhanurveda, Vasistha Dhanurveda, Sadasiva Dhanurveda and Niti Prakasika are the only source of information on the subject left to us.

The present work takes into account all the data available with the present author in fragment form or manuscript form or the published form of various treatises of Dhanurveda, so that a factual and actual picture of military science or the science of warfare in ancient India may be drawn for the modern day readers and researchers.

The present work also contains the English Translation of the Vasistha and Sadasiva Dhanurvedas as appendix 1 & 2 with illustrations wherever necessary.

Dr. Ravi Prakash Arya is World renowned Vedic Scholar, Philologist, historian and philosopher. He is a prolific speaker and writer. he is a prolific speaker and writer. he is widely traveled scholar who has delivered more than 150 popular and academic talks on various topics of Vedas, Indian History, Linguistics, Philosophy, Culture and Scientific Indian heritage in various countries of the world. he has delivered more than a dozen Radio and TV Talks in Bharata, Canada, USA, Trinidad, Surinam and British Guyana. He has participated in more than 50 National and International Conferences and Seminars in India and Abroad. He is doing a pioneering work for preserving and propagating the universal and scientific Vedic heritage of India under the auspices of ‘Indian Foundation for Vedic science’. He has so far produced around 60 research papers and 28 books running into 38 volumes on the various aspects of Vedas, Indian History and Culture. He is also editing for the last ten years a quarterly Research Journal ‘Vedic Science’ dealing with the scientific interpretation of Vedas & Allied literature and ancient Indian traditions. This Journal has a wide circulation and acclaimed as an authoritative document on Vedic Sciences. He is also the editor of annual ‘World Vedic Calendar’ circulated through more than 10 countries of the world.

Dedication

The present work by Dr. Ravi Prakash Arya is dedicated to the sweet memories of our Dad Dr. Shikharchand H Jhaveri. He was born into a noble Aristocratic Jain Family from Vadodara Gujrat, India. His father had died very early age and his mom left home to become a Jain Monk. With extreme hardships, he became one of the first Jain Medical Doctor of Vadodara. He never forgot his hardships. He served his patients with utmost passion, dedication and competence. He financially supported blood donation camps for needy and poor patients throughout his life and helped thousands of patients. He used to give away free of cost an Ayurvedic born ointment named ‘Ral’ which was a great pain reliever and healer. He never revealed the secret formula to anyone for the fear of commercialization. He generously supported eye-camps and helped many with proper eyesight. His wife (my Mom) always supported all his works whole heatedly. He was a simple man of a great wisdom. He donated his house in city to Jain monks. He gave best education to his children. They are all medical doctors now. His philanthropic activities were too numerous to be mentioned here. After a short but fatal illness, his soul departed in 1994 to merge with the Almighty Parmatma

We (his family members : Ms. Ramaben (wife), Dr. Harish Jhaveri, radiologist, Dr. Mrs. Shaila Atul, gynaecologist, Dr. Mrs. Dipika Doctor, Dr. Dilip (myself) urologist, Sejal Doctor, Suzanne Doctor) will always remember his legacy and continue to help one and all to the best of our capacity.