Thread by @varadadya

#Storytime

How big the MAHABHARATA War was?

"Akshauhini" was the unit by which the size of the Army was used to measure. Akshauhini Sena was also called Chaturangini Sena.

We all have heard that in Mahabharata Pandavas had 7 Akshauhini Sena and Kauravas had 11 Akshauhini Sena. Let’s understand this.

Akshauhini Sena is a combination of 4 parts:

Elephants
Chariots
Horses
Foot Soldiers

In Akshauhini Sena, the no of Elephants and Chariots is the same, Horses are 3 times Elephants/Chariots and soldiers are 5 times Elephants/Chariots.

There are 9 sub-divisions of Akshauhini Sena:

Patti: 1 Elephant, 1 Chariot, 3 Horses, 5 Soldiers.

Senamukha = 3 x Patti: 3 Elephants, 3 Chariots, 9 Horses, 15 Soldiers.

Gulma = 3 x Senamukha: 9 Elephants, 9 Chariots, 27 Horses, 45 Soldiers.

Gana = 3 x Gulma: 27 Elephants, 27 Chariots, 81 Horses, 135 Soldiers.

Vahini = 3 x Gana: 81 Elephants, 81 Chariots, 243 Horses, 405 Soldiers.

Pritna = 3 x Vahini: 253 Elephants, 243 Chariots, 729 Horses, 1215 Soldiers.

Chamu = 3 x Pritna: 729 Elephants, 729 Chariots, 2187 Horses, 3645 Soldiers.

Anikini = 3 x Chamu: 2187 Elephants, 2187 Chariots, 6561 Horses, 10935 Soldiers.

Akshauhini = 10 Anikini: 21870 Elephants, 21870 Chariots, 65610 Horses, 109350 Soldiers.

Patti, Senamukha is lead by Nayak, Gulma is led by Gulma Nayak, Gana and Vahini are led by Ardharathi,

Prithna and Chamu are led by Rathi, Anikini is lead by Atirathi and Akshauhini is lead by a Maharathi. Leader of more than 1 Akshauhini Sena is used to be a supreme warrior like Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Arjuna, etc.

Pandavas had 7 Akshauhini Sena = 153090 Elephants, 153090 Chariots, 459270 Horses, and 765270 Soldiers.

Kauravas had 11 Akshauhini Sena = 240570 Elephants, 240570 Chariots, 721710 Horses, and 1202850 Soldiers.

Now you can just imagine how big the Mahabharata war was...