ABSTRACT
India has a rich literature about war in a variety of different genres. Ancient India produced a literary tradition of statecraft that sees war as a means in the toolbox of politics and attaches no moral value to war. This consequentalist (or realist or amoral) tradition is mainly associated with a book called The Arthashastra by the legendary author Kautilya. On the other hand, the great epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, discuss war and battles within the framework of dharma, i.e., the religious and moral duties of warriors. Such literary traditions offer several points of meaningful comparison with the Christian just war tradition, although such comparison poses fundamental questions about the concept of the state and the concept of war in other times and cultures. In modern India, the armed forces have institutionalized the role of religious teachers, comparable to Western chaplaincy, and religion is important in the daily life of the army in particular. However, the principles found in the Hindu tradition are relevant today primarily on the level of the individual soldier’s motivation and identification with a fighting unit rather than on a policy level.
