Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 9 - Chapter 1 - Verse 30


Sanskrit:

अचोदयद्धस्तिरथाश्वपत्तिभि-र्गदासिबाणर्ष्टिशतघ्निशक्तिभि: ।अक्षौहिणी: सप्तदशातिभीषणा-स्ता राम एको भगवानसूदयत् ॥ ३० ॥

ITRANS:

acodayad dhasti-rathāśva-pattibhirgadāsi-bāṇarṣṭi-śataghni-śaktibhiḥakṣauhiṇīḥ sapta-daśātibhīṣaṇāstā rāma eko bhagavān asūdayat

Translation:

Upon seeing Paraśurāma, Kārtavīryārjuna immediately feared him and sent many elephants, chariots, horses and infantry soldiers equipped with clubs, swords, arrows, ṛṣṭis, śataghnis, śaktis, and many similar weapons to fight against him. Kārtavīryārjuna sent seventeen full akṣauhiṇīs of soldiers to check Paraśurāma. But Lord Paraśurāma alone killed all of them.

Purport:

The word akṣauhiṇī refers to a military phalanx consisting of 21,870 chariots and elephants, 109,350 infantry soldiers and 65,610 horses. An exact description is given in the Mahābhārata, Ādi parva, Second Chapter, as follows: “One chariot, one elephant, five infantry soldiers and three horses are called a patti by those who are learned in the science. The wise also know that a senāmukha is three times what a patti is. Three senāmukhas are known as one gulma, three gulmas are called a gaṇa, and three gaṇas are called a vāhinī. Three vāhinīs have been referred to by the learned as a pṛtanā, three pṛtanās equal one camū, and three camūs equal one anīkinī. The wise refer to ten anīkinīs as one akṣauhiṇī. The chariots of an akṣauhiṇī have been calculated at 21,870 by those who know the science of such calculations, O best of the twice-born, and the number of elephants is the same. The number of infantry soldiers is 109,350, and the number of horses is 65,610. This is called an akṣauhiṇī.”