many of the popular sports mentioned in the vedas and the epics have their origins in military training, such as boxing (musti-yuddha), wrestling ("malladwandwa"), chariot-racing ("rathachalan"), horse-riding ("aswarohana") and archery ("dhanurvidya"). competitions were held not just as a contest of the players' prowess but also as a means of finding a bridegroom. arjuna, rama and siddhartha gautama all won their consorts in such tournaments.