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:

eko ratho gajaś caikaḥ narāḥ paṣca padātayaḥ trayaś ca turagās taj-jṣaiḥ pattir ity abhidhīyate

pattiṁ tu triguṇām etāṁ viduḥ senāmukhaṁ budhāḥ trīṇi senāmukhāny eko gulma ity adhidhīyate

trayo gulmā gaṇo nāma vāhinī tu gaṇās trayaḥ śrutās tisras tu vāhinyaḥ pṛtaneti vicakṣaṇaiḥ

camūs tu pṛtanās tisraś caṁvas tisras tv anīkinī anīkinīṁ daśa-guṇām āhur akṣauhiṇīṁ budhāḥ

akṣauhiṇyas tu saṅkhyātā rathānāṁ dvija-sattamāḥ saṅkhyā-gaṇita-tattvajṣaiḥ sahasrāṇy eka-viṁśati

śatāny upari cāṣṭau ca bhūyas tathā ca saptatiḥ gajānāṁ tu parīmāṇaṁ tāvad evātra nirdiśet

jṣeyaṁ śata-sahasraṁ tu sahasrāṇi tathā nava narāṇām adhi paṣcāśac chatāni trīṇi cānaghāḥ

paṣca-ṣaṣṭi-sahasrāṇi tathāśvānāṁ śatāni ca daśottarāṇi ṣaṭ cāhur yathāvad abhisaṅkhyayā

etām akṣauhiṇīṁ prāhuḥ saṅkhyā-tattva-vido janāḥ

“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. ”