Sanatan Shastra Vidya refers to an ancient science that describes the usage and workings of different weapons. Hindu mythology is host to an arsenal of divine weapons or divyastras. Each of these astras has a specific power – while some rained down arrows, some could cause winds and floods, while some others could even control the minds of the enemy. Let’s look at some of the most unique weapons found in the Puranas.

Vasishtha’s Brahmadanda

Brahmadanda is a weapon of self-defence, created by Brahma. It is only to be possessed by Brahmanas and its powers are dependent on its owner. The weapon is a rod capable of absorbing any incoming attack towards its owner. When Vishwamitra, in a fit of anger, unleashed the Brahmastra onto Vasishtha, it was his Brahmadanda that protected him from the lethal weapon.

Ravana’s Chandrahasa

Chandrahasa is a sword with a curved blade, representing the shape of a crescent moon. The name can be literally translated to mean ‘the laughter of the moon’. The sword was gifted to Ravana by Shiva, after Ravana sang praises of the god in repentance for his prideful act of lifting the mountain on which Shiva and Parvati were seated. The sword, however, came with a prophecy. If Ravana were to use it for any wrongful acts, the sword would return to Shiva, eventually leading to Ravana’s imminent death.

Barbarika’s Teen Baan

Barbarika was the son of Ghatotkacha and the grandson of Bheema and Hidimbi. He had received three undefeatable arrows, known as Teen Baan, from Shiva. The first arrow was a target marker; anything marked by this arrow would be destroyed when the third arrow was released. The second arrow was used to mark things that were to be saved; on the release of the third arrow, everything except the things marked by the second arrow would be destroyed. The arrows would also return to Barbarika’s quiver once their task was completed.

Indra’s Vajra

Vajra is considered to be one of the strongest among all the divine weapons. Possessed by Indra, Vajra is depicted as a club-like weapon made out of bones. The weapon is said to possess both the strength of a diamond and the energy of a thunderbolt. The weapon was made out of the bones of Sage Dadhichi by Vishwamitra, the divine architect. The weapon was created to defeat the demon Vritra, who was blessed with a boon that made him immune to weapons made of wood and metals.

Parashurama’s Vidyudabhi

Parashurama’s axe, Vidyudabhi, was a gift from Shiva. Shiva was also the one who taught Parashurama to wield the famed battle-axe, among other martial arts. It is believed that the warrior sage threw his axe towards the sea, which caused the sea to retreat in fear. The land that was given up by the sea now forms the western coast of India.

The post Divine Weapons from Mythology appeared first on Amar Chitra Katha.

Shakti is the universal mother goddess who is the source of energy for everything; living and nonliving, divine and non-divine. She manifests in numerous forms like Parvati, Kali, Saraswati, and Lakshmi. She is loving, caring, nourishing, yet at the same time can be ferocious, menacing and destructive. Just like how energy has the potential to either create or destroy.

Durga is one such ferocious form of the mother goddess who is renowned for her battle prowess. The half buffalo and half asura, Mahishasura who was the king of asuras, easily defeated the devas due to a boon from Brahma. The boon granted the asura partial immortality as only a woman could slay the asura. The defeated devas asked the Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva for help. The three supreme Gods, with their combined powers, summoned a pillar of brilliant light from which Shakti, in the form of Durga, the ten-armed Goddess of war, appeared. The ten arms symbolise how the Goddess protects her devotees in all 10 directions; the 4 cardinal directions, the 4 ordinal directions and also above and below the living realm. The gods who witnessed the creation of Durga, offered their powerful weapons and adorned the ten arms of the divine mother with the power to destroy the tyrant asura.

Shiva’s Trishul

Shiva, the God of Destruction, gifted Durga with his trishul or trident. The three prongs of the weapon symbolize multiple important trinities in the Hindu myth and philosophy. The most common interpretations being the three Gunas (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas), Time periods (past, present and future) and the universal cycles (creation, preservation and destruction) and the wielder of the Trishul is considered to be the master of all such trinities. During the battle, the Goddess used the weapon to land the finishing blow on Mahishasura.

Vishnu’s Sudarshan Chakra

The God of preservation, Vishnu, offered his divine discus, the Sudarshan chakra, to the Goddess. The discus, with more than a million sharp spikes, has the power to decapitate the enemy beyond resurrection. According to Linga Purana, Vishnu obtained the chakra from Shiva and since then has used this weapon to defeat countless asuras and rakshasas in his various avatars. The imagery of the disc spinning around Durga’s finger is a symbolic representation of how the energy provided by the goddess sets the universe in motion.

Brahma’s Kamandala

Brahma, as the God of creation, does not carry any weapons. Instead, he offered his Kamandala, a water pot, to the Goddess. The pot containing holy water symbolises purity, wisdom and life and Brahma uses it to create various life forms by chanting different mantras. Durga’s possession of the Kamandala, which plays a crucial role in the creation of the universe, explains the importance of the existence of Shakti in the universe.

Indra’s Vajra

Vajra, the thunderbolt, is Indra’s signature weapon and he offered this mighty weapon to Durga. The weapon was specifically made by Vishwakarma out of Sage Dadichi’s bones so that Indra could defeat Vritra, an asura who is an embodiment of droughts in the Rig Veda. The Vajra is used to punish sinners. In Sanskrit, the word vajra also means a diamond, which is the hardest material found in nature, to symbolise the weapon’s strength and indestructibility.

Vayu’s Bow and Quiver of Infinite Arrows

The god of wind, Vayu provided the Goddess with a bow and a quiver with unlimited arrows. The weapon set is a great representation of how Goddess Shakti exists as different forms of energy. The bow and the arrow represent potential and kinetic energy respectively. Before the arrow is launched from the bow, it contains potential energy, but the moment it gets launched towards the target, the potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. And thus, the goddess being an adept archer is a symbolism of how the universe functions due to the conversion of one form of energy to the other. 

Varuna’s Conch

Varuna, befitting his role as the god of water bodies and marine life, offered his auspicious conch to the Goddess. When blown inside a conch, it produces the sound of ‘Aum’, which in Hinduism is the primordial sound of creation. Water and creation have close ties with each other, as according to modern science, life on Earth started in the oceans. The conch was also used as a trumpet during the start of a war or to declare victory at the end, which is appropriate for Durga as she is the Goddess of war. 

Agni’s Burning Spear

Agni, the god of fire and a deity associated with sacred yagnas, offered his spear with a burning head to Durga. The projectile weapon with a sharp-pointed head and enveloped in scorching flames, can impale the target with complete accuracy when launched. The weapon is a symbol of power, valour and courage. The burning flames of the spear signify the role of Shakti as the ultimate source of energy. 

Yama’s Sword

Yama, the god of death and justice, gave his sword to the warrior goddess. The sword is an embodiment of both aspects of death and justice. The weapon is utilized by the god to punish the sinners and bring justice to the world. A sword symbolizes bravery, authority and power.

Vishwakarma’s Axe

Brahma’s son, Vishwakarma, who was the engineer and carpenter of gods, was responsible for constructing numerous divine weapons. He gifted the goddess an axe, which symbolizes the creative and destructive aspects of energy. An axe used to bring down a tree represents destruction, but using the same axe to chop wood to construct a house represents creation. Thus, symbolizing the dual nature of Shakti in the universe.

Surya’s Sunrays

The radiant Surya, the celestial Sun God and the ruler of the Navgraha, bestowed his blinding sun rays to the goddess. The blinding radiance of the goddess signifies her duty as the goddess of war to banish evil and darkness in all ten directions. Since every living creature is dependent on sunlight for survival, the light emanating from Durga can also be a representation of her nurturing and nourishing nature as a mother goddess. It also symbolises her role as the universal source of energy.

After obtaining offerings in the form of divine weapons and other divine objects from the Trimurti and the devas, the king of mountains, Himavan offered Durga a vahana, the lion. With her ten arms equipped with the power offered by different gods, Durga, who was, as radiant as the sun, rode on her lion and arrived on the battlefield. She challenged the buffalo asura and after a fierce battle that lasted for nine days, Durga defeated Mahishasura, restoring peace in all three realms.

Read the full story of the goddess of war in the title Tales of Durga. It is now available on the ACK Comics app, Kindle, Flipkart, Amazon, and other major e-tailers.

The post Durga’s Weapons Of War appeared first on Amar Chitra Katha.

The Sudarshan Chakra is the divine weapon of Lord Vishnu, the god of preservation. The holy discus consists of two discs rotating in opposite directions with each disc having more than a million sharp spikes on its edges.

According to the Linga Purana, Lord Shiva gave Vishnu his weapon. The devas had been defeated by the armies of asuras, who had the power to heal their battle wounds, and so Vishnu decided to face the asuras himself. The god fought the countless asuras for an eternity, but then realised his efforts were futile. Vishnu visited mount Kailasha, for Shiva’s help. But Shiva was deep in meditation, and Vishnu knew disturbing Shiva during his tapasya would result in chaos. So he decided to wake him up through devotional means. Vishnu collected a thousand petals of lotus as an offering to the God of destruction. After collecting the perfect petals to please the god, Vishnu realised that he had one less petal. Vishnu, the god who is also called Kamalnayani, meaning ‘the one with lotus-shaped eyes’, sacrificed his eye to complete a thousand petals. Shiva immediately woke up from his tapasya and praised Vishnu for his sheer devotion. To help the god win the fight against the asuras, Shiva gifted him the Sudarshan Chakra with the power to slice one’s opponent into two. 

Since then, Vishnu has used the divine discus in various stories. After Shiva’s wife Sati, immolated herself, the grieving Shiva, roamed the universe with the incinerated body of his departed wife. Vishnu, unable to see the suffering of the other God, used his chakra to destroy the body of the goddess. The various parts fell on the different locations on the Earth. These places came to be known as Shakti Peeth. 

During the Samudra Manthan, Vishnu in his Mohini avatar used her discus to behead Rahu. The asura had disguised himself amongst the devas to consume the nectar of invincibility. Mohini saw through the disguise and attacked him but the asura had gulped the nectar. Due to the divine properties of the nectar, the beheaded body became a separate living entity called Ketu, and the head came to be known as Rahu.  

Read more stories of Vishnu from our title Tales of Vishnu, now available on the ACK Comics App, Kindle, Flipkart, Amazon, and other major e-tailers. 

The post Sudarshan Chakra: The Sacred Discus of Vishnu appeared first on Amar Chitra Katha.

The Vajra or the thunderbolt is the mighty weapon in the possession of Indra, the god of rain, storms and lightning, who is also the king of all devas. The mighty god first used his weapon on an asura called Vritra, who is an embodiment of the drought in the Rig Veda. This makes him the natural enemy of Indra, who is responsible for rains that end droughts. In the Vedas, Indra slew the serpent asura and freed the rivers that the asura had kept captive in his fortress. 

But according to Bhagavata Purana, Vritra was the son of Twashta, the carpenter of gods. In a fit of rage, Indra had killed Vishwarupa, the sage, who was Twashta’s elder son. To avenge his son’s death, Twashta performed a yagna to ask for a son who would slay Indra. But he mispronounced a syllable in the mantra, and ended up getting a son who would get killed by Indra, instead of killing Indra. This son, Vritra, also had a boon, that he could not be killed by any weapon made of stone, metal, or wood. The defeated devas asked Lord Vishnu for his help, who advised them to make a weapon out of sage Dadhichi’s bones. The devas approached the sage, whose bones were stronger than any weapon because of the Narayana Kawach he possessed. The sage sacrificed his life and Vishwakarma, the divine architect, created the Vajra out of the sage’s spine. Indra, with his newly acquired weapon, faced the asura again and defeated him successfully. Since then, Indra has become synonymous with his signature weapon, which is feared to be one of the strongest weapons to exist.

Indra once used the weapon against Hanuman. A very young Hanuman once thought the rising sun was a fruit. So, the naïve child flew towards the celestial body to consume it. Indra, on hearing about the incident, attacked Hanuman with his powerful thunderbolt. The blow of the weapon made him unconscious and he fell on to the ground. This left a permanent scar on the young monkey god’s jaw, and his name Hanuman, which means disfigured jaw, came to be due to this reason. The god of wind, Vayu, who was the father of Hanuman was furious and stopped the flow of air, and because of this, all life forms started dying. Indra apologised to the wind God and blessed Hanuman with the power to be never harmed by his weapon and gave him the boon to become even stronger than the Vajra.  

Read more stories of the thunder god in our title ‘Tales of Indra’ now available on the ACK Comics app, Kindle, Amazon, Flipkart, and other major e-tailers. 

The post Indra’s Vajra appeared first on Amar Chitra Katha.

Lord Shiva’s bow, known as the Pinaka, was one of the two bows that Vishwakarma had created for Shiva and Vishnu. Shiva first used the weapon to destroy the three impregnable cities of Maya, Tripura, and put an end to the evil asuras Tarakaksha, Vidyunmalin and Kamalaksha. Lord Shiva had used Vasuki, the snake he wears as a garland, as the string of Pinaka. The day Shiva destroyed the three cities is celebrated as Kartik Purnima.

The bow also has had a key role in the Ramayana. Pinaka was passed down in King Janaka’s dynasty, who was Sita’s father. Once, while playing with her sisters, a young Sita lifted the bow with ease. King Janaka was astonished to see such a miracle as it took several strong grown men to lift the bow, but his young daughter had done the deed effortlessly. And so, he decided that he would marry his daughter to someone who could also lift the divine bow. Years later, King Janaka organised a swayamwar for his daughter and invited princes from all distant kingdoms. The king announced to the assembly of princes that whoever of the bunch could string the divine Pinaka, would be granted the permission to marry his daughter Sita. Several men tried the challenge but all of them failed miserably. They could barely move the heavy bow. Finally, prince Rama of Ayodhya, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, was able to lift the divine Pinaka, and while trying to put a string to the bow, he snapped the bow into two. King Janaka announced Rama as the winner of the swayamwar, and wed his daughter to the prince as promised.

Read the complete six-volume set of Valmiki’s Ramayana on the ACK Comics app and Kindle. The collection is also available on Flipkart, Amazon, and other major e-tailers. 

The post Shiva’s Pinaka appeared first on Amar Chitra Katha.

Illustration: Sanjhiya MayekarThe god of war Karttikeya, also known as Murugan in Southern India, wields a celestial spear as a weapon, one that was given to him by his mother, Parvati, so that he could defeat the demon Surapadman. The day on which the spear or vel was gifted to him is celebrated as Thaipusam by Tamilians all over the world. The word Thaipusam is a combination of ‘Thai’, which indicates the month the festival falls in, and ‘Pusam’, the Tamil word for the Pushya star which is at its highest point during the festival.

On this day, devotees carry large pots of milk on their back as an offering to the warrior god, after preparing for months in advance. It is regarded as a form of penance and Murugan is invoked to destroy all negative traits in oneself.

The post Karttikeya’s Spear appeared first on Amar Chitra Katha.

Origin

The name Kaumodaki is derived from the word ‘Kumuda‘ meaning ‘water lily’. The mace has always been associated with Vishnu. In the Mahabharata, Varuna, the god of the sky, is said to have given this mace to Krishna, before the burning of the Khandava forest.

Power and design 

Its body is sometimes depicted with etchings of flutes and peacock feathers on it. The Kaumodaki has a thunder-like roar and the ability to kill all the Daityas, a clan of Asura along with the Danavas. The mace represents the power of knowledge, time and intellect.

Other information 

The mace is sometimes personified as a goddess called Gadadevi or Gadanari. In this form, the mace is held by the goddess with Vishnu blessing her.

The post Vishnu’s Kaumodaki Gada appeared first on Amar Chitra Katha.