The Story of the Bow

[Guest guest]

dear bhagavatas,

 

Shri M.G. Vasudevan's postings on the Bow are indeed informative and enjoyable.

Here is some additional information on the Bow.

 

 

The Aruna Prasnam of the Taitiriya Aranyakam has an interesting tale to narrate

about Shiva's bow. Once Devas were readying themselves for battle with asuras.

Rudra, with his magnificent bow firmly planted in the ground, declared that none

could equal him in valour-neither deities, nor mortals, nor Agni, Indra nor

Varuna ("naiva dEvO na martya:, na rAjA VaruNO vibhu:, nAgni: na Indro na

PavamAna:, Madruk kacchana vidyatE"). The Shruti describes the colossal nature

of this bow, by pointing out that while its upper end was far above in the

skies, the lower one stood firmly rooted in the ground ("divi asya EkA dhanu:

Artni:, PrithivyAm aparA shrtiA"). The gargantuan size of the bow, Rudra's mood

and demeanour-all these were indeed terrifying to the entire world, which

watched the scene with great trepidation. To defuse the situation, Indra came

out with a strategy. He assumed the form of termites and ate into the taut

string connecting the two ends of the bow-"tasya Indro vamri roopeNa, dhanu:

jyAm acchinat svayam", thereby reducing the damage potential of the bow. When

Rudra drew back the string to equip the bow with a destructive arrow, the

predictable happened-the weakened string broke and, instead of causing any

damage, the bow, due to the force of the pull and its own size, fell far into

the sky-"tat Indra dhanu: ityajyam, abhra varNEshu chakshaktE". In a case of a

protagonist of violence becoming its victim, the broken bow, due the force of

its passage and release, struck Rudra's head with great power and shattered it

into a thousand pieces-"RudrasyatvEva dhanu: Artni:, shira utpipEsha". It is

perhaps due to this event that the Rainbow, which is formed in the sky, is known

till date as the "Indra Dhanus" or Indra's Bow, commemorating his contribution

in saving the world from destruction. It is noteworthy that the Rainbow

resembles a bow, but without the drawstring. Sri Nampillai records this tale in

His Eedu, while commenting on the pasuram "Surar arivaru nilai"-"tAn poottina

nANi tan kazhuttai arutthukkoNdu pOgAdu ozhiyum pOdum Isvaran antaryAmAvAi

nirkka vENum".