''Anjalikastra'' is a celestial weapon in Hindu mythology. Anjalikastra was a personal astra (celestial weapon) of the king of the

devas Devas may refer to: * Devas Club, a club in south London * Anthony Devas (1911–1958), British portrait painter * Charles Stanton Devas (1848–1906), political economist * Jocelyn Devas (died 1886), founder of the Devas Club * Devas (band), ...

, Indra. According to

Hindu literature Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few of these texts are shared across these traditions and they are broadly considered Hindu scriptures. These ...

, using this weapon on an opponent decapitates them. In some stories, it is also said that

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja () ...

- the brother of

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

- used same Anjalikastra to kill Indrajita. This astra is mentioned when Mahabharata's Arjuna used it to kill

Karna Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: ''Karṇa''), also known as Vasusena, Anga-raja, and Radheya, is one of the main protagonists of the Hindu epic '' Mahābhārata''. He is the son of the sun god Surya and princess Kunti (mother of the ...

Ramayana

In some versions of

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

, it is said that

Meghanada Meghanada (), also referred to by his epithet Indrajita , according to Hindu texts, was the crown prince of Lanka, who conquered Indraloka ( Heaven). He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors in Hindu texts. He is a major character ment ...

( Indrajita) was killed by the usage of Anjalikastra. Meghanada was granted a boon from Brahma that after the completion of the Yagna (fire-worship) of his native goddess

Prathyangira Pratyangira (Sanskrit: प्रत्यङ्गिरा, ''Pratyaṅgirā)'', also called Atharvana Bhadrakali, Narasimhi, Simhamukhi, and Nikumbala, is a Hindu goddess associated with Shaktism. She is described to be the female energy and co ...

-"Nikumbhila yagna", he will get a celestial chariot, mounting on which, he will win over any enemy in war and become invulnerable. But Brahma also cautioned him that whosoever would destroy this yagna would also kill him. Indrajita through severe penance convinced Brahma to give him a boon in which it was promised to him that Indrajita would only be killed by such a man who hadn't had sleep for Fourteen years continuously. Thus

was only the person at that time whose life satisfied those conditions and thus he was the only person eligible to kill Indrajita. Knowing this

Vibhishana Vibhishana () is the younger brother of Ravana, the King of Lanka, in the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. Though a rakshasa himself, Vibhishana turned his back on Ravana, and defected to Rama's side, owing to his dharma. After Rama defeated Ra ...

requested

to destroy Indrajit's yagna. Lakshmana was very successful in spoiling Indrajit's Nikumbhila Yagna and finally killed

using Anjalikastra.

Mahabharata

On the 17th day of the Kurukshetra war, Karna and Arjuna faced each other and started fighting. As the battle intensified, Karna had an arrow on his neck by Arjuna by the Anjalikastra.

References

{{Reflist Weapons in Hindu mythology