Gandiva (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: Gāṇḍīva; ) is a divine bow of

Arjuna Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Panda ...

, one of the

Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...

s from the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

epic ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

.'' The bow was made by

Brahma Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp ...

How Arjuna got the Gandiva

Agni, God of fire, wanted to devour the forest of Khandavaprastha, to regain his power and splendor. He had enlisted the help of the two heroes,

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

and

. Arjuna was the best warrior and greatest archer of the world & all time and demanded from Agni a bow that would suit his strength, skill and the power of celestial weapons. Agni then requested

Varuna Varuna (; sa, वरुण, , Malay: ''Baruna'') is a Vedic deity associated initially with the sky, later also with the seas as well as Ṛta (justice) and Satya (truth). He is found in the oldest layer of Vedic literature of Hinduism, su ...

to bless the heroes with the desired weapons. Varuna gave the Gandiva bow to Arjuna, as well as two quivers which would provide an inexhaustible number of arrows. The weapon was dreaded by many during the Kurukshetra war, having defeated and killed many great warriors and the gods themselves.

Features

The Gandiva gives a wielder self confidence, self belief. The bow consisted of 108 celestial string, was endued with great energy and is believed to have the strength of one lakh bows. Gandiva was indestructible and was worshiped by the celestials and the Gandharvas.

Return to the gods

At the end of the ''

Dvapara Yuga ''Dvapara Yuga'' ( Dwapara Yuga), in Hinduism, is the third and third best of the four ''yugas'' (world ages) in a '' Yuga Cycle'', preceded by ''Treta Yuga'' and followed by ''Kali Yuga''. ''Dvapara Yuga'' lasts for 864,000 years (2,400 divine ...

'', Krishna departed the Earth and left for

Vaikuntha Vaikuntha ( sa, वैकुण्ठ, lit=without anxiety, translit=Vaikuṇṭha), also called Vishnuloka (), and Tirunatu (Tirunāṭu) in Tamil, is the abode of Vishnu, the supreme deity in the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism,Gavin Flood, ...

. When Krishna was departing, he told Arjuna to rescue the people of Dwarika because he was submerging Dwarika under ocean. Arjuna temporarily could not string the bow, or remember the spells necessary in order to summon his celestial weapons when Dwarika was drowning. Arjuna knew that his time on earth was up as well, Vyasa had told him this event will happen and when it happens, Arjuna's work on earth is over. Later, the Pandavas retired and journeyed to the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

. On their route,

Agni Agni (English: , sa, अग्नि, translit=Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism. He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hi ...

came and asked Arjuna to return the Gandiva to

, for it belonged to the gods.

obliged and dropped them in the waters of the sea. Thus the celestial bow was returned to the gods.

References

Metaphysically, Gandiva is the “bow of self-control.” With it Arjuna was equipped for victory over “the sense soldiers of the blind king Mind.” “Charioteered by God, he must rally the army of emperor Discrimination with its forces of virtue and its allies of spiritual perception.” (Paramahansa Yogananda-ji’s commentary on XVIII:78)

External links

* http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01228.htm * http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m04/m04043.htm {{Hindu deities and texts Mahabharata Weapons in Hindu mythology Bows (archery)

How Arjuna got the Gandiva

Features

Return to the gods

See also

References

External links