''Anjalikastra'' is a celestial weapon in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. Anjalikastra was a personal

astra Astra (Latin for "stars") may refer to: People * Astra (name) Places * Astra, Chubut, a village in Argentina * Astra (Isauria), a town of ancient Isauria, now in Turkey * Astra, one suggested name for a hypothetical fifth planet that became t ...

(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 Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes Indra is the m ...

. According to

Hindu literature Hindu texts or Hindu scriptures are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. Some of the major Hindu texts include the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Itihasa. Scholars ...

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

Lakshmana Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and i ...

- the brother of

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

- used the same Anjalikastra to kill

Indrajita Meghanada (, ), also referred to by his epithet Indrajit (), according to Hindu texts, was the eldest son of Ravana and the crown prince of Lanka, who conquered Indraloka (Heaven). He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors in Hindu texts. ...

. This astra is mentioned when Mahabharata's

Arjuna Arjuna (, , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɾd͡ʒun̪ə is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers, and is widely regarded as the most important and renowned among them. ...

used it to kill

Karna Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: ''Karṇa''), also known as Vasusena, Anga-Raja, Sutaputra and Radheya, is one of the major characters in the Hindu epic ''Mahābhārata''. He is the son of Surya (the Sun deity) and princess Kunti (later ...

Ramayana

In some versions of

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

, it is said that

Meghanada Meghanada (, ), also referred to by his epithet Indrajit (), according to Hindu texts, was the eldest son of Ravana and the crown prince of Lanka, who conquered Indraloka (Heaven). He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors in Hindu texts. ...

(

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

Prathyangira Pratyangira (, ), also called Atharvana Bhadrakali, Narasimhi, and Nikumbala, is a Hindu goddess associated with Shaktism. She is described to be the female energy and consort of Narasimha. According to the Tripura Rahasya, she is the pure manifes ...

-"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

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

. Knowing this,

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

requested

to destroy Indrajit's yagna. Lakshmana was eventually successful in spoiling

Indrajit Meghanada (, ), also referred to by his epithet Indrajit (), according to Hindu texts, was the eldest son of Ravana and the crown prince of Lanka, who conquered Indraloka (Heaven). He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors in Hindu texts. ...

'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. Near the conclusion of the battle, Karna had gotten down from his chariot to get its sunken wheel out of the ground. Having descended from his chariot, Karna requested Arjuna to cease shooting arrows for a moment so that he could get his stuck wheel outside the ground, thus keeping in mind the rules of Dharmayuddha(righteous warfare). However, Krishna on the contrary, reminded Arjuna about the gruesome killing of Abhimanyu at the hands of the principal Kaurava warriors, including Karna, urging Arjuna to shoot arrows at his adversary. Hearing this, Karna launched a multitude of arrows and celestial missiles at Arjuna, all of which were countered. At last, Arjuna brought out the Anjalikastra, praying to Indra that this arrow brings the defeat and death of his adversary, and shot it. It was this very celestial missile, which was used by the son of Kunti to behead his own elder brother, albeit Arjuna didn't know at the time about his relation with Karna. This episode has been narrated in vivid detail in the Karna Parva of the Mahabharata.

References

{{Reflist Astras Weapons of Indra