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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00070 Dec 2004

 
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SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA

Let me bring to the notice of devotees some more
information on bows.

1)Varuna?s connection.
It appears that Varuna devatha is the custodian of
divine and fierce bows. The Shiva dhanush was in the
custody of Varuna before Janaka got it. The Vishnu
dhanush that Rama got from Parasurama was deposited
with Varuna immediately afterwards.

It is interesting to note that there exists similar
narration with reference to Gaandeeva, the bow of
Arjuna. In Mahabharatha, Virada parva, sloka 43,
Arjuna as Bruhannalai describes the glory of Gandeeva
to Utthara kumara. After describing the bow, he says
that it was in the custody of Brhma deva for 1000
years, then with Prajapathi for 503 years, then with
Indra for 85 years, with chandra for 500 years and
with Varuna for 100 years. From Aadhi parvam, 225, we
come to know that this bow was given to Arjuna for
having destroyed Gandeeva vanam by Agni deva THROUGH
VARUNA. 

It appears that Varuna comes into picture as custodian
or giver of bows for the following reasons.

# All divyaasthras are with Vishnu who is none other
than Sriman Narayana (for arguments to substantiate
this latter part of the sentence, refer Vedartha
sangraha). The pramana is the 1000th name of Vishnu in
Vishnu sahasranama, which is ?sarva praharanaayudha:?
Why this name has been given as the final or ultimate
name is itself a matter for interesting debate. In
this context let me confine myself to saying that
Vishnu is the ultimate owner of all weapons. But that
He is also present as Varuna  among all jala-devathas,
is what Gitacharyan Himself has said (BG 10-29). So it
may be interpreted that all weapons, particularly the
divine weapons go back to Vishnu in Varuna?s form.

# Why  Varuna? Why not other forms of Vishnu about
which we have a good idea from BG? It may be because
Varuna as jala-devatha acts as a coolant to preserve
the haughty weapons. Or else the weapons might become
fiercer still. (fanciful notion??!!)

# Vishnu?s connection with the bows can be traced to
what Dhanur veda says. Saarangham, Vishnu?s bow is
described as the best among all the bows by Dhanur
vedam. It is said to be 7 times greater than what
Vishwa karma made. (The two bows mentioned in previous
posts of MGV are made by Vishwa karma).Sage Vyasa
describes Saarangam in his Siva dhanur veda. Though
all bows are said to have originated from Mahadeva, he
says that the archer, before aiming at a target must
keep Lord Vishnu in mind and then intone the name of
Arjuna to get success. He further says that Janardhana
stays in the heart of the archer. The practice to
invoke the blessings of Vishnu before shooting the
arrow might perhaps be due to the prospect of Vishnu
staying in the tip of the arrow ? as what happened
when Shiva sought to destroy Thripura asuras. Further
corroboration:- Vishnu is the Vajayudha among all
weapons (BG) Vajra is also the hard substance made of
diamond and other hard substances that is smeared at
the tip of the arrow, so says Vyasa. So it is assumed
that Vishnu remained as the vajra at the tip of Shiva
dhanush.

2) The next point I wish to take up is explained below
the following dialogue that took place between me and
MGV in previous posts.

JASN: 2) What are these bows called? Which then is
Kothandam, which we 
usually associate with Rama? 

MGV: 'Naming the bows' - is a very difficult question
to answer. In 
slOkam 1-22-7, it is said raama and lakshmaNa started
as dhanushpaaNi: 
along with sage visvaamithra when they left ayOdhyaa.
Also in 1-26-6, it 
is said raama held the bow and made the noise - the
dankaaram - the bow 
string pulled and a noise created. [thus informing
thaatakaa about the 
arrival of her killer before the thaatakaa vadham]. No
name for the bow 
is given in these two places. 

As could be 'inferred' from the parasuraama episode,
which takes place 
just after the marriage, the bow received from
parasuraama, [that 
vishNu dhanu:] was NOT returned to parasuraama.
Instead dhasaratha raama 
gave the bow to varunNan as could be seen from 
gathE raamE prasaantha aathmaa raamO dhaasarathi:
dhanu: |
varuNaaya aprameyaaya dhadhou hasthE mahaayasaa: ||
1-77-1
meaning: On the departure of parasu raama, that most
glorious raama of 
dhasaratha, who is now  peaceful [or quietened] at
heart,  gave away 
that longbow of vishNu into the hands of varuNan, the
unequalled God of 
Rain. 

So we can infer (is it correct?) the vishNu dhanu:
what dhasaratha 
raama received previously from parasu raamaa is the
"kOthaNdam", which, 
when he started to forest, got back from the house of
sage vasishta. 

May be the soul of 'saarngam' - the bow of sriman
naarayaNan enters 
this vishNu dhanu and performs all acts with the name
kOdhandam. [this 
soul of saarngam entering the bow in front of
parasuraama, we saw in the 
bow story earlier].  


JASN replies:- It seems that the two names that appear
in Vishnu sahasranama, namely, Dhanvee and Dhanur
dhara: are general terms outwardly. I am not going
into the vyakhyaanams for these. Instead let me
confine myself to Kodandam and certain other points.
>From Sahasranama, our contention of Vishnu?s
connection to bows further gets strengthened. The
foremost  among the dhanur dharis is Vishnu only.  

Next, about Kodandam. Dhanur veda has an explanation
for kodandam. The bows are prepared having 3, 5 or 7
joints. But a kodandam will have  9 joints. (The
significance of number nine has already been discussed
in various lists. Perhaps to signify that Rama
possessed this bow with 9 joints.) While Saarangam is
described as ?divine one?, kodandam is described as
?auspicious? one. By the name of it, it means a
?curved stick?. 

The question is when and how Rama came to possess
this. 
It can not be the Vishnu dhanush that Rama got from
Parasurama. For, valmiki says that he had sent it to
the custody of Varuna. I doubt whether there exists
any verse in the epic to say or indicate that Rama got
it back.

Rama mentions about the two bows and other weapons
that were received from Varuna by Janaka which he
takes with him during vana vasam. This gives an
impression that during the entire stay in the forest
he had used only this bow(the other presumably left to
with Lakshmana)

Earlier for the first time the mention about the bow
comes when he accompanies sage Vishwamithra to forest.
He acquired sasthras of varied types from the sage.
These are different from asthras as these have to be
used by manthras. (Note BG sloka on the Lord being
Rama among those who are good at sasthra vidhya). Rama
had taken many asthras to the forest and by knowledge
of sasthra vidhya, must have used the various weapons
given by the sage which were at astral level. But
where does the mention of kodandam come is a mute
question for which I am yet to get an answer. 

In the vyakhyanam for Thirumalai pasuram 11, posted by
Smt Sumithra Varadarajan, I found an important
information that except for the time he prayed to
samudra raja, Rama did not for once leave or discard
his kodandam. (may I request Smt sumithra to shed more
light on this?)
If so, we can safely assume that kodandam is one among
the two bows that Rama received from Janaka who inturn
received it from Varuna. It is therefore further
assumed that since Rama used it for number of times
for vanquishing more asuras, kodandam came to cling to
his name. Otherwise, he could have  been just called
as dhanur-rama or so. (Arjuna is not known as
Gandeeva-arjuna) But  similar references (as dhanvee
or dhanur dhari) to him are aplenty in Valmiki
Ramayana.

Requesting further additions and clarifications, 


Jayasree saranathan.



                
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