Topic Research: Weapons of the Gods

 The topic I chose to explore more is "Weapons of the Gods." I want to investigate the various weapons because I find them interesting in how they are often given as gifts and the recipients of these gifts are (in a way) given a divine power through these gifts. Another influencer in my decision of this topic was the story of Ravana confronting Shiva (https://sites.google.com/view/tinyramayana/part-a/page-1). In this story, Ravana (at that time called Dashagriva) enters Shiva's home despite warnings, and expected to conquer this powerful God. To Ravana's surprise, Shiva used just a toe to pin Ravana under a mountain. This caused Ravana's devote love for Shiva, and in turn Shiva gives him the indestructible sword Chandrahasa. The sword has a moon-like shape, which is interesting because I read in another story of the Chandrahasa that Shiva carries the moon on his head (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrahas). 

The parashu is a weapon with either a double or single blade with a spike on one of the edges (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parashu). A parashu named Vidyudabhi was a weapon of Shiva that was given to Parashurama ("Rama with an axe"), another avatar of Vishnu. The parashu was an extremely dangerous weapon used throughout the epics, which is one of the reasons I was drawn to this story. The Vidyudabhi had special powers and also included four cutting edges instead of just the two. These edges could be found at both ends of the weapon, making it even more lethal. I was unable to find a source with the story of how Shiva gives the weapon to Parashurama but I did find that Prashurama worshipped Shiva (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parashurama).

The Pinaka was a bow of Shiva with a significant part in the Ramayana stories. The bow was created equal to another by Vishwakarma for Shiva and Vishnu. Shiva received the Pinaka while Vishnu received the Sharanga. The Pinaka falls in the hands of Sita, daughter of king Janaka, who is the only one able to lift the bow. This plays an important role in how the bow comes into the hands of Rama, who defeats Parashurama with the broken bow (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinaka_(Hinduism).

Weapons of the Gods