Dhanus or Dhanushya or Dhanush is the bow. It has three different shapes. The first is like an arc of a circle, with the ends joined by a string or thong taking the place of the chord. In the second variety, it has three bends, the top and bottom bends being smaller and turned in a direction opposite to that of the middle bend which is the larger one. The third variety has five bends and belongs to a much later period in the evolution of this weapon.
Dhanus is a prominent weapon in Hindu Mythology. Figures like Lord Rama and Arjuna are always depicted with bow either in their hands or on the shoulder.
Some prominent celestial bows are mentioned in the scriptures
- Gandiva (also called Ājagava) – created by Brahma and given by Varuna to Arjuna on Agni’s request and used by Arjuna in Mahabharat. Gandiva has 108 divine strings. Other than him Bhagwan Shiv, Devraj Indra, Soma and Prajapati had also wielded it.
- Govardhana – A powerful bow of Vishnu. During the Mahabharata, Vishnu gave Vidura this bow.
- Kaundinya’s bow – A magic bow wielded by the Brahman Kaundinya I, who used it to make the Nāga princess Soma fall in love with him.
- Pinaka of Lord Shiva,
- Vijaya of Lord Shiva to destroy Tripura
- Pushpa Dhanu – The bow of Kama, God of love; made of sugarcane with a string of honeybees
- Sharanga or Saranga of Lord Vishnu,
- Sharkha – The bow of Krishna
- Ājagava – The bow of Rājā Māndātā and Pŗthu
- Kodanda – Pradyumna (son of Krishna) wielded the Kodanda bow, which was also used by Bhagwan Sri Ram before. Lord Rama used it while going after Mareecha while he was disguised as a golden deer.
- Vayavya – This is the bow of Vayu Deva which was used by Bhima in Mahabharata.
- Paulastya – The bow of Ravana. It was also wielded by Gatotkacha.
- Rudra – Abhimanyu (Mahabharata) wielded the Raudra bow, which he had received from Balram ji.
- Mahendra – Yudhisthira wielded the Mahendra bow.
- Vaishnava – Nakula wielded the Vaishnava bow.
- Aswini – Sahdeva wielded the Aswini bow.
