Most Powerful Weapons of Lord Shiva - Part 2

Har Har Mahadev!
This is the second part of the series titled-“Most Powerful Weapons of Lord Shiva”.  As we all know that Lord Shiva is Bholenath therefore he is also known for giving powerful weapons to his devotees. But some of them struck to their Dharma even in the hardest of times but some resorted to the unjust and adharmic means in order to fulfil their evil plans and desires. In this article I bring you the next 3 powerful weapons of Lord Shiva. They are as follows:

1.   PINAKA AJAGAVA:

Pinaka, the Bow of Lord Shiva

Pinaka-Ajagava is the bow of Lord Shiva used for the total destruction or ‘pralaya’. There were two bows that were made by Lord Vishwakarma, the cosmic architect- the Sharanga and the Pinaka. The Sharanga was given to Lord Vishnu and the Pinaka was given to Lord Shiva. To know which bow was more powerful, a war was proposed between Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. But just before the battle an akaashvani occurred warning the two gods about the destruction that would follow if any of the two bows were used. Therefore the idea of war was abandoned.

          Lord Shiva also destroyed the city of Tripura with the Pinaka. The city of Tripura was a boon that was given by Lord Brahma to the three sons of   Tarkasur. Tripura consisted of three cities of gold, silver and iron. For some-time the brothers ruled justly. But the three brothers’ demonic nature surfaced again and the started plundering and looting people. The gods requested Mahadev to put an end to the sufferings of the people. In the battle that followed Lord Shiva destroyed the three cities with a single arrow which was shot from the Pinaka.

          Pinaka was presented to Lord Parshuram by Lord Shiva himself after the completion of his training. Lord Parshuram was trained in warfare by Lord Shiva. He was the greatest warrior the world has ever known. Lord Parshuram passed on this bow to Janaka, the father of Lady Sita and the King of Mithila. This was the same bow that was later broken by Lord Ram in Lady Sita’s Swaymwara.

2.   PARSHU:

Parshu, the divine axe of Lord Shiva

Parshu is the divine axe of Lord Shiva. This parshu of Lord Shiva was known by the name of ‘Vidyudabhi’. Parshu was given to Lord Parshuram, the sixth Vishnu by Lord Shiva who personally trained him in martial arts, scriptures and warfare. Parshuram’s weapon had supernatural powers. It had four cutting edges, one on each end of the blade head and one on each end of the shaft.

          Parshu was the most lethal weapon in terms of inflicting maximum damage to the victims. The axe blade was so sharp that in one blow it would cut off the head of an enemy as neatly as it has been sliced by a machine. Lord Parshuram killed 21 generations of Kshatriyas with this weapon.

 After the massive killings Lord Parshuram  retired to the Mahendragiri mountain where he is believed to have been doing penance to this day. It is said that Lord Parshuram will appear at the end of Kaliyug as the spiritual Guru of Lord Kalki, the final avatar of Lord Vishnu.

3.   CHANDRAHASA:

Chandrahasa, the Sword of Shiva.

Not many of you would be aware of the fact that Lord Shiva also possessed a sword. Yes you read it right. Lord Shiva possessed a sword which was known as the Chandrahasa. Chandrahasa literally means “the laughter of the moon”. The sword got its name because of its shape. The Chandrahasa was shaped like a crescent moon which is symbolic of the smile of the moon.

          The Chandrahasa was gifted to Ravana, the king of Lanka by Lord Shiva. To know how, read on.

As we all are aware of the fact that Raavan was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and also had the boon that he will be known as the greatest devotee of Lord Shiva in the world. Raavan used to go from his city of Lanka to mount Kailash to worship Lord Shiva. But he soon began to get tired from the daily trips to and from mount Kailash. Therefore he wanted to take Lord Shiva with him to Lanka so that he could spend his life worshipping him.

          In order to get his desire fulfilled lifted the entire Kailash mountain on his shoulders and was just about to take it to mount Kailash when he was crushed under the mountain. Lord Shiva had just touched his toe on the ground and Raavan was struck under the massive mountain. As Raavan was struggling to get out of the mountain, Lord Shiva sat there smiling.

Now tired of the efforts to free himself from the clutches of the mighty mountain, Raavan realised that now only Lord Shiva could take him out. Therefore he began to sing the “SHIV TANDAV STROTAM” which he had composed for his Lord, his Mahadev. As he began singing Lord Shiva also started enjoying the divine music. Seeing Ravaan’s immense devotion towards him, Lord Shiva rescued him and blessed him with the indestructible sword, Chandrahasa. But Lord Shiva warned Raavan that if this sword was used for any injustice or any wrong purpose then the sword will automatically return to Lord Shiva and Raavan’s days would be numbered.

 Although we do not know what exactly happened with the Chandrahasa but it is widely believed that Raavan used the Chandrahasa to clip off Jatayuji’s wings when the latter tried saving Lady Sita from being kidnapped. If this was the case then the Chandrahasa would have undoubtedly returned to Lord Shiva and after this Raavan was killed by Lord Ram, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

          The second part ends here. The third part of the series will be out soon. Please like, share and comment.

TO BE CONTINUED….

UPDATE: Part 3 of this series is out now! Click on the link: Most Powerful Weapons of Lord Shiva- Part 3

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