Sharanga
Sharanga is the celestial bow of the Hindu God Vishnu. Other weapons of Vishnu include the Sudarshana Chakra, the Narayanastra, the Vaishnavastra, the Kaumodaki mace, Nandaka sword. In South India, (Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala) Sharanga is also called as Kodanda. In poems written by Bhadrachala Ramadasu, the poet used words like Kodandapani to refer to Rama. Even Mirabai referred to Krishna as Kodandadhari.
| Kodanda or Sharanga | |
|---|---|
| Service history | |
| Used by | Vishnu Parasurama Rama Krishna |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Vishvakarma |
This bow was crafted by Viswakarma, the Cosmic architect and maker of weapons, along with the Pinaka, the bow of Shiva. Once, Brahma wanted to know who was a better archer, Vishnu or Shiva. Brahma created a quarrel between the two, which led to a terrible duel. The impact of their fight was such that the balance of the entire universe was disturbed. Vishnu won the duel and rendered Pinaka immovable just by uttering 'hum'. Shiva gave his Pinaka bow to a king, who was an ancestor of King Janaka, the father of Sita and Vishnu too decided to do the same, and gave his bow to the Sage Richika. In time, Sharanga came into the possession of Parashurama, the sixth avatar of Vishnu and Richika's grandson.