Vijaya (bow)
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Vijaya or Vijaya Dhanush ('Victory' in Sanskrit) was the divine bow of Karna. This bow is said to give sure victory to the possessor. Parasurama gave Vijaya to his student Karna, who already had terrific skill, making him virtually invincible. Lord Krishna devised a plan to kill Karna and asked Arjuna to kill Karna when he was weaponless trying to lift his sunken chariot wheel, even though it was highly prohibited or against the rules of engagements in war, to kill an unarmed warrior.
Creation
The bow Vijaya was specially made by Vishvakarman for Lord Shiva to destroy the city of Tripura built by sons of Tarakasura. Lord Shiva destroyed Tripura by firing Pashupatastra from Vijaya. Later, Lord Siva gave this bow for safekeeping to Lord Indra, who frequently wielded the bow in his fights with the Asuras. The Asuras feared the bow due to its destructive abilities.
Parshurama receives Vijaya from Indra
Lord Shiva instructed Indra to give the bow to Parasurama for the task of combating the evil prevailing in the kshatriyas of the world. On 21 different occasions, when the ruling Kshatriyas (the martial caste) began oppressing their subjects and committing sin, Parasurama - armed with the Vijaya bow - hunted them to the brink of extinction, nearly ridding the world of the kshatriyas. Each time, Parasurama donated the territory won from the kshatriyas to Brahmins (the academic/teaching caste) for re-establishment of order.
Karna and Vijaya bow
Parasurama takes Karna as his student, as told in the Mahabharatha. Since Karna was a diligent and worthy student, Parasurama blessed Karna with the Vijaya along with other celestial weapons. Vijaya bow is clearly mentioned only once in Mahabharata, during the Kurukshetra war, on the 17th day, when he fought against Arjuna (who was using the Gandiva).Karna did lost multiple other battles , but its not clear whether he used the Vijaya Bow in those battles. Vijaya bow is more associated with Parshuram who wielded it in all his major battles when he get rid of the Kshatriyas from earth 21 times.
At Draupadi Swayamvar, Karna and Arjuna who was disguised as a Brahmin, collided. Karna fainted from Arjuna's arrows, and later the fight was stalemate and Karna left. Whether he used Vijaya Bow here is not mentioned.Before that, Karna also accompanied Duryodhana in quest for vanquishing Drupada to give gurudakshina to preceptor Drona,but the entire Kauravas along with Karna and their army were routed by Drupada.Here also no mention of Vijaya bow is there.Later Arjuna and the pandavas capture Drupada without any army. When Karna dazzled at the ranga kshetra with his archery skills and overshadowed others, where the Pandavas and kauravas were showing their martial lessons on completion of their studies under Guru Drona, no mention of Vijaya dhanush is there. When the Gandharvas rout Karna and the Kuru army and take Duryodhana captive with his wives, it is not clear which bow he was using. Later Arjuna aided by Bhima, Nakula & Sahadeva, defeated the Gandharvas and set Duryodhana free. Then at the Virat Yuddha, where Arjuna alone with a young prince as his charioteer defeated all the Kuru heroes including Bhishma, Karna, Drona, Kripa, Ashwathama, Duryodhana, Dusshashana backed with their vast army multiple times and later put them all to sleep, also no mention of Karna's Vijaya bow is there. However on the 17th day of kurukshetra, it is clearly mentioned that Karna was wielding the Vijaya Dhanush and he used it to devastating effects that day.
Features of Vijaya bow
The string of this bow cannot be broken by any kind of astra or any divine weapon. Vijaya Dhanush is described in certain puranas having a dark colour with bluish hue. When Lord Prashuram wielded Vijaya Dhanush, its twang is said to have produced reverberations akin to rumbling of charged clouds. Certain stories mention that the state of Kerala was produced from Sea when Lord Parshuram shoot a divine arrow from his divine Vijaya bow. However many stories state the same thing with Lord Parshuram's Axe instead of Vijay Dhanush. Lord Parshuram gifted the bow to Karna since he was a worthy and brilliant student and after being taught by Lord Parshuram was already a great warrior. [1][2]
References
- ↑ K M Ganguly(1883-1896) The Mahabharatha Book 8: Karna Parva Section72 Lord Krishna explains the might of Karna,October 2003,Retrieved 2014-02-13
- ↑
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