Indrastra

Indrastra (Sanskrit: इन्द्रास्त्र, romanized: Indrāstra) is the astra (celestial weapon) of the Hindu deity Indra. The astra is featured in Hindu texts such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Literature

Mahabharata

In the Mahabharata, Indra offers the Indrastra to Arjuna.[1]

On the fourteenth day of the Kurukshetra War, when Arjuna wanted to kill King Jayadratha, Drona and Duryodhana sent their men to stop Arjuna. One of these was King Sudakshina, who threw his spear at Arjuna, striking him and causing his blood to flow. Even as the Kauravas believed him to be dead, Arjuna launched the Indrastra, killing King Sudakshina and a large part of his army.

On the seventeenth day of the war, Arjuna shot his Indrastra on the Samsaptakas, killing many of them.

Ramayana

In the Ramayana, Lakshmana employs the Indrastra to kill Indrajita, the son of Ravana.[2]

See also

References
  1. Gupta, Subhadra Sen (2001). Devi-devata: The Gods & Goddesses of India. Rupa & Company. p. 48. ISBN 978-81-7167-530-2.
  2. Sharma, Bulbul (2008-01-09). The Ramayana. Penguin Books India. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-14-333031-8.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.