Indian traditions, Nivedita and Coomaraswamy
Shiva’s Bow
The bow at Janaka’s sacrifice is worshipped as a deity and has resisted every attempted stringing by rulers and supernatural beings. Its power makes the proposed trial something more than a contest among ordinary weapons. Janaka traces it from Shiva through the gods to his ancestor Devarata. Rama lifts, strings and draws it until it breaks with a thunderous sound, fulfilling the marriage condition in an unexpected excess of strength.
Also known as Bow of Shiva · Janaka’s bow
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalThe bow at Janaka’s sacrifice is worshipped as a deity and has resisted every attempted stringing by rulers and supernatural beings. Its power makes the proposed trial something more than a contest among ordinary weapons.
Further detail
TraditionalJanaka traces it from Shiva through the gods to his ancestor Devarata. Rama lifts, strings and draws it until it breaks with a thunderous sound, fulfilling the marriage condition in an unexpected excess of strength.
Context & interpretation
This entry concerns the bow in the collection’s Rama-and-Sita marriage episode. It does not authenticate a surviving weapon, determine every name used for Shiva’s bow, or equate this trial with the separate bow-breaking episode of Krishna at Mathura.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
That bow is worshipped as a deityOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Nivedita and Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 50
Exact passage checked against the active edition text and original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0050
- Original scan leaf
- 50
- Recorded leaf number
- 50
- Current Reader position
- 41
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
it snapped in twoOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Nivedita and Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 51
Exact passage checked against the active edition text and original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0051
- Original scan leaf
- 51
- Recorded leaf number
- 51
- Current Reader position
- 42
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Illustrations
Continue exploring
Janaka
Sita’s father and the ruler whose great bow establishes the marriage test.
Shared source pageSita
Janaka’s daughter, whose captivity in Lanka becomes the centre of Rama’s search.
Shared illustrationRama
The prince of Ayodhya whose exile and return form the centre of the Ramayana.
Same subject and traditionPushpaka
The self-moving aerial car that carries Rama and his company towards Ayodhya.