WeaponIconography
Sharanga: Meaning
शार्ङ्गSharanga is the celestial bow of Vishnu. The Ramayana says the divine craftsman Vishwakarma made two great bows, Pinaka for Shiva and Sharanga for Vishnu, and that Parashurama handed Sharanga to Rama to string. Vishnu is called Sharngapani, the one who holds Sharanga.
Borne byविVishnu
What does it symbolise?
Tradition holds
The Vishnu Purana (1.22) pairs Vishnu's bow with his conch as the two forms of ahamkara, the sense of self: the conch for the self from which the elements arise, the bow for the self from which the senses arise. Arrows, in the same passage, stand for the senses themselves.
In devotional reading the bow is readiness: the divine is always able to act at a distance to protect those who call on it, as Rama did with his bow.
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