Trishula

The Trishula (त्रिशूल), the three-pointed trident, is the principal weapon of Shiva and one of the most recognisable symbols of Hinduism. It stands beside Shiva in nearly every image, often with the drum Damaru tied to its shaft, and it is planted outside countless Shiva shrines across India and Nepal.

What do the three points mean?

Tradition gives the three prongs many meanings, all pointing to Shiva as the one who holds every triad in his single hand:

• The three acts of the cosmos: creation, preservation and dissolution.
• The three gunas of nature: sattva, rajas and tamas.
• The three times: past, present and future.
• The three worlds: earth, atmosphere and heaven.
• In yoga, the three channels of subtle energy: ida, pingala and sushumna.

The trident in the stories

• Ganesha’s head — In the Shiva Purana, when a boy guarding Parvati’s door refuses to let Shiva in, Shiva strikes off his head with the trishula; it is to restore him that Shiva gives him the head of an elephant. See The Birth of Ganesha.
• Durga and Mahishasura — In the Devi Mahatmya (ch. 2), when the gods arm the newly born Goddess against the buffalo demon, Shiva draws a trident from his own trident and gives it to her, and with it she slays Mahishasura.
• Kashi on the trident — A well-known belief holds that the sacred city of Varanasi rests on the tip of Shiva’s trishula and so survives even the dissolution of the world.

The trident in temples

Great iron and brass tridents stand at many shrines; one of the oldest is the tall metal trishula at the Gopinath temple in Gopeshwar, Uttarakhand, bearing inscriptions from the early medieval period. Shaiva ascetics often carry a trident as their staff, and it is a common emblem of the Goddess as Durga and Kali.