Gandiva

Agni, the God of fire, wanted to devour the forest of Khandavaprastha, to regain his power and splendor. He had enlisted the help of the two heroes, Krishna and Arjuna. Arjuna was one of the best and greatest archers of all time and demanded from Agni a bow that would suit his strength, skill and the power of celestial weapons.

Agni then requested Varuna to bless the heroes with the desired weapons. Varuna gave the Gandiva bow to Arjuna, as well as two quivers which would provide an inexhaustible number of arrows.[3][4][5]

The weapon was dreaded by many during the Kurukshetra war, having defeated and killed many great warriors and the gods themselves.

The Gandiva gives the wielder self confidence, self belief [6]. The bow was well adorned and endued with great energy and is said to equivalent to a hundred thousand bows, it was also incapable of being damaged and was worshiped by the celestials and the Gandharvas.[7]

At the end of the Dwapara yuga, Krishna departed the mortal world and left for Vaikuntha. Arjuna could not string the bow, or remember the spells necessary in order to summon his celestial weapons. Later the pandavas retired and journeyed to the himalayas. On their route, Agni came and asked Arjuna to return the Gandiva to Varuna, for it belonged to him. Arjuna obliged and dropped them in the waters of the sea. Thus the celestial bow was returned to the gods.[8]

• Vijaya
• Sharanga
• Pinaka

Metaphysically, Gandiva is the “bow of self-control.” With it Arjuna was equipped for victory over “the sense soldiers of the blind king Mind.” “Charioteered by God, he must rally the army of emperor Discrimination with its forces of virtue and its allies of spiritual perception.” (Paramahansa Yogananda-ji’s commentary on XVIII:78)

• http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01228.htm
• http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m04/m04043.htm

Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Mahabharata