A bow made of bones

Ram once raised his bow to shoot an arrow at the impertinent sea When the sea apologised Ram did not know what to do with the arrow fixed on his bow it could not be returned to the quiver as per Kshatriya code So he turned around and shot it and it fell on a barren land that turned into the Thar DesertAccording to the Vishnu Purana the bow of Vishnu also used by Rama is called the Sarang In the text Dhanurveda the Sarang bow is described as being made from the horns of a deer with the bowstring crafted from the sinew or tendon of an animal The idea of a god wielding a weapon made from animal products can be unsettlingIn a world where vegetarian food is often considered more spiritual than meat or fish the notion of Hindu gods holding weapons fashioned from bones tendons skin and even gut feels jarringHistorically the Aryans who domesticated horses and invented the spokedwheel chariot also developed the composite bow which gave them a military advantage Regular bows could be crafted from long bamboo shafts with bowstrings made from plant fibresone might call these Sattvic bows They were effective for hunting animals but for military purposes purely in terms of efficiency and effectiveness the composite bow was preferredMaking a composite bow involves a wooden skeleton for the shaftlimb with additional strength provided by horns from a deer or buffalo Flexibility was achieved using strips of sinew or tendons fixed to the wood with glue made from fish bladdersThe bowstring could be made from sinew or from catgut which is the entrails of a horse or sheep This gave the nomads of Eurasia an extremely powerful bow Arrows were fletched with feathers and tips were initially crafted from sharpened bones or sticks due to their lighter weight until metal tips became availableIn the Vedic world bows were regarded as divine weapons Shiva wields his Pinaka bow to destroy three flying cities with a single arrow In the Ramayana Rama uses his bow to shoot an arrow through seven Sala trees impressing the monkey king of Kishkindha In a story from Odisha Ram shot arrows at Ravanarsquos Pushpak Viman causing his umbrella to fall on the ground Here they turned into mushrooms These feats were a testament to skill but also to the technology used to create these bows It is highly probable that the Vedic world used composite bows made from animal products as described in DhanurvidyaIn mythological and poetic terms it is said that Shivarsquos bow was crafted from Mount Meru the bowstring from Vasuki and the bow itself from Vishnu Here again we find references to organic materials ndash the body of Vasuki and the body of Vishnu being used for the bowstring and the arrowThose who depict Rama holding a bow and insist he ate a plantbased diet in the forest often reject the idea of the composite bow They claim Ramarsquos bows were made either of bamboo or metal without animal products This is an example of belief obscuring science and technologyThe author writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times Reach him at devduttpattanaikmiddaycom