The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.346

v1.c10.346

[ 118 ] **Bow :** Of the first class the oldest, the most important, and the most generally adopted national weapon of the Hindus from prehistoric times to the end of the middle ages, was the bow, and heroism in this country was invariably associated with superior proficiency in the use of that arm. No one rose to distinction as a warrior, who did not wield a heavy bow, and *dhanurdhara*, or "the master of the bow" was the highest term of compliment that could be addressed to him. By a figure of speech, the same term is even to this day applied also to men who have achieved success in other walks of life. The *Agni Purāṇa* praises its use by the remark that, "of all battles, that in which bows are used is the best of all; that in which men fight with barbed instruments is tolerable. Fighting with swords is low and mean, and without arms, with bare hands, the meanest". "Hence perhaps", says Professor Wilson, "one of the elements of Indian inferiority in the field, as the arrow, however formidable as a missile, was but a feeble instrument in close combat, and its use was calculated to impair the courage of the combatant, by habituating him to shun rather than to seek the contiguity of the foeman".¹⁷⁹ So great was the importance attached to the bow in ancient times, that the code of rules regarding archery was ennobled as a subsidiary Veda, *Dhanur Veda*. These rules are no longer available; but enough remains in Sanskrit literature to show the estimation in which the arm in question was held. Certain it is that it led to the word *dhanus* being used as synonymous with arms in general. So also words *dhanuṣka* and *dhanvin*, signifying literally a bowman, were always used to denote a warrior or soldier. In the *Rigveda*, the employment of the bow in war is frequently mentioned, and the manner in which it is extolled may be perceived from the following prayer of Payu from the fifth *Aṣṭaka*: "May we conquer the cattle (of the enemies) with the bow; with the bow may we be victorious in battle: may we overcome our fierce exulting (enemies) with the bow: may the bow disappoint the hope of the foe: may we subdue with the bow all (hostile) countries. This bowstring, drawn tight upon the bow, and making way in battle, repeatedly approaches the ear (of the warrior), as if embracing its friend (the arrow) and proposing to say something agreeable, as a woman whispers (to her husband). May the two extremities of the bow, acting consentaneously, like a wife sympathising (with her husband), uphold (the warrior), as a mother nurses her child upon her lap; and may they, moving concurrently, and harassing the foe, scatter his enemies".¹⁸⁰ The *Rāmāyaṇa* and the *Mahābhārata* extol it even more highly, and the story of the great bow of Śiva, which Rāma snapped asunder and won a noble bride, shows that large heavy bows were held in estimation. Proficiency in archery was also greatly prized, and the Pāṇḍu brothers obtained a princess as the reward of successfully shooting at a mark while looking at its shadow in water.