The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s5.439

c2.s5.439

* The expression ‘up to the ear’ is used either of bow or of arrow. Compare viii. 90. 57, *taṭo ‘rjuno dvādaçabhiḥ sumuktāir varāhakarṇāir niçitāiḥ samarpya, nārācam āçīviṣatulyavegam ākarṇapūrṇāyatam utsasarja*; ix. 28. 5, *ākarṇaprahitaḥ (çaraḥ)*; viii. 83. 39, *supuṅkhena suyantritena susamcitāgreṇa çareṇa ākarṇamuktena samāhitena (çuraḥ . . . çiro jahāra)*; vii. 47. 9, *rukmapuṅkhāiḥ . . . ākarṇasamacoditāiḥ*; vii. 156. 184, *mumocā ‘karṇapūrṇena dhanuṣā çaram*; R. vi. 51. 75, *karṇāyata visṛṣṭena çareṇa ‘nataparvaṇā*; R. vi. 79. 16, *bāṇam ākarṇāt pūrayitvā sasarja*. The bow is ‘full’ when rounded; then the epithet is carried over to the arrow. Compare Il. iv. 123 for the Homeric view: *νευρὴν μὲν μαζῷ πελασεν*. The size and shape are indicated, as stated above, in vi. 44. 17; vii. 38. 18; 40. 33; 124. 35; 156. 111, *āyatakārmukaḥ*; 167. 46; 169. 28. *Gāṇḍīva (Arjuna’s bow)* looks like a wheel of fire, it is bent so far into a circle (*agnicakra*, iv. 64. 14). Compare R. vi. 51. 87, where the arrow is joined to the *āgneyam astram*, and both it and the bow ‘gleam’ (*jajvāla*). The circle is expressly stated to be the shape taken by the bow. Compare references above with i. 133. 3; and vii. 160. 47, *maṇḍalīkṛtakārmukaḥ*, ‘one whose bow is bent into a circle.’