Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s1.207

v1.c3.s1.207

Ārtnī denotes the end of the bow to which the bow-string (*jyā*) was attached.¹ The string was not normally kept fastened to both ends of the bow, but when an arrow was to be shot it was strung taut.² On the other hand, the legend of the death of Viṣṇu, told in the later Saṃhitās³ and Brāhmaṇas,⁴ expressly contemplates his leaning on his strung bow, which cleaves his head by the sudden springing apart of the two ends when the bow-string is gnawed through.