Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s2.108

v1.c3.s2.108

Iṣu is the usual name for ‘arrow’ from the Rigveda¹ onwards. Other names are Śarya, Śārī, and Bāṇa. In the hymn of the Rigveda,² which gives a catalogue of armour, two kinds of arrows are distinctly referred to: the one is poisoned (ālāktā), and has a head of horn (ruru-śīrṣṇī); the other is copper-, bronze-, or iron-headed (ayo-mukham). Poisoned (digdhā) arrows are also referred to in the Atharvaveda.³ The arrows were feathered.⁴ The parts of an arrow are enumerated in the Atharvaveda⁵ as the shaft (śalya), the feather-socket (parṇa-dhi), the point (śṛṅga), the neck of the point in which the shaft is fixed (kulmala), and the Apaskambha and Apāṣṭha, which are of more doubtful significance. In the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa⁶ the parts of an arrow are given as the point (anīka), the śalya, tejana, and the feathers (parṇāni), where śalya and tejana must apparently mean the upper and lower parts of the shaft, since it is reasonable to suppose that the arrow is described as a whole consecutively. So in the Atharvaveda⁷ the arrow of Kāma is described as having feathers, a shaft (śalya), and a firm fastening (kulmala).⁸ The arrow was shot from the ear, and so is described in the Rigveda⁹ as ‘having the ear for its place of birth.’