Khaṭvāṅga (staff)
Khaṭvāṅga · khaṭvā-aṅga, “the leg of a cot, skull-topped staff”
Grammar: masculine or neuter noun, a compound of khaṭvā (cot) and aṅga (limb): “the leg of a cot”.
Meaning: a club or staff, shaped like the leg of a cot and topped with a skull, carried by Śiva, by the fierce forms of the Devī and by the gaṇas.
In the scriptures:
- Kālī held a khaṭvāṅga and a sword; her body was dried of flesh and wet with blood, and a garland of human heads hung on her. With the khaṭvāṅga she smashed heads to powder. When Ruru saw his army and its commander devoured and fled, Durgā struck him on the head with the khaṭvāṅga, and he fell like a great tree (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 29).
- Kauśikī killed some of the daityas with the khaṭvāṅga (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 30).
- In the Hari-Hara form, the one form of Śiva and Keśava, the weapons held were cakra, khaḍga, śaṅkha, hala, Śārṅga, Pināka, śūla, Ajagava, khaṭvāṅga, kapāla and ghaṇṭā (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 36).
- Nandī named to Śiva the gaṇas of his bhaktas, of excellent vratas and in red armour, who fight with khaṭvāṅgas (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 41).
- Vena said in his stotra to Śiva, “With you are arrows, maces, bows, khaṭvāṅgas and quivers; you are the one who cuts, who pierces, who strikes, who thinks and who leads” (Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 26).
Related terms: Kapāla · Śūla · Pināka · Kālī · Gaṇa
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 29, 30, 36, 41
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 26