Āṅgirasa Dhanus
The Āṅgirasa Dhanus (dhanus means bow) was the personal divine bow of Droṇācārya, the teacher of the Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas. It was named after the Āṅgirasa family line, from which Droṇa came through his father Bharadvāja.
It is mentioned in Chapters 190–191 of the Droṇa Parva of the Mahābhārata. Droṇa used this bow in his fierce last attack on the Pāñcāla forces on the fifteenth day of the Kurukshetra war. He killed tens of thousands of warriors before he finally laid down his arms and rose to Brahmaloka.
About the Bow
The Āṅgirasa Dhanus takes its name from the Āṅgirasas, the family line of the great ṛshi Aṅgirā. The Bharadvāja clan came from this line. As the son of Bharadvāja, Droṇa was an Āṅgirasa by birth. His bow carried the name of his line as a sign of its divine origin and of its link with the great brahma-vidyā (sacred knowledge) of the Āṅgirasa ṛshis.
Its Use on the Fifteenth Day
On the fifteenth day of the Kurukshetra war, Droṇācārya fought so fiercely that he overwhelmed the Pāṇḍava forces. Armed with the Āṅgirasa Dhanus, in a single day of battle he himself killed:
- Vasudāna, a Pāñcāla warrior
- Twenty thousand Pāñcāla chariot-warriors
- Fifty Matsya warriors
- Six thousand Sṛñjaya foot-soldiers
- Ten thousand war-elephants
- Ten thousand horsemen
The text describes him moving through the ranks like Yama (the deva of death) himself. The ṛshis who appeared to urge him to lay down his arms said that what he was doing was beyond any human measure.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva, Chapters 190–191