Candrahāsa

Candrahāsa (meaning “moon-laugh,” or “the one that laughs like the moon”) was the divine sword that Bhagavān Śiva gave to Rāvaṇa, the rākshasa king of Laṅkā. It was given after the well-known episode at Kailāsa, Śiva’s mountain home. Rāvaṇa tried to lift and uproot Kailāsa. Śiva pressed down with his toe and pinned Rāvaṇa under the mountain for a thousand years. In the end Rāvaṇa sang the beautiful Śiva-Tāṇḍava Stotra in Śiva’s praise and was set free.

Śiva was deeply pleased by this devotion and gave Rāvaṇa the Candrahāsa, a weapon of tremendous divine power. The gift came with a condition: if it were ever used for an unjust or adharmic (against dharma) purpose, it would return to Śiva and Rāvaṇa would be destroyed.

The Gift

For a thousand years Rāvaṇa lay pinned under Kailāsa, his twenty arms trapped beneath the mountain that Śiva held down with a single toe. From there Rāvaṇa composed the Śiva-Tāṇḍava Stotra. This stotra (hymn of praise) is a supreme expression of true bhakti (loving devotion). It praises Śiva’s fearsome beauty, his dance that moves the whole universe, and his highest power over all creation. Rāvaṇa’s pride had brought him to this point, but once he was humbled his devotion was real.

Śiva was moved by the stotra. He released Rāvaṇa and gave him the Candrahāsa, a divine sword more powerful than any ordinary weapon. The name suggests a blade that shines like the laughter of the moon: bright, curved and deadly.

The Condition

The gift had a clear condition: the Candrahāsa could be used only for rightful causes. If Rāvaṇa ever turned it to an adharmic purpose, especially to harm innocent or righteous beings, the sword would go back to Śiva and Rāvaṇa himself would be destroyed.

This condition reflects a principle found again and again in the Purāṇas: divine weapons do not simply serve power; they serve dharma. When used for adharma (wrongdoing), they turn against the one who holds them.

Why the Candrahāsa Matters

The Candrahāsa is one of the most famous weapons in the Rāmāyaṇa tradition. Together with Brahmā’s boon that protected Rāvaṇa and the many divine weapons he had collected, it made him almost impossible to stop in battle. Yet its condition meant that any adharmic use would defeat itself.

The way Rāvaṇa received the sword, through true devotion to Śiva sung in the Śiva-Tāṇḍava Stotra, is one of the richest moments of the Uttara Kāṇḍa. It shows that Rāvaṇa’s Śiva-bhakti was genuine, even though in other ways he lived against dharma.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 21