Vijaya (bow)

Vijaya

Vijaya or Vijaya Dhanush ('Victory' in Sanskrit) was the divine bow of Karna. This bow is one of the most powerful divine bows of Dwapar Yuga alongside Gandiva and Srnga!. Parasurama gave Vijaya to his student Karna, who already had terrific skill, making him a very feared warrior. Vijaya was mainly wielded by Lord Parshuram who then gave it to Karna.After death of Karna in kurukshetra, vijaya is not mentioned in Mahabharata.

The bow Vijaya was specially made by Vishvakarman for Lord Shiva to destroy the city of Tripura built by sons of Tarakasura. Lord Shiva destroyed Tripura by firing Pashupatastra from Vijaya. Later, Lord Siva gave this bow for safekeeping to Lord Indra, who frequently wielded the bow in his fights with the Asuras. The Asuras feared the bow due to its destructive abilities.

Lord Shiva instructed Indra to give the bow to Parasurama for the task of combating the evil prevailing in the kshatriyas of the world. On 21 different occasions, when the ruling Kshatriyas (the martial caste) began oppressing their subjects and committing sin, Parasurama - armed with the Vijaya bow - hunted them to the brink of extinction, nearly ridding the world of the kshatriyas. Each time, Parasurama donated the territory won from the kshatriyas to Brahmins (the academic/teaching caste) for re-establishment of order.

Parasurama takes Karna as his student, as told in the Mahabharatha. Since Karna was a diligent and worthy student, Parasurama blessed Karna with the Vijaya along with other celestial weapons. Vijaya bow is clearly mentioned only once in Mahabharata, during the Kurukshetra war, on the 17th day, when he fought against Arjuna (who was using the Gandiva).Karna did lost multiple other battles , but its not clear whether he used the Vijaya Bow in those battles. Vijaya bow is more associated with Parshuram who wielded it in all his major battles when he get rid of the Kshatriyas from earth 21 times.

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Wikipedia