Vijaya Dashami or Dasara:
Looking Back at my Childhood
Sharing information on
Arjuna’s Celestial Weapons
Vanam
Jwala Narasimha Rao (October 19, 2026)
October
20, 2026, we celebrate the grand culmination of this year’s Dasara (Vijaya
Dasami). Leading up to this finale, the vibrant regional and foundational
traditions of Bathukamma and Navaratri, have concurrently breathed life and
devotion into our homes concurrently. A core highlight of this period occurred
on October 18, 2026: the ninth day of the ‘Navaratri Festival’ which was widely
celebrated as ‘Ayudha Puja (Worship of Weapons)’ across both northern and
southern India, especially Telangana.
The
legend was that: weapons that had been kept idle and safely stored away during
the rainy season were taken out, polished to a shine, and offered sacred
prayers to ensure ultimate success in the upcoming battles. Devotees of the
Goddess maintained that Goddess Durga vanquished the buffalo demon Mahishasura
on Vijaya Dasami. Others, drawing from the Mahabharata, believe that it was on
this exact day that Arjuna successfully conquered the Kaurava kings during the
famous ‘Uttara Gograhanam’ (the rescue of the cattle from North).
Meanwhile,
while tracing the exact historical genesis of how this ancient martial custom
evolved remains complex, the tradition has seamlessly transformed in modern
times into an absolute cultural phenomenon: Vehicle Puja. Today, it is an
unbreakable ritual that nearly every vehicle owner observes, and we were
certainly no exception. And my wife, meticulously has been observing this, in
the early hours of the Durga Ashtami day, ever since I started owning a vehicle,
to begin with the Scooter.
However,
drawing parallel is not difficult, irrespective of whether it holds hundred
percent accuracy. Historically, Ayudha Puja was meant for warriors to cleanse
and bless their weapons (Ayudhas) before battle: most famously linked to Arjuna
retrieving his divine weapons from the ‘Shami Tree’ in the Mahabharata during ‘Uttara
Gograhana’ (stealing King Virata’s cattle wealth by Kauravas from North). In
the modern era, ‘Weapons’ have been re-conceptualised as the tools of one's
livelihood.
Just as
a scholar worships books or an artisan blesses their tools, a modern individual
relies heavily on transport for daily sustenance. Vehicles: whether a bicycle,
scooter, car, or heavy truck, all of them are viewed as the mechanical
extensions of our daily labor and personal safety. Performing Vahana (Vehicle)
Puja is an act of expressing gratitude to the machine for the service it has
rendered, while simultaneously invoking divine protection to ensure safe
journeys, accident-free commutes, and trouble-free ownership in the year ahead.
Significantly,
the Shami Tree Connection is literally enthralling. Before entering King
Virata’s capital city (As part of their forest exile, the Ajnata Vasa), the
Pandavas needed to hide their legendary celestial weapons: including Arjuna's
formidable bow, the ‘Gandiva.’ They wrapped them up to look like a corpse and
tied them safely hidden high up in a massive ‘Shami Tree’ located near a ground
outside the city (Elaboration with personal touch of the supposed place later).
The Climax was the prefinal Maha Bharata War: the ‘Uttara Gograhana.’
At the
end of the year, the Kauravas attacked the Matsya Kingdom from the North to
steal King Virata’s cattle wealth (Uttara Gograhana). Driven into battle
against the raiding Kauravas with Brihannala (the disguised Arjuna) serving as
his charioteer, Prince Uttara grew absolutely terrified upon witnessing the
colossal enemy army. Panic-Stricken, the prince insisted on abandoning the
cattle and fleeing for his life, making it explicitly clear to Arjuna that he
was in no position to fight.
Strongly
countering this, Arjuna declared that fleeing in fear from the enemy was
absolute cowardice. When the prince jumped off the chariot to run away, Arjuna
pursued him, brought him back by force, and infused him with courage,
commanding Uttara to act as the charioteer instead while he took up the fight.
Together on the chariot, they sped directly toward the sacred Shami tree. Stopping
the chariot right before the Shami (Jammi) Tree, Arjuna instructed Uttara to
climb up and bring down the ‘Gandiva,’ a celestial bow.
Arjuna explained
to the prince that the Pandava brothers: Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula,
and Sahadeva, had bundled their divine weapons together and concealed them in
that very tree, directing him to retrieve the ‘Gandiva’: whose power was equal
to a hundred thousand ordinary bows. Unwrapping the bundle and beholding the
magnificent bow, Uttara turned to his companion, still addressing him as
'Charioteer', and asked which of the legendary Pandavas actually wielded this
weapon.
The
disguised Arjuna replied that it belonged to Arjuna himself, and proceeded to
explain in detail which weapon belonged to which brother. Still skeptical,
Uttara stated that if this was truly the case, he would only believe it if Brihannala
could recount the ten legendary names of Arjuna and explain how he earned them.
Arjuna obliged and recited them as: ‘Arjuna, Phalguna, Partha, Kiriti, Shveta Vahana,
Bibhatsu, Vijaya, Jishnu, Savyasachi, and Dhananjaya,’ contextualising the
origin of each title.
Fully
convinced and filled with immense faith, Uttara instantly transformed into the
charioteer to Arjuna, and together they proceeded toward the battlefield. As
Arjuna strung the mighty Gandiva and struck the bowstring, the twang resonated
with such immense power that the skies and all horizons reverberated. He then
blew his divine conch, the Devadatta, sending shockwaves through the seven
seas, shaking the seven ancient mountain ranges, and making the entire earth
tremble.
In the
ensuing battle, the Kaurava warriors fell one after another under Arjuna's
relentless assault. As Bhishma, Drona, Ashwatthama, and Kripacharya began
retreating from the field, a desperate Duryodhana begged them for protection. Turning
back, Bhishma, Drona, and the other veteran warriors rallied their forces to
surround Arjuna’s chariot from all sides. Defending himself flawlessly, Arjuna
launched the mystical ‘Sammohana Astra (the enchantment weapon),’ plunging the
entire Kaurava army into a deep state of unconsciousness.
Upon
regaining consciousness, Kauravas retreated. Because Arjuna conquered the
massive Kaurava forces and achieved this spectacular victory, all alone, on
this very day, it became an unbreakable tradition to celebrate and commemorate
this day as Vijaya Dasami (Dasara). The ‘Gandiva Bow’, that brought victory, was
the legendary, indestructible celestial bow of Arjuna, originally crafted by
Lord Brahma to safeguard cosmic righteousness. It came into Arjuna’s hands
during the Khandava Dahana: the burning of the Khandava forest.
When
the ‘Fire Dod Agni’ sought Arjuna’s protection against Indra's torrential
storms, Arjuna agreed but lacked a weapon that could withstand his immense
strength. At Agni's request, Varuna, the god of the oceans, gifted Arjuna this
magnificent bow alongside two inexhaustible quivers. It was a marvel of divine
engineering, adorned with golden eyes and elephant patterns, featuring 108
unbreakable celestial strings.
Whenever
Arjuna drew the bowstring, it emitted a deafening, thunderous rumble that
echoed across the plains, instantly striking psychological terror into the
hearts of his enemies. Throughout its history, the Gandiva was deeply
intertwined with Arjuna’s close association with Lord Krishna. Together, they
fought side-by-side during its acquisition, and it was under Krishna's divine
guidance as his charioteer that Arjuna unleashed the bow's true potential.
As the
defining weapon of the Kurukshetra war, the Gandiva amplified Arjuna’s power a
thousandfold, seamlessly channeling devastating celestial weapons (Astras) and
serving as the ultimate shield that protected the Pandavas and altered the
destiny of humanity, in the future Mahabharata War. In fact, there were other
celestial armaments that transformed Arjuna from a premier archer into an
unstoppable force of cosmic order, perfectly balancing absolute destructive
capability with unparalleled moral restraint.
The
foremost among them, as part of his divine collection, was the ‘Pashupatastra,’:
the supreme, irresistible personal missile of Lord Shiva once. Unlike physical
weapons, this ultra-destructive weapon could be discharged through a bow, a
spoken word, a piercing glare, or a mere thought. Arjuna earned it from Lord
Shiva during the Pandavas' forest exile. Guided by Sage Vyasa, Arjuna performed
grueling penances to please Mahadeva on Himalayas.
Shiva tested Arjuna’s warrior spirit by
disguising himself as a tribal hunter (Kirata) and engaging him in an intense
physical duel. Deeply impressed by Arjuna’s unbreakable resolve Shiva granted
him the mantra. However, the gift came with a strict cosmic caveat: the ‘Pashupatastra’
possessed the cataclysmic power to annihilate the entire fabric of creation.
Therefore, it was strictly forbidden to be used against ordinary mortals or
lesser warriors. In a spectacular display of ethical leadership, Arjuna carried
this weapon throughout the eighteen days of the Kurukshetra war but never fired
it once, choosing to let it remain sheathed.
Beyond
the gifts of Shiva and Varuna, Arjuna’s unique bond with his divine father,
Lord Indra, granted him two of the most devastating battlefields clearing
weapons used in the war. The ‘Vajra Astra Weapon’ channeled the raw,
irresistible power of Indra's primary weapon, the Vajra (the cosmic thunderbolt
forged from the spine of Sage Dadhichi). When invoked, it rained down thousands
of localized, precision lightning strikes from the sky. Arjuna notably deployed
the Vajra Weapon on the twelfth day of the Kurukshetra war to decisively crush
the massive ‘Samsaptakas’: Duryodhana's elite suicide warrior detachment.
‘The
Mahendrastra,’ an elite, mass-destruction weapon belonging exclusively to
Indra. When unleashed, it generated a localized sky-shower consisting of
millions of blazing arrows and spears. Arjuna famously activated the
‘Mahendrastra’ on the fourteenth day of the war while heavily bleeding, and
again on the seventeenth day to completely neutralize and baffle the terrifying
‘Brahmastra’ deployed by Karna. Beyond these signature elite weapons of the
gods, Arjuna possessed a versatile arsenal of tactical and elemental Astras
that allowed him to manipulate the very physics of the battlefield.
When
engulfed by enemy fire, he would summon the torrential downpours of the
‘Varunastra’ and to scatter charging phalanxes, he invoked the gale-force fury
of the ‘Vayavyastra,’ and to incinerate heavy enemy divisions, he unleashed the
blazing ‘Agneyastra.’ For wide-scale non-lethal subjugation, he could deploy
the psychological waves of the ‘Sammohana Astra’ to instantly freeze or induce
mass sleep (Like in Uttara Gograhana) across enemy ranks. Most crucially, when
the fate of humanity hung in the balance, Arjuna wielded the ultimate cosmic
power of the ‘Brahmastra and Brahmashira Astra.’
They
were the supreme weapons of Lord Brahma capable of erasing creation, by
possessing the rare spiritual maturity to not only launch them but safely
recall them when commanded. It was this unparalleled combination of elemental
mastery, supreme cosmic missiles, and the precise, fatal deployment of the
‘Anjalika Astra’ on the seventeenth day to slay Karna, that transformed Arjuna
into an unstoppable force of cosmic order, with unparalleled moral restraint.
For
countering overwhelming mass formations without causing immediate physical
destruction, Arjuna could deploy the ‘Tvashtra Astra’ a highly specialized
illusion-weapon created by the divine architect Vishvakarma. When unleashed,
this weapon warped the psychology of the battlefield, projecting thousands of
staggering optical duplicates of Arjuna and Krishna.
Driven
to mass panic and absolute confusion by these realistic apparitions, enemy
legions would mistake their own allies for the Pandava Heroes, turning their
weapons inward in catastrophic friendly fire. The Mahabharata is so incredibly
vast that Arjuna technically possessed dozens of other highly specialized
celestial weapons: such as the blinding ‘Suryastra’ or the darkness-clearing ‘Jyotisha
Astra.’
Against
this Epical narrative applying contextually to the contemporary society, and looking
back at my own childhood, the true magic of the Vijaya Dasami (Dasara) Festival
unfolded right in the heart of our village. On the evening of Vijaya
Dasami, our entire village and neighborhood would gather in the vibrant fields
just outside the village boundaries, right in front of our local school where
the sacred Jammi Tree (Prosopis cineraria tree) stood tall. We would
carefully write out the sacred Sanskrit verses on pieces of paper:
‘Shami shamayate papam, shami shatru
Vinasanam...
Arjunasya dhanurdhari, Ramasya Priya
Darshanam...’
(May the sacred Shami tree purify our faults
and dissolve all obstacles;
The
protector of Arjuna's mighty bow, and the beloved sight of Lord Rama.)
We
would gently attach these prayers to the branches of the Jammi tree and look to
the skies, waiting to catch a blessed glimpse of the auspicious Indian Roller
bird (Rama Chiluka). Thus, the very name ‘Dasara’ illuminates its essence:
it is literally a ‘Festival of Ten Nights.’ Across the southern regions of
India, including our home state of Telangana, this sacred period is beautifully
divided into two parts. The first nine nights are celebrated as the spiritual
journey of Navaratri, which then culminates gloriously on the tenth day as
Vijaya Dasami the magnificent ‘Victorious Tenth.’
Beyond
the epic lore of the Mahabharata, these traditions resonate deeply within my
own roots and childhood memories, directly tying into my maternal and paternal heritage.
My native village, Vanam Vari Krishna Puram, lies in close proximity to Nela
Kondapalli and Bana Puram: two places of immense historical and mythological
significance where my childhood reminiscences are stored in immeasurable
counts.
Nela
Kondapalli, which happens to be my maternal uncle’s native (On adoption) place,
has earned a unique place on the global map as an ancient, illustrious Buddhist
center, globally renowned for its colossal archaeological excavations and an
unparalleled, majestic Boudha Arama (Buddhist Stupa). Yet, growing up, this
land whispered stories of a much older era. In our childhood, we witnessed a
massive mud fort sprawling across more than a hundred acres, which local
folklore firmly believed to be the historical palace site of King Virata from
the Mahabharata.
A few
miles away lies Nachepally, the birth (adopted) place of my mother and the home
of my maternal grandparents, completing the geography of my earliest years. As
children, we would explore the outskirts of Nela Kondapalli with boundless
curiosity, captivated by the local legends of the ‘Virata Raju Dibba’ as it was
called then, and the stunning structural remnants nearby. Among the most
significant resemblances to the epic tale was a massive, ‘Ancient Kitchen Structure
filled with Giant Chulas (earthen stoves).
Local
lore explicitly attributed this monumental kitchen to Valala: the mighty Bhima
Sena living incognito as the royal head cook during the Pandavas' Ajnata Vasa in
King Virata's court. Just a few kilometres away lies the village of Bana Puram
(My paternal links). Local legend holds that before entering the capital, the
Pandavas stopped at the outskirts of this village, to conceal their divine
weapons, wrapping them to resemble a corpse before hiding them high up in a
sacred ‘Jammi (Shami) Tree’: a mythic event that forever etched the name Bana
Puram (the land of arrows) into our local geography.
Walking
through these lands today, the transition from the ancient worship of weapons
on the Jammi Tree to our contemporary family rituals of Vehicle Puja feels
entirely natural. These are not just distant mythological stories to me; they
are the living, breathing landscapes of my childhood, beautifully tying the
triumph of Vijaya Dasami (Dasara) to the very soil and family heritage I call
home.
>>>> Photographs Courtesy Rama Bhakta Vijaya Raghava Dasu
