Under the BanyanOld stories, illustrated and annotated

The Ramayana, issue 3 of 3

The Bow of Shiva

Some things cannot be inherited.

Who's who

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The Bow of Shiva, cover
The Bow of Shiva, page 2
The Bow of Shiva, page 3
The Bow of Shiva, page 4
The Bow of Shiva, page 5
The Bow of Shiva, page 6
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The Bow of Shiva, page 27
The Bow of Shiva, page 28
The Bow of Shiva, page 29
The Bow of Shiva, page 30
The Bow of Shiva, page 31

Notes on the tellings

Where this issue follows Valmiki, and where other tellings differ. Each note also appears on its page.

  • Page 6 In Valmiki, Vasishtha's wish-cow is Shabala, 'the speckled one'. The name Nandini comes from the Mahabharata and Kalidasa.
  • Page 11 In Valmiki's first book, the woman cursed to stone is the apsara Rambha. Ahalya was cursed to live unseen, as Issue 2 showed.
  • Page 12 Only the vulgate says the stranger who takes the sage's meal is Indra in disguise; the Critical Edition leaves this out.
  • Page 15 Valmiki has no swayamvara and no earlier meeting with Sita. Rama tries the bow because his guru tells him to.
  • Page 20 Valmiki has no garland of victory. Janaka gives Sita's hand beside the sacred fire.
  • Page 23 In Valmiki, Parashurama meets them on the road home. His quarrel with Lakshmana in Janaka's hall comes from Tulsidas.
  • Page 24 Rama only meant to string Shiva's bow, but drawn to his ear it snapped. Parashurama later reveals that Shiva's bow once went slack before Vishnu, and that Rama is Vishnu.
  • Page 31 In Kamban's Tamil Ramayana, Rama and Sita see each other before the bow, he in the street and she on a balcony: 'he looked, and she looked'. Valmiki describes no meeting before the wedding.