Gāṇḍīva, the celestial bow created by Brahmā and held in turn by Prajāpati, Indra, Soma and Varuṇa before Agni obtained it for Arjuna at the burning of the Khāṇḍava forest. Its sound alone could identify Arjuna on the battlefield, and the epithet Gāṇḍīvadhanvan, “he whose bow is Gāṇḍīva,” became one of his names. He cast it back into the waters at the Mahāprasthāna, its appointed work complete.
