Trishula

The Trishula (Sanskrit: त्रिशूल triśūla, Hindi: त्रिशूल triśūl, Kannada: ತ್ರಿಶೂಲ triśūla, Malay: trisula, Marathi: त्रिशूळ triśūlla, Malayalam: തൃശൂലം tr̥iśūlaṁ, Telugu: త్రిశూలం trisoolam, Tamil: // திரிசூலம் tiricūlam, Thai: ตรีศูล trīṣ̄ūl or tri) is a trident, commonly used as a Hindu and Buddhist religious symbol. The word literally means "three-headed spear" in Sanskrit and Pāli.

In India and Thailand, the term also often refers to a short-handled weapon which may be mounted on a danda or staff. But unlike the Okinawan sai, the trishula is often bladed. In Malay and Indonesian, trisula usually refers specifically to a long-handled trident while the diminutive version is more commonly known as a chabang or tekpi.

Symbolism

Trishula details

The trishula symbolism is polyvalent and rich. It is wielded by the god Shiva and is said to have been used to sever the original head of Ganesha. Durga also holds a trishula, as one of her many weapons. The three points have various meanings and significance, and, common to Hindu religion, have many stories behind them. They are commonly said to represent various trinities— creation, maintenance and destruction; past, present and future; the three gunas. When looked upon as a weapon of Shiva, the trishula is said to destroy the three worlds: the physical world, the world of the forefathers (representing culture drawn from the past) and the world of the mind (representing the processes of sensing and acting). The three worlds are supposed to be destroyed by Shiva into a single non-dual plane of existence, that is bliss alone.

In the human body, the trishula also represents the place where the three main nadi, or energy channels (ida, pingala and shushmana) meet at the brow. Shushmana, the central one, continues upward to the 7th chakra, or energy center, while the other two end at the brow, there the 6th chakra is located. The trishula's central point represents Shushmana, and that is why it is longer than the other two, representing ida and pingala.

Other uses

• Trishula can sometimes also designate the Buddhist symbol of the triratna.
• The goddess Durga holds a trishula among other weapons and attributes in her hands and amongst her accoutrement, having received celestial weapons from both Shiva and Vishnu.
• In Nepal, the trishula is the election symbol of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist).^[1]
• A similar word, Trishel, is the Romani word for 'cross'.

Gallery

• 
  Trishula brought as offerings to Guna Devi, near Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh.
• 
  A seven-pronged trishula on top of Wat Arun, also known as the "trident of Shiva"^[2]
• 
  Emblem of the Chakri Dynasty, the royal house of Thailand founded in 1782. The emblem of the dynasty consists of the trisula intertwined with the Sudarshana Chakra, another weapon, to create a Chakri.
• 
  The Hachibushū Sendan Kendatsuba (or Candana Gandharva) is pictured killing several villains with his trishula in the collection of five paintings Extermination of Evil.

See also

• Trident
• Tekpi
• Sai (weapon)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trishula.