The Weapons in the Shami Tree

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! Dharma Katha · Season 2: Navratri · Episode 104 Five brothers stand outside a city, at the edge of a cremation ground, looking up at a tree. They have been in exile for twelve years. Now comes the hardest part: one more year, in which no one must recognise them. If they are discovered, they must go back into exile for another twelve. And they cannot walk into a king's city carrying the most famous weapons in the world. Especially one of them: the bow of Arjuna, the Gandiva, which every warrior in India would know at a glance. Missed the previous story? Listen to Episode 62 first. Source note. Label: scripture for the story, tradition for the festival. The hiding of the Pandavas' weapons in the shami tree near the cremation ground, the corpse tied to the tree, and their explanation that it was their hundred-and-eighty-year-old mother, are from the Mahabharata, Virata Parva, early chapters, as told in published translations and summaries, including Ganguli's translation as reproduced online and hindu-blog.com; the retrieval of the weapons by Prince Uttara at Arjuna's bidding during the Kaurava cattle raid is from the later chapters of the same book. Details are summarised, and some, such as who climbed the tree first, are omitted. The shami puja, the exchange of leaves as gold, the apta leaves of Maharashtra, the verse śamī śamayate pāpam, and the belief that Rama worshipped the shami, are living tradition, as described on hindutone.com and bharatdiscovery.org, not statements of the Mahabharata or Ramayana. The reflections are my own. A Sanskrit reader should confirm the verse. Note: this episode is narrated with an AI voice and the script was written with AI assistance. Sanskrit verses are checked against published editions; corrections are welcome.