Trishula
Encyclopedia
- Trisula redirects here. For the genusGenusIn biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of noctuidNoctuidaeThe Noctuidae or owlet moths are a family of robustly-built moths that includes more than 35,000 known species out of possibly 100,000 total, in more than 4,200 genera. They constitute the largest family in the Lepidoptera....
mothMothA moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
s, see Trisula (moth)Trisula (moth)Trisula is a genus of moths of the Noctuidae family.-References:*...
.
A trishula ' onMouseout='HidePop("21742")' href="/topics/Tamil_language">Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
: trisoolam, Malayalam: trisool, or tri) is a type of Indian trident
Trident
A trident , also called a trishul or leister or gig, is a three-pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and was also a military weapon. Tridents are featured widely in mythical, historical and modern culture. The major Hindu god, Shiva the Destroyer and the sea god Poseidon or Neptune are...
but also found in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. It is commonly used as a Hindu-Buddhist religious symbol. The word means "three spear" in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
.
In India and Thailand, the term often refers to a short-handled weapon which may be mounted on a danda
Danda
In the Devanāgarī script, the danda is a punctuation character. The glyph consists of a single vertical stroke. The character can be found at code point U+0964 in Unicode. The "double danda" is at U+0965 . ISCII encodes danda at 0xEA....
or staff. But unlike the Okinawan sai
Sai (weapon)
The sai is a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon. The basic form of the weapon is that of a pointed, dagger-shaped metal truncheon, with two curved prongs called yoku projecting from the handle...
, the trishula is bladed.
Symbolism
The trishula symbolism is polyvalentPolyvalent
In chemistry, polyvalence or multivalence refers to species that are not restricted to a distinct number of valence bonds....
and rich. The trishula is wielded by the Hindu God Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
and is said to have been used to sever the original head of Ganesha
Ganesha
Ganesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
. Durga
Durga
For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...
also holds trishula, as one of her many weapons. There are many other gods and deities, who hold the weapon trishula. 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 guna
Guna
' means 'string' or 'a single thread or strand of a cord or twine'. In more abstract uses, it may mean 'a subdivision, species, kind, quality', or an operational principle or tendency....
. 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 nadis, 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 trisula's central point represents Shushmana, and that is why it is longer than the other two, representing ida and pingala. this mostly found in nepal.
Other uses
- Trishula can sometimes also designate the Buddhist symbol of the triratna.
- A similar word, Trishul, it the RomaniRomani languageRomani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
word for CrossCrossA cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
.
The Goddess Durga
Durga
For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...
also holds the trishula among other weapons and attributes in Her hands and amongst her accoutrement, having received celestial weapons from both Shiva and Vishnu.
"Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier" is the name of a Synchro Monster card that is quite popular in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game. The card was named after this weapon since the card's art is of a dragon with three heads. Since the weapon has three prongs, the card has an effect that "attacks" the opponent in three different places as well.
In Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, the trishul is the election symbol of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist)
Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist)
Communist Party of Nepal is a political party in Nepal, formed on September 15, 2005 through the merger of Communist Party of Nepal and Communist Party of Nepal...
.