Nandaka (Sanskrit:नन्दक,lit. 'source of joy')[1] orNandaki is the sword of theHindu godVishnu. Nandaka is generally depicted in images where Vishnu is represented with more than his usual four arms. The sword is compared to knowledge in Hindu scriptures.
InSri Vaishnavism (a major Vaishnava tradition), the saintsAnnamacharya andPeyalvar are considered to be theavatars of Nandaka.
According to theAgni Purana, the creator-godBrahma was performing a sacrifice onMount Meru. The hundred-armedasura Loha obstructed the same. Vishnu manifested before Brahma from the sacrificial fire. Vishnu seized the sword called Nandaka from the asura and unsheathed it. The sword is described as blue-hued with a gem-studded handle. Wielding his mace, the asura drove several heavenly beings from the mountain. Vishnu slew the asura with the sword; the severed parts of the asura's body fell on earth and turned into iron due to their contact with Nandaka. Vishnu blessed the asura that his fallen body-parts will be employed for the manufacture of weapons on earth.[2]
Vishnu is usually depicted asfour-armed with the four attributes in his hands: theshankha (conch), theSudarshana Chakra, thepadma (lotus) and theKaumodakigada (mace). In eight- or sixteen-armed depictions of the deity, he may be shown holding a sword. The sword appears very rarely in the depictions of Vishnu. It appears in Vishnu iconography as late as theGupta era (320–550).
Nandaka is mentioned as the sword of Vishnu'savatarRama in theHindu epicRamayana.[3] TheHarivamsa as well as theBrihatbrahma Samhita prescribe that the sword be shown in Vishnu's four-armed images. TheSattvata Samhita recommends that it be shown in a right hand of a six-armed Vishnu and in a left hand in a ten-armed Vishnu.[4] Vishnu's avatarVamana is described to hold the Nandaka in his right hand in theKalika Purana. An 11th-century image shows the sword tied to his belt.[5]
TheVishnu Sahasranama, which lists the 1000 epithets of Vishnu, mentions Nandaka twice. In amantra, Vishnu is praised as the holder of the shankha, Nandaka, and the chakra. The 994th name of Vishnu is "Nandaki", the one who wields the Nandaka.[6]
In a rare depiction in theSheshashayi Vishnu panel of the Gupta temple atDeogarh, Nandaka is depicted anthropomorphically as a young man holding a sword (seeAyudhapurusha). He is depicted leading the other personified weapons of Vishnu against the demonsMadhu and Kaitabha.[7][8] Nandaka is also depicted as anayudhapurusha in the scene of Madhu and Kaitabha in theMahishasuramardini mandapa,Mahabalipuram.
TheVishnu Purana says that Nandaka, "the pure sword", representsjnana (knowledge), which is created fromvidya (translated variously as wisdom, knowledge, science, learning, scholarship, philosophy), its sheath isavidya (ignorance or illusion).[1] TheVaraha Purana describes it as the destroyer of ignorance.[9]
TheKrishna Upanishad equates the sword to the destroyer godShiva. It says that the 'Great God' (Maheshvara, an epithet of Shiva) takes the form of a flaming sword of knowledge, one that destroys ignorance.[1]