Trishula

This article is about 'Indian trident'. For other uses, see Trishul.

Trishula
Shiva holding the Trishula, New Delhi
Type	Trident
Place of origin	Nepal
Service history
Used by	Shiva/ Maa Durga Lavanasur Durga

A trishula (Sanskrit: त्रिशूल triṣūla, Malay: trisula, Tamil: thirisoolam, Malayalam: trisool, Thai: trisoon or tri) is a type of Indian trident but also found in Southeast Asia. It is commonly used as a Hindu-Buddhist religious symbol. The word means "three spear" in Sanskrit and Pali.

In India and Thailand, the term often refers to a short-handled weapon which may be mounted on a danda or staff. But unlike the Okinawan sai, the trishula is mostly bladed.

Symbolism

Trishula details

The trishula symbolism is polyvalent and rich. The trishula is wielded by the Hindu God Shiva and is said to have been used to sever the original head of Ganesha. Durga 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. 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.

Other uses

• Trishula can sometimes also designate the Buddhist symbol of the triratna.
• A similar word, Trishul, is the Romani word for 'Cross'.

The Goddess Durga 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.

In Nepal, the trishul is the election symbol of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist).

In popular culture

• Trishula also feature prominently in other films, such as in the two battles between Ankh-Su-Namun and Nefertiri/Evie in The Mummy Returns.
• They also make an appearance in the hands of Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Reloaded.
• In the film Bulletproof Monk, the villainess, Nina, brandishes a black trishula in a fight to the death with the heroine, Jade.
• In television, Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) from Xena: Warrior Princess uses a pair of trishulas as her primary weapons in seasons 5 and 6.
• Sun-Sun a minor character from Bleach uses a sai as her zanpakutō.
• In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Billy Cranston, the Blue Ranger, and Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger, both wield weapons resembling a trishula. Also, a villainess named Camille in Power Rangers: Jungle Fury wielded them in her warrior form.
• In video games, Mileena from the Mortal Kombat series uses trishulas as her primary weapons. Li Mei in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Sareena in Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition and Khameleon in Mortal Kombat Trilogy also use them.
• "Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier" is the name of a Synchro Monster card that was quite popular in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game (prior to being moved to the Forbidden List). 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 the video game series Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi, Wang Yi uses dual trisula as her main weapon.
• This is used as a Ninjago weapon in lego blocks.
• It appearance in the movie Wrath of the Titans as one of the weapon of god.

Gallery

• 

  Trishula brought as offerings to Guna Devi, near Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh.

• 

  A seven-pronged trident on top of Wat Arun, a Buddhist temple, is also known as the "trident of Shiva"

• 

  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.

See also

• Trident
• Vel