Introduction
“Don’t wander too far, Sita! You could easily get lost in the palace and then you’ll miss supper!”
“Don’t worry, Auntie! I don’t get lost!”
Sita ran off giggling as her exasperated nurse gave up on chasing her. She was seven years old now, old enough to explore the palace on her own! She had never been down to the east wing of the palace, and she wanted to see what wonderful items were kept there. She had heard marvelous stories about beautiful jewels stored in the east wing, and even stories about Pinaka, the bow of Shiva. Auntie had told her a tale one night before bed about the bow of Shiva that could not be lifted by even the strongest of the King’s men. One man had even broken his back trying to lift the bow and win the King’s approval. She wanted to find the bow for herself and see if the stories were true.
After wandering the hallways of the east wing for a while, she had discovered seventeen lovely jeweled necklaces, half a dozen elaborate tapestries, and even a collection of ancient bows, but none that matched the description of Pinaka. Finally, she found a tiny little room at the bottom of a winding staircase. The door creaked when she pushed it open, and spiders scuttled out of the entryway. This room had no furniture, no trinkets. It was completely bare, but in the center of the room was a massive pedestal, and on that pedestal rested a massive bow. Enthralled, Sita approached the pedestal and gently laid her hand on the bow. It shimmered in the lamplight filtering in through the door behind her, illuminating the intricate carvings that covered the length of the bow. Though the entire room was coated in a fine layer of dust, and Sita could see her footprints on the floor behind her, the bow had somehow remained polished. When she squinted, she thought she saw the carvings shift and form new patterns, just as Auntie had said. It had to be Shiva’s bow. Sita had been taking archery lessons for the past two years and even though this bow was much larger than her child-sized one, she still thought she might be able to grasp it properly.
Slowly, carefully, Sita wrapped her hand around the handle of the bow and lifted. To her surprise, the bow came off the pedestal easily. Perhaps this wasn’t the Pinaka after all. Now very concerned that the stories had been wrong, Sita, bow in hand, ran back to the main wing of the palace. Her father knew everything; he could tell her if this was Pinaka or not. Several minutes later, Sita burst into the throne room, panting, and startled her father and his advisors in the middle of their council meeting. Unabashed, Sita trotted up to her father and held out the bow.
“Papa is this Pinaka? I want to know!”
Her father had looked up as soon as Sita entered the room, and as she approached with the bow, a flash of recognition passed across his face. He paused for a moment, then turned to the nearest advisor and commanded that he take the weapon from the little girl. The advisor reached out and grasped the bow, and suddenly Sita realized it felt extraordinarily heavy. She let go, and the advisor crumpled to the ground, his hand crushed under the weight of the weapon.
Her father turned back to her and said,
“Yes, Sita, this is in fact the bow of Shiva.
“I knew it was!” cried Sita.
The little girl plucked the bow from the advisor’s hand and started trying to string it, despite the fact that it was as tall as she was. Smiling her father said,
” We must increase your archery lessons immediately, for it appears the gods have willed that you should be the one to wield Pinaka.”
Thus began the training of Sita, the princess who was destined to become the Destroyer of Evil.
