The story of Rama’s Arrow
When Rama was around 20 years old rumors and stories about his great strength and prowess had begun to spread. In response the spreading reputation of Rama the great Risi Parashurama Bhargava appeared before Rama. Parashurama brought with him the bow of Vishnu and intended to challenge Rama to prove his strength by stringing it and fighting a battle with Parashurama.
When the Parashurama appears Rama is with his wife Sita and the entire Ayodhya army. The army is so dazzled by the Parashurama that the king, Dasaratha, begs Parashurama not to hurt Rama. Rama carefully bows to Parashurama then snatches the bow of Vishnu from him. In a moment the bow is strung and Rama is pointing an arrow directly at Parashurama’s heart.
Parashurama realizes that Rama is in fact Vishnu incarnate and that he has been bested. With several acts of respect Parashurama accepts Rama’s superiority and vows to return to his hermitage never to return to the world of men. After Parashurama’s display of esteem, Rama points the bow of Vishnu up in the air and fires the arrow into the sky.
As the account of this interaction goes, the arrow was shot with such perfection and power that it is still up there in the distant reaches of existence. However, one day the arrow will fall back to earth, and with it will come the end of the world.