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Legend · 4 tellings · contested

The bowstring and the ants: how Vishnu lost his head

Vishnu wins the gods' contest at Kurukshetra, cannot master his love of glory and stands leaning on his bow. Ants gnaw the string for a reward, the bow springs apart and cuts off his head, which becomes the sun. The Devi Bhagavata retells the accident and replaces the head with a horse's.

Vishnu, Indra, Agni, Soma

Pan-India