ABSTRACT
Ganga Devi, Prince Kumara Kampana's wife, thus enacts in her poetry, in thought and story, the entrusting of a mission to her husband. In Ganga Devi's poem the shining sword made by the celestial blacksmith is a composite made of all the gods' swords, showing that heaven itself wants the king to be victorious. Images of charmed weapons figure in many Hindu stories. Similarly, in the Siddheshvara Charitramu the goddess Padmakshi gives a magic sword and shield to Madhava Varman, and there is a well-known episode in post-Vijayanagara stories describing how Bhavani gives a blessed sword to Shivaji. The poet Ganga Devi used the image already in the collective religious memory the goddess and the sword to express the need for defence and to evoke the efficient power which was desired. The religious dimension in the story's archetypes appeals to the pervasive devotional tradition.
