Gada(weapon) in Hindu Mythology

The Gada (Sanskrit: गदा gadā, Malay: gedak) is a blunt mace or club from India. Made either of wood or metal, it consists essentially of a spherical head mounted on a shaft, with a spike on the top.
Shiva Trishul, Sudarshan Chakra, Brahmastra, Pashupatastra, Indra’s Vajra, Nagapash, Agni Astra….So many deadly and lethal weapons are mentioned, but GADA in Hindu Mythology has its own significance.
The gada is the main weapon of the Hindu god Hanuman. Known for his strength, Hanuman is traditionally worshipped by wrestlers in South and Southeast Asia. Vishnu also carries a gada named Kaumodaki in one of his four hands. In the Mahabharata epic, the fighters Bhima, Duryodhana, Jarasandha and others were said to be masters of the gada.
Here are Top 5 Gada in Hindu Mythology:

1. Hanuman Gada

Hanuman Gada (Mace) is carried in the right hand of Lord Hanuman. It is a symbol of self-sovereinty, the authority of governance and the power to rule. The gada is the main weapon of the Hindu god Hanuman.
When Hanuman gada is held in the right hand upraised position, it means that there is disorder and a guiding power is required to bring the situation to regularity. Lord Kubera presented the powerful Gada to Hanuman.
Power and authority of this gada is mentioned throughout The Ramayana. Bheem, Ravana, Shani Dev…no one could defeat it. Even it is said that once Hanuman’s gada saved Surath, the king of Kashi, from the arrows of Shree Rama!

2. Kaumodaki

Kaumodaki is the weapon which was held by Vishnu’s in his lower left hand. It is the source of Vishnu’s divine power, his physical strength, mental strength. This weapon represents Vishnu’s power to end all the ‘anarthsinside a person’s mind and hinders them from reaching the God. He used this weapon to purify the spirits within us and uplift us from materialistic bonds. It is a mace which is omni-potent and heavy powereredweapon which is impossible to defeat. The Vishnu Purana describes the gada as the power of knowledge. Kaumodaki is said to “intoxicate” the mind.
Even it was possessed by Shri Krishna also. As mentioned in Mahabharata, Agni had got the Kaumodaki Mace from Varuna, the sea god. To recover from indigestion, Agni planned to burn down the Khandava forest. But Lord Indra opposed and created heavy rain as his friend Takshaka was living in that forest. One day when Arjun and Shree Krishna went to Khandava, Agni requested them to burn the forest. Then he gave Kaumodaki to Shri Krishna to fight against Indra.
Though the weapon may be represented as an inanimate gada in hindu mythology, Kaumodaki sometimes appears embodied as a woman known as Gadadevi or Gadanari in sculptures of Vishnu.

3. Bhima’s Gada

Though short tempered, no one was equal to Bhima in physical might. The second pandava, a disciple of Lord Balaram, was the best Gada yodhha in Mahabharata.
Eventually he lost or broke his gada quite a number of time.
He left his first gada along with other weapon in vaarnavart and got his black gada. He got his golden gada back after he was back from forest and broke it in dyut sabha before he lost to shakuni. In exile he got another one but it was broken by Shri hanuman!
Bhima killed every single Kaurava cousin with his Gada.
During Mahabharata, so many other warriors also killed with it…. Jarasandha, Keechaka, Kirmira, Hidimba, Bakasura, Manimanta etc.
The greatest compliment to Bhima comes from Duryodhana. He names Bhima, Balaram, Keechaka and Shalya as the best mace warriors and the strongest. He names Bhima first!

4. Duryodhan Gada

Bheem may won the battle of kuruksetra as the strongest Gada-yodhha, but Duryodhana was way apart. He had both strength and skills of mace fighting.
He had chosen only one fighting skill and dedicated his whole life to achieve mastery over it. It was Gada Yuddh. Eventually he was the favorite of Lord Balaram.
On the eighteenth day of the war, the great Gada-Yuddh started between Bhimsen and Duryodhan, near Dwaipayan sarovar. Bheem won the battle with help of Krishna’s tricks. This was one of the Epic one to one battles in world mythology.

5. Gada of Lord Ganesha

 

Ganesha is well known for his Axe or Mahaparashu. But in different avatars, his best weapon is the ‘gada’ or mace and hence the name Gadadhara, the divine Mace Wielder who destroys the most vile and terrifying of demons.
Lord Ganesha – the Hindu deity in a human form but with the head of an elephant – represents the power of the Supreme Being that removes obstacles and ensures success in human endeavors.
His Gada signifies that our past sins are chasing us. Meditation on Lord Ganesha will improve your self-qualities and He will help us to chase away our sins.
Gada-yuddha is the martial art of fighting the gada. Various gada-yuddha techniques are mentioned in the Agni Purana and Mahabharata such as aahat, gomutra, prabrita,kamalasan,udarvagatra,namita, vamadakshina etc.
In ancient time Mace (Gada) was used by the strongest commanders of the army. It is a very skillful act to kill and enemy with only one blow of Mace.
The name Gada has a lot of history that comes along with it. Gada was the name of a mighty asura who once brought much terror upon humanity but he could also be quite charitable. Gada never refused a request that was asked of him no matter how ridiculous the request might have been. Lord Vishnu disguised himself as a Brahmin and approached Gada. He requested Gada to lend his own bones to him. Gada ripped himself apart at the seams to deliver his bones to Vishnu. Vishnu then took these bones and created one of the grandest maces of all time. As it was created from the bones of Gada, the word Gada in hindu mythology came to permanently mean mace in Sanskrit.