The Three Invincible Cities
The sons of Tarakasura — after their father's death at Kartikeya's hands — performed great tapasya. Brahma appeared and offered boons. They asked for three great cities: one of gold, one of silver, one of iron — flying through space. Each city was a fortress of immense power.
Their boon had one condition embedded in it: the three cities could only be destroyed if all three were in perfect alignment at once, hit by a single arrow, while that arrow was fitted to a bow by a single archer.
The brothers believed this was impossible. They ravaged all creation for a thousand years.
The Arrow
Shiva decided to end it. The gods became his chariot: Brahma was the charioteer, the Vedas were the bow, the sun and moon were the wheels, Mount Meru was the bow-staff, Vishnu himself became the arrow, and the serpent Vasuki became the bowstring.
The cosmic chariot assembled. All the gods sat within it in various forms.
Shiva waited. The three cities flew through space in their circuits.
At the precise moment all three aligned — Shiva smiled. He drew the bow. He fired.
A single arrow destroyed all three cities at once. The demon brothers were killed. Their cities burned and fell.
The Tripurantaka Form
Shiva in the act of destroying the three cities is one of his most iconic forms — Tripurantaka, the Destroyer of the Triple City. The image of Shiva drawing a cosmic bow with the whole of creation as his weapon is one of the most magnificent in all of Sanskrit literature.