दत्तौ मम महेन्द्रेण तूणी चाक्षयसायकौ।
संपूर्णौ निशितैर्बाणैर्ज्वलद्भिरिव पावकैः॥
महारजतकोशोऽयमसिर्हेमविभूषितः॥
dattau mama mahendreṇa tūṇī cākṣaya-sāyakau
sampūrṇau niśitair bāṇair jvaladbhir iva pāvakaiḥ
mahā-rajata-kośo ’yam asir hema-vibhūṣitaḥ
dattau = were given; mama = to me; mahā-indreṇa = by the great Indra; tūṇī = these two quivers; ca = also; akṣaya-sāyakau = whose supply of arrows is inexhaustible; sampūrṇau = they are filled; niśitaiḥ = with sharp; bāṇaiḥ = arrows; jvaladbhiḥ = blazing; iva = like; pāvakaiḥ = fire; mahā-rajata-kośaḥ = comes with a golden sheath; ayam = this; asiḥ = sword; hema-vibhūṣitaḥ = decorated with a golden handle.
These two quivers whose supply of arrows is inexhaustible were also given to me by the great Indra. They are filled with sharp arrows blazing like fire. This sword decorated with a golden handle comes with a golden sheath.1
1 Monier-Monier Williams notes that rajata can mean “gold” according to the lexicographers. Vācaspatyam concurs: 1 rūpye amaraḥ . 2 gaje 3 dante 4 rudhire 5 hāre 6 śaile 7 svarṇe 8 dhavale ca hemaca... Technical note: hema-vibhūṣito muṣṭi-deśe.
1 When several men are walking in a road and most of them hold umbrellas, from a distance it appears as if all of them hold umbrellas.
In the first chapter of the Rāmāyaṇa (Bāla-rāmāyaṇa), it is stated that these were given by Indra:
agastya-vacanāc caiva jagrāhaindraṁ śarāsanam
khaḍgaṁ ca parama-prītas tūṇī cākṣaya-sāyakau
“It was by the order of Agastya that [Rāma] accepted, with great happiness, a bow, sword and two quivers which could produce unlimited arrows and which Indra had given Agastya.” (Rāmāyaṇa 1.1.40)
This is in line with “the maxim of men with umbrellas” (chatri-nyāya).1