Sharnga

Version 0.16: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

A wonderful golden bow that once belonged to a foreign god. It works best with special arrows which are not generally available.

the +8 bow of Krishna "Sharnga"

+8 longbow (in spite of what the weapon's description says)

Speed brand
+3 dexterity
See invisible

The "special arrows" do not exist in-game, but luckily this weapon is perfectly effective without them.

Desirability

Sharnga is a near-perfect weapon for anyone with a good Bows skill. Experienced archers may occasionally prefer a highly-enchanted longbow with the vorpal or holy wrath brand for dealing more damage per hit and taking out heavily armoured opponents, but a speed brand on a +8 longbow is an extremely effective combination against just about any target. Overall, a highly respectable weapon.

Trivia

In spite of the weapon's description, in Hindu mythology, the bow Sharnga (or Sharanga) was originally the bow of the god Vishnu. It changed hands many times to both gods and men, and was used in many great conflicts. Eventually, Krishna did come into possession of it, but its final owner was Varuna, god of the oceans.