This article is inspired by the Indrāyudha-lakṣaṇa in the Bṛhat Saṁhitā - Chapter 35.

Rainbows speak to us before we can even think about them. There is a precise moment, when they appear in the sky, when something inside us stops. Our gaze spontaneously lifts, our breath slows, and for a moment we return to a primal form of awe. In the West we have grown up with the idea that. rainbow always be a good sign: a promise after the storm, a bridge between heaven and earth, a symbol of peace, of hope, of reconciliation. Even today, in an age that claims to explain everything, the rainbow continues to move us.

From the point of view scientific we know what it is. It is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that arises when light from the Sun passes through water droplets suspended in the air, is refracted, internally reflected and then refracted again, breaking down into the colors of the visible spectrum. A perfect balance of light, water, angle and position of the observer. But knowing the mechanism does not detract from the mystery. In fact, it makes it even more powerful. Because it shows us that beauty is not random, but arises from subtle, precise, intelligent laws.

And it is from here that the Vedic vision opens up, not contradicting science, but going beyond it.

In Brihat Samhita, the monumental work composed in the 6th century by Varāhamihira, the rainbow is never just something to be admired. It is a sign, a language of the cosmos. Chapter 35, entitled Indrāyudha-lakṣaṇa, “Indra's bow marks”, is very short-just eight verses-and yet it contains surprising depth.

The name itself is already a key. Indra is the great Vedic Deva, the ruler of the gods, the cosmic administrator of atmospheric and celestial forces. Āyudha means weapon, instrument, power. Indrāyudha Is thus Indra's weapon, his bow. A most powerful image. Indra is not an abstract or moralistic deity: he is a living, dynamic, electric force. He is the one who governs lightning, rain, the sudden rush that breaks inertia. If we wanted to look for a Western parallel, Indra is very close to Zeus: the god of lightning, of the sky, of authority who dominates not by control but by energy.

Indra holds up the forces of the’cosmic electrostatics. Lightning, electricity, the electrochemistry of the senses, the nerve impulse through the body, the spark that makes perception possible. In a broader reading, Indra appears almost as an extraterrestrial intelligence, not in the science fiction sense, but as an administrator of laws that do not belong only to Earth. He governs what connects sky and atmosphere, light and matter, perception and reality.

It is not surprising then that the rainbow, this bright bridge between Sun and water, is called the very’bow of Indra.

Varāhamihira opens the chapter with words of great restraint and precision: the multicolored rays of the Sun, falling on the clouds and being broken by the winds, take on the shape of the rainbow in the sky. It is a limpid, almost scientific description in which light, water and air cooperate. But in the Vedic view there is no separation between physical phenomenon and meaning. What happens in nature is already a message.

Immediately thereafter, the text changes depth. According to Kaśyapa and his school, the rainbow would be formed by the exhaled breath of snakes Of the divine order. This image, if read superficially, may seem mythological. But if we really listen to it, it becomes revelatory. The serpents, the Nāga, belong to the underworld, to the deep waters, to the invisible forces that guard the collective karma. Their breath rising to the sky indicates something emerging from the deep, crossing the planes of reality and becoming visible.

The verse adds a stark warning: heads of state or leaders Who move in battle in the direction of the rainbow will suffer defeat. Not because the rainbow is “negative,” but because it indicates a zone of interference, a point at which the subtle currents Do not support human action. It is a signal that asks to be heard, not challenged.

The third verse shows the other face of the rainbow. If two similar rainbows appear perfect, unbroken, bright, thick and bent toward the earth, there will be abundance of rain. Here the rainbow becomes a blessing, fertility, nourishment. It is the sign of a harmonious dialogue between heaven and earth, of a flow that descends and sustains life.

Then, gradually, the text takes us into more delicate territory. Varāhamihira explains that when the rainbow appears. In particular regions of the sky, or even in places that do not belong to them - on water, on land, on trees, on anthills - the sign becomes ominous. A rainbow in the midst of water heralds drought; on land, crop damage; on trees, disease; on anthills, war. Colors also speak: red-white refers to weapons, yellow to fire, blue to famine. Here the rainbow is no longer just beauty: it is a cosmic wake-up call, a signal that something has shifted from the natural order.

The sixth verse reminds us that the rainbow is always a threshold sign. If it appears when it is not raining, it announces rain; if it appears while it is raining, it indicates that the rain will cease. The rainbow does not describe the present state, but the transition, the coming change.

The tension is intensified in the verses dedicated to the night rainbows. At night, the rainbow is always problematic. It is color without Sun, light without visible source. If it appears in the east, kings will suffer; in the south, the commander-in-chief; in the west, leaders; in the north, ministers. If it appears white, red, yellow or black, Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya and Śūdra will suffer, respectively. The sky, through the night rainbow, reflects a crisis of the power structure and social order. What is not aligned at the top cannot hold up at the bottom.

At this point, the connection with Rāhu and Ketu becomes inevitable. Rāhu and Ketu are cosmic serpents, shadow forces without physical bodies, related to eclipses, to interruptions of light, to moments when what was invisible suddenly becomes apparent. The rainbow, described as breath of the divine serpents, works in the same way. It appears between light and darkness, is never neutral, signals points of passage, makes collective karmic tensions visible.

Like Rahu and Ketu, the rainbow does not create events: it reveals them. It shows where the flow is harmonious and where something is emerging from the depths, demanding attention, responsibility, conscience.

Read in this way, Chapter 35 of the Bṛhat Saṁhitā is not a collection of superstitions, but a subtle map of the relationship between nature, power and dharma. The rainbow is not simply “beautiful” or “threatening.”. He is a messenger. An electric, living, Indrian sign that crosses planes and reminds us that the cosmos is not dumb.

Here is the full text, by Varahamira, from the Indrāyudha-lakṣaṇa in the Bṛhat Saṁhitā - Chapter 35.

1. The multicolored rays of the Sun, falling on the clouds and being broken by the winds, take on the shape of the rainbow in the sky.

2. According to the opinion of some authors, the rainbow (indrāyudha) is formed by the exhaled breath of some snakes of the divine order; princes who move in battle in the direction of the rainbow will suffer defeat.

3. If two rainbows, similar to each other, appear perfect, unbroken, bent toward the earth, bright, shining, thick and colorful, there will be abundance of rainfall.

4. Rainbows that appear in particular regions of the sky cause the death of the people represented by those regions; if the rainbow appears in places other than the sky, there will be deaths in the country; if it appears red-white, humanity will suffer from weapons; if yellow, from fire; and if blue, from famine.

5. If the rainbow appears in the midst of water, there will be drought; if on land, crops will be damaged; if on trees, there will be disease in the land; if on anthills, there will be wars; and if it appears at night, ministers will perish.

6. If the rainbow (indrāyudha) appears when it is not raining, there will be rain; if it appears while it is raining, the rain will cease. If it appears in the west, there will still be rain.

7. If at night the rainbow appears in the east, the kings will suffer; if in the south, the commander-in-chief will die; if in the west, the leaders will suffer; and if in the north, the ministers will suffer.

8. If at night the rainbow appears white, red, yellow or black, the Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya and Śūdra will suffer respectively; and if at night the rainbow appears in particular regions of the sky, the rulers of the corresponding regions on Earth will perish.