As per original Valmiki Ramayana, two bows were created by God Devendra of equal capacity which were given to Rudra and Vishnu and requested them to fight with each other to know who is the powerful one. However just before the start of the war an Aakashvani said that the war will lead to total destruction and hence the war was stopped. On hearing Aakashvani, Rudra threw his Dhanush which fell on earth to be later known as Shiva dhanush. It was later found by King Devaratha, the ancestor of King Janaka. It is mentioned in the Hindu epic Ramayana, when its hero Rama (another avatar of Vishnu) breaks it to marry Janaka's daughter as his wife.