Were the chakram's only used by the Sikhs?

[roshan]

I think something is missing from this thread.

The Chakram is in fact an extremely important weapon in the Hindu religion - it is the sacred weapon of the Hindu god Krishna, often used by him to execute his enemies. In texts such as the Mahabharata, Krishna is described as spinning the Chakram around his finger, and then releasing it towards the enemy. Other than that though, I have never encountered any reference about the Chakram being used by any other Hindu gods or heroes. In the minds of the average Hindu, the Chakram is closely associated with Krishna, and not Sikhism. What I do not understand though is why the weapon declined amongst Hindus, and became popular amongst the Sikhs. Perhaps one must ask whether it was ever actually used by Hindus in combat at all, or whether it was originally just a fantasy weapon.

Sikhs may have come to develop the Chakram due to its close association with the Vaishnava bhakti (worship of Vishnu, and his main incarnations Rama and Krishna) movement. Although modern Sikhism promotes the worship of god without form, the early history of the religion is quite different. The Guru Granth mentions Vishnu, Rama and Krishna hundreds of times - often referring to specific events in the lives of these dieties. It also incorporates verses authored by many Vaishnava saints, including Namdev from the Varkari tradition of Maharashtra, who was a staunch idolator. The holiest temple of the Sikhs is called the Harmandir (literally temple of Hari, another name of Vishnu) and had pictures of various Hindu dieties until the very recent Sikh reform movement, and the lake it stands on is supposedly an ancient lake sacred to Vaishnavas. And, even more strange, most of the Sikh gurus are named after Vishnu and his various incarnations: Ram Das (literally devotee of Ram), Hargobind (Hari + Gobind, names of Vishnu and Krishna respectively), Har Krishan (Hari + Krishna), Angad Dev (Angad is a character who helped Rama in the Ramayana), Gobind Singh (Gobind means cow protector, another name for Krishna), Arjan Dev (Arjuna is Krishnas closest friend) and Har Rai (Hari again).

Also, Id like to ask, does anyone know if the Chakram is actually effective in combat against an enemy? It seems to me that it is a virtually useless weapon - impractical to carry, hard (likely even risky) to throw, impossible to aim, and ineffective as well.