A few things OT (but in the flow of discussion)-
Yup - now even the Jews have accepted that the lots of OT fables have been generously adopted from the Book of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia (SW Persia) - so quite possibly - in fact certainly - the origin is INDIA. Quite like the fables that a certain (Bene Israeli ?) Jew merchant took (Bruhad Katha - from court of Shalivahan) to his folks in Turkey-African region and came back to us as Aesop's fables. Eventually, the Jew elders disapproved of Aesop's "Eastern wisdom" and first sold him into slavery and later put him to death incensed at the story of the Eagle and the beatle.
Anyway, the "Shriyantra" is not 2-D as is usually depicted but 3-D and carved out of a single block of stone, crystal or wood. It's believed that the Shriyantra installed in the foundation of Shripati Balaji (Thirupathi) Temple by Jagadguru Adi Shankar is what gives the temple its power.
Now some facts (or points) I learnt recently from a 'teacher'.
1. Most of what we get are fabricated and joined by adhesives or bonding agents and hence lack the "power" of a real Shriyantra.
2. When viewed from a certain angle you see the 6 points and *that* is the Shriyantra but from the other, i.e. exactly 180 degrees, you see only the 5 points and the same yantra thus becomes SHIV YANTRA.
3. Hence the devotee is advised to be *careful* in its installation. While the worship of Shri yantra will return material benefits, the worship of Shiv yantra will take one *away* from material aspects of life and towards Spiritual Truth (like Shiva, the Ascetic).
4. The "secrets" of the Shri yantra are known only to the top Masters and probably to the Dalai Lama and passed on to a very select few. So anyone who claims to know and teach in public domain or media etc. for fee or free is probably 99% fake. -> Issued in public interest only.
Disclaimer: I do not own any Shriyantra or its manufacturing unit or any marketing enterprise/ agency.
Back to the Akbar Shield:
1. Brihji, your story should have come on April 1st.
Boy ! You really had us there.
May be one of the spears made by that smith actually landed in hands of Akbar's enemies and that led to the piercing of the shield at Surya's eye ?
BTW, the spear is actually meant to be thrown unless used in duel (one-on-one) and thus would definitely land on the side of the enemy. Thus if the smith actually made ballistics as good as he claimed then rest assured he was working against Akbar's interest.
2. The "Meen" angle could imply Absolute Deliverence, i.e. Moksha - the Meen being a "Moksha" water rashi. Incidentally, if you look at the shield picture again you shall see that the SoD is embossed closer to the sign before (or after - being a Circle) the "Meen".
3. The "Meen" incidentally also is the first avatar of Vishnu which rescued humans (and some of the animal kingdom) and finds its way into the (pre-Abrahamic, 5-6000 yr old) Book of Gilgamesh which later the 'slaves' of Persians turned into the Story of Noah's Ark.
4. The "Meen" is shown to be looking and progressing bidirectional - implying that though that Man has a chance to head towards Moksha, his indecision and fickle-mind can return him to the web of the "Matrix".
Now isn't that exactly what a KING is -> he can either lead his people to a life of content, prosperity and peace by his actions and decisions or towards chaos and destruction... The West, similarly, had their Sword of Damocles hanging on the king's head.
By and large, my opinion is now towards the ornamental nature of the shield and the symbolic nature of the data enshrined therein. May be it hung behind and above Akbar's throne. May be he used some other shields like his 40 sword-option in actual combats. May be ... just may be...
Over to you - O Masters of Steel !
Both of then highly deserve that recognition. I second