Pinaka (Hinduism)

Rama breaking the bow to win Sita as wife,Raja Ravi Varma.

ThePinaka(Sanskrit:पिनाक,pināka) is the celestial bow of theHindudeity,Shiva.In popular legend, he is believed to have employed this bow in his avatar asTripurantakato annihilate the three cities ofMayasura,known asTripura.The weapon is the origin of one of Shiva's epithets,Pinākapāṇi,literally meaning, 'The Wielder of The Pināka'.

Literature

The first mention of the pinaka is In theTaittirīyaand Vājasneyi Samhitas of the Krishna and Shukla Yajurveda respectively. Here,Rudrais called as Pinākahasta (one who has the Pināka bow in his hands) and Pinākavāsa (The one who wears the Pināka bow as an ornament).

In theShiva Purana,Shiva employed the Pinaka in his duel againstGanesha,who had been appointed to stand guard while his motherParvatibathed.

In theHarivamsa Purana,when the PrajapatiDakshaperformed ayajnafor the gods, his ceremony was obstructed by Shiva and a human incarnation ofNandi,who wielded the Pinaka. Hari (Vishnu) stood to confront him, accompanied by theadityasand thevasus.Shiva struck Hari on his breast, who countered by grabbing his assailant's throat. When he strung his own bowSharanga,the mountainMerutrembled. Infuriated, Nandi raised the Pinaka and struck Hari on the head, who stupefied the man with a smile and stood firm, allowing the yajna to resume.

In thePadma Purana,Shiva employed the Pinaka to combatJalandhara:

Having heard these words of Brahma, Śiva knew (the illusion). Knowing the demon’s illusion, he threw a large rock (at the demons). With that he killed three hundred crores of demons. O king, then having very angrily mounted upon his bull (i.e. Nandin), Śiva took his Pināka bow and arrows. Then the son of the Ocean (i.e. Jālandhara), seeing Śiva, free from the illusion, manifested quickly another group of illusions which deluded the lord of gods, which was very wonderful, which was very powerful. Jālandhara turned into (one) having a crore of arms and fought Śiva with trees, weapons and missiles; and he, the Ocean’s son, put the earth that was decorated with the red chalk into the intermediate space; and the Ocean’s son made the earth adorned with many charming temples of deities, full of various (kinds of) flowers. Celestial nymphs, more lovely than Menakā danced there. Śambhu, forgot (to fight) and instantly abandoned the bow, and deluded by (the sound of) musical instruments and songs and by the tāṇḍava dance of the lord of demons, started, being mounted upon the bull.

— Padma Purana,Chapter 18

When theYadavaforces invaded Sonitapura to rescueAniruddha,Shiva andKartikeyarushed to guard the city of the Shaiva asura,Bana.Krishna'sSharangaand Shiva's Pinaka were used against each other in the battle, the conflict ultimately won by Krishna.

In theRamayana,Rama broke the Pinaka to win PrincessSita's hand in marriage during hersvayamvara.

The Pinaka is sometimes considered to be the weapon Shiva employed to destroyTripura,even though other legends state that the bow used for the destruction of the three cities was fashioned from Mount Mandara:

Śiva had to make grand preparations for a fight with the Tripuras. He invoked half the strength of the devas to himself to make Śivaśakti (Javelin of Śiva) greater than Asuraśakti. The devas made Viśvakarmā construct a special chariot for Śiva. On the banks of the river Narmadā at a place which became renowned as Maheśvara Śiva stayed for a thousand years thinking about the fight with the Tripuras. He made the mountain of Mandara his bow, Vāsuki, the string and Viṣṇu his arrow. He installed Agni at the tip and Vāyu at the bottom of the arrow. Four devas stood as horses to his chariot. The earth itself was the chariot and all the animate and inanimate objects of the devaloka arrayed at different parts of the chariot. On the wheels stood the Aśvinīdevas and Cakrapāṇi stayed on the axle. Gandharvas took places on the spokes. Indra stayed on the bow and Vaiśravaṇa on the arrow. Yama took his place on the right hand and the dreadful Kāla on the left hand. Brahmā acted as the charioteer. Equipped thus, Śiva stayed in the godly chariot for a thousand years. When the three cities joined together in the sky Śiva split the cities by his three forked spike. Then he sent an arrow to the cities. Bad omens began to appear in Tripura. People became lifeless in the cities. Soon an arrow from Śiva burnt the cities and the Tripuras were burnt to death.

— Padma Purana,Chapters 31 - 34

See also

• Sharanga
• Vijaya
• Gandiva