Introduction
Pinakin, "the bearer of the Pinaka bow", is one of the eleven Rudras, a group of deities who are aspects or manifestations of Shiva in the Puranic tradition.
The eleven Rudras (Ekadasha Rudras) are a group of deities who are aspects or manifestations of Shiva. The idea goes back to the Vedic Rudra and the Maruts, who are sometimes called the sons of Rudra. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (3.9.4) says that the eleven Rudras are the ten vital breaths and the mind, and are called Rudras because when they leave the body at death, they make people weep (the verb rud, "to weep"). In the Puranas, the eleven Rudras are sons of Kashyapa and Surabhi, or of Kashyapa and Aditi, or manifestations of Shiva. The lists of the eleven names differ between the Mahabharata, the Harivamsha and the Puranas. This article follows one Puranic list: Ajaikapada, Ahirbudhnya, Pinakin, Ritadhvaja, Tryambaka, Maheshvara, Vrishakapi, Shambhu, Hara, Ishvara and Kapardin.
The Rudras are worshipped together in the Ekadasha Rudra rites, in which the Rudram hymn is recited eleven times over an abhisheka of Shiva. A tradition regards Hanuman as the eleventh Rudra, an incarnation of Shiva.
Name and early references
Pinakin means "the bearer of the Pinaka", the great bow of Shiva. The name Pinaki is used for Shiva himself in many texts, and it appears in the Mahabharata's list of the eleven Rudras (as Pinaki).
In the Puranic tradition
In the epic and Puranic tradition, the Pinaka is the bow of Shiva. In the Ramayana, the great bow of Shiva kept at Mithila, which Rama breaks at Sita's contest, is sometimes identified with the Pinaka. It is an important symbol of divine power. Shiva's title Pinakapani, "bearer of the Pinaka", is used in worship.