Rudra (Devanagari: रुद्र) is a Rigvedic God, associated with wind or storm,[1] and the hunt. The name has been translated as "the roarer".[2][3][4]
The theonym Shiva originates as an epithet of Rudra, the adjective shiva ("kind") being used euphemistically of the god who in the Rigveda also carries the epithet ghora ("terrible").[3] Usage of the epithet came to exceed the original theonym and by the post-Vedic period (in the Sanskrit Epics), and the name Rudra has been taken as a synonym for the god Shiva and the two names are used interchangeably.
The etymology of the theonym Rudra is somewhat uncertain.[5] It is usually derived from the root rud- which means "to cry, howl."[5][6] According to this etymology, the name Rudra has been translated as "the roarer".[7] An alternative etymology suggested by Prof. Pischel derives Rudra as "the red one, the brilliant one" from a lost root rud-, "to be red"[4] or "to be ruddy" or respectively, according to Grassman, "to shine".[5]
A Rigvedic verse "rukh draavayathi, iti rudraha" where 'rukh' means
sorrow/misery, 'draavayathi' means to drive out or eliminate and 'iti'
means that which or he who, implies 'Rudra' to be the eliminator of evil
and usherer of peace.
Stella Kramrisch notes a different etymology connected with the adjectival form raudra, which means wild, i.e. of rudra nature, and translates the name Rudra as "the wild one" or "the fierce god".[8]
R. K. Sharma follows this alternate etymology and translates the name
as "the terrible" in his glossary for the Shiva Sahasranama.[9] The commentator Sāyaṇa suggests six possible derivations for rudra.[10] However, another reference states that Sayana suggested ten derivations.[11]
In the Rigveda Rudra's role as a frightening god is apparent in references to him as ghora ("terrible"), or simply as asau devam ("that god").[13] He is "fierce like a formidable wild beast" (RV 2.33.11).[24]
Chakravarti sums up the perception of Rudra by saying: "Rudra is thus
regarded with a kind of cringing fear, as a deity whose wrath is to be
deprecated and whose favor curried."[25]
RV 1.114 is an appeal to Rudra for mercy, where he is referred to as "mighty Rudra, the god with braided hair."[26]
In RV 7.46,
Rudra is described as armed with a bow and fast-flying arrows. As
quoted by R. G. Bhandarkar, the hymn says Rudra discharges "brilliant
shafts which run about the heaven and the earth" (RV 7.46.3), which may
be a reference to the destructive power of lightning.[27]
Rudra was believed to cause diseases, and when people recovered from
them or were free of them, that too was attributed to the agency of
Rudra.[28]
He is asked not to afflict children with disease (RV 7.46.2) and to
keep villages free of illness (RV 1.114.1). He is said to have healing
remedies (RV 1.43.4), as the best physician of physicians (RV 2.33.4),
and as possessed of a thousand medicines (RV 7.46.3). This is described
in Shiva's alternative name Vaidyanatha (Lord of Remedies).
The verse RV 6.49.10 calls Rudra as "The Father of the Universe" (bhuvanasya pitaraṃ).
bhuvanasya pitaraṃ ghīrbhirābhī rudraṃ divā vardhayā rudramaktau
bṛhantaṃ ṛṣvamajaraṃ suṣumnaṃ ṛdhagh ghuvema kavineṣitāsaḥ (RV 6.49.10)
bṛhantaṃ ṛṣvamajaraṃ suṣumnaṃ ṛdhagh ghuvema kavineṣitāsaḥ (RV 6.49.10)
Rudra by day, Rudra at night we honour with these our songs, the Universe's Father.
Him great and lofty, blissful, undecaying let us call specially as the Sage impels us[29]
Him great and lofty, blissful, undecaying let us call specially as the Sage impels us[29]
The verse RV 2.33.9 calls Rudra as "The Lord or Sovereign of the Universe" (īśānādasya bhuvanasya).
sthirebhiraṅghaiḥ pururūpa ughro babhruḥ śukrebhiḥ pipiśehiraṇyaiḥ
īśānādasya bhuvanasya bhūrerna vā u yoṣad rudrādasuryam (RV 2.33.9)
īśānādasya bhuvanasya bhūrerna vā u yoṣad rudrādasuryam (RV 2.33.9)
With firm limbs, multiform, the strong, the tawny adorns himself with bright gold decorations:
The strength of Godhead never departs from Rudra, him who is Sovereign of this world, the mighty.[30]
The strength of Godhead never departs from Rudra, him who is Sovereign of this world, the mighty.[30]
However, Yajur Veda – Taittiriya Aranyaka[31] (1-10-1)[32] quotes Rudra and Brihaspati as Sons of Bhumi and Heaven[33]). This directly conflicts with the claim of Rudra being Supreme.
The adjective shivam in the sense of "propitious" or "kind" is applied to the name Rudra in RV 10.92.9.[12] According to Gavin Flood, Shiva used as a name or title (Sanskrit śiva, "the kindly/auspicious one") occurs only in the late Vedic Katha Aranyaka,[13] whereas Axel Michaels asserts that Rudra was called Shiva for the first time in the Śvetāśvatara Upanishad.[14]
Rudra is called "the archer" (Sanskrit: Śarva)[15] and the arrow is an essential attribute of Rudra.[16] This name appears in the Shiva Sahasranama, and R. K. Sharma notes that it is used as a name of Shiva often in later languages.[17] The word is derived from the Sanskrit root śarv- which means "to injure" or "to kill"[15] and Sharma uses that general sense in his interpretive translation of the name Śarva as "One who can kill the forces of darkness".[17] The names Dhanvin ("bowman")[18] and Bāṇahasta ("archer", literally "Armed with arrows in his hands")[18][19] also refer to archery.
In other contexts the word rudra can simply mean "the number eleven".[20] The word "rudraksha" (Sanskrit: rudrākşa = rudra and akşa
"eye"), or "eye of Rudra", is used as a name both for the berry of the
Rudraksha tree, and a name for a string of the prayer beads made from
those seeds.[20]
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