View source for Rudra

{{Short description|Vedic storm and wind deity; epithet of Shiva}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Rudras}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Hindu
| image = File:Part of Vyomamandala Showing Rudras - Circa 5th Century CE - Katra Keshav Dev - ACCN 13-362 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5476.JPG
| alt = 
| caption = Part of Vyomamandala Showing Rudras - Circa 5th Century CE
| mantra = [[Mahamrityunjaya Mantra]]<br>Om Namo Bhagavate Rudraya
| deity_of = God of Storm, Wind, Medicine, Hunt, Animals, Humans and [[Yagna]]
| weapons = [[Bow and Arrow]], [[Vajra]], [[Ankusha]]
| affiliation = [[Indra]], [[Maruts]], [[Ashvins]]
| consort = 
| texts = ''[[Shri Rudram]]'', ''[[Rig Veda]]''
| height = 
| image_size = 
}}
{{Hinduism |deities}}

'''Rudra''' ({{langx|sa|रुद्र}}, {{ipa|sa|rud̪rɐ|ipa}}) is a [[Rigvedic deities|Rigvedic deity]] associated with [[Shiva]], the [[wind god|wind]] or [[weather god|storms]],{{sfnp|Basham|1989|p=15}} [[Vayu]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rigveda, with Dayananda Saraswati's Commentary, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W3PXAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha|date=1974|page=717|quote=The third meaning of Rudra is Vayu or air that causes pain to the wicked on the account of their evil actions...... Vayu or air is called Rudra as it makes a person weep causing pain as a result of bad deeds .}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Outlines Of The History Of Religion To The Spread Of The Universal Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=buaoulhbtLgC|page=113|author=C. P. Tiele|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|date=2005|isbn=978-8172681234}}</ref> medicine, and wildlife.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sEIngqiKOugC&pg=PA406|title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities|author1=Charles Russell Coulter|author2=Patricia Turner|publisher=Routledge|date=4 July 2013|isbn=978-1135963903}}</ref> One translation of the name is 'the roarer'.{{sfnp|Majumdar|1951|p=162}}{{sfnp|Zimmer|1972|p=181}}{{sfnp|Griffith|1973|loc=p. 75, note 1}} In the ''[[Rigveda]]'', Rudra is praised as the "mightiest of the mighty".<ref name="Kotob">{{cite book |author=A. B. Keith |title=All Four Vedas |chapter=Yajur Veda |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hDRCoMXMMYEC&pg=PA45 |publisher=Islamic Books |page=45 |id=GGKEY:K8CQJCCR1AX}}</ref> Rudra means "who eradicates problems from their roots". Depending upon the period, the name Rudra can be interpreted as 'the most severe roarer/howler' or 'the most frightening one'. This name appears in the [[Shiva Sahasranama]], and R. K. Sharma notes that it is often used as a name of [[Shiva]] in later languages. The "[[Shri Rudram]]" hymn from the ''[[Yajurveda]]'' is dedicated to Rudra and is important in the [[Shaivism|Shaivite]] sect.<ref name="Kramrisch1993_7174">For an overview of the Śatarudriya see: {{harvp|Kramrisch|1993|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC&pg=PA71 pp. 71–4]}}.</ref><ref>For a full translation of the complete hymn see {{harvp|Sivaramamurti|2004|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=rOrilkdu-_MC&pg=PA13 p. 13]}}.</ref> In the Prathama Anuvaka of Namakam ([[Yajurveda|Taittiriya Samhita]] 4.5), Rudra is revered as [[Sadasiva]] (meaning 'mighty Shiva') and [[Shiva|Mahadeva]]. Sadashiva is the [[King of the gods|Supreme Being]], [[Parameshwara (god)|Paramashiva]], in the [[Saiva Siddhanta|Siddhanta sect]] of Shaivism.

==Etymology ==
The [[etymology]] of the [[theonym]] ''Rudra'' is uncertain.<ref name=Chakravarti1994_4>{{harvp|Chakravarti|1994|p=4}}.</ref> It is usually derived from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] (PIE) root ''rud-'' (related to English ''rude''), which means 'to cry, howl'.{{r|Chakravarti1994_4}}{{sfnp|Kramrisch|1993|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC&pg=PA5 p. 5]}} The name Rudra may thus be translated as 'the roarer'.{{sfnp|Majumdar|1951|p=162}} An alternative etymology interprets ''Rudra'' as the 'red one', the 'brilliant one', possibly derived from a lost root ''rud-'', 'red'{{sfnp|Griffith|1973|loc=p. 75, note 1}} or 'ruddy', or alternatively, according to Grassman, 'shining'.{{r|Chakravarti1994_4}}

Stella Kramrisch notes a different etymology connected with the adjectival form ''raudra'', which means 'wild', i.e., of ''rude'' (untamed) nature, and translates the name ''Rudra'' as 'the wild one' or 'the fierce god'.<ref>{{harvp|Kramrisch|1993|p=5}} cites "rudra" in M. Mayrhofer, ''Concise Etymological Sanskrit Dictionary''.</ref>  R. K. Śarmā follows this alternative etymology and translates the name as 'the terrible' in his glossary for the [[Shiva Sahasranama]].{{sfnp|Śarmā|1996|p=301}} [[J. P. Mallory|Mallory]] and [[Douglas Q. Adams|Adams]] also mention a [[Comparative mythology|comparison]] with the [[Old East Slavic|Old Russian]] deity Rŭglŭ to reconstruct a [[Proto-Indo-European mythology|Proto-Indo-European]] wild-god named ''*Rudlos'', though they remind that the issue of the etymology remains problematic: from PIE ''*reud-'' ('rend, tear apart'; cf. [[Latin]] ''rullus'', 'rustic'), or ''*reu-'' ('howl').<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Mallory|first1=J. P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iNUSDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA433 |title=The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World|last2=Adams|first2=D. Q.|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-929668-2|pages=434}}</ref>

The commentator [[Sayana|{{IAST|Sāyaṇa}}]] suggests six possible derivations for ''rudra''.{{sfnp|Chakravarti|1994|p=5}} However, another reference states that Sayana suggested ten derivations.<ref>Sri Rudram and Purushasuktam, by Swami Amiritananda, pp. 9-10, Sri Ramakrishna Math.</ref> The adjective ''śiva'' (''shiva'') in the sense of 'propitious' or 'kind' is first applied to the Rudra in [[Mandala 10|RV 10]].92.9.<ref>{{harvp|Kramrisch|1993|p=7}}. For the text of RV 10.92.9, see {{harvp|Arya|Joshi|2001|loc=vol. 4, p. 432}}.</ref>

Rudra is called 'the archer' (Sanskrit: ''{{IAST|Śarva}}''){{sfnp|Apte|1965|p=910}} and the arrow is an essential attribute of Rudra.<ref>For archer and arrow associations, see {{harvp|Kramrisch|1993|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC&pg=PA27 Chapter 2]}}; for the arrow as an "essential attribute" of Rudra, see {{harvp|Kramrisch|1993|p=32}}.</ref> This name appears in the [[Shiva Sahasranama]], and R. K. Śarmā notes that it is used as a name of [[Shiva]] often in later languages.{{sfnp|Śarmā|1996|p=306}} The word is derived from the Sanskrit root ''{{IAST|śarv}}-'' which means 'to injure' or 'to kill',{{sfnp|Apte|1965|p=910}} and Śarmā uses that general sense in his interpretive translation of the name {{IAST|Śarva}} as 'One who can kill the forces of darkness'.{{sfnp|Śarmā|1996|p=306}} The names {{IAST|Dhanvin}} ('bowman'){{sfnp|Chidbhavananda|1997|p=33}} and {{IAST|Bāṇahasta}} ('archer', [[Literal translation|literally]] 'Armed with a hand-full of arrows'){{sfnp|Chidbhavananda|1997|p=33}}<ref>For translation of {{IAST|Bāṇahasta}} as “Armed with arrows in his hands”, see: {{harvp|Śarmā|1996|p=294}}.</ref> also refer to archery.

In other contexts the word ''rudra'' can simply mean 'the number eleven'.{{sfnp|Apte|1965|p=804}} The word ''[[rudraksha]]'' (Sanskrit: ''{{IAST|rudrākṣa}}'' = ''rudra'' and ''{{IAST|akṣa}}'' 'eye' or tear), or 'eye or tears of Rudra', is used as a name for both the berry of the [[Elaeocarpus ganitrus|rudraksha tree]] and a name for a string of the prayer beads made from those seeds.{{sfnp|Apte|1965|p=804}}

Rudra is one of the names of [[Vishnu]] in [[Vishnu Sahasranama]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Nityananda Misra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e89eDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT248|title=The Om Mala: Meanings of the Mystic Sound|date=25 July 2018|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-9387471856|page=248}}</ref> [[Adi Shankara]] in his commentary to [[Vishnu Sahasranama]] defined the name Rudra as 'One who makes all beings cry at the time of cosmic dissolution'.<ref>{{cite book|author=M. M. Ninan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-8RTZcjg9awC|title=The Development of Hinduism|date=23 June 2008|publisher=Madathil Mammen Ninan|isbn=978-1438228204|page=378}}</ref>  Author D. A. Desai in his glossary for the [[Vishnu Sahasranama]] says Vishnu in the form of Rudra is the one who does the total destruction at the time of great dissolution.<ref name="D. A. Desai 1998 58">{{cite book|author=D. A. Desai|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-1gpAAAAYAAJ|title=Shri Vishnu Sahasranama: In Sanskrit with Phonetics and Brief English Translation Explaining Its Grandeur and Procedural Rituals Etc|date=1998|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|page=58|quote=One who does this total destruction ( Pratardanah ) is the Lord in the form of Rudra at the time of great dissolution (Pralaya).}}</ref>

==Rigvedic hymns==
The earliest known mentions of the Vedic deity Rudra, occur in the [[Rigveda]], where three entire hymns are devoted to him (RV 1.114, 2.33, and 7.46). Two further hymns are devoted to Rudra jointly with Soma (RV 1.43 and 6.74).<ref>For the three Rigvedic hymns devoted to Rudra, see {{harvp|Chakravarti|1994|p=1}}.</ref><ref>For discussion of four Rigvedic hymns (1.43, 1.114, 2.33, and 7.46) see: {{harvp|Michaels|2004|pp=216, 364 note 50}}.</ref> There are about seventy-five references to Rudra in the Rigveda overall.<ref>E.g., Rudra is also included in a litany given in RV 7.40.5.</ref>

===Form of Rudra===
In the [[Rigveda]] (RV) are verses which speak about the form of Rudra. Some of them are:
:{|
|-
! {{small|Sanskrit}}  !! {{small|Transliteration}} !! {{small|Translation}} !! {{small|Source}}
|-
| त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे || ''tryambakaṃ yajāmahe'' &emsp;|| We worship the ''three-eyed one'' || [[Mandala 7|RV 7]].59.12
|-
| कपर्दिने       || ''kapardine'' || Who has ''matted hair'' || [[Mandala 1|RV 1]].114.1
|-
| हिरण्यम् इव रोचते  &emsp;|| ''hiraṇyam iva rocate'' || Who ''shines like gold'' || [[Mandala 1|RV 1]].43.5
|-
| शुक्र इव सूर्यो  || ''śukra iva sūryo'' || Who ''shines like [the] Sun'' || [[Mandala 1|RV 1]].43.5
|-
| स्थीरेभिरंगै     || ''sthīrebhiraṃgai'' || Who is with ''firm limbs'' || [[Mandala 2|RV 2]].33.9
|-
| पुरुरुप       || ''pururupa'' || Who has ''multiforms'' || [[Mandala 2|RV 2]].33.9
|-
| यजतं विश्वरुपम् || ''yajataṃ viśvarupam'' &emsp;|| Who is of the form of the universe &emsp;|| [[Mandala 2|RV 2]].33.10
|-
| येभिः शिवः   || ''yebhiḥ śivaḥ'' || Who is auspicious || [[Mandala 10|RV 10]].92.9
|}

===Epithets of fierceness and fright===
In the Rigveda, Rudra's role as a frightening god is apparent in references to him as ''ghora'' ('extremely terrifying'), or simply as ''asau devam'' ('that god').{{sfnp|Flood|2003|p=73}} He is 'fierce like a terrific wild beast' (RV 2.33.11).{{sfnp|Arya|Joshi|2001|loc=vol. 2, p. 81}} 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'.{{sfnp|Chakravarti|1994|p=8}}

RV 1.114 is an appeal to Rudra for mercy, where he is referred to as 'mighty Rudra, the god with braided hair'.{{sfnp|Doniger|1981|pp=224-5}}

In [[Mandala 7|RV 7]].46, Rudra is described as armed with a bow and fast-flying arrows, although many other weapons are known to exist.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Rudra {{!}} Hinduism, Shiva, Vedas {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rudra |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251212200122/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rudra |archive-date=2025-12-12 |access-date=2026-03-30 |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> As quoted by R. G. Bhandarkar, the hymn declare that Rudra discharges 'brilliant shafts which run about the heaven and the earth' (RV 7.46.3), which may be a reference to lightning.<ref name=Bhandarkar1995_146>{{harvp|Bhandarkar|1995|p=146}}.</ref>

Rudra was believed to cure diseases, and when people recovered from them or were free of them, that too was attributed to the agency of Rudra.{{r|Bhandarkar1995_146}} 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). So he is described with an alternative name, '''Vaidyanatha''' (Lord of Remedies).

===Epithets of supreme rule===

{{clear|left}}

A verse from the Rig Veda ([[Mandala 2|RV 2]].33.9) calls Rudra 'The Lord or Sovereign of the Universe' (''īśānādasya bhuvanasya''):
{{Verse transliteration-translation|स्थि॒रेभि॒रङ्गै॑: पुरु॒रूप॑ उ॒ग्रो ब॒भ्रुः शु॒क्रेभि॑: पिपिशे॒ हिर॑ण्यैः ।<br>ईशा॑नाद॒स्य भुव॑नस्य॒ भूरे॒र्न वा उ॑ योषद् रु॒द्राद॑सु॒र्य॑म् ॥|sthi̱rebhi̱raṅgai̍: puru̱rūpa̍ u̱gro ba̱bhruḥ śu̱krebhi̍: pipiśe̱ hira̍ṇyaiḥ .
īśā̍nāda̱sya bhuva̍nasya̱ bhūre̱rna vā u̍ yoṣad ru̱drāda̍su̱rya̍m.|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.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv02033.htm ''The Hymns of the Rig Veda,''] trans. [[Ralph T. H. Griffith]] (1896).</ref>||lang=sa|originalHeading=[[Devanagari]]|translationHeading=English|transliterationHeading=[[IAST]]}}

{{clear|left}}

A verse of Śrī Rudram (= Yajurveda 16.18) speaks of Rudra as Lord of the Universe: <br />
{{blockquote| '''जगताम् पतये नमः ।''' <br />
''jagatam pataye namaḥ'' । <br />
Homage to the Lord of the Universe.}}

Another verse (Yajurveda 16.46) locates Rudra in the heart of the gods, showing that he is the inner Self of all, even the gods:<ref>[http://sacred-texts.com/hin/wyv/wyvbk16.htm "The Texts of the White Yajurveda"], tr. [[Ralph T.H. Griffith]], [1899]</ref> <br />
{{blockquote| '''देवानां हृदयभ्यो नमो ।''' <br />
''devānāṃ hṛdayabhyo namo'' <br />
Salutations to him who is in heart of the gods.}}

In a verse popularly known as the [[Mahamrityunjaya Mantra]], both Rig Veda (7.59.12) and Yajur Veda (3.60) recommend worshipping Rudra to attain moksha (liberation):

{{Verse transliteration-translation|'''त्र्य॑म्बकं यजामहे सु॒गन्धिं॑ पुष्टि॒वर्ध॑नम् ।<br> उ॒र्वा॒रु॒कमि॑व॒ बन्ध॑नान्मृ॒त्योर्मु॑क्षीय॒ मामृता॑त् ॥'''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/RgVedaWithSayanasCommentaryPart3|title=Rg Veda with Sayana's Commentary Part 3|language=English}}</ref>|tryàmbakaṃ yajāmahe sugándhiṃ puṣṭivárdhanam.<br> urvārukámiva bándhanānmṛtyórmukṣīya mā́mṛ́tāt.|We sacrifice to Tryambaka the fragrant, increaser of prosperity.<br/>Like a cucumber from its stem, might I be freed from death, not from deathlessness.|lang=sa|originalHeading=[[Devanagari]]|translationHeading=Translation by [[Stephanie W. Jamison]] and Joel P. Brereton:<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Jamison|first1=Stephanie|title=The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India|last2=Brereton|first2=Joel|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|url=https://www.academia.edu/30160889 |isbn=9780199370184|page=954}}</ref>|transliterationHeading=[[IAST]]}}

In the Taittiriya Aranyaka of [[Yajur Veda]] (10.24.1),<ref name=sanskritweb_net01>{{cite web |editor=Subramania Sarma |title=Taittiriya Aranyaka |website=sanskritweb.net  |url=http://www.sanskritweb.net/yajurveda/ta-deva.pdf}}</ref> Rudra is identified as the universal existent ('all this') and thus as the [[Purusha]] (Supreme Person or inner Self) of the Vedas:

{{blockquote| 
{{IAST|''sarvo vai rudrastasmai rudrāya namo astu ''}}<br />
{{IAST|''puruṣo vai rudraḥ sanmaho namo namaḥ ''}}<br />
{{IAST|''viśvaṃ bhūtaṃ bhuvanaṃ citraṃ bahudhā jātaṃ jāyamānaṃ ca yat ''}}<br />
{{IAST|''sarvo hyeṣa rudrastasmai rudrāya namo astu ॥ 1॥ ''}}

All this verily is Rudra. To Rudra who is such we offer our salutation. We salute again and again that Being, Rudra, who alone is the Purusha and the Soul of creatures. The material universe, the created beings, and whatever there is manifoldly and profusely created, in the past and in the present, in the form of the world—all that is indeed this Rudra. Salutations be to Rudra who is such. }}

The Taittiriya Aranyaka of [[Yajur Veda]] 1.10.1{{r|sanskritweb_net01}} identifies Rudra and [[Brihaspati]] as Sons and companions of Bhumi (Earth) and Heaven:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.srihayagrivan.org/ebooks/038_ap_v2.pdf|title=SriHayagrivan – AruNa praSnam, vol. 2}}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="background: white"
|-
!style="width:20%"| Sanskrit Romanized ([[IAST]]) !! style="width:25%" | Roman ([[Harvard-Kyoto]]) translation !! English translation
|-
| sahasravṛdiyaṃ bhūmiḥ || yam bhUmi: sahasravrt || This world is desired as a place of abode by thousands of Jeevaraasis
|-
| paraṃ vyŏmaḥ sahasravṛt || param vyOma: sahasravrt || The upper world is similarly desired by the thousands of Devas.
|-
| aśvinā bhujyū nāsatyā || rowspan="2" | bhujyU na asatyA viSvasya jagata: patI aSvinA || rowspan=2 | The earth and the heaven (Svarga lOkam) are like the twin gods, Asvini Devas, who banish diseases and bless us with bhOgams; Asvini Devas are the protectors of the universe and their sankalpam (volition) never fails.
|-
| viśvasya jagataspatī
|-
| jāyā bhūmiḥ patirvyoma || rowspan="2" | bhUmi: jAyA vyOma pati: taa mithunam aturyathu: || rowspan=2 | BhU lOkam is the wife and the Heaven is the husband; they are united like a couple.
|-
| mithunantā aturyathuḥ
|-
| putro bṛhaspatī rudraḥ || putra: brhaspatI rudra: || We have to consider Brhaspati and Rudran (aging here) as their sons
|-
| rowspan=2 | saramā iti strīpumam || saramA iti || The raised platform for the Yaagam, Yaaga meDai (Yajn~a Vedi) should be considered as a lady.
|-
| iti strI pumam || Thus we are instructed about the male-female aspects of the Earth and the Heaven.
|-
| colspan="3" style="padding-left: 2em"| [Now comes the prayer to the abhimAna devatais for BhUmi and the upper world.]
|-
| śukraṃ vāmanyadyajataṃ vāmanyat || vAm anyat Sukram vAm anyat yajatam || Among your forms, one is the day with white hue, the other is the night with dark hue.
|-
| viṣurūpe ahanī dyauriva sthaḥ || vishurUpe ahanI dyau iva stha: || Both of You stay steady as the Sooryan in the sky with equal, unique and alternating forms.
|}


===Relation to other deities===
Rudra is used both as a name of Shiva and collectively ('the [[Rudras]]') as the name for the [[Maruts]].<ref>For the terms "Maruts" and "Rudras" as equivalent, see {{harvp|Flood|1996|p=46}}.</ref> Maruts are 'storm gods' associated with the atmosphere.{{sfnp|Flood|1996|pp=45-6}} They are a group of gods whose number varies from two to sixty, sometimes also rendered as eleven, thirty-three{{sfnp|Macdonell|1996|p=256}} or a hundred and eighty in number (i. e., three times sixty. See RV 8.96.8.).

The Rudras are sometimes referred to as 'the sons of Rudra'{{sfnp|Flood|1996|p=46}} while Rudra is referred to as 'Father of the Maruts' (RV 2.33.1).<ref>{{harvp|Arya|Joshi|2001|loc=vol. 2, p. 78}}. For Shiva as the head or father of the group see {{harvp|Apte|1965|p=804}}. For Rudra as the head of a host of "storm spirits, the Maruts" see: {{harvp|Basham|1989|p=14}}.</ref>

Rudra is mentioned along with a litany of other deities in [[Mandala 7|RV 7]].40.5. Here is the reference to Rudra, whose name appears as one of many gods who are called upon:

{{cquote|This ''{{IAST|Varuṇa}}'', the leader of the rite, and the royal ''Mitra'' and ''Aryaman'', uphold my acts, and the divine unopposed ''Aditi'', earnestly invoked: may they convey us safe beyond evil. I propitiate with oblations the ramifications ({{IAST|vayāḥ}}) of that divine attainable ''{{IAST|Viṣṇu}}'', the showerer of benefits. ''Rudra'', bestow upon us the magnificence of his nature.  The ''{{IAST|Aśvins}}'' have come down to our dwelling abounding with (sacrificial) food.<ref>RV 7.40.4–5 as translated in {{harvp|Arya|Joshi|2001|pp=243-4}}.</ref>
}}

==Non-Rigvedic hymns==

In the various recensions of the [[Yajurveda]] is included a litany of stanzas praising Rudra: ''Maitrāyaṇī-Saṃhitā'' 2.9.2, ''Kāṭhaka-Saṃhitā'' 17.11, ''Taittirīya-Saṃhitā'' 4.5.1 and ''Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā'' 16.1–14. This litany is subsequently referred to variously as the ''[[Rudram Chamakam|Śatarudriyam]]'' and the ''Namakam'' (because many of the verses commence with the word ''namaḥ'', meaning 'homage'), or simply the ''[[Rudram]]''. This litany was recited during the ''[[Agnicayana]]'' ritual ('the piling of Agni'), and it later became a standard element in Rudra liturgy.

A selection of similar stanzas is included in the ''Paippalāda-Saṃhitā'' of the [[Atharvaveda]] (PS 14.3–4). This selection, with further PS additions at the end, circulated more widely as the ''Nīlarudra'' (or ''Nīlarudra Upaniṣad'').{{r|Kramrisch1993_7174}}{{sfnp|Lubin|2007}}  Lubin suggests that in the ''Nīlarudra'', lightning is envisioned both as Rudra's arrows and as the deity himself:

{{cquote|1. I saw you descending from the sky, down to earth; I saw Rudra shooting [his arrows], blue-necked, crested.
2. From the sky the mighty one has descended; he has taken his stand upon the earth. O people, look at him: the blue-necked, the red one. ...
10.	They have seen you descending, blue-necked, red: both the herdsmen have seen you, and the women fetching water [have seen] you, and all beings [have seen] you: Homage to you who are seen! ..."{{sfnp|Lubin|2007}}
}}

The Hindu god [[Shiva]] shares several features with Rudra. The [[theonym]] ''Śiva'' ('kind') originated as a euphemistic epithet for Rudra, who is similarly invoked as Aghora ('not frightful') and Abhayaṅkara ('providing safety').{{sfnp|Zimmer|1972|p=181}}  Although ''Rudra'' remains the primary designation of the god, e.g., in the Pāśupata ascetic tradition, lay devotees preferred to address him as ''Śiva,'' ''Maheśvara'' ('Great Lord'), or ''Mahādeva'' ('Great God'), as in the [[Śivadharma]] literature, the [[Sanskrit epics]], and the [[Purāṇas]].  Those epithets come to be the primary names of the deity.

===Shri Rudram===

The president of the [[Ramakrishna Mission]], at [[Chennai]], in commentating on the foreword to Swami Amritananda's translation of ''Sri Rudram and Purushasuktam'', states, 'Rudra to whom these prayers are addressed is not a sectarian deity, but the [[King of the gods|Supreme Being]] who is omnipresent and manifests Himself in myriad forms for the sake of the diverse spiritual aspirants'. [[Shri Rudram]] occurs in the fourth Kanda of the Taittiriya Samhita in the Yajurveda.
It is a preeminent Vedic hymn to [[Shiva]] as the God of dissolution and it is chanted daily in Shiva temples throughout India.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/H4hLtzCeVds Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20131124094612/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4hLtzCeVds&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4hLtzCeVds|title=SHRI RUDRAM FROM YAJURVEDA (Full)|last=Karthik Satchitanandam|date=9 July 2011|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The prayer depicts the diverse aspects of the Almighty. The Shri Rudram hymn is unique in that it shows the presence of divinity throughout the entire universe. We cannot confine the qualities of the divine to those that are favourable to us. The Lord is both garden and graveyard, the slayer and the most benevolent one. The Almighty is impartial and ubiquitous.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/vQjBQJqi0Ak Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140123024641/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQjBQJqi0Ak Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQjBQJqi0Ak|title=Sri Rudram|last=Vasudev R|date=1 January 2012|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In the hymn, Rudra is described as the most dreaded terroriser (frightening). Shri Rudram describes Rudra the Vedic deity as the personification of 'terror'. The name Rudra comes from ''ru'', meaning 'Roar or howl' (the words ''dreaded'' or ''fearsome'' could only be used as adjectives to Rudra and not as Rudra because Rudra is the personification of terror) and ''dra'', which is a superlative meaning 'the most'. So Rudra, depending on the poetic situation, can mean 'the most severe roarer/howler' or a hurricane or tempest or 'the most frightening one'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vedam Tutorials |website=Sri Sathya Sai Books & Publication Trust |url=http://www.sssbpt.org/sri-rudram/instructions-to-user.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sanskritdictionary.com/?iencoding=iast&q=Rudra&lang=sans&action=Search|title=Sanskrit Dictionary}}</ref>

==Rudra and Shiva==

[[File:ThreeHeadedShivaGandhara2ndCentury.jpg|upright|thumb|Three-headed Shiva, [[Gandhara]], 2nd century AD]]
[[Shiva]] as known today shares many features with Rudra,{{sfnp|Michaels|2004|pp=316}} and Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in [[Hindu texts|Hindu scriptures]]. The two names are used synonymously. Rudra, the god of the roaring storm, is usually portrayed in accordance with the element he represents as a fierce, destructive deity.{{sfnp|Flood|2003|p=73}}

The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the [[Rigveda|Rig Veda]], which is dated to between 1700 and 1100 BC based on [[Linguistics|linguistic]] and [[philology|philological]] evidence.<ref>For dating based on "cumulative evidence" see {{harvp|Oberlies|1998|p=158}}</ref> A god named Rudra is mentioned in the Rig Veda. The name Rudra is still used as a name for Shiva. In RV 2.33, he is described as the 'Father of the [[Rudras]]', a group of storm gods.{{sfnp|Doniger|1981|pp=221–3}}

Hymn 10.92 of the Rigveda states that the deity Rudra has two natures, one wild and cruel (''rudra''), and another that is kind and tranquil (''shiva'').{{sfnp|Kramrisch|1993|p=7}} The Vedic texts  mention a horse as the vehicle (''vahana'') of Rudra, the "Hero on horseback" that "should be indulgent" to the singer (RV. 2.33.1). Whereas post-Vedic texts such as the Mahabharata and the Puranas mention [[Nandi (mythology)|Nandi]] the bull and the [[zebu]] as the vehicles of Rudra and of Shiva, thereby unmistakably linking them as the same.{{sfnp|Kramrisch|1993|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC&pg=PA14 p. 14–5]}}

==In Buddhism==
In [[Tibetan Buddhism]], according to the ''[[Orgyen Lingpa|Padma Thang Yig]]'', Rudra are devas (beings who live in heaven) at [[Shiva|Maheśvara]] heaven. Or formerly a human monk of noble origin named Koukuntri and then Tharpa Nakpo, who misunderstands dharma and engages in a life of vice and is condemned to [[Naraka (Buddhism)|Naraka]]. After 20.000 impure lives, he is eventually reborn as a demon in [[Sri Lanka]] by a prostitute who sleeps with three kinds of supernatural creatures, giving him three heads. His birth brings about plague and famine, so he is banished to a charnel ground, but he survives by devouring his mother's corpse and returns in order to conquer the world. Becoming the lover of the [[rakshasa]] queen Krodhishvari, he battles the gods, who are terrified of his extraordinary power and call the Buddhas and boddhisattvas for help.

The Buddha [[Vajrasattva]], who in a previous life was Tharpa Nakpo's master Thupka Zhonu, receives the mission to destroy Rudra, for which he is accompanied by [[Vajrapani]], himself a reborn Pramadeva or Denphak, Nakpo's servant and fellow disciple. They both assume the [[Wrathful deities|wrathful]] forms [[Hayagriva (Buddhism)|Hayagriva]] and [[Vajravārāhī|Vajravarahi]], who challenge Rudra with nine dances and battle him. Hayagriva turns diminutive and enters Rudra's anus, after which he becomes gigantic and destroys his body from inside out, submitting the demon and converting him to true dharma.<ref>{{cite book|author=Matthew T. Kapstein|title=The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism: Conversion, Contestation, and Memory|url=|year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780190288204|pages=170–174}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Robert A. Paul|title=The Sherpas of Nepal in the Tibetan Cultural Context: (The Tibetan Symbolic World : a Psychoanalytic Exploration)|url=|year=1989|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=9788120805682|pages=153–155}}</ref>

In another version, Hayagriva impersonates Rudra and impregnates Krodishvari. As a result, he is reborn as the resultant child, [[Vajrakilaya|Vajrarakshasa]]. He takes over Rudra's realm and defeats him by plunging a three-pointed ''[[khaṭvāṅga]]'' into his chest. He then devours Rudra, purifies him in his stomach and excretes him as a protector of dharma, who hands over his army of demons to Vajrarakshasha as attendants.<ref>{{cite book|author= Jacob P. Dalton|title=The Taming of the Demons: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism|url=|year=2011|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=9780300153927|pages=184–190}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art|author=John C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel|date=2003|publisher=Serindia Publications|isbn=9781932476019|page=335}}</ref> Other versions replace Hayagriva with [[Ucchusma]], an emanation that Vajrapani draws from his own anus.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ruthless Compassion: Wrathful Deities in Early Indo-Tibetan Esoteric Buddhist Art|author=Robert N. Linrothe|date=1999|publisher=Serindia Publications|isbn= 9780906026519|page=216}}</ref>

==In Sikhism==
The 10th Sikh Guru, [[Guru Gobind Singh]], describes the [[incarnation]] of Rudra in a composition titled '[[Rudra Avtar]]' in his book the [[Dasam Granth]].{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

==See also==
* [[Rigvedic deities]]
* [[Rudra (spider)|''Rudra'' (spider)]], a genus of spiders named after the deity
* [[Rudra Sampradaya]]
* [[Vayu]], Hindu wind god
* [[Fūjin]], Shinto ''Kami'' of winds
* [[Aeolus (son of Hippotes)|Aeolus (''Odyssey'')]]
* [[Rudrabhisheka]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book |last=Apte |first=Vaman Shivram |title=The Practical Sanskrit Dictionary |date=1965 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |location=Delhi |isbn=81-208-0567-4 |edition=fourth revised & enlarged
}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Arya |editor1-first=Ravi Prakash |editor2-last=Joshi |editor2-first=Kireet L. |date=2001 |title={{IAST|Ṛgveda Saṃhitā}} |others=Sanskrit text, English translation, notes & index of verses |series=Parimal Sanskrit Series No. 45 |edition=Second revised |volume=Four volumes (2003 reprint) |location=Delhi |publisher=Parimal Publications |isbn=9788171101405
}} This revised edition updates H. H. Wilson's translation by replacing obsolete English forms with more modern equivalents, giving the English translation along with the original Sanskrit text in [[Devanagari]] script, along with a critical apparatus.  {{cite web |date=2004 |title=Rgveda-Samhita |publisher=Parimal Publications |access-date=15 November 2012 |url=http://www.parimalpublication.com/Bookdesc.aspx?id=41 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101092518/http://www.parimalpublication.com/Bookdesc.aspx?id=41 |archive-date=1 November 2012
}}
*{{cite book |last=Basham |first=A. L. |date=1989 |editor=Zysk, Kenneth |title=The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism |location=New York City |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-507349-5
}}
*{{cite book |last=Bhandarkar |first=Ramakrishna Gopal |date=1995 |orig-date=1913 |title=Vaisnavism, Śaivism, and Minor Religious Systems |edition=Third reprint  |location=Delhi |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=81-206-0122-X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5zKrCIBmBwC
}}
*{{cite book |last=Chakravarti |first=Mahadev |date=1994 |title=The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through The Ages |location=Delhi |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=81-208-0053-2 }} (Second Revised Edition; Reprint, Delhi, 2002).
*{{cite book |last=Chidbhavananda |first=Swami |date=1997 |title=Siva Sahasranama Stotram: With Navavali, Introduction, and English Rendering |edition=Third |publisher=Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam |isbn=81-208-0567-4 }} The version provided by Chidbhavananda is from chapter 17 of the Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābharata.
* {{cite book |editor-last=Doniger |editor-first=Wendy |editor-link=Wendy Doniger |date=1981 |title=The Rig Veda: An Anthology : One Hundred and Eight Hymns, Selected, Translated and Annotated |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=9780140444025
}}
*{{cite book |last=Flood |first=Gavin |date=1996 |title=An Introduction to Hinduism |url-access=registration |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-43878-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi0000floo
}}
*{{cite book |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Gavin |date=2003 |title=The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism |location=[[Malden, Massachusetts|Malden]] MA |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |isbn=1-4051-3251-5
}}
*{{cite book |last=Griffith |first=Ralph T.H. |date=1973 |orig-date=1896 |title=the Hymns of the {{IAST|Ṛgveda}} |edition=new revised |location=Delhi |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn= 81-208-0046-X
}}
*{{cite book |last=Kramrisch |first=Stella |date=1993 |title=The Presence of Śiva |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-01930-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC
}}
* {{cite book |last=Lubin |first=Timothy |date=2007 |chapter=The Nīlarudropaniṣad and the Paippalādasaṃhitā: A Critical Edition and Translation of the Upaniṣad and Nārāyaṇa's Dīpikā |editor1-last=Griffiths |editor1-first=A.  |editor2-last=Schmiedchen |editor2-first=A. |title=The Atharvaveda and its Paippalāda Śākhā: Historical and Philological Papers on a Vedic Tradition |pages=81–139 |series=(Indologica Halensis 11) |location=Aachen |publisher=[[Shaker Verlag]] |isbn=9783832262556
}}
*{{cite book |last=Macdonell |first=Arthur Anthony |date=1996 |title=A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary |location=Delhi |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers |isbn=81-215-0715-4
}}
*{{cite book |editor-last=Majumdar |editor-first=R. C. |editor-link=R. C. Majumdar |date=1951 |title=[[The History and Culture of the Indian People]] |volume=1 The Vedic Age |publisher=George Allen & Unwin
}}
*{{cite book |last=Michaels |first=Axel|title=Hinduism: Past and Present |date=2004 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=0-691-08953-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Oberlies |first=Thomas |date=1998 |title=Die Religion des Rgveda |location=Vienna 
}}
*{{cite book |last=Śarmā |first=Rāmakaraṇa |date=1996 |title=Śivasahasranāmāṣṭakam : eight collections of hymns containing one thousand and eight names of Śiva |publisher=Nag Publishers |location=Delhi |isbn=9788170813507 |oclc=36990863 }} Includes ''Śivasahasranāmakoṣa'', a dictionary of names. This work compares eight versions of the ''Śivasahasranāmāstotra''. The preface and introduction (in English) by Ram Karan Sharma provide an analysis of how the eight versions compare with one another. The text of the eight versions is given in Sanskrit.
*{{cite book |last=Sivaramamurti |first=C. |date=2004 |title=Śatarudrīya: Vibhūti of Śiva's Iconography |location=Delhi |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=9788170170389 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rOrilkdu-_MC 
}}
*{{cite book |last=Zimmer |first=Heinrich |date=1972 |title=Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization |location=[[Princeton, NJ]] |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-01778-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mythssymbolsinin00zimmrich }}
{{Refend}}

{{Shaivism}} 
{{VaisnavaSampradayas}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Forms of Shiva]]
[[Category:Health gods]]
[[Category:Hindu gods]]
[[Category:Hunting gods]]
[[Category:Rigvedic deities]]
[[Category:Sky and weather gods]]
[[Category:Wind gods]]
[[Category:Death gods]]
[[Category:Destroyer gods]]
[[Category:Time and fate gods]]
[[Category:Animal gods]]
[[Category:Fortune gods]]
[[Category:Mythological archers]]