PARAKUNNATH SREE VETTAKKORUMAKAN PAYYAN KSHETHRAM (TEMPLE), AROLI, KANNUR, KERALA: In the Rigveda, Rudra has been praised as the "mightiest of the mighty".

Tuesday 7 March 2017

In the Rigveda, Rudra has been praised as the "mightiest of the mighty".

In the Rigveda, Rudra has been praised as the "mightiest of the mighty". The Shri Rudram hymn from the Yajurveda is dedicated to Rudra, and is important in the Shaivism sect. Rudra is derived from the root rud- which means "to cry, howl." The name Rudra has been translated as "the roarer". 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. Also raudra, which means wild, translates the name Rudra as "the wild one" or "the fierce god".

Rudra is called "the archer" and the arrow is an essential attribute of Rudra. This name appears in the Shiva Sahasranama, and it is used as a name of Shiva often in later languages. He is the "One who can kill the forces of darkness".

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"). He is "fierce like a formidable wild beast" (Rigveda). RV 1.114 is an appeal to Rudra for mercy, where he is referred to as "mighty Rudra, the god with braided hair."

A verse from the Rig Veda calls Rudra "The Lord or Sovereign of the Universe." A verse of Sri Rudram

(= Yajurveda) speaks of Rudra as 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. 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).
In the Taittiriya Aranyaka of Yajur Veda, Rudra is identified as the universal existent ("all this") and thus as the Purusha (Supreme Person or inner Self) of the Vedas.

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. He is asked not to afflict children with disease, and to keep villages free of illness (RV 1.114.1). He is said to have healing remedies 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).