RUDRA
Rudra is a vedic god mentioned in rig veda,saam veda,yajurveda,atharveda
In bhramans,aryanaks and in upnishads.
Three entire hymns are devoted to rudra in rigveda.
He is said to be " mightiest of mighties" and "best of physicians".
He is a fierce god with bairded hairs and one with three eyes.The word rudra means roarer/howler.
He is said to cure people.And to make villages free from illness. (similar as lord shiva's epithet"i.e. vaidyanath")
God rudra is said to not harm people.may be for their sins he punish them and they ask for mercy.
The great yajurvedic hymn SRI RUDRAM/SATARUDRIYA is devoted to rudra .(sri rudram/satarudriya can be found in yajurveda chapter16).
From here the infrormation from wikipedia stars. for the wikipedia rudra page click here.
Epithets of supreme rule
a verse from the rig veda:
(rv 2.33.9)calls rudra "the lord or sovereign of the universe"(īśānādasya bhuvanasya)
sthirebhiraṅghaiḥ pururūpa ughro babhruḥ śukrebhiḥ pipiśehiraṇyaiḥīśānādasya 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.
A verse of Śrī Rudram(=Yajurveda 16.18)speaks of Rudra as Lord of the Universe:
जगताम् पतये नमः ।
jagatăm pataye namaha।
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.
देवानां हृदयभ्यो नमो ।
devănăm hridayebhyo namo
Salutations to him who is in heart of the gods.
In a verse popularly known as theMahamrityunjaya Mantra, both Rig Veda (7.59.12) and Yajur Veda (3.60)recommend worshipping Rudra to attain moksha (liberation):
tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭivardhanamurvārukamiva bandhanān mṛtyormukṣīya mā'mṛtāt
We worship Tryambaka, sweet augmenter of prosperity. As from its stem a cucumber, may I be freed from the bonds of death, not reft of immortality.
From here the infrormation from wikipedia ends. Click here for the wikipedia rudra page.
Rudra is also known as "Pashupati". And he is said to rule on both two footed(may be humans) and four footed animals.
Maybe pashupati means the the lord of all pashu(i.e.all living being(jiva)).Rudra do five important works of universe.
Rudra perford five important work of universe.
Bhava-creates the universe(creator).
Sharva- destroys the universe(destroyer).
Pashupati-lord of all creatures which are created. (i.e. two footed"humans" and four footed "animals").(may be the maintaner).
Rudra- one who gives punishment for sins and also grant humans free from illness and to grant salavation.(maintaner)
Ishan- the one from whom the world came. Ishan also means "the ruler".
(The grase giver ;unknown even to seers.)
Above things prove that the rudra creates,destroys,give punishment, cure people as maintainer</b> and grants salavation as grase giver or ruler.
In atharveda book 2.28 it is mentioned that rudra do shrishti(creation) adi(etc.)
Means srishti,stithi,samhar,tirobhav,anupgrah.
And atharveda book 7.92 tells that rudra is able to create all bhutas (earth,water,fire,air,sky).
RUDRA HAS CONNECTION WITH DEVI
The earliest evidence of the tradition of reverence for the feminine with Rudra-Shiva context, is found in the Hindu scriptureRigveda, in a hymn called the Devi Sukta:
I am the Queen, thegatherer-up of treasures, most thoughtful, first of those who merit worship.Thus gods have established me in many places with many homes to enter and abide in.Through me alone all eat the food that feeds them, – each man who sees, breathes, hears the word outspoken.They know it not,yet I reside in the essence of the Universe. Hear, one and all, the truth as I declare it.I, verily, myself announce and utter the word that gods and men alike shall welcome.I make the man Ilove exceeding mighty, make him nourished, a sage, and one who knows Brahman.I bend the bow for Rudra [Shiva], that his arrow may strike, and slay the hater of devotion.I rouse and orderbattle for the people, I created Earth and Heaven and reside as their Inner Controller.(...)— Devi Sukta,Rigveda10.125.3 – 10.125.8(source-wikipedia shiva page.)
Rudra is the father of maruts
Rudra is the father of maruts. It has been mentioned many times in rigveda ,yajurveda and atharveda.
Maruts are companions of indra, son of rudra and prithwi(earth).
Maruts are voilent strom gods,which causes rain. Rigveda book7.66. May be gives an account on natural phenomena caused by strom gods to rain.
RUDRA AND SOMA
Rudra has a relationship with soma plant. May be because,Rudra is best of physicians and soma is the best; herbal plant of vedic times.so they both are invoked as soma-rudr to keep men free from illness.
RIG VEDA BOOK 7.66 gives an account of soma-rudra.
RUDRAS
Rudras are forms and followers of the god Rudra-Shiva and make eleven of theThirty-three gods in the Hindu pantheon.They are at times identified with theMaruts– sons of Rudra ; while at other times,considered distinct from them.
Associations In Vedic mythology
Rudras are described as loyal companions of Rudra, who later was identified with Shiva. They are considered as friends, messengers and aspects of Rudra. They are fearful in nature. The Satapatha Brahmana mentions that Rudra is the prince, while Rudras are his subjects. They are considered as attendants of Shiva inlater mythology.The Rig Veda and the Krishna Yajur Veda makes the Rudras the gods of the middle world, situated between earth and heaven i.e. the atmosphere. As wind-gods, the Rudras represent the life-breath.In theBrihadaranyaka Upanishad, the eleven Rudras are represented by tenvital energies(rudra-prana) in the body and the eleventh one being theĀtman(the soul).
The Rudras are said to preside over the second stage of creation and the intermediary stage of life. They govern the second ritual of sacrifice, the mid-day offering and the second stage of life – from the 24th to the 68 year of life. The Chandogya Upanishad prescribes that the Rudras be propitiated in case of sickness in this period and further says that they on departing the body become the cause of tears, the meaning of the name Rudra being the "ones who make cry".The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad explicitly states the fact that since the Rudras leaving the body – causing death – makes people cry, they are Rudras.
SRI RUDRAM CHAMKAM
It consists of two texts from book four of theTaittiriya Samhita (TS 4.5, 4.7), which is a recension of the Krishna Yajurveda.Shri Rudram or the Namakam(chapter five) describes the name or epithets of Rudra, which represent his aspects. Additionally, the devotee asks for the benevolent aspect of Shiva to be invoked rather than the terrible aspect and requests forgiveness of sins. The Chamakam(chapter seven)asks for the fulfilment of wishes. Each part consist of eleven anuvaka or hymns. Traditionally Rudra is assigned the number 11, and among the thirty three deities of the Vedic pantheon, eleven are considered forms of Rudra.
Shri Rudram
The anuvakas of Shri Rudram correspond to the eleven hymns of TS4.5, with the final anuvaka extended by an additional eight verses, including the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra. The central Shaivite mantra,Om Namah Sivaya is also derived from the Shri Rudram, it appears (without the om) in TS 4.5.8.l.There are eleven hymns; each has its own purpose and meaning. For instance, the seventh anuvakam is for education, progeny; the eighth anuvakam is for destruction of enemies and possession of one's own things from them.
Chamakam
The second part of the text, corresponding toTS 4.7, asks God for fulfillment of wishes. The repeated phrase,cha méliterally means, "and to me [be this granted]", accompanied by a list of desirables, which are primarily necessary appurtenances for Vedic sacrifices.The original context of theChamakam is the piling up of the fire-altar of the Vedic religion. The hymn invokes, apart from Agni and Vishnu at the beginning, a pantheon of Vedic deities that are successively linked with Indra to enable the yajamana or sacrificer/patron to successfully perform Vedic fire sacrifices or yagnyas, such as the Agnishthoma, Somayaga, and the Ashwamedha. The Chamakam can be interpreted both as a preparatory for a physical external sacrificial ritual, and the inner, possibly yogic sacrifice involving pranic control, since the yogic "vital airs" are explicitly mentioned as sacrificial adjuncts in anuvaka, or stanza 10.
RUDRA IS PURUSH
The thinking of making a persnal god as purush developed in late vedic period all around the times of aranyakas,bhramanas and upnishads. But not in samhitas!!!.
Vedic Sanskrit corpus
The corpus of Vedic Sanskrit texts includes:
*.The Samhitas (Sanskritsaṃhitā,"collection"), are collections of metric texts ("mantras"). There are four "Vedic" Samhitas: theRig-Veda,Sama-Veda,Yajur-Veda,and Atharva-Veda, most of which are available in several recensions(śākhā). In some contexts, the termVedais used torefer to these Samhitas. This is the oldest layer of Vedic texts, apart from the Rigvedic hymns, which were probably essentially complete by 1200 BC, dating to c.the 12th to 10th centuries BC. The complete corpus of Vedic mantras as collected in Bloom field's Vedic Concordance(1907) consists of some 89,000padas(metrical feet), of which 72,000 occur in the four Samhitas.
*.The Brahmanas are prose texts that comment and explain the solemn rituals as well as expoundon their meaning and many connected themes. Each of the Brahmanas is associated with one of the Samhitas or its recensions.[49][50]The Brahmanas may either form separate texts or can be partly integrated into the text of the Samhitas. They may also include the Aranyakas and Upanishads.
*.The Aranyakas, "wilderness texts"or "forest treaties", were composed by people who meditated in the woods as recluses and are the third part of the Vedas. The texts contain discussions and interpretations ofceremonies, from ritualisitic to symbolic meta-ritualistic points ofview.[51]It is frequently read in secondary literature.
*Older Mukhya Upanishads (Bṛhadāraṇyaka,Chandogya,Kaṭha,Kena,Aitareya, and others).
The Vedas (sruti) are different from Vedic era texts such as Shrauta Sutras and Gryha Sutras, which are smriti texts. Together, the Vedas and these Sutras form part of the Vedic Sanskrit corpus.While production of Brahmanas and Aranyakas ceased with the end of the Vedic period, additional Upanishads were composed after the end of the Vedic period.
The Brahmanas,Aranyakas, and Upanishads, among other things, interpret and discuss the Samhitas in philosophical and metaphorical ways to explore abstract concepts such as the Absolute (Brahman), and the soul or the self (Atman), introducing Vedanta philosophy, one of the major trends of later Hinduism. In other parts, they show evolution of ideas, such as from actual sacrifice to symbolic sacrifice, and of spirituality in the Upanishads. This has inspired later Hindu scholars such as Adi Shankarato classify each Veda intokarma-kanda(कर्म खण्ड, action/ritual-related sections) and jnana-kanda(ज्ञान खण्ड, knowledge/spirituality-related sections).
Visit wikipedia vedas page.
In the Taittiriya Aranyaka of Yajur Veda (10.24.1) Rudra is identified as the universal existent ("all this") and thus as thePurusha(Supreme Person or inner Self) of the Vedas:
sarvo vai rudrastasmai rudrāya namo astupuruṣo vai rudraḥ sanmaho namo namaḥviśvaṃ bhūtaṃ bhuvanaṃ citraṃ bahudhā jātaṃ jāyamānaṃ ca yatsarvo hyeṣa rudrastasmai rudrāya namo astu ॥ 1॥
All this verily is Rudra. To Rudra who is such we offerour salutation. We salute again and again that Being, Rudra, who alone is the Purusha and theSoul 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.
BIRTH OF RUDRA
The concept of birth of both rudra and vishnu was not in vedic samhitas,the concept developed after the vedic samhitas in aranyakas,bhramanas and upnishads.
The Taittiriya Aranyaka of Yajur Veda(1.10.1) identifies Rudra and Brihaspati as Sons of Bhumi (Earth) and Heaven.
Although it does not refer for rudra because,the same taittarayi ananyaka book 10 states rudra as alone purush.
Although it may refer to rudras as they are the gods who live between earth and heaven. And also rudra is the father of maruts and bhumi(earth) is mother of maruts .
So on the behalf of the follows:-
(a)- Rudras are gods of middle world and live beteween earth and heaven can be the sons of bhumi(earth) and heaven.
(b)- The same book taittariya aranyaka of yakurveda where rudra is said to be son of earth and heaven book 10 states rudra as alone purush.
(c)- Rudra is the father of maruts and bhumi(earth) is the mother of maruts.
It can be said that the rudra in the taittrayi aranyaka said to be the son of bhumi(earth) and heaven is not rudra but rudras. Samelike brihaspati is also said to be born out of first great light that droves out ignorance.
Please visit for more information:-
Rudra wikipedia page
Rudras wikipedia page
Maruts wikipedia page
Sri rudram chamkam namkam wikipedia page
No comments:
Post a Comment