1. Etymology

The etymology of the theonym Rudra is somewhat uncertain. It may come from the Tamil Word Uru means Roar.^[1] It is usually derived from the root rud- (related to English "rude") which means "to cry, howl."^[1][2] According to this etymology, the name Rudra has been translated as "the roarer".^[3] A Rigvedic verse rukh draavayathi, iti rudraha where rukh means “sorrow/misery”, draavayathi means “drive out/eliminate” and iti means “that which” (or “the one who”) implies that Rudra is the eliminator of evil and usherer of peace. An alternative etymology suggested by Prof. Pischel derives Rudra as the “red one”, the “brilliant one” from a lost root rud-, “red”^[4] or “ruddy”, or alternatively (according to Grassman) “shining”.^[1]

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”.^[5] R. K. Sharma follows this alternate etymology and translates the name as “the terrible” in his glossary for the Shiva Sahasranama.^[6] The commentator Sāyaṇa suggests six possible derivations for rudra.^[7] However, another reference states that Sayana suggested ten derivations.^[8]

The adjective shivam in the sense of “propitious” or “kind” is applied to the name Rudra in RV 10.92.9.^[9]

Rudra is called “the archer” (Sanskrit: Śarva)^[10] and the arrow is an essential attribute of Rudra.^[11] 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.^[12] The word is derived from the Sanskrit root śarv- which means "to injure" or "to kill"^[10] and Sharma uses that general sense in his interpretive translation of the name Śarva as "One who can kill the forces of darkness".^[12] The names Dhanvin ("bowman")^[13] and Bāṇahasta (“archer”, literally “Armed with a hand-full of arrows”)^[13][14] also refer to archery.

In other contexts the word rudra can simply mean “the number eleven”.^[15] 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.^[15]

2. Rigvedic Hymns

The earliest mentions of Rudra occur in the Rigveda, where three entire hymns are devoted to him.^[16][17] There are about seventy-five references to Rudra in the Rigveda overall.^[18]

2.1. Form of Lord Rudra

In the Rigveda we find verses which speak about the form of Rudra. Some of them are:

त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे tryambakaṃ yajāmahe (RV 7.59.12) -> We worship the three eyed one.

कपर्दिने kapardine (RV 1.114.1) -> Who has matted hairs

हिरण्यम् इव रोचते hiraṇyam iva rocate (RV 1.43.5) -> Who shines like Gold

शुक्र इव सूर्यो śukra iva sūryo (RV 1.43.5) -> Who shines like Sun

स्थीरेभिरंगै sthīrebhiraṃgai (RV 2.33.9) -> Who is with firm limbs

पुरुरुप pururupa (RV 2.33.9) -> Who has multiforms

यजतं विश्वरुपम् yajataṃ viśvarupam (RV 2.33.10) -> Who is Vishwarupa (universe as form)

येभिः शिवः yebhiḥ śivaḥ (RV 10.92.9) -> Who is Shiva (auspicious)

2.2. 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").^[19] He is "fierce like a formidable wild beast" (RV 2.33.11).^[20] 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."^[21]

RV 1.114 is an appeal to Rudra for mercy, where he is referred to as "mighty Rudra, the god with braided hair."^[22]

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 lightning.^[23]

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.^[23] 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).

2.3. 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):

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.^[25]

देवानां हृदयभ्यो नमो ।

devănăm hridayebhyo namo

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):

tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭivardhanam

urvārukamiva 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.

In the Taittiriya Aranyaka of Yajur Veda(10.24.1)^[26][27] Rudra is identified as the universal existent ("all this") and thus as the Purusha (Supreme Person or inner Self) of the Vedas:

sarvo vai rudrastasmai rudrāya namo astu

puruṣo vai rudraḥ sanmaho namo namaḥ

viśvaṃ bhūtaṃ bhuvanaṃ citraṃ bahudhā jātaṃ jāyamānaṃ ca yat

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^[26] 1.10.1^[27] identifies Rudra and Brihaspati as Sons of Bhumi (Earth) and Heaven:^[28]

[The translations below need to be cleaned up; the transliteration standardized; the so-called "modern translation" should be removed, because it is not necessary or helpful. Do these lines constitute a single verse, or are they separate verses drawn from different places in the text? That needs to be made clear.]

2.4. Relation to Other Deities

Rudra is used both as a name of Shiva and collectively ("the Rudras") as the name for the Maruts.^[29] Maruts are "storm gods", associated with the atmosphere.^[30] They are a group of gods, whose number varies from two to sixty, sometimes also rendered as eleven, thirty-three^[31] 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",^[32] whereas Rudra is referred to as "Father of the Maruts" (RV 2.33.1).^[33]

Rudra is mentioned along with a litany of other deities in RV 7.40.5. Here is the reference to Rudra, whose name appears as one of many gods who are called upon:

"This 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 (vayāḥ) of that divine attainable Viṣṇu, the showerer of benefits. Rudra, bestow upon us the magnificence of his nature. The Aśvins have come down to our dwelling abounding with (sacrificial) food. ^[34]"

One scholiast interpretation of the Sanskrit word vayāḥ, meaning "ramifications" or "branches", is that all other deities are, as it were branches of Vishnu,^[35] but Ralph T. H. Griffith cites Ludwig as saying "This [...] gives no satisfactory interpretation" and cites other views which suggest that the text is corrupt at that point.^[36]

3. Post-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 Śatarudriyam, the Namakam (because many of the verses commence with the word namaḥ [`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 these stanzas, augmented with others, 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 Nīlarudram (or Nīlarudra Upaniṣad).^[37][38]

Sri Rudram

The President of the Ramakrishna Mission, at Chennai, in commentating on the foreword to Swami Amritananda's translation of Sri Rudram and Purushasuktam, stated that "Rudra to whom these prayers are addressed is not a sectarian deity, but the Supreme Being who is omnipresent and manifests Himself in a myriad forms for the sake of the diverse spiritual aspirants." Sri Rudram occurs in the fourth Kanda of the Taittirya Samhita in the Yajur Veda. It is a preeminent Vedic hymn to Lord Shiva as the God of dissolution, chanted daily in Shiva temples throughout India."^[39]

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 favorable to us. The Lord is both garden and graveyard, the slayer and the most benevolent one. The Almighty is impartial and ubiquitous.^[40]

In it Rudra is described as the most dreaded terroriser (frightening).Sri Rudram describes Rudra the vedic deity as the personification of 'terror'. 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); 'dra' is a superlative meaning 'the most'. So Rudra, depending on the poetic situation, can be meant as 'the most severe roarer/howler' - could be a hurricane or tempest - or 'the most frightening one'.^[41][42]

4. Rudra and Shiva

Three-headed Shiva, Gandhara, 2nd century AD. https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?curid=1959143

Shiva as we know him today shares many features with Rudra,^[43] and Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in 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.^[44]

The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rig Veda, which is dated to between 1700 and 1100 BC based on linguistic and philological evidence.^[45] 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.^[46]

The hymn 10.92 of the Rigveda states that deity Rudra has two natures, one wild and cruel (rudra), another that is kind and tranquil (shiva).^[47] The Vedic texts do not mention bull or any animal as the transport vehicle (vahana) of Rudra or other deities. However, post-Vedic texts such as the Mahabharata and the Puranas state the Nandi bull, the Indian zebu, in particular, as the vehicle of Rudra and of Shiva, thereby unmistakably linking them as same.^[48]

5. In Sikhism

The 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh describes the incarnation of Rudra in his book the Dasam Granth, the canto is titled Rudra Avatar.