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Practices
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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] or "The Howler".[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".[5] 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.
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The etymology of the theonym Rudra is somewhat uncertain.[6] It is usually derived from the root rud- which means "to cry, howl."[7][8] According to this etymology, the name Rudra has been translated as "the Roarer".[9] An alternate etymology suggested by Prof. Pischel derives Rudra ("the Red, the Brilliant") from a lost root rud-, "to be red"[3] or "to be ruddy",[10] or according to Grassman, "to shine".[11] Stella Kramrisch notes a different etymology connected with the adjectival form raudra, which means wild, of rudra nature, and translates the name Rudra as "the Wild One" or "the Fierce God".[12] R. K. Sharma follows this alternate etymology and translates the name as "Terrible" in his glossary for the Shiva Sahasranama.[13]
The commentator Sāyaṇa suggests six possible derivations for rudra.[14] However, another reference states that Sayana suggested ten derivations.[15]
The adjective shivam in the sense of "propitious" or "kind" is applied to the name Rudra in RV 10.92.9.[16][17] 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[18] Axel Michaels says Rudra was called Shiva for the first time in the Śvetāśvatara Upanishad.[19]
Rudra is called "The Archer" (Sanskrit: Śarva)[20] and the arrow is an essential attribute of Rudra.[21] 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.[22] The word is derived from the Sanskrit root śarv- which means "to injure" or "to kill"[23] and Sharma uses that general sense in his interpretive translation of the name Śarva as "One who can kill the forces of darkness".[22] The names Dhanvin ("Bowman")[24] and Bāṇahasta ("Archer", literally "Armed with arrows in his hands")[24][25] also refer to archery.
In other contexts the word rudra can simply mean "the number eleven".[26]
The word "rudraksha" (Sanskrit: rudrākşa = rudra + 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.[27]
The earliest mentions of Rudra occur in the Rigveda, where three entire hymns are devoted to him.[28][29] There are about seventy-five references to Rudra in the Rigveda overall.[30][31]
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").[32] He is "fierce like a formidable wild beast" (RV 2.33.11).[33] 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.[34]
RV 1.114 is an appeal to Rudra for mercy, where he is referred to as "mighty Rudra, the god with braided hair."[35]
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.[36]
Rudra was believed to cause disease, and when people recovered from them or were free of them, that too was attributed to the agency of Rudra.[37] 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 ) [38] Translation:Him great and lofty, blissful, undecaying let us call specially as the Sage impels us ( RV 6.49.10)[39]
- Rudra by day, Rudra at night we honour with these our songs, the Universe's Father.
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 ( Rig veda 2:33:9 )[40] Translation:The strength of Godhead never departs from Rudra, him who is Sovereign of this world, the mighty.[41]
- With firm limbs, multiform, the strong, the tawny adorns himself with bright gold decorations:
Rudra is used both as a name of Shiva and collectively ("the Rudras") as the name for the Maruts.[42] Gavin Flood characterizes the Maruts as "storm gods", associated with the atmosphere.[43] They are a group of gods, supposed to be either eleven, thirty-three or a hundred and eighty[44] in number. The number of Maruts varies from two to sixty (three times sixty in RV 8.96.8.).[citation needed]
The Rudras are sometimes referred to as "the sons of Rudra".[45] Rudra is referred to as "Father of the Maruts" in RV 2.33.1.[46][47][48]
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.[49]
One scholiast[clarification needed] interpretation of the Sanskrit word vayāḥ, meaning "ramifications" or "branches", is that all other deities are, as it were branches of Vishnu,[50] 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.[51]
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).[52][53]
The 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh describes the incarnation of Lord Shiva in his book the Dasam Granth, the canto is titled Rudra Avatar
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Rudra is a spider genus of the Salticidae family (jumping spiders).
The genus name probably refers to Rudra, a Rigvedic god.
Rudra is an Indian actress acts prominently in Malayalam. She had acted only in few movies. But her lead roles in Manichitrathazhu (1993), Dhruvam (1993) and Kudumba Kodathi (1996) are well noted.
Rudra made her debut with Post Box Number 27, a Malayalam movie in 1991.She had acted in few Tamil, Kannada, Telugu movies as well.
Mind creates a subjective notional world
Limited by knowledge we see what we want to see
The mind can't see beyond its thought constructs
The lack of a valid pramana leads to self-deception
Destroy your world by seeing yourself as the essence of the universe
[Solo vinod]
Like the eye which can't see itself, the I can't see the inner I
Without shabda, you can't know your Self
Without shruti, you can't see your Self
Manobuddhyahankaracittani naham
Na ca vyomabhumir na tejo na vayu
Cidanandarupa shivoham shivoham*
Destroy your world by seeing yourself as the essence of the universe
Like clay in the pot, see yourself as the essence of the universe
[Solo vinod]
Vain reasoning is a bottomless pit
Inflates the non-self with conceit
Shabda alone leads the mind beyond the limit of thoughts
To the self which is beyond logic and reason
Aham nirvikalpo nirakararupa
Vibhutvacca sarvatra sarvendriyanam
Na casangato naiva na muktirna bandha
Cidanandarupa shivoham shivoham*