The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c11.64

v1.c11.64

**Relation of Siva to Rudra :** It may be argued further that Śiva (by which term I mean the divinity of the *liṅga* form of worship, for the term itself means "blessing" or "the blessed" ), is in the Hindu Sāstras identified with the Rudra of the Vedas, and if that be admitted the origin of the *liṅgam* may be indirectly assigned to the oldest source of Aryan Hinduism. This is a most important topic in connexion with the history of Śivaism, and it will, perhaps, not be inopportune to enquire here, how far the identification is sustainable.