Elements of Hindu Iconography v2.c16.8

v2.c16.8

In the Puranas. The account of the birth of Rudra as found in the *Viṣṇu-purāṇa* which is almost identical with that given in the *Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa* runs thus: At the beginning of the *kalpa* (æon) Brahmā was meditating upon begetting a son similar to himself. At once a boy of blue and red colour was seen sitting on his lap and weeping loudly. Brahmā asked him why he was weeping. The boy answered ‘Give me a name’. Brahmā conferred upon him the name Rudra. But the boy wept again and again for seven times more and obtained seven more names, Bhava, Śarva, Īśāna, Paśupati, Bhīma, Ugra and Mahādēva.