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Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Minor Religious Systems v1.c7.s2: II. The Development of the Idea of Rudra-Śiva

Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism and Minor Religious Systems v1.c7.s2

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II. The Development of the Idea of Rudra-Śiva

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in the village free from illness (RV. I, 114, 1). Rudra was thus believed to cause diseases, and when men recovered from them or were altogether free from them, that also was attributed to the agency of Rudra; and he is consequently spoken of as possessing healing remedies (RV. I, 43, 4) and as the best physician of physicians (RV. II, 33, 4) and as possessed of a thousand medicines (RV. VII, 46, 3). The singers also pray for the acquisition of those pure and salutary remedies belonging to the Maruts and Rudra, which father Manu desired (RV. II, 33, 13). The general character of the prayers addressed to Rudra is well brought out in the following: "Oh Rudra, do not, out of thy anger, injure our children and descendants, our people, our cattle, our houses, and do not kill our men. We invoke thee always with offerings" (RV. I, 114, 8). By his power he perceives all earthly beings and by his universal sovereignty he perceives divine beings (RV. VII, 46, 2). Here even in the Ṛgveda, Rudra is raised to supreme power.

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§ 79. The character of Rudra appears in a much more developed form in the Śatarudriya (TS. IV, 5, 1; VS. chapter 16). His benignant form (śivā tanuḥ) is distinguished from its opposite, the malignant. He is called Giriśa and Giritra, "lying on a mountain", probably because the thunderbolt that he hurls, springs from a cloud, which is often compared to a mountain and in which he was believed to dwell. The cowherds and the female bearers of water see him as he creeps along with his blue neck and red complexion, that is, these simple folk working in the open field see a black cloud tinged red by the soft glow of the lightning. Representing, as Rudra does, the darker powers of nature, he may be expected to dwell away from the habitations of men, and therefore he is called the lord of the paths, of the forests and of those who roam in them, of thieves and highway robbers who frequent and move about in lonely places to prevent being detected, and also of outcasts who live away from the usual dwellings of men.

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In his character as a healer he appears here as the lord of medicinal herbs and is called a heavenly physician. Being the lord of the open fields or plains, he is the lord of cattle (paśūnāṁ patiḥ) which roam in them. The name Paśupati became in later times a special appellation of this God. In this manner the range of Rudra became so wide that he came to be called the "lord of the quarters". He is called Kapardin, or the wearer of matted hair, which epithet is probably due to his being regarded as identical with Agni, or fire, the fumes of which look like matted hair. The names Śarva (arrow-wielder), and Bhava also, occur, and when his wrathful nature is thoroughly appeased, he becomes Śambhu or benignant, Śaṁkara or beneficent, and Śiva or auspicious, which names occur at the end of the Śatarudriya. He is also represented as wearing a hide (kṛttiṁ vasānaḥ). How the epithet arose it is difficult to say. But, being represented as roaming in forests and other lonely places, the idea of investing him with the skinclothing of the savage tribes may have suggested itself to a poet. The Niṣādas, a forest tribe, are compared to Rudras, which fact lends support to this view.

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The name Rudra has been generalised and many Rudras are spoken of, and a wish is expressed that they may be far away from the singer. Here the signification of the common name appears to be an evil spirit. In another place also the name is generalised, but the signification is much better. The Rudras are called Gaṇas or tribes, and Gaṇapatis or leaders of tribes, workmen, potters, cart-makers, carpenters, and Niṣādas or men of the forest-tribes. Thus these followers of handicraft and also the forest-tribe of Niṣādas are brought into close connection with Rudra; probably they were his worshippers, or their own peculiar gods were identified with the Āryan Rudra. This last supposition appears very probable, since the groups of beings, whose Pati, or lord, he is represented to have been, dwelt in or frequented open fields, forests and waste lands, remote from the habitations of civilised men.

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§ 80. In AV. the conception of Rudra is further developed, and he is elevated to a higher platform. Several other names, by which he was known in later times, are also given, but the bearers of these are spoken of and addressed as separate gods. Bhava and Śarva are treated as two distinct deities and spoken of as ruling (īśāthe) over two-footed and four-footed beings (IV, 28, 1). They are styled the swiftest of all archers, and to them belongs what is near as well as remote. They are called thousand-eyed. Their range is far and wide (3). Their stroke can not be avoided by any man or god (5). They are invoked to launch their thunderbolt against the Yātudhāna, or evil spirit (6). They are implored to deliver the singers from calamity (7). Śarva is called the archer, and Bhava the king (rājan), and obeisance is made to them, and they are desired to remove their deadly poisons to other places (VI, 93, 2). Obeisance is made to Rudra who is in Agni, who is in the waters, who has entered into the herbs and plants, and who has formed all these beings (VII, 87, 1). This verse occurs in AU. (VI) and also in ŚU. (II, 17), where, however, it appears in a somewhat altered form, the word Deva being used instead of Rudra. In describing a particular ox Mahādeva is spoken of as his two arms (IX, 7, 7). Bhava and Śarva are invoked to launch the lightning against the doer of wickedness (X, 1, 23). They are called Bhūtapati (the lord of spirits) and Paśupati (the lord of beasts) (XI, 2, 1). They are reverenced as being in their domains in the sky and in the middle regions (XI, 2, 4). Five distinct species of animals, kine, horses, men, goats, and sheep, are marked off as belonging to Paśupati (XI, 2, 9). To Ugra, the fierce, belong the four intermediate quarters, the sky, the earth, and the wide atmosphere, and that which has spirit and breathes on the earth (XI, 2, 10). Bhava sees everything on earth. Nothing is far or near to him. He destroys things in the farther ocean, being himself in the preceding ocean (XI, 2, 25). Rudra is implored not to bring on consumption, poison, and celestial fire (XI, 2, 26). Bhava is the lord (īśa) of the heavens, the earth, and fills the whole atmosphere (XI, 2, 27). Bhava is addressed as king (rājan) (XI, 2, 28). A wish is expressed that the arrows of Bhava, Śarva, and Rudra, who is Paśupati (the lord of beasts), may be always propitious (sadāśiva) (XI, 6, 9). Savitṛ is called Aryaman, Varuṇa, Rudra, and Mahādeva (XIII, 4, 4). All the stars and the moon are under Rudra's control (XIII, 4, 28). The gods made Bhava the archer, the protector of the Vrātyas, or outcasts, in the intermediate space of the eastern region, Śarva of the southern region, Paśupati of the western region, Ugra of the northern region, Rudra of the lower region, Mahādeva of the upper region, and Iśāna of all the intermediate regions (XV, 5, 1—7).

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§ 81. In ŚB. (VI, 1, 3, 7) and KB. (6, 1, 9), Rudra is mentioned as the son of Uṣas; and, after he was born, Prajāpati gave him, as he grew up, eight names, seven of which are the same as those given above from the AV. and the eighth is Aśani, or the thunderbolt. It would be seen that the AV. regards the seven as different though allied gods, though once Rudra is identified with Paśupati. As in the case of the sun-god the several ways of looking at him gave rise to the conception of several sun-deities such as Savitṛ, Sūrya, Mitra, Pūṣan, etc., so the same terrible and destructive agency in nature, with its benignant and gracious counterpart, looked at from different points of view, gave rise to the belief in the seven different gods mentioned in the AV. They are all regarded as the names of one god in the ŚB. and KB., and an eighth name is introduced. Of these eight names, four, Rudra, Śarva, Ugra and Aśani, are indicative of the destructive energy, and the other four, viz. Bhava, Paśupati, Mahādeva or Mahān devaḥ, and Iśāna, of its benignant counterpart. It will have been observed that the AV. brings in a new element, that of poisons which the terrific god was believed to send forth and of his shafts being unfailing and unavoidable by gods and men. On the other, or the benignant side, Bhava is represented to be a shining king (rājan). Rudra is the lord of all creatures. His range is far and wide. He controls the stars and the moon. He reigns in the sky and the middle regions. He is in fire and water, in plants and herbs, and in all beings; and he is the protector of Vrātyas in all quarters; and he is pre-eminently the ruler (Iśāna). Thus the terrible and the destructive God became, when he was propitiated by men in a variety of ways, a benignant God and attained to the whole majesty of the godhead by the time of the YV. and AV., and it is on this majestic form of the god that the theosophic speculations of ŚU., which we will notice further on, are based.

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§ 82. But the darker side of the nature of this god was never forgotten. A sacrifice called Śūlagava is mentioned in most of the Gṛhyasūtras. A bull is sacrificed to Rudra to appease him (AG. IV, 9). The rite should be performed beyond the limits of a village, and its remains should not be brought into it, which rule sufficiently indicates the inauspicious character of the rite. The Vapā, or omentum, should be sacrificed to Rudra by uttering twelve names, seven of which are the same as the first three in the first group given above and the four in the second group. Aśani is omitted, and we have the following five additional names, Hara, Mṛḍa, Śiva, Bhīma, and Śaṃkara. Or the Vapā may be thrown into the fire by uttering six specific names only or the single name Rudra. This Śūlagava sacrifice should be performed in a cow-shed when a cattle disease has to be averted. In

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PG. (III, 8) the names uttered in throwing the oblations are the same eight as those in the two groups above with the addition of Agni. There are also oblations to the wives, Indrāṇī, Rudrāṇī, Śarvāṇī, and Bhavānī. HG. (II, 3, 8) has the same deities as the eight above-mentioned, Bhīma being substituted for Aśani; and oblations are given to the wife of each by repeating the formula "bhavasya devasya patnyai svāhā" (to the wife of God Bhava) etc. and not by uttering their proper names.

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Directions are given in PG. (III, 15) to render obeisance to Rudra and pray for safe conduct when traversing a path, coming to a place where four roads meet, crossing a river, getting into a ferry-boat, entering a forest, ascending a mountain, passing by a cemetery or by a cow-shed and such other places. Similarly HG. (I, 5, 16) directs that a traveller should adore Rudra by repeating the specific formula given by him, when he comes to the crossing of four roads or to a heap of cattle-dung, when serpents creep, and when he is overtaken by tornado or is entering a river or comes to a variegated scene, sacrificial site or an old large tree.

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It will thus be seen that, in the time of the Gṛhyasūtras, Rudra was still a terrible god, who had to be appeased. He was the god that held sway over regions away from home, over fields, wildernesses, cemeteries, mountains, old trees and rivers. Whenever a man came to anything which inspired awe and terror, Rudra was the god thought of and prayed to to protect. Herein lies the reason which rendered him in later times the omnipresent supreme lord of the universe to the exclusion of all other Vedic gods except Viṣṇu. Many are the occasions in the life of man, which excite fear; there are epidemics and other diseases, poisons, serpents, storms, thunderbolts and wild and awful scenes, and consequently the god who brings on these occasions and protects when appeased will be thought of oftener than other gods. The lovableness of the works of God, his greatness and majesty and his mysterious nature are also matters which strike the mind of man; and these appear to have operated in bringing Viṣṇu into prominence. What contributed to the formation of Vaiṣṇavism were the appearances and occurrences which excited love, admiration and a spirit of worship; while in Rudra-Śaivism the sentiment of fear is at the bottom, howsoever concealed it may have become in certain developments of it, and this sentiment it is that has worked itself out in the formation of various Rudra-Śaiva systems of later times. In the monotheistic religions of other countries the same god is feared and loved; in India the god that is loved is Viṣṇu-Nārāyaṇa-Vāsudeva-Kṛṣṇa, while the god that is feared is Rudra-Śiva.

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§ 83. Before we proceed to the consideration of the Rudra-Śiva sects, we must devote some time to the consideration of a religio-philosophic treatise which represents the farthest point in the development of the idea of Rudra-Śiva as a god worshipped by the Indian Āryas generally. This is the Śvetāśvatara-Upaniṣad. It does not appear

Cites (11)