Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Minor Religious Systems v2.c13.151

v2.c13.151

§ 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 Īśāna, 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 (Īśāna). 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.