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Vedic Mythology c5.s2.t4: § 27. Aja ekapād

Vedic Mythology c5.s2.t4

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§ 27. Aja ekapād

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— This being is closely connected with Ahi budhnya, his name occurring five times in juxtaposition with that of the latter and only once unaccompanied by it (10, 65¹³). The deities invoked in the latter passage, 'the thundering Pāvīravī ('daughter of lightning': PW.), Ekapād aja, the supporter of the sky, the stream, the oceanic waters, all the gods, Sarasvatī', are, however, almost identical with those enumerated in the following hymn: 'the ocean, the stream, the aerial space, Aja ekapād, the thundering flood, Ahi budhnya, and all the gods' (10, 66¹¹). These two passages suggest that Aja ekapād is an aerial deity. He is, however, enumerated in the Naighaṇṭuka (5, 6) among the deities of the celestial region. In the AV. Aja ekapāda is said to have made firm the two worlds (AV. 13, 1⁶). The TB. (3, 1, 2⁸) speaks of Aja ekapād as having risen in the east. The commentator on his passage defines Aja ekapād as a kind of Agni, and Durga on Nirukta 12, 29 interprets him as the sun. Yāska himself does not express an opinion as to what Aja ekapād represents, merely explaining *Aja* as *ajana*, driving, and *ekapad* as 'he who has one foot' or 'he who protects or drinks with one foot'. Though hardly any longer an independent deity, Aja ekapād as well as Ahi budhnya receives a libation in the domestic ritual (Pārask. 2, 15²). In the Epic Ajaikapād is both the name of one of the eleven Rudras and an epithet of Śiva.

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ROTH¹, with whom GRASSMANN agrees², regards Aja ekapād as a genius of the storm, translating the name as the 'one-footed Driver or Stormer'. Bloomfield³ and Victor Henry⁴ think he represents a solar deity. Hardy⁵ believes that 'the goat who goes alone' is the moon. Bergaigne⁶, interpreting the name as 'the unborn (*a-ja*) who has only one foot', thinks this means he who inhabits the one isolated mysterious world. If another conjecture may be added, the name, meaning 'the one-footed goat'⁷, was originally a figurative designation of lightning, the 'goat' alluding to its agile swiftness in the cloud-mountains, and the one foot to the single streak which strikes the earth.

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§ 28. Rudra. — This god occupies a subordinate position in the RV., being celebrated in only three entire hymns, in part of another, and in one conjointly with Soma, while his name occurs about 75 times.

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His physical features in the RV. are the following. He has a hand (2, 33⁷ &c.), arms (2, 33³; VS. 16, 1), and firm limbs (2, 33¹¹). He has beautiful lips (2, 33⁵) and (like Pūṣan) wears braided hair (1, 114¹· ⁵). His colour is brown (*babhru*: 2, 33⁵ &c.). His shape is dazzling (1, 114⁵), and he is multiform (2, 33⁹). He shines like the brilliant sun, like gold (1, 43⁵). He is arrayed with golden ornaments (2, 33⁹) and wears a glorious multiform necklace¹ (*niṣka*: 2, 33¹⁰). He sits on a car-seat (2, 33⁴). The later Saṁhitās (especially VS. 16) add a number of other traits. He is thousand-eyed (AV. 11, 2²· ⁷, VS. 16, 7). He has a belly, a mouth, a tongue, and teeth (AV. 11, 2⁶). His belly is black and his back red (AV. 15, 1⁷· ⁸). He is blue-necked (VS. 16, 7) and blue-tufted (AV. 2, 27⁶). He is copper-coloured and red (VS. 16, 7). He is clothed in a skin (VS. 3, 61; 16, 51) and dwells in mountains (VS. 16, 2—4).

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The RV. often mentions Rudra's weapons of offence. He is once said to hold the thunderbolt in his arm (2, 33³). His lightning shaft (*didyut*) discharged from the sky traverses the earth (7, 46³). He is usually said to be armed with a bow and arrows (2, 33¹⁰· ¹¹; 5, 42¹¹; 10, 125⁶), which are strong and swift (7, 46¹). He is invoked with Kṛśānu (§ 48) and the archers (10, 64⁸); and seems to be intended when Indra is compared with the archer on the car-seat (6, 20⁹, cp. 2, 33¹¹). In the AV. he is also called an archer (1, 28¹; 6, 93¹; 15, 5¹⁻⁷). In that and other later Vedic texts his bow, arrow, weapon, bolt, or club are frequently referred to (AV. 1, 28⁵ &c.; ŚB. 9, 1, 1⁶).

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One of the points most frequently mentioned about Rudra is his relationship to the Maruts. He is their father (1, 114⁶· ⁹; 2, 33¹); or they are more frequently spoken of as his sons and are also several times called Rudras or Rudriyas². He is said to have generated them from the shining udder of Pṛśni (2, 34²)³. But Rudra is never associated, as Indra is, with the warlike exploits of the Maruts, for he does not engage in conflict with the demons. *Tryambaka*, a common epithet of Śiva in post-Vedic literature, is already applied to Rudra in Vedic texts (VS. 3, 58; ŚB. 2, 6, 2⁹) and seems to refer to him once even in the RV. (7, 59¹²). The meaning appears to be 'he who has three mothers' (cp. 3, 56⁵) in allusion to the threefold division of the universe (cp. GRV. 1, 555). Ambikā, a post-Vedic name of Śiva's wife, is mentioned for the first time in VS. 3, 5, appearing here, however, not as Rudra's wife, but as his sister. Umā and Pārvatī, regular names of Śiva's wife, seem first to occur in the TA. and the Kena Upaniṣad.

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In a passage of the RV. (2, 1⁶) Rudra is one of several deities identified with Agni. He is also identified with Agni in the AV. (7, 87¹), in the TS. (5, 4, 3¹; 5, 5, 7⁴), and the ŚB. (6, 1, 3¹⁰, cp. 9, 1, 1¹). The word *rudra* often occurs as an adjective, in several cases as an attribute of Agni⁴ (though rather oftener as an attribute of the Aśvins (§ 21). Śarva and Bhava are, among several others, two new names assigned to Rudra in VS. (16, 18. 28). These two also occur in the AV. where their destructive arrows and lightnings are referred to (2, 27⁶; 6, 93¹; 10, 1²³; 11, 2¹· ¹²); but they seem here to have been regarded as deities distinct from one another and from Rudra. Bhava and Śarva are in a Sūtra passage spoken of as sons of Rudra and are compared with wolves eager for prey (ŚSS. 4, 20¹). In VS. 39, 8 Agni, Aśani, Paśupati, Bhava, Śarva, Īśāna, Mahādeva, Ugradeva, and others are enumerated as gods or forms of one god. Rudra, Śarva, Paśupati, Ugra, Aśani, Bhava, Mahān devaḥ are names given to represent eight different forms of Agni (ŚB. 6, 1, 3⁷; cp. Śāṅkh. Br. 6, 1 &c.), and Śarva, Bhava, Paśupati, and Rudra are said to be all names of Agni (ŚB., 1, 7, 3⁸). Aśani, one of the above names assigned to Agni Kumāra in the ŚB. (6, 1, 3¹⁰), is there explained to mean lightning (*vidyut*) but in the Śāṅkh. Br. it is interpreted as Indra. The epithet *paśupati*, ‘lord of beasts’, which Rudra often receives in the VS., AV., and later, is doubtless assigned to him because unhoused cattle are peculiarly exposed to his attacks and are therefore especially consigned to his care.

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Rudra is described in the RV. as fierce (2, 33⁹· ¹¹; 10, 126⁵) and destructive like a terrible beast (2, 33¹¹). He is the ruddy⁵ (*aruṣa*) boar of heaven (1, 114⁵). He is a bull (2, 33⁷· ⁸· ¹⁵). He is exalted (7, 10⁴), strong (1, 43¹· 114¹), strongest of the strong (2, 33³), unassailable (7, 46¹), unsurpassed in might (2, 33¹⁰), rapid (10, 92⁵), and swift (1, 114⁴). He is young (2, 33¹; 5, 60⁵) and unaging (6, 49¹⁰). He is called *asura* (5, 42 ¹¹) or the great *asura* of heaven⁶ (2, 1⁶). He is self-glorious (1, 129³; 10, 92⁹), rules heroes (1, 114¹· ² &c.), and is a lord (*īśāna*) of this vast world (2, 33⁹) and father of the world (6, 49¹⁰). He is an ordainer (6, 46¹), and by his rule and universal dominion he is aware of the doings of men and gods (7, 46²). He makes the streams flow over the earth and, roaring, moistens everything (10, 92⁵). He is intelligent (1, 43¹), wise (1, 114⁴), and beneficent (2, 33⁷; 6, 49¹⁰). He is several times called ‘bountiful’, *mīḷhvas* (1, 114³), and in the later Vedas the comparative and superlative of this word have only been found in connexion with Rudra⁷. He is easily invoked (2, 33⁶) and is auspicious, *śiva* (10, 92⁹), an epithet which is not even in the AV. as yet peculiar to any particular deity.

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Malevolence is frequently attributed to Rudra in the RV.; for the hymns addressed to him chiefly express fear of his terrible shafts and deprecation of his wrath. He is implored not to slay or injure, in his anger, his worshippers, their parents, children, men, cattle, or horses (1, 114⁷· ⁸), but to spare their horses (2, 33¹), to avert his great malevolence and his bolt from his worshippers, and to prostrate others with them (2, 33¹¹· ¹⁴). He is besought to avert his bolt when he is incensed and not to injure his adorers, their children, and their cows (6, 28⁷. 46²⁻⁴), and to keep from them his cow-slaying, man-slaying missile (2, 33¹). His ill-will and anger are deprecated (2, 33⁴⁻⁶· ¹⁵), and he is besought to be merciful to the walking food (10, 169¹). His worshippers pray that they may be unharmed and obtain his favour (2, 33¹· ⁶). He once even receives the epithet ‘man-slaying’ (4, 3⁶), and in a Sūtra passage it is said that this god seeks to slay men (AG. 4, 8³²). Rudra’s malevolence is still more prominent in the later Vedic texts. His wrath is frequently deprecated (VS. 3, 61 &c.; AV. 1, 28⁵ &c.). He is invoked not to assail his worshippers with celestial fire and to cause the lightning to descend elsewhere (AV. 11, 2²⁵; 10, 1²³). He is even said to assail with fever, cough, and poison⁸ (AV. 11, 2 22. 26; 6, 90 cp. 93). Rudra's widemouthed, howling dogs, who swallow their prey unchewed, are also spoken of (AV. 10, 1³⁰, cp. VS. 16, 28). Even the gods were afraid of the strung bow and the arrows of Rudra, lest he should destroy them (ŚB. 9, 1, 1 1. 6). Under the name of Mahādeva he is said to slay cattle (TMB. 6, 9⁷). In another Brāhmaṇa passage he is said to have been formed of a compound of all the most terrible substances (AB. 3, 33¹). It is probably owing to his formidable characteristics that in the Brāhmaṇas and Sūtras Rudra is regarded as isolated from the other gods. When the gods attained heaven, Rudra remained behind (ŚB. 1, 7, 3¹). In the Vedic ritual after offerings to other gods, a remainder is not uncommonly assigned to Rudra (Gobh. GS. 1, 8²⁸; Āp. Dh. S. 2, 4²³). His hosts, which attack man and beast with disease and death, receive the bloody entrails of the victim (ŚŚS. 4, 19⁸), just as blood is poured out to demons as their peculiar share of the sacrifice⁹ (AB. 2, 7¹). The abode of Rudra in these later texts is commonly regarded as in the north¹⁰, while that of the other gods is in the east. It is perhaps due to his formidable nature that in the RV. Rudra only appears once associated with another deity (Soma: § 44) as a dual divinity in one short hymn of four stanzas.

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In the VS., besides many other epithets too numerous to repeat, several disgraceful attributes of Rudra are mentioned. Thus he is called a 'robber, cheat, deceiver, lord of pilferers and robbers' (16, 20—1). In fact, his character as shown by the various epithets occurring here, approximates to the fierce, terrific, impure, and repulsive nature of the post-Vedic Śiva.

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Rudra is, however, not purely maleficent like a demon. He is also supplicated in the RV. to avert the anger or the evil that comes from the gods (1, 114⁴; 2, 33⁷). He is besought not only to preserve from calamity (5, 51¹³), but to bestow blessings (1, 114 1. 2; 2, 33⁶), and produce welfare for man and beast (1, 43⁶). His healing powers are mentioned with especial frequency. He grants remedies (2, 33¹²), he commands every remedy (5, 42¹¹), and has a thousand remedies (7, 46³). He carries in his hand choice remedies (1, 114⁵), and his hand is restorative and healing (2, 33⁷). He raises up heroes by his remedies, for he is the greatest physician of physicians (2, 33⁴), and by his auspicious remedies his worshipper hopes to live a hundred winters (2, 33²). He is besought to remove sickness from his worshippers' offspring (7, 46²) and to be favourable to man and beast, that all in the village may be well-fed and free from disease (1, 114¹). In this connexion Rudra has two epithets which are peculiar to him, *jalāṣa*, (perhaps) 'healing' and *jalāṣa-bheṣaja*, 'possessing healing remedies (1, 43⁴; AV. 2, 27⁶). These medicines against sickness are probably rains¹¹ (cp. 5, 53¹⁴; 10, 59⁹). That this attribute was essential to his nature, appears from a verse of a hymn in which various deities are characterized without being named (8, 29⁵): 'One bright, fierce, possessing healing remedies, holds a sharp weapon in his hand'. Rudra's lightning and his remedies are also mentioned together in another verse (7, 46³). The healing Rudra with the Rudras is invoked to be favourable (7. 35⁶). The Maruts are also in another verse associated with Rudra as possessing pure and beneficent remedies (2, 33¹³). The healing power of Rudra is sometimes referred to in the other Saṃhitās (VS. 3, 59; 16, 5. 49; AV. 2, 27⁶); but much less frequently than his destructive activity. In the Sūtras, sacrifices to him are prescribed for removing or preventing disease in cattle (AG. 4, 8⁴⁰; Kauś. S. 51, 7 &c.).

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The evidence of the RV. does not distinctly show with what physical basis Rudra is connected. He is generally regarded as a storm-god. But his missile is maleficent, unlike that of Indra, which is directed only against the enemies of his worshippers. Rudra appears therefore to have originally represented not the storm pure and simple, but rather its baleful side in the destructive agency of lightning¹². This would account for his deadly shafts and for his being the father or chief of the Maruts or Storm-gods, who are armed with lightning and who are said to have been born ‘from the laughter of lightning’ (1, 23¹²). His beneficent and healing powers would be based partly on the fertilizing and purifying action of the thunderstorm and partly on the indirect action of sparing those whom he might slay. Thus the deprecations of his wrath gave rise to the euphemistic epithet ‘auspicious’ (*śiva*), which became the regular name of Rudra’s historical successor in post-Vedic mythology. This explanation would also account for Rudra’s close connexion with Agni in the RV.

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¹² MACDONELL, JRAS. 27, 957; HOPKINS, PAOS. Dec. 1894, p. CLI; HRI. 112; cp. KRV. 38, note 133.

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WEBER¹³ expresses the view that this deity in the earliest period specially designated the howling of the Storm (the plural therefore meaning the Maruts), but that as the roaring of fire is analogous, Storm and Fire combined to form a god of rage and destruction, the epithets of the Śatarudrīya being derived partly from Rudra = Storm and partly from Agni = Fire. H. H. WILSON thought that Rudra was ‘evidently a form of either Agni or Indra’¹⁴. L. v. SCHROEDER¹⁵ regards Rudra as originally the chief of the souls of the dead conceived as storming along in the wind (cp. p. 81). OLDENBERG is of opinion that Rudra probably represented in his origin a god of mountain and forest, whence the shafts of disease attack mankind¹⁶.

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¹³ IS. 2, 19—22.

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¹⁴ Translation of the RV., introductions to vol. 1, 26—7. 37—8; cp. vol. 2, 9—10.

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¹⁵ WZKM. 9, 248.

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¹⁶ ORV. 216—24 (cp. HOPKINS, PAOS. 1. c.).

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The etymology of the word *rudra* is somewhat uncertain as regards the meaning. It is generally derived from the root *rud*, to cry, and interpreted as the Howler¹⁷. This is the Indian derivation¹⁸. By GRASSMANN¹⁹ it is connected with a root *rud* having the conjectural meaning of ‘to shine’ or, according to PISCHEL, ‘to be ruddy’²⁰. Rudra would thus mean the ‘bright’ or the ‘red one’²¹.

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¹ Cp. PISCHEL, ZDMG. 40, 120—1.

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² 1, 64^{2. 12}. 85^; 5, 42^; 6, 50^. 66^; 8, 20^ (cp. 5, 59^; 7, 56^. 58^).

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³ Vāyu is once said to have generated the Maruts from the sky (1, 134^) and Vāta is approximated to Rudra in 10, 169^.

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⁴ 1, 27^ (cp. Nir. 10, 8; Erl. 136); 3, 25; 4, 3^; 5, 33; 8, 61^.

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⁵ Cp. BLOOMFIELD, AJP. 12, 429; PVS. 1, 57; ORV. 359, note 4.

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⁶ Cp. BDA. 46. 54; GELDNER, FaW. 20.

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⁷ BLOOMFIELD, AJP. 12, 428—9.

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⁸ Cp. BLOOMFIELD’S explanation (AJP. 7, 469—72) of AV. 1, 12 as a prayer to lightning conceived as the cause of fever, headache, and coughs (otherwise WEBER, IS. 4, 405).

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⁹ HRI. 250, note 2; cp. ORV. 488. 302—3. 334—5. 458.

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¹⁰ Cp. ORV. 335, note 3.

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¹¹ The remedy is explained by BRV. 3, 32 as Soma, the draught of immortality, and by BLOOMFIELD (AJP. 12, 425—9) followed by HVBP. 83—4, and HOPKINS, PAOS. Dec. 1894, CL ff., as rain (*jalāṣa* = the *mūtra* of Rudra).

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¹⁷ KUHN, Herabkunft 177; KZ. 2, 278; 3, 335; WEBER, IS. 2, 19—22; MM., OGR. 216; otherwise V. BRADKE, ZDMG. 40, 359—61.

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¹⁸ TS. 1, 5, 1^; ŚB. 6, 1, 3^; YN. 10, 5; Sāyaṇa on RV. 1, 114^.

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¹⁹ GW.

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²⁰ PVS. 1, 57; ZDMG. 40, 120.

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²¹ Cp. BRI. 14; HVBP. 83. ROTH, ZDMG. 2, 222; WHITNEY, JAOS. 3, 318—9; Oriental and Linguistic Studies 1873, p. 34—5; OST. 4, 299—363. 420—3; LRV. 3, 320—2; BRV. 3, 31—8. 152—4; V. SCHROEDER, WZKM. 9, 233—8. 248—52; HRI. 99. 578.

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