Vedic Mythology c5.s2.t4.12

c5.s2.t4.12

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.