Word

Rudra

Sanskrit

रुद्र

IAST

rudra

In General

An aspect of Siva ; Rudra is the angry god which take care of the evolution. When Rudra was born He was crying aloud. Because he was crying (doing rodana), Brahma named him Rudra

Veda uses the name Rudra than Siva. Rudra Namaka and Chamaka suktas from Yajur Veda which describe the nature of Rudra are daily chanting mantras for many devotees. ‘ OM Nanasivaya ’ and the ‘ trayambakam ‘ mantra are from Namaka.

Veda

Rudra begins his work upon earth and give effect to the sacrifice on the five planes of our spiritual development. He is the violent one who leads the upward evolution of the conscious being; his force battles against all evil, smites the sinner and the enemy. He is supreme healer, he heals all wounds and suffering. The force that battles is his gift, but also the final peace and joy.

In BrU Yajnavalkya answers to the question of Saakalya of the nature of Rudra thus: Rudra is the aspect that gives and removes pain. For example, the hurt from a wound causes pain. The healing of the wound removes the pain. Both the hurting and healing aspects are rudras.We relate to the external world and experience the cause and removal of pain through 11 aspects of effulgence present in us . These are the five senses of perception (eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin), five senses of action (hands, legs, speech, procreation and excretion) and the mind. These are the 11 Rudras.

Purana

Rudra was born from Brahma, the creator. Brahma asked fearsome figure to divide and create the progeny. It divided into two, a male and a female. The male part again divided into eleven parts. These eleven figures are the eleven Rudras. The eleven Rudras are Aja, Ekapada, Ahirbudhnya, Tvasta, Rudra, Hara, Sambhu, Tryambaka, Aparajita, Isana and Tribhuvana. From the woman portion eleven Rudranis came into being. They were Dhi, Vrtti, Ushana, Urna, Niyuta, Sarpis, Ila, Ambika, Iravatl, Sudha and Diksa. The eleven Rudranis became the wives of the eleven Rudras. (The names differ in different Puranas).