Rudra is called the Roaring God. Rudra means the personification of ‘terror’ or ‘the roarer’. Rudra is a Rigvedic deity associate with the hunt, the wind or storm. The deity is praised in the Rigveda as the ‘mightiest of the mighty’. Rudra is explained as ‘the most frightening one’, ‘tempest’, ‘hurricane’, ‘the most severe roarer, howler or roarer’. Rudrani is his consort and the Trishula and bow and arrow are his weapons.
Rudra has significance in the Saivism sect. The hymn – Shri Rudram from the Yajurveda is dedicated to Rudra. Rudra shares a number of features with the Hindu God, Shiva. In fact the synonym for Lord Shiva is Rudra and both names are used interchangeably.
The word Rudra is related to the English word ‘rude’ which originally meant ‘to howl or to cry’. A verse in the Rigveda implies that Rudra is the one who removes evil and ushers peace. Rudra is described as the ‘archer’ in Sanskrit. Rudra’s essential attribute is the arrow. The name Rudra is reflected in the Shiva Sahasranama. Rudra also means ‘the number eleven’ in a number of other texts.
Rudraksa means ‘the eye of Rudra’ and is used as name for the berry of the Rudraksha tree. Three hymns in the Rigveda are devoted to Rudra. Around 75 references have been made to Rudra, overall.
Rudra is believed to possess healing remedies and can cure and free people from diseases. Vaidyanatha (Lord of Remedies) is the alternative name of Rudra as he owned medicines in thousands. Rudra’s name is used as Rudras – as a name for the Maruts (Storm Gods) and also as name of Shiva.
