The etymology of Vedic Rudra
Etymology
Etymologically, Shiva is a derivative of Vedic Rudra. Rig Veda has three hymns and a complete chapter (16th) in Yajurveda called Rudraardhyaaya dedicated to Rudra and his beautiful form. Rudra became known as Shambu, Shankara and Shiva in post-Vedic times.
The Vedic Rudra has nothing to do with the post-Vedic depictions of Shiva.
Relevance of Vedas
Vedas are coded books, and Vedic seers were intuitive scientists extraordinaire. Many authors have attempted commentaries on Vedas. The earliest commentators like Yaaska, Chaarvaakas and Kautsa had all gotten it wrong and had misunderstood and misinterpreted. To them, the Vedas were quite meaningless or even compositions of mentally ill people. The commentary of saayana was very popular though it contained many mistakes and contradictions and formed the basis of commentaries by the so-called western scholars like Roth and Max Muller.
More factually correct commentaries have come from recent commentators like Shri Dayanand, Shri Aurobindo and Saatavalekara. Whereas Dayananda considered the content of Vedas as an all field knowledge, Aurobindo gave a psychological treatment. Saatavalekara’s commentary was, to a certain extent, similar to the intuitional understanding of Dayananda.
It is an irony that despite the legitimate interpretation of Vedas by Shri Dayananda and his follower sect, most Indians in general and Hindus, in particular, have remained unaware of the treasured content and their meaning.
Knowledge extraordinaire
There is a store of extraordinary knowledge in the Vedas, and the Rigveda is a revelation of the science of early cosmology & cosmogony, essentially Vedic Physics. Modern Physics is in the process of rediscovering the Vedic Physical events and processes. In fact, it is paving the way for a proper and legitimate understanding of the Vedas.
Vedic Rudra
Three hymns in Rigveda describe Rudra in a metaphoric sense. These hymns are:
इमा रुद्राय तवसे कपर्दिने क्षयद्वीराय प्र भरामहे मतीः । यथा शमसद्द्विपदे चतुष्पदे विश्वं पुष्टं ग्रामे अस्मिन्ननातुरम् ॥
Rigveda (1/114)
imā rudrāya tavase kapardine kṣayadvīrāya pra bharāmahe matīḥ | yathā śam asad dvipade catuṣpade viśvam puṣṭaṃ grāme asminn anāturam ||
Rigveda (1/114)
स्तु॒हि श्रु॒तं ग॑र्त॒सदं॒ युवा॑नं मृ॒गं न भी॒ममु॑पह॒त्नुमु॒ग्रम् । मृ॒ळा ज॑रि॒त्रे रु॑द्र॒ स्तवा॑नो॒ऽन्यं ते॑ अ॒स्मन्नि व॑पन्तु॒ सेना॑: ॥
स्तुहि श्रुतं गर्तसदं युवानं मृगं न भीममुपहत्नुमुग्रम् । मृळा जरित्रे रुद्र स्तवानोऽन्यं ते अस्मन्नि वपन्तु सेनाः ॥
Rigveda (2/33/11)
stuhi śrutaṃ gartasadaṃ yuvānam mṛgaṃ na bhīmam upahatnum ugram | mṛḻā jaritre rudra stavāno ‘nyaṃ te asman ni vapantu senāḥ ||
Rigveda (2/33/11)
इ॒मा रु॒द्राय॑ स्थि॒रध॑न्वने॒ गिर॑: क्षि॒प्रेष॑वे दे॒वाय॑ स्व॒धाव्ने॑ । अषा॑ळ्हाय॒ सह॑मानाय वे॒धसे॑ ति॒ग्मायु॑धाय भरता शृ॒णोतु॑ नः ॥
इमा रुद्राय स्थिरधन्वने गिरः क्षिप्रेषवे देवाय स्वधाव्ने । अषाळ्हाय सहमानाय वेधसे तिग्मायुधाय भरता शृणोतु नः ॥
Rigveda (7/46/1)
imā rudrāya sthiradhanvane giraḥ kṣipreṣave devāya svadhāvne | aṣāḻhāya sahamānāya vedhase tigmāyudhāya bharatā śṛṇotu naḥ ||
Rigveda (7/46/1)
Rudra, in these Rigvedic hymns, is conceived as a cosmic deity. He is perceived as very bright and lustrous, like gold with a fierce nature. Sūryakānta has derived Rudra from the root ‘rudh’ to mean red or active. Based on this, Rudra will have a red or active form. This finds support in the Śatarudrīya of Vᾱjasaneyī Samhita, where the complexion of Rudra is stated to be reddish-brown.
In the context of the above and Rig Veda being a book of Vedic cosmogony, Rudra has to be radiation. This radiation gets produced at the beginning of the formation of the Universe by the mutual annihilation of matter and antimatter. Radiation is fierce and penetrating, hence, symbolised as cry inducing. The radiation fills the heaven (subtle matter) and the earth (gross matter) – the bipeds – in all four directions – the quadrupeds. It also dissipates the darkness that obstructs all things paving the way to manifest all aspects of the Universe.
Instead of their inherent codified covert meaning, interpreting these Vedic hymns in their literal sense (apparent meaning) would be misleading and a meaningless jumbling of words.
