ઋગ્વેદ મુજબ ભગવાન રુદ્ર(સંસ્કૃત रुद्र) તીવ્ર પવન અને સંહારક દેવ છે. દુષ્ટોને રડાવે એવી ગર્જના કરવાથી તેમને રુદ્ર કહેવામાં આવે છે . 

The theonym Shiva originates as an epithet of Rudra, the adjective shiva "kind" being used euphemistically of the god who in the Rigveda also carries the epithet  ghora "terrible". Usage of the epithet came to exceed the original theonym and by the post-Vedic period (in the Sanskrit Epics), the name Rudra is taken as a synonym for god Shiva and the two names are used interchangeably. Also, it is said that God Shiva is a form of "Rudra".

વ્યુત્પત્તિ
The etymology of the theonym Rudra is somewhat uncertain.   It is usually derived from the root rud- which means "to cry, howl."  
According to this etymology, the name Rudra has been translated as "the Roarer".  
An alternate etymology suggested by Prof. Pischel derives Rudra ("the Red, the Brilliant") from a lost root rud-, "to be red" or "to be ruddy", or according to Grassman, "to shine". 
Stella Kramrisch notes a different etymology connected with the adjectival form raudra, which means wild, of rudra nature, and translates the name Rudra as "the Wild One" or "the Fierce God". R. K. Sharma follows this alternate etymology and translates the name as "Terrible" in his glossary for the Shiva Sahasranama. 

The commentator  suggests six possible derivations for rudra.  However, another reference states that Sayana suggested ten derivations. 

The adjective shivam in the sense of "propitious" or "kind" is applied to the name Rudra in RV 10.92.9. According to Gavin Flood, Shiva used as a name or title (Sanskrit , "the kindly/auspicious one") occurs only in the late Vedic Katha Aranyaka  Axel Michaels says Rudra was called Shiva for the first time in the Śvetāśvatara Upanishad. 

Rudra is called "The Archer" (Sanskrit: ) and the arrow is an essential attribute of Rudra. This name appears in the Shiva Sahasranama, and R. K. Sharma notes that it is used as a name of Shiva often in later languages.  The word is derived from the Sanskrit root - which means "to injure" or "to kill" and Sharma uses that general sense in his interpretive translation of the name  as "One who can kill the forces of darkness".  The names  ("Bowman") and  ("Archer", literally "Armed with arrows in his hands") also refer to archery.

In other contexts the word rudra can simply mean "the number eleven".

The word "rudraksha" (Sanskrit:  = rudra +  "eye"), or "eye of Rudra", is used as a name both for the berry of the Rudraksha tree, and a name for a string of the prayer beads made from those seeds.

ઋગ્વેદની રુચાઓ
The earliest mentions of Rudra occur in the Rigveda, where three entire hymns are devoted to him. There are about seventy-five references to Rudra in the Rigveda overall.

ભયંકર
In the Rigveda Rudra's role as a frightening god is apparent in references to him as ghora ("terrible"), or simply as asau devam ("that god"). 
He is "fierce like a formidable wild beast" (RV 2.33.11).  Chakravarti sums up the perception of Rudra by saying:

RV 1.114 is an appeal to Rudra for mercy, where he is referred to as "mighty Rudra, the god with braided hair."

In RV 7.46, Rudra is described as armed with a bow and fast-flying arrows. As quoted by R. G. Bhandarkar, the hymn says Rudra discharges "brilliant shafts which run about the heaven and the earth" (RV 7.46.3), which may be a reference to the destructive power of lightning.

Rudra was believed to cause disease, and when people recovered from them or were free of them, that too was attributed to the agency of Rudra.  He is asked not to afflict children with disease (RV 7.46.2) and to keep villages free of illness (RV 1.114.1).  He is said to have healing remedies (RV 1.43.4), as the best physician of physicians (RV 2.33.4), and as possessed of a thousand medicines (RV 7.46.3). This is described in Shiva's alternative name Vaidyanatha (Lord of Remedies).

સર્વોપરી શાશન
The verse RV 6.49.10  calls Rudra as " The Father of the Universe" (bhuvanasya pitaraṃ)

The verse RV 2.33.9 calls Rudra as "The Lord or Sovereign of the Universe" (īśānādasya bhuvanasya)

અન્ય દેવો

Rudra is used both as a name of Shiva and collectively ("the Rudras") as the name for the Maruts.  Gavin Flood characterizes the Maruts as "storm gods", associated with the atmosphere.  They are a group of gods, supposed to be either eleven or thirty-three in number.  The number of Maruts varies from two to sixty (three times sixty in RV 8.96.8.).
 
The Rudras are sometimes referred to as "the sons of Rudra". Rudra is referred to as "Father of the Maruts" in RV 2.33.1.

Rudra is mentioned along with a litany of other deities in RV 7.40.5.  Here is the reference to Rudra, whose name appears as one of many gods who are called upon:

This , the leader of the rite, and the royal Mitra and Aryaman, uphold my acts, and the divine unopposed Aditi, earnestly invoked: may they convey us safe beyond evil.

I propitiate with oblations the ramifications () of that divine attainable , the showerer of benefits. Rudra, bestow upon us the magnificence of his nature.  The  have come down to our dwelling abounding with (sacrificial) food.

One scholiast interpretation of the Sanskrit word , meaning "ramifications" or "branches", is that all other deities are, as it were branches of Vishnu, but Ralph T. H. Griffith cites Ludwig as saying "This... gives no satisfactory interpretation" and cites other views which suggest that the text is corrupt at that point.

ઋગ્વેદ સિવાય
 
In the various recensions of the Yajurveda is included a litany of stanzas praising Rudra: (Maitrāyaṇī-Saṃhitā 2.9.2, Kāṭhaka-Saṃhitā 17.11, Taittirīya-Saṃhitā 4.5.1, and Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā 16.1–14).  This litany is subsequently referred to variously as the Śatarudriyam, the Namakam (because many of the verses commence with the word namaḥ [`homage`]), or simply the Rudram.  This litany was recited during the agnicayana ritual ("the piling of Agni"), and it later became a standard element in Rudra liturgy.

A selection of these stanzas, augmented with others, is included in the Paippalāda-Saṃhitā of the Atharvaveda (PS 14.3—4).  This selection, with further PS additions at the end, circulated more widely as the Nīlarudram (or Nīlarudra Upaniṣad).

સિક્કિમમાં

The 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh describes the incarnation of Lord Shiva in his book the Dasam Granth, the Canto is titled Rudra Avatar

નોંધ

સંદર્ભ

 (fourth revised & enlarged edition).
 Second revised edition. Set of four volumes (2003 reprint). This revised edition updates H. H. Wilson's translation by replacing obsolete English forms with more modern equivalents, giving the English translation along with the original Sanskrit text in Devanagari script, along with a critical apparatus.

 Third AES reprint edition, 1995.
 (Second Revised Edition; Reprint, Delhi, 2002).
 (Third edition). The version provided by Chidbhavananda is from chapter 17 of the Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābharata.

 New Revised Edition

 Lubin, Timothy (2007). “The Nīlarudropaniṣad and the Paippalādasaṃhitā: A Critical Edition and Translation of the Upaniṣad and Nārāyaṇa's Dīpikā,” in: The Atharvaveda and its Paippalāda Śākhā: Historical and Philological Papers on a Vedic Tradition, ed. A. Griffiths and A. Schmiedchen, pp. 81–139. (Indologica Halensis 11). Aachen: Shaker Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8322-6255-6

 This work compares eight versions of the Śivasahasranāmāstotra.  The Preface and Introduction (in English) by Ram Karan Sharma provide an analysis of how the eight versions compare with one another.  The text of the eight versions is given in Sanskrit.

હિંદુ ધર્મ