J. Bruce Long

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[The author of this essay is J. Bruce Long, Director, Blaisdell Institue (Claremont, California). He has closely studied the scriptures of Saivism and is therefore entitled to indite ex cathedra on Saivsim.

Where eminent writers and translators like J.Muir, A.A.Macdonell, A.B.Keith, Nicol Macnicol, J.Gonda and J.N.Fraquhar failed, out author had succeeded. For the first time a near-perfect interpretation of the Satarudriya Stotram is available to the student of Saivism.

The article printed hereunder is truly an eye-opener. It silences the vociferous misinterpreters. The wealth of notes appended to this article attests the thorough-going intellect of the author.

By this article and the one on MAHASIVARATRI (Religious Festivals In South India and Sri Lanka, Manohar, 1982), the author will be gratefully remembered by true Saivites for generations to come. Ed.]

It was common practice for Vedic priests to invoke deities in the pantheon by presenting oblations of food and drink while singing hymns of praise (samana-s, mantra-s, stotra-s, sukta-s). The hymns were composed either as intricate poetic verses (sukta-s) or as simple strings of sacred formulae (stotra-s). The recitations served as an oral counterpart to the sacramental acts of constructing the altar, kindling the fire. In Vedic religion, the offering of sacrifice and the recitations were tow complementary aspects of a single ritual performance.

It is the purpose of this paper to explore ways in which the sacred hymn and sacrificial ritual known as the Satarudriya reflect the image of Divinity during the Vedic period and how this notion of Divinity is consistent with the religious experience of “god –consciousness” of its devotees. We will do this, first, by analysing the text of the hymn as well as its accompanying ritual, and secondly, by interpreting these materials critically with the help of Richard R. Neibuhr’s discussion of religious experience.

Rudra as Divine Ambivalence

Around the turn of the century, the British Indologist, A.A. Macdonell, attempting to characterize the basic features of the Vedic gods, observed that “Personification has, however, nowhere in Vedic mythology attained to the individualized anthropomorphism characteristic of the Hellenic gods. The Vedic deities have but very few distinguishing features, while many attributes and powers are shared by all alike.” He believes the reason many deities share numerous traits in common has to do with the fact that “the departments of nature which they represent have often much in common, while their anthropomorphism is comparatively undeveloped”1. However, if Sri Aurobindo’s contention is true, that, contrary to the opinion of nineteenth century Indologists, few of the Vedic deities represent, “departments of nature” in a simple and unequivocal sense,2 then, we must seek another explanation for the undeveloped nature of anthropomorphism in the Vedas. One possible explanation is that Vedic priests understood Divinity to be manifested within the world in multivalent terms; both simple and multiple, both personal and impersonal or transpersonal. In many instances, a single deity is presented in various guises and the domain of this power is extended either by elevating him to a lofty and transcendent position (as with Varuna) or by multiplying the departments of nature and society over which he exercises control (as with Rudra). In this way, both the unified and differentiated, the personal and impersonal dimensions of divinity were reflected in a realistic and vivid fashion. Further, the Vedic poets extended the realms over which a particular deity exercised jurisdiction by multiplying the number of names, epithets, character traits, heroic deeds and divine powers which were believed to belong properly to that god, until, in the end they declared his sovereignty to be universal in scope.

While the Vedic poets applied this principle of multiple denomination to all the deities in the pantheon to some degree, they developed it in a most elaborate fashion in the case of Rudra.3 As many Indologists have remarked previously, an impressive number and diversity of names and epithets are assigned to Rudra throughout every phase of Indian religion. He is the multiform deity par excellence. As one scholar has put it, “His very character lent itself admirably to splitting up into partial manifestations as well as to assimilation of divine or demonic powers of cognate nature, were they Aryan or non-Aryan”.4 The priests invoked him with as many pleasing names and attributes as his nature and the particular occasion would allow, in hopes that, by doing so, thy might avert the outbursts of wrath for which he is so renowned, and earn his benevolent favour.

With the possible exception of Varuna, Rudra 5 is the only god in the entire company of Vedic deities who is conceived to be a radically ambivalent deity. He is wrathful, terrifying and unpredictable, yet a god who also possesses the capacity to act benevolently toward making and other creatures in granting remedies for diseases and providing other boons basic to human welfare6. From Vedic times to the present Rudra’s character has been distinguished by a multifarious nature reflected in an impressive variety of epithets, powers and deeds; these attributes are often expressed in bipolar terms, becoming manifest in patterns of dynamic ambiguity.7

Even in the Rg-veda (1.114; II. 33; VI.46), Rudra is represented by a far greater number of physical features and character traits than one might expect of a deity who was supposed to occupy a subordinate position among the gods at that time.8 The practice of representing Rudra as a divinity with a multifarious personality had become an established convention by the time of the Atharva-veda9 where every part of his body is venerated ad seriatum: his face, eyes, skin, form, appearance, belly, tongue, teeth and even the odor emanating from his body. Further, his multiformity is represented by parts of the cosmic, animal and human realms over which he exercises divine sovereignty: the five creatures (pancapasu :cows, horses, men, sheep and goats); the four cardinal directions; heaven, earth, and atmosphere; all creatures that are living (atman) and breathing (anu) upon the earth; and, finally, the beasts of the forest, wild animals of the woods, birds, cattle and marine monsters. As if compelled to provide complete certification of Rudra’s “omniform” and “omnipresent” nature the poet addresses him as the “All-formed one” (visvarupa), and as that divine power which, “at a single glance [can] scan the entire earth; from the eastern you strike the northern ocean.

The practice of depicting Rudra’s character as a manifold composite of divine traits and of identifying each aspect of his nature with a particular segment of the universe, served as the model for the composition of the Satarudriya-stotra and, perhaps, for the composition of numerous other hymns at later stages of the Indian tradition. It is because the Satarudriya expresses divine multivalence so well as because we believe the hymn and the ritual to have influenced the development of liturgies later, that they deserve a more extensive scholarly investigation than they have received.

Form and Function of the Satarudriya Litany in the Vedic Tradition

One of the most effective modes of sacred eulogy developed by the Vedic poets is the hymn (stotra), composed of a lengthy series of declarations of “homage” or “obeisance” to a god’s many names, traits, abodes, attendants and famous deeds.10 The most ancient, persistent and revered example of this genre of hymn in the Indian religious tradition, is the Satarudriya-stotra (“The Hymn of Praise to the Hundred Rudras” or “…….Rurdra in his Hundred Aspects”11 (See pp 123 for a new English translation of the hymn by this author.) The Satarudriya-stotra12 is a litany in praise of Rudra, the multifarious deity represented in Vedic literature as the divine embodiment of the powers of nature and society in both their terrible and benevolent phases. The hymn is recited in accompaniment to the 425 oblations presented to the one hundred Rudras (or to Rudra in his one hundred aspects), at the conclusion of the ritual construction of the fire-altar (agnicayana). The hymn is composed of a series of magico-religious formulae (sixty-six mantras or sloka-s of variable lengths) which, taken as a whole, presents a vivid and varied picture of the popular conception of Rudra at that time.

The Satarudriya-stotra13 constitutes a complete chapter (kanda-16) of the Vajasaneyi-samhita and is considered traditionally to form an independent Upanisad. Although only a small number of the formulae from this hymn are quoted or cited in the Brahmana-s, the hymn was undoubtedly one of the most popular and widely-used liturgical hymns in ancient Brahmanical tradition. Even today it is considered by Saivas throughout the subcontinent of India to be the most sacred and efficacious of hymns. Saiva priests chant the litany in his entiret twenty-seven times during the twenty-four hour celebration of Great Night of Siva (Mahasivaratri) from Kedarnath in India’s far north to Cape Comorin in the south14.

The sanctity of the Satarudriya hymn for Siva’s devotees is greatly augmented by the fact that the five-syllabled invocation of Siva (i.e., pancaksara-mantra or simply pancaksari), namah sivaya –makes its first appearance in this sacred text Like the Purusa Sukta (PV X.90), the Satarudriya Stotram (or simply the Rudram, as it is popularly known) is chanted in the course of both domestic and public rituals, and on all other occasions when Rudra is given a ritual ablution (abhisekam).15 The primary characteristic of the hymn is its portrayal of the “pantheistic” form of Siva16 as the highly volatile embodiment of Divinity within every form of life in nature and society. The recitation of this hymn is considered by Saivas to be one of the most efficacious modes of meditation (sadhana) upon God in his many manifestrations17 The oblations which are accompanied by the recitation of this litany are familiar to the Brahmanas.18 Even some of the minor Upanisads (i.e., the Jabala and the Atharvasiras) extol the spiritual virtues of the Satarudriya Stotram.19 The profound veneration with which the devotees of Siva regard this litany is illustrated further by the claim of the 7th century South Indian Saiva singer-saint, Appar, that, “just as the Vedas and their six angas (branches) were the precious jewel to the (ancient) Brahmanas, so was namah sivaya to himself (Appar and his followers”.20

The Satarudirya Stotram as a Paradigm of Namajapa

In the Mahabharata, there appeared for the first time a mode of religious worship consisting of the recitation of the divine names (namajapa) of God.21 Namajapa could be performed either within the context of a sacred rite or as an independent propitiatory act. This type of hymnody is most fully exemplified in the ‘Hymn of a Thousand Names”(sahasra-nama-stotram) addressed to Siva, to Visnu and to the goddess Durga, in the Mahabharata.12 In the Mahabharata, as in the Vedas, the Divine names are recited primarily in order to persuade the deity being addressed to provide the devotee with some desired boon e.g. numerous progeny, victory in battle, safety from misfortune, the promotion of prosperity and health, the acquisition of religious merit and the entrance into close personal communion with the deity himself. In addition, each of the epithets in the hymn served as a mnemonic device to aid the worshipper in recalled the virtues, powers, exploits and offices of the deity for purposes of meditation and worship. In post-Vedic times, with the emergence of popular sectarian religion, these strings of names were recited ad seriatum, while counting the beads on a rosary (japamal, aksamala

While the first bonafide example of this genre of hymn makes its appearance in epic literature, there are numerous selections in the Vedas where rsi s and sacrificial priests (purohita-s) invoke various deities by reciting hymns composed of strings of epithets which delineate the many attributes of the particular deity being addressed. Given the relatively close structural parallel between the Satarudriya and the Sahasa-nama stotra, there is a firm basis for arguing that the former composition may have served, either directly or indirectly, as a model for the composition of the latter. Although we cannot be sure that the composers of these epic hymns consciously utilized the Vedic hymn as a model, they must have been acquainted with the Vedic example (given the fact that the Satarudriya appears as a sub-parvan in the Mahabharata) and may have employed the earlier hymn as a working model.

The religious ideology behind the composition and recitation of the Satarudriya might be described as the “mystique of the Sacred Utterance” The Vedic priests believed that they hymn and ritual formulae were oral embodiments of cosmic forces. Not only couplets (sloka-s), lines (mantra-s) and quarter-lines (pada-s) but words and even individual syllables (aksara-s) are homologized with particular parts of the cosmos and with various deities who are believed to be in control of the many departments of the natural and social orders. On this basis, the recitation of the formulae on the appropriate occasion serves to coax the divinities so addressed to intervene in the world process on behalf of the sacrifice and his kinsmen. Along with this believe in the efficacy of the Sacred Word is the conviction that the Divine Names serve not merely as figurative or symbolic representations of the god so-named, but as concrete and highly efficacious embodiments of the spiritual essence of the deity himself. In brief sacred words of invocation and the divine power(s) designated by the terms are thought to be one and the same within the context of the sacrifice.23

In the course of the Satarudriya rite, the primary concern of the rite, the primary concern of the yajamana was focused at the point where each recitation should occur and upon the proper order of the various chants. The Vedic priests seem to have been less concerned with the religious or theological meanings of the formulae, prayers and hymns, than with the actual words recited and the ritual actions performed in the manner prescribed by the ritual manuals. This meticulous concern for the correct placing of each item in the ritual and for the careful adherence to every injunction in the ritual texts grew out of the conviction that arranging words and deeds in right correlation would produce the desired results automatically.24 The gods were believed to be willing and able to grant the boons provided the eulogies were correctly formulated and the oblations sufficiently generous. The more elaborate the panegyrics and the more generous the offerings, the greater the likelihood that the desired objectives would be realized.

Furthermore, the text pertaining to the Satarudriyahomam (SBI .1.1) contains numerous examples of one of the more prominent developments in liturgical and literary form during the period of the Brahmanas: namely, the formulation of arcane or mystical connections between an entity (e.g., a religious functionary, human virtue efficacious deed, animal or some other object) and one or more entities within the divine sphere (e.g, a specific deity, planetary body, or divine power) believed to share either a common nature or similar properties and powers. These mystical links were established by means of what might be described as a “theological pun”.25 The priests or liturgical composers sought to augment the pleasure of the gods in the sacrificial offering by fashioning increasingly fanciful and ingenious examples of such puns. It was their belief that the belief that the gods would reward the devotees in proportion to the quantity and quality of such eulogies and the degree of ingenuity displayed by these linguistic associations. The priests certified the religious validity of such practices by declaring that “the gods adore the esoteric”. It should be noted, of course, that the procedures employed in identifying two objects, the names of which are composed of similar phonemes, in most instances, transgress all the rules of grammar and linguistic analysis. But, in such cases, adherence to the law as of proper linguistic derivation gave place to the need to articulate certain deep theological meanings that could be expressed in no other way.

Analysis of Rudra’s Character in the Satarudriya Stotram

The Rudra of the satarudriya is essentially the same deity who appears under the name in the Rg-veda, except that in the former texts his personality has been impressively augmented and he appears under essentially different images. He is still the same ambivalent and unpredictable god-an archer deity whose arrows inflict both men and animals with diseases, misfortune and death but, at the same time, a god in whom there is a great capacity for benevolence. He lives in faraway places, in the clouds or on the mountains and hills on lofty perches from which he shoots his arrows of ambivalent qualities, but, by and large, at a significant distance from civilized places. Like any ordinary woodsman, he wanders about (primarily at night) through woods and fields, along paths or near places where the unwary traveller may be victimized by powers and horrifying creatures.

The Satarudriya Stotram represents Rudra’s physical appearance in such graphic and various terms that one wonders why he was never represented in iconographic form during the Vedic period. In spite of an abundance of ferocious and grotesque qualities in his character, he is said to be of benign (aghora) and auspicious (siva) form, “not dreadful or vile-looking”. Long golden locks flow down his blue coloured neck onto a body that is described as brown, copper, ruddy and bluish-red or purple. His two arms are invoked apprehensively as the wielders of the bow and arrows which are sources of both disease and health. He is both tall and dwarfish.26 With is one-thousand eyes he views the entire world at all points on the compass at a single glance. Clad in an animal skin, he leads the life of a rude uncultured woodsman or mountaineer (giritra, girisanta, girisa). In this state, in wild areas Rudra is the fearless generalissimo of countless bands of spirit-troops (satvana), ‘innumerable Rudras dwelling in the sky in the atmosphere and on the earth…..” These attendants of Rudra are imagined to take the form of ghosts, goblins and “grotesque and ferocious spirits” who roam about the countryside in the dead of night (naktamcarabdhyas). As extensions or external manifestations of the spiritual essence of Rudra, these beings are fierce (krura) and deformed (virupa) in appearance, with blue necks (nilagriva) and white throats (sitikantha). By extension of this same role, Rudra is the Master of animals (pasupati). He lives with the animals of the forests and deserts, knows their life-patterns and controls their destinies. While he is also said to abide with cattle in the shelter of cattle-pens, Rudra’s role as Pasupati seems, during the Vedic period, to place him primarily in the company of wild and untamed beasts that haunt uncultivated areas in forests and deserts and threaten both men and animals with injury and death.

He prefers isolated places frequented by wild beasts, goblins, and malicious spirits for he is characteristically identified with paths (srutyaya), roads (pathyaya), mountains slopes (nipyaya) and rugged areas (katyaya), with forests (vanyaya), woods (aranyaya) and crossroads (catuspathyaya).

Further, Rudra is the patron deity of various classes of artisans, including blacksmiths, carpenters and huntsmen. Like Pusan, with whom he shares a number of other traits in common, he is the divine pathfinder who guides and protects travellers through areas that are fraught with omnious dangers. As an inhabitant of the wilderness areas he is the god of tribal peoples, both Aryan and non-Aryan, who inhabit the hills and forests of northern India: the Nisadas (wild aboringial tribes of non-Aryan ancestry, probably hunters, robbers and fishermen and possible identifiable with the present-day Bhils who live in western and north-central India, renowned in the past for brigandage and lawlessness); and the Punjisthas (fishermen and according to Mahidhara, fowlers) He manifests himself to ‘female water-bearers”, “in sprouting grass”, in desiccated things”, “in the dust and the mist”, “among herds”, and in cattle-pens”. He exists “in mind, the cloud and the lightening”, “in incantations, punishments and prosperity”.

His devotees invoke him on his ferocious side and attempt to placate his wrath by reciting epithets and character traits which reflect his capacity to visit misfortune upon whomever he wills. Among his many terrifying (ahora) aspects, are these: fierce (ugraya) and terrific (bhimaya), master of animals (pasunampataye) whose shafts inflict animals with disease and disaster, “the bellowing lord of combat-troops”, “lord of the cheater, the arch-deceiver, brigands……… murders and stealers” “lord of the deformed (virupebhya) and the omniform (visvarupebhya)”.

Thus far, this survey of the conception of the character and roles of Rudra in the Satarudriya Stotram has focused entirely upon the terrifying and destructive side of his nture. However, inasmuch as this litany is a hymn of praise recited primarily to gratify Rudra and to cultivate his benevolent grace, the number of benign epithets attributed to him far exceed the malignant; Rudra is addressed as “advocate” or “deliverer” (adhyavocad) ; “first divine healer (prathamodaivyo bhesak)” “he whose medicines bring continual healing”; “most benevolent one (sumangala)” “bountiful (midhuse)”; and more than that “most bountiful (midhustama)”; “lord of the prosperous (pustanam pataye)”; “lord of food and of all moving things”; “he who extended the earth bhuvantaye)”; “bestower of welfare (sangave)”; and “source of prosperity (sambhavaya)”. Finally, a few of the epithets which will become his most prominent names in the epics and puranas appears in this hymn; i.e., Auspicious One (sivaya) and cause of properity (sankaraya), as well as Divine Lord (isano bhagavah).

Most of the western interpretaters of this hymn (among whom we might mention Arbaman, Hillebrandt, Weber, Macdonell, and Barth) have tended to adopt an overly simplified view of Rudra in this text, by stressing his fierce and destructive aspects to the almost total neglect of his benevolent and auspicious features.27 True, many of the epithets and attributes assigned to Rudra in this hymn reflect a deity who manifests himself to mankind in the form of a formidable, frightening and even destructive power. But Rudra must be viewed as a deity whose nature is quintessentially bipolar and abivalent.28 He is the god from whom all opposites spring into dynamic manifestation (life and death, good an evil, pleasure and pain, beauty and ugliness). He is the divine agent of both procreation and dissolution, throughout the natural and social sphere. He is the divine source and cause of both illness and health, poverty and wealth, terror and bliss. When he manifests himself by means of his auspicious and sublime form (siva- aghora-tanu), he provides all the energies required by living beings for survival and growth. When, on the other hand, he operates means of his terrible and demonic aspects (bhima-ahora-tanu), he removes living creatures by withholding those same life-supports. Hence, he must be viewed, even at this early period of Indian religious history, as a deity who encompasses a wealth of traits, powers and activities, a complex network of features that resists every attempt to derive a univocal pattern.

The Character of Rudra in the Satarudriya oblation

Our understanding of the precise nature of Rudra and of the type of “religious consciousness” which he provokes in his devotees can brought into sharper focus by surveying his various modes of manifestation and activity recorded in the Brahmanical texts pertaining to the Satarudriya-homam. Like the Psalms in the Old Testament,29 plainsong chants in the Catholic Missal30 and congregational hymn in Protestant hymnals and hymns in the Vedas were not intended to serve as mere “musical accompaniment to the visible actions of the liturgy. Rather, like Hebrew and Christian counterparts, the Vedic hymns were composed and recited as canticle equivalents to the outward activities of worship. As stated earlier, the hymns of praise, the visible movements of the rituals and the sacrificial oblation are three different aspects, of a single mode of religious veneration.

According to the Satapatha Brahmana (IX.1.1ff), where the prescriptions for the performance of the Satarudriya homam are given in greatest detail, the rite is said to be composed of 425 oblations offered into the sacrificial fire at the completion of the piling up of the fire-altar (agnicayana) when Agni,31 the divine personification of the sacred fire, has come to be identified with Rudra.32 The homologization of Agni and Rudra symbolizes the fact that the sacred fire, which has received great quantities of ghee (clarified butter) at regular intervals during the construction of the altar, has begun to flare up and crackle with impressive and terrifying (raudra) force.33 The altar fire is the outward and visible manifestation of the dual divinity, Rudra-Agni in his most awesome and terrifying form (gheratanu)34. Or, in more metaphysical terms, the altar fire has been transmuted into a symbol for the divine force which courses through plants, men, animals and celestial bodies with a powerful thrust that threatens to destroy the very forms of life it sustains.

After the gods have bestowed upon Rudra – Agni “that highest form” (rupamuttamam) that is, immortality (amrta)35 He stands upon the altar in the form of the sacrificial flame” longing for food” (annamicchamana-s). Knowing of Rudra’s voracious appetite, even the gods are fearful that he might do them harm36 In order to placate His wrath and evoke his pleasure, the gods determine to provide Him with food, in the knowledge that, “thereby we shall appease (samayama, gratify, soothe) Him”.

At this stage, the officiating priest recites a mantra containing a “theological pun” on the Sanskrit terms for “appeased” (santa, and “one-hundred” (sata). This “play on words” provides the necessary mystical connection between the name of the homam and the primary objective of the ritual itself. The text states that they gathered the food called Santadevatya and satisfied (samayamas) with it. Inasmuch as they satisfied (sam) the god (deva) by means of this food, it is known as Santadevatya (i.e., that which satisfies the god) and Satarudriya is the esoteric equivalent of Satarudriya, “for the gods adore the esoteric” (paro’ksakamahidevah).

The officiating priest (adhvaryu), then offers an oblation of wild sesame seeds (jartilair), which represent both cultivated (gramyam) and wild-growing (aranyam) foods37, in order to satisfy Rudra-Agni’s hunger and to provide him with the nourishment which he demands for the successful performance of his divine function. The priest then places these sesame seeds upon an arka-leaf (arkaparnena)38 and deposits that offering upon three enclosing-stones (parisritsu) which represent the three Agnis (the earthly, atmospheric and celestial fires, respectively).39 by offering the oblation to Rudra-Agni, the mystical homologization between these two gods is ritually completed. IN verse 9 of Adhyaya 1, the Brahmana provides an ‘esoteric’ rationale for presenting the arka leaf to Rudra-Agni.40 He offers with an arka-leaf; for the tree arose from the resting place of that deity (devasyasayad); he thus satisfies (prinati) him with his own portion (bhagena), with his own life-sap (rasena.)”

Following this presentation the officiant offers an oblation composed of flour made from Gavedhuka grass (Coix Barbata).41 The offering is laid upon the stones on the altar, for “the Gavedhuka plants spran forth (samabhavan) in that spot where the deity lies exhausted (visrastasayat)”. In this manner, the deity is reinvigorated and gratified by his own life-blood (rasena) and by his own portion (i.e., the substance which constitutes his own being or essence.).

The priest is enjoined by the Brahmana to place the oblation upon each one of the tree enclosing stones (paristritsu) situated to the rear of the sacrificial area (i.e., the west corner of the left wing of the bird-shaped altar). Beginning at the southernmost tip of the area and moving toward the north,42 each of these stones is taller than the preceding one: the first is knee-high, the next navel-high, and the last head- high. Each stone represents one of the three levels of the universe. The offering presented at a particular level of the body of the sacrifice gratifies the Rudras who abide at the corresponding level of the cosmos. By means of these three offerings of food and ritual invocation (svaha), all the Rudras throughout the universe are nourished and soothed.43 The officiant presents this offering while standing on the north side of the altar and facing the north.44 He thereby satisfies Rudra “in his own region” for “in that region lies the abode of this deity” (ha disyetasya devasya grhah). Once the hunger of the Rudras has been satiated and their wrath tranquillized, they depart from the sacrificial area in the house of the sacrifice to the regions to the north and, henceforth, cease to threaten the health and welfare of the sacrifice and his family.45

The myth which the Brahmana (SB.IX 1.1.6-7) provides as a symbolic rationale for the performance of the Satarudriya-homam, states that when Prajapati (the Creator and Lord of the Creatures) had become impotent in the course of the year, the gods abandoned him for lack of support and sustenance-all the gods, that is, except one, Wrath (manyu). For wrath always remains and asserts itself when a creature has become hungry and weak. Wrath expanded and remained steadfastly attached to Prajapati. This state of fury drove Prajapati to tears (rodit)46 and his tears fell down upon Wrath. The water of Prajapati’s tears missed with the fire of Wrath and from that compound sprang up the divine embodiment of Wrath and Terror (i.e., Rudra, possessing one hundred heads, one thousand eyes, and one hundred quivers. The remaining drops of the mixture spread over the entire world in countless numbers (asamkhyata). Because these multitudinous creatures sprang (samabhavam) from the crying (ruditas), they came to be called “rudras” (i.e., the cryers or howlers).47 Meanwhile, this muticephalus, multi-eyed and multi-quivered creature, Rudra, who is the unified embodiment of all the Rudra-powers, stood before the gods, with bow and arrow prepared, in his quest for food (annamicchamanas), striking them with fear (bhisayamano). And, as a result of the continuing presence of this offspring of the wrath-filled tears of Prajapati, “the gods were afraid of him”.

The gods then appealed to Prajapati to aid them in acquiring an antidote to their terror. In response to the gods’ plea, Prajapati replied, “Gather food (annamasnai sambharata) for him and you will gratify (samyata) him, thereby”.

Once the priest has completed the nourishing of Rudra with the oblations of sesame seeds and the gruel of gavedhuka flour, he proceeds to gratify the deity further by muttering the various formulae of the Satarudriya Stotram. In the course of these he recites that most salutary of invocations, Svaha,48 (sv-aha or su-aha, lit. “saluations, hail”) between each set of 80 formulae (SB IX 1.1.21). The muystical idendification of the oblations with the formulae and the power of both to gratify the deity is affirmed by the ritual association of “the eighties” (asityam, i.e, the 9 sections of anuvakas of the litany) and the sacrificial food(asita, food,: “eighties means food, for by means food (and formulae) he gratifies him, thus” (verse 21). The priest offers obeisance to Rudra’s wrath, his two mighty arms that wield the bow and arrows, to the bands of clansmen which sprang from Prajapati’s tears of wrath, and to Prajapati himself, who, in completion of the mystical identification of all the gods and all the elemetns of the sacrifice, is linked with Agni and the Year. The Adhvaryu contineuds to gratify Rudra by “invoking him by his names” and identifying Rudra-Agni with the Year, the seasons, the three realms and the layers of the altar.

The official performance of the rite is concluded with a recitation of the “unstringing formulae”.49 These mantra-s are recited for the purpose of “unstringing” the bows of the countless Rudras “at a thousand leagues” and, thereby, rendering them powerless to harm the sacrifice and his relatives. This series of oblations is presented in reverse order to those described in vss. 11-13; that is, in a descending pattern from the mouth, to the navel, and, finally, to the knee. In this manner, the circuit of ritual oblations, is completed and, at the cosmic level, the entire world-order is rendered secure from all the disruptive effects of Rudra’s wrath.

With the completion of the “descending” rites (pratyavarohan), along with the final propitiations of the Rudras at the three levels of the universe, the yajamana casts the arka-leaf and arka-stick into the “pit” (catvale), which the composer of this Brahmana takes to mean the depositing of implements into the sacred fire to be consumed. The Satarudriya is then identified symbolically with the altar, the Year and Agni-all of which are composed of 360 components-and with the Great Litany (mahad ukta), with which the rite shares in common the possession of twenty-five parts (i.e., formulae) on either side of the “eighties” (again, formulae) The yajamana brings the rite to a close with a series of circumambulations of the vedi while sprinkling it on all sides with water (in order to drive all evil and pain into the region of Nirrti located in the south-western direction). This act is accompanied by the formulation of numerous mystical connections between constitutive parts of the altar and corresponding realities within the cosmos. The final resolution of the homa is realized by symbolically identifying the many facetsof the rite with various natural phenomena and the divine powers that rule over them Thei sis done with rather complex formula equating Rudra-Agni, Prajapati the altar, the Gayatri-mantra, the Saman-hymn, the three levels of the universe the two cosmic luminaries and Agni’s “highest form, immortality”

The Relationship between Concepts of Divinity and Religious Experience in the Satarudriya

While the most obvious goal of the homa seems to be the appeasement of the Agni-Rudra’s wrath and the acquisition of his benevolent grace on behalf of the sacrifice and the family, other, secondary objectives are sought as well. The series of mystical correspondences which stand out most prominently in his rite (e.g., the identification of the bricks of the altar with Prajapati, of Prajapati with Agni-Rudra, of the rasa of the oblations with the rasa of the both the deities and the universe) suggests that the rite is believed to serve as a means of assembling and reintegrating the various powers in the universe which have become fragmented and dispersed during the course of a year and by reintergrating such powers to infuse the entire cosmos with new life. So conceived, the sacrifice is to be understood as that single most efficacious mechanism for the establishment and maintenance of a proper equilibrium among the various centres of power (i.e., gods, men and the natural world) and for the promotion of the uninterrupted flow of the life-forces throughout the world. In the same way, the sacrificial arena is that privileged place within the finite world where gods and men meet in spiritual communion and where each receives from the other necessary life-supports.

We have argued that previous interpretations of Rudra as a wholly “demonic deity” who provokes only fear and dread are simplistic and one-sided.50 But even if such were the case, those responses to a deity like Rudra which take the form of fear, awe, and dread should not be interpreted in purely “negative” terms.51 On the contrary we could argue that, when properly understood, those experiences which threaten man’s sense of self-confidence and well-being (whether by divine, human, or animal agencies) have “positive” as well as “negative” consequences.

This ambivalent nature of the religious experience has been observed by a variety of scholars of religion. Richard R. Niebuhr, for one, explores the nature of religious experience.52 While Niebuhr’s analysis is appropriate for a consideration of the relationship between the concept of divinity and the religious experience expressed in the Satarudriya. He contends that fear, especially that type of fear which occurs within the context of an encounter with an extraordinary power, should be viewed as an “ambiguous” experience, a dual state of mind in which feelings of buoyant joy and benumbing awe are co-mingled. That is, fear is not merely a highly restricted and specialized emotional response to particular objects or situations. Rather, fear is that all-pervasive and inescapable sense of living in a state of finitude and mortality. Suffering, as he defines it, is the ambivalent sense of both “being diminished and being enlarged”. Both suffering and the concomitant experience of faith form “a boundary of existence, and ever-present element of consciousness” in a world that appears to us to be a “field of energies, converging on us, shaping us, distending us, shattering us and sending us on paths we have not chosen for ourselves”.53 So conceived, suffering is the “determinant of all existence”, the basis of man’s sense of the creature-hood. Faith or faithfulness, which both complements and incorporates the element of anxiety, Niebuhr defines as “the manner in which human being comports itself within its world of power”, the “way in which he accepts and addresses himself to his situation as a suffering being”. Because of the paradoxical nature of human existence, the experience of faith necessarily occurs within a state of suffering and contains elements of conflict and strife, coupled with joy and harmony. Fear, whether viewed primarily as a religious, existential or psychological category, must be interpreted against the background of the dynamic, ever-changing field of human existence in a world of power.

Rudra, more than any other deity in the Vedic pantheon, manifests himself to mankind as this “infinite energy and environing, shaping power that approaches us on alien terms”. Of which Niebuhr speaks in a later portion of this same world.54 It is the alien or “wholly other” quality of Rudra’s appearances and activities within the finite world that gives rise to the responses of awe and terror in his devotees.

Conclusion

In conclusion, e argue that, in the Satarudriya hymn and rite, Rudra is represented as a deity who uses his divine power to create multiple manifestations with ambivalent qualities.55 In part, the fluidity of his nature (i.e., his capacity to divined his one divine nature into numerous facets and, at the same time, of integrate within himself many disparate and antithetical phenomena in nature and society), served as a pre-condition for his elevation to the status of High God in the Svetasvatara panisad and The Mahabharata. Unlike most of the other Vedic gods, who lacked either the degree of concreteness (e.g., Varuna) or the proper level of generality (e.g., Pusan) required for the development of a High God status, Rudra commanded a sufficient degree of both universality and particularity to fulfil the spiritual needs of a wide variety of people over an extensive geographical area and through a lengthy expanse of time.

Even as early as the time of the Satarudriya (ca.1000 B.C.), Rudra’s character is marked by a configuration of traits, powers and deeds that are, at once, antithetical and complementary. Thought One in essence, the is identified as the divine power which both creates and destroys, energizes and dissolves all forms of life. His ambivalent nature made possible the multiplication of his manifestations (murtis), during the epic and post-epic periods, in such a way that he can appear to be either malevolent (ghora, bhairava) or benevolent (aghora, siva) on different occasions or both simultaneously.

When these observations concerning Rudra’s character in the Satarudriya are considered together with our understanding of fear/dread as an ambiguous experience, the conclusion is hard to resist that Rudra must be seen as a deity whose nature is far more complex, exalted and multivalent than a majority of Indologists have recognized. Because he is revered as the divine source of wealth and poverty, health and illness, life and death, joy and grief, his presence provokes response from his devotees that range from veneration and affection, to fear and dread-religious feelings that are in perfect harmony with the multifarious character of his divine nature. Even in this early period of the history of Indian religion, Rudra is recognized as a multivalent manifestation of divine power, whose activities serve both to delimit and expand, threaten and sustain the world and all the creatures that abide therein. In the religious terminology popularized by Rudolf Otta, Ruda is the numinous par excellence, the deity in whom The Sacred is revealed in its full multiplicity and ambiguity. AS such, Rudra is the Divine reflection of man’s perception of the nature of Life itself.

Notes

In the following notes, abbreviations for basic texts will be used, as follows: Mbh-Mahabharata; TS-Taittiriya Samhita; SB- Satapatha Brahmana; VS- Vajasaney Samhita; RV- Rg. Veda; AV- Atharva Veda; SBE-Sacred Books of the East; TB- Taittiriya Brahmana; Sankh. Br.-Sankyayana Brahmana; Ap. Saiva Siddhanta- Apastambha Srauta Sutra.

1. Vedic Mythology (Strassburg, 1897) p.3

2. Sri Aurobindo, On the Veda. (Pondicherry, 1956), pp.49-50

3. Consult E. Arbman Rudra. Untersuchungen Zum altindischen Glauben und Kultus, (Uppsala, 1922), esp. chap.I.

4. J. Gonda, Visnuism and Sivaism: A Comparison, (London, 1970). P.5

5. A.A.Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, p.74 ff.; A.B. Deity, The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and the Upanishads, (Cambridge, Mass., 1925), pp. 142-50; J. Gonda, Epithets in the Rgveda, (The Hague. 1959), p. 126 ff.

6. See J. Gonda, Visnuism and Sivaism, p.3, 20-21.

7. R. G Bhandarkar, Vaisnavism, Sivaism and minor REgligious systems, (Satrassburg, 1913), p.102 ff.

8. See R. N. Dandekar, “Rudra in the Veda”, Journal of the University of Poona, {Humanities section], 1.1(1953): p. 94 ff.

9. Atharvaveda, XI. 2.

10. A Weber, Indische Studien (Berlin, 1853), II, p. 13ff

11. Vajasaneya Samhita XVI and Taittiriya Samhita, IV 5. 1-11.

12. Among the numerous translations of the Satarudriya Stotram into western languages, see the following: for a German translation of the Taittiriya rescension (of the Black Yajus School) of the text, with various readings of the Kathaka and the Vajasaneyi versions, consult A. Weber, Indische Studien 11, 13-47: the Sukla Yajurveda (also known as the Vajasaneya) text has been translated and transliterated by J. Muir, Original Sanksrit Texts, (Longdon, 1873), IV. pp. 322-31; also J. Eggeling, The Satapatha Brahmana, Part IV, (SBE Vol. XLIII), 150-55; and the Taittiriya text by A.B. Deith, The Veda of the Black Yajus School entitiled the Taittiriya Samhita. [Harvard Oriental Series, XIX], Cambridge, Mass., (1914), pp. 353-62.

13. Consult the following scholarly studies of the Satarudriya Stotram; E. Arbman, Rudra. Pp. 221-53; R.G. Bhandarkar, Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems, pp. 103-04; S. Bhattacharji, “Rudra from the Vedas to the Mahabharata”, Annals, of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pp. 4’ (1960), 86-89; R. W. Frazer, “Saivism”, Encyclopeida of Religion and Ethics, XI, p.91 ff. Concerning the Satarudriya homama, see D.J. Hoens, Santi. A Contribution to Ancient Indian Religious Terminology, (The Hague, 1951), pp, 128-33.

14. See my article, “Festival of Repentance: A Study of Mahasivaratri”, Journal of the Oriental Institute, Baroda, 22 (1972), pp. 15-38.

15. V. Raghavan, The Indian Heritage: An Anthology of Sanskrit Literature, (Bangalore, India, 1956), p. 20 ff.

16. Raghavan, ibid., p. 21.

17. Consult esp. Yajnavalkya Smrti, (v.303-04), 308 for an assertion of its efficacy as an expiatory prayer.

18. Cf. XB iX 1 1.1-2 42 where specifications of the ritual performance, together with the appropriate recitations, are presented in elaborate detail.

19. See T.R. Srinivasa Ayyangar, trans. Saiva Upanisads. (The Adyar Library, (953).

20. Appar, II.5, cited in K. A. Nilakantha Sastri, “An Historical Sketch of Saivism”. In The Cultural Heritage of India, (Calcutta, 1956). Vol. IV p.70.

21. Consult J. Gonda, Notes on Names and the Name of God in Ancient India [Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse, Akademie van Westenschappen, Letter-kunde, Nieuwe Reeks, Vol 75, no.4] (Amsterdam, 1970), pp. 57-76.

22. A hymn composed of a thousand names if addressed to Siva in the Mhb. (XII 285 and XIII 17) and to Vishnu (XIII 149) and a briefer hymn to Uma Durga, the malevolent aspects of Siva’s consort, Parvati, (IV 6.pp 148-203). Cf, the Hymn to the Greatness of the Goddess IDevi-mahatmya-stotram or the Sridurgasaptasati), from the Markandeya-purana, [Bibliotheca Indica], trans. F.E. Pargiter, (Calcutta, 1904), Cantos LXXXI-XCIII.

23. See J. Gonda, Notes on Names .p. 20ff

24. L. Renou formulates this principle in most succinct terms as follows: “The duty of the rsi-s was to ensure the ordered functioning of the world and of religious ceremonial by reproducing the succession of cosmic events, the ordo-rerum in their acts and in the imagery they conceived. Seen in this light, the Veda is a vast magical synthesis expressed in symbolic terms. The images of the Vedas have ritual significance in themselves; they bring about the ordered functioning of universe which is itself conceived as the scene of a vast sacrifice, the prototype of the ma-made sacrifice”. Religions of Ancient India, (London, 1953), pp. 17-18.

25. E.C. Dimock, The Literatures of India. An Introduction, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1974, ), p. 47ff

26. TS IV 55. H, i

27. Charles Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch, (London&New York, 1954), II p. 142; and Julius Eggeling, The Satapatha Brahmana (Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XLIII), p. 150 ff.

28. Wendy D. O’Flaherty, Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Siva. (London, 1973), p 83 ff.

29. See S. Mowinckel. The Psalms in Israel’s Worship. Trans. T.M. Horner, (Philadelphia, 1967).

30. Dom Gregory Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy, (London, 1954).

31. See XB (17.3.8) where it is said that “Agni is the god known among the eastern peoples as Sarva (the archer), among the Bahikas as Bhava (source of Being), as Pasupati (lord of beasts or cattle), as Rudra and as Agni”. And the commentator, Sayana (Weber’s edition, p. 124) adds, “Although, based upon the distinction of countries, there is a distinction of names…….. but the god (so-named) is One”. Of Sankh. Brh. VI 1 1-9/ Agaom. At SB 17.3.8 its is said that “the name Agni is the most auspicious (agnir iti eva santam) and all the others are inauspicious”.

32. The TS (II 2.10) present a legendary account of the identity between Rudra and Agani, according to which Agni stole the store of wealth which the gods had retrieved from the demons and on being forced to return it, wept (arodit). From that time Agni came to be known as Rudra (derived from the root, √rud =”to weep”). Cf. TS I 5.1.

33. See E. W. Hopkin’s remarks in Epic Mythology, p 218, n.1, to the effect that Rudra is of the nature of fire (agnimaya)and Vishnu of the moon (Somatmaka) and together they constitute the entire world. This claim is rejected by J. Gonda in his Aspects of Early Visnuism. P. 95f Cf. SB III 6.3 19.

34. Cf. Mbh. VIII 202.41 where the body of Siva is said to be composed of the dual elements ofAgni is said to be composed of the dual elements of Agni and Soma (i.e., fire and nectar); urubhyam ardham agneyam somardham ca siva tanuh.

35. The precise meaning of this statement is uncertain because of the multivalence of the term for “immortality” (a-mr-ta=”not dead” ) in Sanskrit literature. From the time of the Brahmana-s (SB X 4.1.22) the juice of the Soma plant is identified with the moon, which itself is conceived as the cup containing the beverage of immortality. See J Gonda, Change and Continuity in Indian Religion. (The Hague: Mouton & Co., 1965), p. 58 ff.k G. Dumezil, Le FEstin d’ Immortalite, (Paris, 1924) p 110ff. Since the offering of Soma plays no role in the Satarudriya-homam, it would, perhaps, be unjustified to link amrta in this passage with the Soma offering. Amrta is also identified by the Vedic poets with the waters (RV I 23, 19, apsv antar amrtam) which served as food (VI 49.16; III 26 7) and medicines (bhesajam) for the gods. The gods are distinguished from the demons and from human beings by their possession of amrta (AV XXX 19.10), the ‘food of life’ (SB I 2.1.20). The statement that the gods “bestowed upon Agni the ultimate form of immortality” seems to mean that they provided him with a sacred abode upon the seven-layered altar and kindled him to such great heights by means of the sacrificial oblations that he came to be mystically identified with Rudra.

36. Deva abibharuyadhai no yamnahinsyaditi.

37. By presenting Rudra with a cereal grain representing both cultivated and uncultivated lands, all areas are protected from the ill-effects of his wrath.

38. Arkaparna is the name of the leaf of the plant CalotropicGiganea, which was believed to possess sacred powers and was associated primarily with the rituals dedicated to the Maruts or Rudras, the off spring and “Doubles” of Rudra. The root-bark was used in ancient times for medicinal purposes. The ancient Arabs also held the plant in great reverence and used it in numerous rites dedicated to the worship of the sun. It is the Ushar of the Arabs and the Khark of the Persian-both terms used to designate milk-yielding plants. Abu Hanifeh was perhaps the first Arab writer to give an explicit account of the plant but much more detailed information will be found in the writings of Ebn Baithar (trans. By Southeinier, II. 193). Arka, a term derived from the root √ arc=”to shine or blaze”, and by extension, “to praise, honor or worhip”, obviously stands in close symbolic relationship with fire, lightning and other sources of luminosity (esp. the Sun, to which arka refers in many instances). The rationale for employing the arkaparna in this rite must rest upon the connections in the oblation between the altar-fire (agni) and Rudra, the representative of Agni in his sinister aspect. The blazing fire itself is an expression of the awe-inspiring wrath (krodha, manyu) of Rudra. Concerning the botanical and medicinal properties of the arka-leaf, consult the following sources: Economic Botany, Vol 13, pp, 205-42; P. Maheshwari and S.L. Tandon, Agriculture and Economic Development in India, 232 ff; Kew Bulletin, (1900), pp 8-12; Revue horticole. Ser 2, Vol. 3, April. 1844 March 1845, pp. 1-2.

39. Cf. TB (17.1.2) where it is related that the Devas and Asuras were engaged in conflict, whereupon the gods said to Agni, ‘We shall prevail with you as our champion” to which Agni replied, “I will transform myself into three aspects. He did so to the end that Agni because the first part, Rudra, the second and Varuna, the third.”

40. According to J Eggeling (SBE 43, p.157, n.1) the arka-leaf is substituted for the customary sacrificial ladle-perhaps, another feature of this rite that sets it apart from the rites customarily offered to deities other than Rudra. According to the scholiast on the VS, Mahidhara, in his gloss on XVI. 1, the priest offers oblations on each of the three fire-stones, holding the arka-leaf in his right hand and a piece of arka-wood in his left hand.

41. I have thus far been unable to discover any modern botanical studies of this species of grass.

42. The Mbh. (XIII 97.12) also dictates that offerings to Soma be presented in the north which is the location of somaloka (Cf. XIII 102.29) in agreement with SB VIII 6.1.8.

43. Cf. Ap.SS XVIII 11, 4: 1.c.

44. Those lines with double invocations are presented to the Rudras who are most ferocious and difficult to appease.

45. By this means the evil effects of Rudra’s presence are expelled from the three levels of the universe. See Katha Samhita 21.3 and Kapisthala Katha Samhita, which uses the ver avayajate, “he expels by sacrifice”.

46. Consult SB (VI 1.37 ff.) which relates the story of the birth of Rudra from the union of Prajapati and his wife’s sister, Usas. See also Sankh. Br. VI. 1

47. See Sayana’s commentary on Rg-veda 1 114.1 where he provides six different etymologies for the word “rudra”. He himself prefers the meaning derived from the Sanskrit root √rud =”to weep” and this interpretation has been adopted traditionally by Indian pandits as the most authoritative derivation.

48. Svaha, the oblation personified, is the daughter of Daksa (ritual dexterity) and the spouse of Agni (sacrificial fire) but in other contexts the wife of Rudra-Pasupati as well. See Monier-Williams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, (Oxford University Press, 1899), p.1284.

49. The “unstringing formulae” (VS XVI. 54-63) are recited as verbal counterparts to the corresponding oblation. See SB (IX 1.1.27 ff).

50. Notably, the studies of E. Arbman, A.B. Keith, A.A. Macdonell, et al.

51. Consult R C. Zaehner, Hinduism, (London, 1962), p.43. Even a scholar of the erudition and reputation of J. Gonda failed to stress the implications of the assertion that Rudra is an ambivalent and unpredictable deity. See Vishnuism and Sivaism, p.4

52. See Richard R. Niebhur, Experiential Religion, (New York: Harper and Row, 1972), pp. 77-106, from which I have drawn much of this interpretation of the concept of fear.

53. Compare Gautama, the Buddha’s doctrine of dukkha (=iII, imperfection, disease) which presents the same sense of ambiguity between fear and hope, anxiety and confidence as is expressed in Niebuhr’s statement.

54. Ibid., p 94.

55. A highly suggestive paper regarding “the use of multiple bodily parts to denote the divine”, has just come to my attention, but regrettably too late to be incorporated in the present study. For an elaboration of the same basic principle discussed in this paper, consult, Doris Srinivasan, “The Religious Significance of Multiple Bodily Parts of Denote the Divine: Finds from the Rig Veda” Asiatische Studien Etudes Asiatrques XXIX. 2, (1975), p. 137.79.