Rudra emerged from Brahma's forehead like a flame of anger, and in him all the destructive forces and the most formidable and terrifying properties of the gods were embodied. Gloomy, fierce and lonely, he withdrew from everyone and settled in the deserted northern mountains, on Himavat. He was given power over the beasts, and therefore this god is also called Pashupati, the Lord of the beasts. In the guise of a wild hunter, dressed in skins, red, with blue-black hair tied in a knot, he wandered through the mountains and forests, armed with a black bow and arrows.
But he was granted power not only over animals, and not only in the mountains and forests of his abode. He is omnipresent, and all living things tremble before his terrible arrows, bringing disease and death. To protect himself from his anger, he is propitiated with prayers. He sends diseases to people and damage to livestock, but he is also a great healer, and he is merciful to those who beg him for mercy. Therefore, later people began to call him Shiva, which means the Merciful.
Daksha, the Lord of creatures, married one of his daughters, named Sati, to Rudra. But this union did not bind Daksha and the formidable god into friendship. One day, proud Daksha appeared in a meeting of gods and heavenly sages. When he entered there, everyone rose from their seats, respectfully greeting him; Only Brahma and Rudra remained sitting. Daksha was offended: “How could Rudra not give honor to me, the father of his wife!” And he harbored a grudge against his son-in-law.
They say that in those ancient times, at the end of the Golden Age, when virtue in the world was wavering, Daksha, the Lord of creatures, at the desire of the gods, instituted the first sacrifice to atone for sin. He arranged a sacrifice on the top of the great mountain Himavat, in the place where the sacred river Ganga originates and falls from the rocks into the valley, and he summoned the gods, the sons of Aditi, to it. But he did not call Rudra, not having any sympathy for him after that meeting in the meeting of the gods.
Having learned that Rudra was not left a share in the sacrifice, the virtuous Sati threw herself into the fire and burned herself, offended by the neglect shown by her father to her husband. Rudra was then overcome with great anger. He took his bow and went to where the gods were performing the ritual. When he appeared there, the earth shook, the mountains swayed, the wind stopped blowing and the fire stopped burning, the sun, moon and stars darkened, and the world was enveloped in darkness. The frightened gods fell on their faces. Rudra pierced the victim with an arrow, and she, turning into an antelope, rushed into the sky. There she became the constellation Mrigashirsha. To this day you can see in the night sky in the constellation Mrigashirsha the head of an antelope pierced by an arrow, and in the constellation Ardra - a wild hunter chasing it.
When the victim disappeared, the gods fainted from fear. The enraged Rudra attacked the sons of Aditi and with the end of his bow knocked out the teeth of the god Pushan, the keeper of roads and herds; Bhaga, the one who gives people a happy lot, he gouged out the eyes; Savitar, the god of sunlight, deprived him of his ray-like arms. Scattering in confusion in all directions, the gods raised such a cry that the string on Rudra's bow burst. Only then did they dare to approach him and began to beg him for mercy. The wise Brihaspati, the son of Angiras, the priest and mentor of the gods, managed to pacify the Merciful. Rudra threw his anger into the water, and his anger became fire, from which the water turned into steam. He returned Nushan's teeth, Bhaga's eyes, and
Savitar - hands. But they say that since then they have been sacrificing porridge to Pushan, that Bhaga, the god of good fortune, is blind, and that new, golden hands were attached to Savitar by his brother Tvashtar, a divine master, a skilled creator of many extraordinary things; and these hands - golden rays - Savitar still stretches in the morning over the universe. They also say that when the angry Rudra was beating the gods, he cut off the head of Daksha himself and then they could not find it, no matter how they looked, and they had to put the head of a goat on Daksha.
Rudra then said to Brahma: “You created me before these gods. Why were they given a share in the sacrifice, but not me?” And Brahma commanded that from now on both gods and asuras should make sacrifices to Rudra, praise and honor him.
Some people talk about Daksha's sacrifice differently. They say that the victim then was the Lord of Creatures himself, whom the gods wanted to punish for a grave sin. He pursued his own daughter, the beautiful Rohini, with unholy advances, and one day, turning into a goat, he entered into a criminal relationship with her, who took the form of an antelope. The gods themselves called Rudra to punish the unheard-of sinner; and for this act Rudra demanded for himself power over beasts and cattle. Others say that Rudra himself was born from that incestuous relationship. But these are very ancient legends, forgotten in ancient times.
The great god Rudra was menacing and terrible, and so were his offspring. Everywhere he was followed by a terrible army of his fiends - the Rudras, with the appearance of snakes. Hissing, screaming, howling wildly, they rushed through the forests in search of prey. Obeying the will of Rudra, harmful spirits came from dense forests and mountains to human habitation, bringing misfortunes, sending pestilence to people and their livestock.
Others were his sons Maruts, gods of the storm. Once upon a time, Rudra, turning into a bull, married the Earth, who took the form of a spotted cow, and from this marriage three times seven sons, powerful and beautiful, were born. Although their father was Rudra, they became the squad of Indra, who loved them as his own children. In golden armor and helmets, with fiery lightning in their hands, the Maruts set off on a campaign in sparkling chariots drawn by sika deer, and, furious as stormy winds, they rushed across the sky, covering the eye of the sun. And the mountains shook and the forests bowed in fear before them as they accompanied Indra in his battles with the asuras and monsters.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru