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17. SAIVISM
CHAPTER 17
SAIVISM
It is difficult to explain the appearance of Saiva cult without the assumption of Thomas ministry all through India.
We know for certain that Siva was not a Vedic god. Attempts were made to make him into a Vedic god by equating Siva with the angry god Rudra.
Rudra as Pre-Siva
The etymology of the word rudra has taken scholars into all sorts of wild chase. The Persian/Sanskrit word Rudr is given normally to mean "howler". "angry" "fierce" and is generally applied to the storm which was feared by the early nomads. It is a destructive nature force. Thus at least in the Vedic period Rudra simply meant "the Wild One" or "the Fierce God" or the "Terrible" The famous hymn, Shri Rudram is a Vedic chant that is still chanted today. According to Adi Sankara's commentary on the Vishnu sahasranama, Rudra means "One who makes all beings cry at the time of cosmic
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