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17. SAIVISM
Bhairava is also said by some to be a gambler's deity. R.N Saletore (1981) recounts the following prayer addressed to Bhairava, by a gambler:
"I adore thee that sittest naked with thy head resting on thy knee; thy moon, thy bull and thy elephany-skin having been won at play by Devi. When the gods give all powers at thy mere desire and when thou art free from longings, having for thy only possession the matted locks, the ashes and the skull, how canst thou suddenly have become avaricious with regard to hapless me in that thou desirest to disappoint me for a small gain? Of a truth, the wishing tree no longer gratifies the hopes of the poor, as thou dost not support me, Lord Bhairava, though thou supportest the world..
Thou hast three eyes, I have three dice, so I am like thee in one respect; thou hast ashes on thy body, so have I, thou eatest from a skull, so do I, show me mercy.
three slice, so dor; show
In the Prabodha Chandrodaya, the following words are attributed to a wizard of the Kapalikas:
"My necklace and ornaments are of human bones; I dwell among the ashes of the dead and eat my food in human skulls. I look with eyes brightened with the antinomy of Yoga, and believe that the parts of this world are reciprocally different, but that the whole is not different from God. ... After fasting we drink liquor out of the skulls of Brahmans; our sacred fires are fed with the brains and lungs of men mixed up with their flesh, and human beings covered with the fresh blood gushing from the dreadful wound in their throats, are the offerings by which we appease the terrible god (Maha Bhairava)."
Kulanarva Tantra:
"The adept should drink, drink and drink again until he falls to the ground. If he gets up and drinks again, he will be freed from rebirth. His happiness enchants the goddess, Lord Bhairava delights in his swooning, his vomiting pleases all the gods.".
These were probably developed to ridicule the powerful growth of early Saivism which emphasized love and unity by representing them as vulgar. Evidently these are remnants of the local village gods and their perversions. It is normal for common people to bring with them their own concepts of the gods whom they feared. Rudra evidently does not represent Siva in this respect as Saivites would expound them. Siva has nothing to do with such ideas of Rudra. What is surprising is that these stories still prevail in Puranas.
The identification of Shiva with the older god Rudra is however not universally accepted in the academic circles either, as Axel Michaels explains:
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