RUDRAS – A troublesome class of gods, storm gods

 

RUDRAS There are different versions of the number and names of the Rudras. A popular version was that the Rudras were born to Aditi. That would make them adityas (demigods). In the Puranas there were more than eleven Rudras—and they dif­fered in name and number. The eleven Rudras mentioned in the Mahabharata are Mrugavadhe, Nirrti, Ahirbudhnya, Pinaki, Sarpa, Ajaikapat, Dahana, Isivara, Kapali, Bharga, and Sthanu. In the Vishnu Purana the names of the eleven Rudras are Hara, Bahurupa, Tryambaka, Aparajita, Vrishakapi, Sambhu, Kapardi, Raivata, Mrugavadhe, Sarva, and Kapali. Some of these names later became part of the incarnations of Vishnu or the manifestations of Siva. Hanuman was called the eleventh Rudra by several Puranas.

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