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O Maruts, you have given us wealth of cows, horses, chariots, and heroes, golden wealth! O men of Rudra, bestow on us great praise, and may I enjoy your divine protection! Hark, O heroes, O Maruts! Be gracious to us! You who are of great bounty, immortal, righteous, truly listening to us, poets, young, dwelling on mighty mountains, and grown mighty.
"Slay us not, for thou art gracious," and so the Destroyer comes to be the Gracious One. It has been suggested that the name Śiva is connected with the Tamil word çivappu red and also that Rudra means not the roarer but the red or shining one. These etymologies seem to me possible but not proved. But Rudra is different in character from the other gods of the Ṛig Veda.
"Markandeya continued, 'Now hear of those terrible and curious-looking followers of Skanda. Those children adopted Visakha as their father. Those persons who desire to have sons born to them, worship in their places the powerful Rudra in the form of the Fire-god, and Uma in the form of Swaha. And by that means they are blessed with sons.
At their approach, even the earth opened wide, and they placed their own strength as a husband the germ. Indeed they have harnessed the winds as horses to the yoke, and the men of Rudra have changed their sweat into rain. Hark, O heroes, O Maruts! Be gracious to us!
Ask now the boon that thou, O king, desirest. Hearing these words of Rudra of immeasurable energy, the royal sage bowed unto that deity and replied, saying, 'O illustrious one, O thou that art worshipped by the three worlds, if thou hast been gratified with me, then, O god of gods, assist me thyself, O lord of the celestials, in my sacrifice! Hearing these words spoken by the monarch, the illustrious god was gratified, and smilingly said, 'We do not ourselves assist at sacrifices: but as thou, O king, hast undergone severe penances, desirous of obtaining a boon, I will, O chastiser of foes, assist at thy sacrifice, upon, O king, this condition. And Rudra continued, 'If, O king of kings, thou canst, for twelve years, pour without intermission libations of clarified butter into the fire, thyself leading all the while the life of a Brahmacharin with rapt attention, then thou shalt obtain from me what thou askest. King Swetaki, thus addressed by Rudra, did all that he was directed to do by the wielder of the trident.
Driven off by an exclamation of Hun which Narayana uttered, the dart, its energy being lost, returned to Sankara's hands. At this, Rudra became highly angry and as the result thereof he rushed towards the Rishis Nara and Narayana, endued with the puissance of severe austerities. Narayana then seized the rushing Rudra with his hand by the throat.
He sometimes pierced a hundred warriors with one shaft, and sometimes one warrior with a hundred shafts. Like the great Rudra destroying creatures, he slew elephant-riders and car-warriors with steeds and drivers. None amongst thy troops ventured to advance against Satyaki who was displaying such lightness of hand and who showered such clouds of shafts.
All this must be accomplished as a religious duty, and is full of entangled rites. The father of the little boy has to put the horoscope on the altar before the family gods and to answer: "I am well disposed towards the Panigrhana; let Rudra help us." The Guru must ask when the union is to take place, after which he is bowed out.
And, O strong-armed god, all the gods will yield their allegiance to thee." And Rudra returned to Bhadravata, and the celestials too returned to their respective abodes. And Rudra spoke, addressing the gods, "Ye must render allegiance to Skanda just as ye do unto me."
And seeing that Rakshasa obstructing all his weapons, the son of Drona speedily pacified by worship the three-eyed Rudra. And then accompanied by Kritavarman and Kripa he slew all the sons of Draupadi, all the Panchalas with Dhrishtadyumna and others, together with their relatives, slumbering unsuspectingly in the night.
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