Editing Rudra (section)

===Epithets of fierceness and fright===
In the Rigveda, Rudra's role as a frightening god is apparent in references to him as ''ghora'' ('extremely terrifying'), or simply as ''asau devam'' ('that god').{{sfnp|Flood|2003|p=73}} He is 'fierce like a terrific wild beast' (RV 2.33.11).{{sfnp|Arya|Joshi|2001|loc=vol. 2, p. 81}} Chakravarti sums up the perception of Rudra by saying: 'Rudra is thus regarded with a kind of cringing fear, as a deity whose wrath is to be deprecated and whose favor curried'.{{sfnp|Chakravarti|1994|p=8}}

RV 1.114 is an appeal to Rudra for mercy, where he is referred to as 'mighty Rudra, the god with braided hair'.{{sfnp|Doniger|1981|pp=224-5}}

In [[Mandala 7|RV 7]].46, Rudra is described as armed with a bow and fast-flying arrows, although many other weapons are known to exist. As quoted by R. G. Bhandarkar, the hymn declare that Rudra discharges 'brilliant shafts which run about the heaven and the earth' (RV 7.46.3), which may be a reference to lightning.<ref name=Bhandarkar1995_146>{{harvp|Bhandarkar|1995|p=146}}.</ref>

Rudra was believed to cure diseases, and when people recovered from them or were free of them, that too was attributed to the agency of Rudra.{{r|Bhandarkar1995_146}} He is asked not to afflict children with disease (RV 7.46.2) and to keep villages free of illness (RV 1.114.1). He is said to have healing remedies (RV 1.43.4), as the best physician of physicians (RV 2.33.4), and as possessed of a thousand medicines (RV 7.46.3). So he is described with an alternative name, '''Vaidyanatha''' (Lord of Remedies).