Editing Rudra (section)

==Rudra and Shiva==

[[File:ThreeHeadedShivaGandhara2ndCentury.jpg|upright|thumb|Three-headed Shiva, [[Gandhara]], 2nd century AD]]
[[Shiva]] as known today shares many features with Rudra,{{sfnp|Michaels|2004|pp=316}} and Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in [[Hindu texts|Hindu scriptures]]. The two names are used synonymously. Rudra, the god of the roaring storm, is usually portrayed in accordance with the element he represents as a fierce, destructive deity.{{sfnp|Flood|2003|p=73}}

The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the [[Rigveda|Rig Veda]], which is dated to between 1700 and 1100 BC based on [[Linguistics|linguistic]] and [[philology|philological]] evidence.<ref>For dating based on "cumulative evidence" see {{harvp|Oberlies|1998|p=158}}</ref> A god named Rudra is mentioned in the Rig Veda. The name Rudra is still used as a name for Shiva. In RV 2.33, he is described as the 'Father of the [[Rudras]]', a group of storm gods.{{sfnp|Doniger|1981|pp=221–3}}

Hymn 10.92 of the Rigveda states that the deity Rudra has two natures, one wild and cruel (''rudra''), and another that is kind and tranquil (''shiva'').{{sfnp|Kramrisch|1993|p=7}} The Vedic texts  mention a horse as the vehicle (''vahana'') of Rudra, the "Hero on horseback" that "should be indulgent" to the singer (RV. 2.33.1). Whereas post-Vedic texts such as the Mahabharata and the Puranas mention [[Nandi (mythology)|Nandi]] the bull and the [[zebu]] as the vehicles of Rudra and of Shiva, thereby unmistakably linking them as the same.{{sfnp|Kramrisch|1993|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O5BanndcIgUC&pg=PA14 p. 14–5]}}