2. Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā (a): Physical appearance of Rudra

In connection with the personification of Rudra, the physical characteristics of Rudra are described very delightfully in the Vājasaneyisaṃhitā of the Yajurveda.

In the Vājasaneyisaṃhitā, Rudra is said to be copper-coloured^[1], Hiraṇyabāhu or one who wears golden ornaments on his hands and Harikeśa or one who possesses green-coloured hair.^[2] Uvaṭa makes him the possessor of redcoloured hair and according to Mahīdhara, he has blue-coloured hair.^[3] He is called Nīlagrīva or the colour of his neck is blue and Śitikaṇṭha or his throat is white.^[4] He has thousand eyes. For that reason he is called Sahasrākṣa.^[5] Again in another mantra of the Vājasaneyisaṃhitā, Rudra is called Tryambaka.^[6]

Mahīdhara explains the term tryambaka as:

tryambakaṃ netratrayopetaṃ rudram

Or, Rudra who has three eyes.^[7] He is Nīlalohita.^[8] Mahīdhara remarks that kaṇṭhe nīlo’nyatra lohitaḥ.^[9] It means he is blue-necked and red elsewhere. His physical appearance is ascribed with a number of contradictory epithets. Like, he is mentioned as Kapardin or one with braided hair. At the same time, he is called Vyuptakeśa or shaven-haired.^[10] He is invoked as Hrasva or short, Vāmana or dwarf, Varṣīyas or adult,^[11] Jyeṣṭha or eldest, Kaniṣṭha or youngest, Pūrvaja or first-born as well as Aparaja or last-born and he is also the Madhyama or middlemost.^[12] But Sāyaṇācārya does not accept the meaning of jyeṣṭha and kaniṣṭha like this. Sāyaṇācārya takes the term jyeṣṭha as one who has great excellence in the sphere of knowledge and wealth, etc.—vidyaiśvaryādibhiradhiko jyeṣṭhaḥ and one who has less knowledge and wealth as kaniṣṭha—tadrahito’lpaḥ kaniṣṭhaḥ.^[13] He wears a turban on his head^[14] and his attire is made of skin.^[15] He puts a helmet on his head, a kavac or cuirass and varma or armour on his body as well as a varūtha on his hands.^[16] Varūtha means metallic cover or a bracelet which is worn over hands.

Here, in his commentary Uvaṭa explains the term varūtha as:

hastina upari gṛhākāraḥ koṣṭakaḥ.^[17]

Mahīdhara points out that varma and kavac are not the same. He remarks that—

patasyūtaṃ karpāsagarbhaṃ deharakṣakaṃ kavacam and lohamayaṃ śarīrarakṣakaṃ varmam.^[18]

Kavaca means a cover made of thread and cloth, etc. and varma means an iron cover which is worn over body. Veneration is paid to Rudra who is said to be Varmin, Kavacin, Vilmin, Varūthin as well as Uṣnīṣin. Rudra’s physical appearance as a warrior is delineated by the above mentioned attributes.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā,16.18

[2]:

…namo namo vṛkṣebhyo harikeśebhyaḥ…|| Ibid., 16.17

[3]:

Uvaṭa and Mahīdhara, Ibid.

[4]:

namo nīlagrīvāya ca śitikaṇṭhāya ca || Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā, 16.28

[5]:

namo’stu nīlagrīvāya sahasrākṣāya mīḍhuṣe | Ibid., 16.8

[6]:

tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭivardhanam | urvārukamiva bandhanānmṛtyormukṣīya mā’mṛtāt | tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ pativedanam | urvārukamiva bandhanādito mukṣīya māmutaḥ || Ibid., 3.60

[7]:

Mahīdhara, Ibid., 3.60

[8]:

Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā, 16.47

[9]:

Mahīdhara, Ibid.

[10]:

namaḥ kapardine ca vyuptakeśāya ca namaḥ…|| Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā, 16.29

[11]:

namo hrasvāya ca vāmanāya ca namo bṛhate ca varṣīyase ca...|| Ibid., 16.30

[12]:

namo jyeṣṭhāya ca kaniṣṭhāya ca namaḥ pūrvajāya cāparajāya ca namo madhyamāya…|| Ibid., 16.32

[13]:

Sāyaṇa on Taittirīya-saṃhitā, 4.5.6.1

[14]:

nama uṣṇīṣiṇe giricarāya kuluñcānāṃ pataye namo...|| Vājasaneyi-saṃhitā, 16.22

[15]:

(a) avatatadhanvā pinākāvasaḥ kṛttivāsā ahiṃsannaḥ śivo’tīhi || Ibid., 3.61 (b) parame vṛkṣe āyudhaṃ nidhāya kṛttiṃ vasāna ācara pinākaṃ bibhradāgahi || Ibid., 16.51

[16]:

namo vilmine ca kavacine ca namo varmiṇe ca varūthine ca...|| Ibid., 16.35

[17]:

Uvaṭa, Ibid.

[18]:

Mahīdhara, Ibid.