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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 562 of 1027

Mandala 7: HYMN XLVI. Rudra.

1.To Rudra bring these songs, whose bow is firm and strong, the self-dependent God with swiftly-flying shafts, The Wise, the Conqueror whom none may overcome, armed with sharp-pointed weapons: may he hear our call.

2.He through his lordship thinks on beings of the earth, on heavenly beings through his high imperial sway. Come willingly to our doors that gladly welcome thee, and heal all sickness, Rudra., in our families.

3.May thy bright arrow which, shot down by thee from heaven, flieth upon the earth, pass us uninjured by. Thou, very gracious God, hast thousand medicines: inflict no evil on our sons or progeny.

4.Slay us not, nor abandon us, O Rudra let not thy noose, when thou art angry, seize us. Give us trimmed grass and fame among the living. Preserve us evermore, ye Gods, with blessings.

Asked of Guide

Why do the singers ask Rudra both to heal and to refrain from killing?

The hymn treats Rudra as a powerful, unpredictable deity whose arrows and noose can wound or cure; the singers appeal to his dual capacity by asking him to “heal all sickness” and to “inflict no evil on our sons.” They frame Rudra’s violence and medicine as two faces of the same agency and seek to steer his action toward protection.

This approach appears across the Vedic corpus where fear of divine force is met by supplication for favor; compare the Rig Veda’s broader theme in Mandala 1 where petitioners request both mercy and blessing from storm-deities. The plea for trimmed grass and fame shows they want ordinary welfare and social recognition, secured by Rudra’s goodwill.

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