Shloka 7
यन्निर्दहति यत्तीक्ष्णो यदुग्रो यत् प्रतापवान् | मांसशोणितमज्जादो यत् ततो रुद्र उच्यते
yan nirdahati yat tīkṣṇo yad ugro yat pratāpavān | māṃsa-śoṇita-majjādo yat tato rudra ucyate ||
Wika ni Vāyu: “Sapagkat sinusunog niya ang lahat ng nilalang, sapagkat siya’y labis na matalim at mabagsik, sapagkat siya’y makapangyarihan sa lakas, at sapagkat—gaya ng apoy ng pagkalusaw—nilalamon niya maging ang laman, dugo, at utak-buto, kaya siya’y tinatawag na ‘Rudra.’”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse explains a traditional name-derivation: ‘Rudra’ is so called because of his overwhelming, destructive potency—burning, fierce, and all-consuming like the cosmic fire at dissolution. It frames divine terror not as cruelty but as a cosmic function of dissolution and transformation.
Vāyu is describing Rudra by listing defining attributes—burning power, sharpness, fierceness, and irresistible might—and concludes that these qualities are the reason for the epithet ‘Rudra.’ The passage functions as a theological characterization within Anuśāsana Parva’s discourse material.