[Advaita-l] Vayu purana calls Rudra's manifestation as 'Avatara'

[V Subrahmanian]

A few aspects about the greatness of Rudra in the Vayumaha purana



At the beginning of the Purana, a brief description of the content of the
purana is given.
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अवतारश्च रुद्रस्य द्विजानुग्रहकारणात् ।।१७५।।
Here, the manifestation of Rudra has been stated to be 'avatara.' This is
noteworthy in the context of some bigoted vaishnavas have tried to portray
this very incident to be a 'miserable birth' of Rdura :-)

ब्रह्मनारायणाभ्याञ्च यत्र स्तोत्रं प्रकीर्त्तितम्।
स्तुतस्ताभ्यां स देवेशस्तुतोष भगवान् शिवः ।।६६।।
Brahma and Narayana do a stuti of Rudra and the latter is pleased.
प्रादुर्भावोऽथ रुद्रस्य ब्रह्मणोऽङ्गे महात्मनः।
कीर्त्त्यते नाम हेतुश्च यथाऽरोदीन्महामनाः ।।६७।।
The manifestation of Rudra in Brahma's form/body, the 'weeping' of Rudra,
and Brahma giving 8 names to Rudra:

रुद्रादीनि यथा ह्यष्टौ नामान्याप्नोत् स्वयम्भुवः।
यथा च तैर्व्याप्रतमिदं त्रैलोक्यं सचराचरम् ।।६८।।
By these names and those very cosmic forms, Rudra is pervading the entire
creation. This is mentioned in the Shathapatha Brahmanam, Shiva Puranam and
many other texts. The ninth shloka of the Sridakshinamurti stotram and
Kalidasa's verse, etc. may be recalled.
The Vayu Purana goes on to describe in detail the 'Lingodbhava' incident
where Brahma and Narayana endeavored to find out the limits of this
unsurpassed Effulgence. This is in the 55th Chapter:

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This incident is recorded in many other Puranas and texts. The verses are
easy enough.
Om Tat Sat