Rudra in the context of "Sadasiva"

Shaivism (/ˈʃaɪvɪzəm/; Sanskrit: शैवसंप्रदायः, romanized: Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu religious traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect, after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia predominantly in India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. The followers of Shaivism are called Shaivas or Shaivites.

According to Chakravarti, Shaivism developed as an amalgam of pre-Aryan religions and traditions, Vedic Rudra, and post-Vedic traditions, accommodating local traditions and Yoga, puja and bhakti. According to Bisschop, early shaivism is rooted in the worship of the vedic deity Rudra. The earliest evidence for sectarian Rudra-Shiva worship appears with the Pasupata (early CE), possibly owing to the Hindu synthesis, when many local traditions were aligned with the Vedic-Brahmanical fold. The Pāśupata movement rapidly expanded throughout North India, giving rise to different forms of Shaivism, which led to the emergence of various tantric traditions. Both devotional and monistic Shaivism became popular in the 1st millennium CE, rapidly becoming the dominant religious tradition of many Hindu kingdoms. It arrived in Southeast Asia shortly thereafter, leading to the construction of thousands of Shaiva temples on the islands of Indonesia as well as Cambodia and Vietnam, co-evolving with Buddhism in these regions.

The Atharvashiras Upanishad (Sanskrit: अथर्वसिरस् उपनिषत्) is a Sanskrit text that is one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism. It is among the 31 Upanishads associated with the Atharvaveda. It is classified as a Shaiva Upanishad focussed on god Rudra.

The Upanishad is notable for asserting that all gods are Rudra, everyone and everything is Rudra, and Rudra is the principle found in all things, their highest goal, the innermost essence of all reality that is visible or invisible. Rudra is Atman and Brahman, and in the heart. Rudra's symbol is Om, states the text, he can be realized by abandoning anger and lust, and through silence alone. The text is known for its monism (Advaita), and was quoted extensively by the German philosopher Hegel.

Rudras refer to the forms of the god Rudra, whose traditions have since been associated with lord Shiva. They make up eleven of the thirty-three gods in the Vedic pantheon. They are at times identified with the storm deities referred to as Maruts, while at other times considered distinct from them.

While the Vamana Purana describes Rudras as the sons of Kashyapa and Aditi, Maruts are described distinct from the Rudras as the 49 sons of Diti, sister of Aditi, and the attendants of Indra, rather than Rudra.

Shri Rudram (Sanskrit: श्रीरुद्रम् IAST: śrī-rudram), is a Vedic mantra or chant in homage to Rudra (an epithet of Shiva) taken from the Krishna Yajurveda's Taittiriya Samhita (TS 4.5, 4.7). In Shukla Yajurveda, it is found in Chapters 16 and 18. It is composed of two parts: the Namakam and Chamakam. Chamakam (Sanskrit: चमकम्) is added by scriptural tradition to the Shri Rudram. The text is important in Shaivism, where Shiva is viewed as the Parabrahman. The hymn is an early example of enumerating the names of a deity.

Shri Rudram is also famous for its mention of the Shaivite holy mantra Namah Shivaya, which appears in the text of the Śatarudrīya in the eighth anuvāka of Taittiriya Samhita (TS 4.5.8.1). In Shukla Yajurveda it is found in chapter 16, verse 41. It also contains the mantra Aum namo bhagavate rudraya and the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra.