Rudra: The Idea of Shiva

by Nilima Chitgopekar

New

Genres: Mythology, Spirituality

188 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2007

About the author

Nilima Chitgopekar is an associate professor in the department of history at Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University. She has many books and several articles and essays on Hindu gods and other related matters. She has been the recipient of prestigious fellowships from the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, the Charles Wallace India Trust and USIS, and has lectured widely in India and overseas.

Chitgopekar has also worked with the BBC and been featured in their documentaries and radio programmes. More recently, in her attempt to take Hindu mythology to a far larger audience, she has been involved in making several online films of her lectures, which have sold worldwide.

Reviews

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

This is an excellent book, one I am grateful for.

It tells the story of Shiva from the perspectives of Vishnu, Sati, Skanda, Parvati and Ganesha and then fills in with commentary explaining the theological, historical and philosophical underpinnings of these stories. In the process, it conveys a nuanced, diverse understanding of this most protean of Hindu gods and affords aesthetic delights as Chitgopekar assumes the voices of these mythic figures. However, I did feel that the style in those sections sometimes fell short of the poetry of the stories they sought to convey; but I am a big style junkie. I also wish this book had been even longer. It is a truly precious thing to have been given insight into my culture without being beaten over the head with a doctrinaire stick.

[Tim Edison]

The mythology of Shiva brings to a conscious level the fundamental cultural quandary of choosing between living in the social world, which includes certain commitments and the performance of familial duty and enjoyment of sensual pleasure, and the path of renunciation, which rejects the world and denies sexuality and procreation in order to attain spiritual salvation. (P.153)

[Deepthi Cm]

Furnished by Nandalal Bose's incredible painiting serving as the book cover, Rudra is an incredibly well researched and well summarised prose aiming to educate its audience on the various attributes of Rudra aka Shiva, both as a human and God, with a strong emphasis on the theme of duality, which the author implores, is the true nature of Shiva; the renouncer and enjoyer.

Even though the author speaks of Shiva through the eyes of five of his closest companions, the take away message for me was to interpret the existence of Shiva, not as a God or a mortal, but as a concept, both spiritual and animalistic in nature and one that reconciles the two.

[CHRISTOPHER MARTIN]

Wonderful summary of the developmental arc of a godhead.

[Pri]

5 stars for the writing. Phenomenal writing style. Rest are for the coherence and how it’s been put together.

[Shreyas]

Excellent!! scholarly interpretation of the myths and rituals in philosophical as well as scientific terms.The book the dated than Amish's shiva trilogy still connects with the same line of thought. Must read for the 'Jigyaasi' :)

[Sunaina Chaturvedi]

Highly interesting to see the evolution of the thought process of the Idea of Rudra from the Vedic to the Puranic times.

[frogbear]

3.5 Smart, sensitive. I would've liked a little more depth into the philosophy bits from a Shiva POV but that's okay. I enjoyed this book!