The Pashupati seal

The Pashupati seal

Seal discovered at Mohenjodaro shows a seated figure surrounded by animals.

A seal discovered during the excavation of Mohenjo-daro has drawn attention as a possible representation of a "proto-Shiva" figure.^[31] This Pashupati (Lord of animal-like beings)^[32] seal shows a seated figure, possibly ithyphallic, surrounded by animals.^[33] Sir John Marshall and others have claimed that this figure is a prototype of Shiva and have described the figure as having three faces seated in a "yoga posture" with the knees out and feet joined. However, this claim is not without its share of critics, with some academics like Gavin Flood^[31][34] and John Keay characterizing them as unfounded.^[35]

[edit] Rudra

Main article: Rudra

Three-headed Shiva, Gandhara, 2nd century CE

Shiva as we know him today shares many features with the Vedic god Rudra,^[36] and both Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in a number of Hindu traditions. Rudra, the god of the roaring storm, is usually portrayed in accordance with the element he represents as a fierce, destructive deity.
The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rig Veda, which is dated to between 1700 and 1100 BCE based on linguistic and philological evidence.^[37] A god named Rudra is mentioned in the Rig Veda. The name Rudra is still used as a name for Shiva. In RV 2.33, he is described as the "Father of the Maruts", a group of storm gods.^[38] Furthermore, the Rudram, one of the most sacred hymns of Hinduism found both in the Rig and the Yajur Vedas and addressed to Rudra, invokes him as Shiva in several instances, but the term Shiva is used as a epithet for Indra, Mitra and Agni many times.
The identification of Shiva with the older god Rudra is not universally accepted, as Axel Michaels explains:
Rudra is called "The Archer" (Sanskrit: Śarva),^[39] and the arrow is an essential attribute of Rudra.^[40] This name appears in the Shiva Sahasranama, and R. K. Sharma notes that it is used as a name of Shiva often in later languages.^[41] The word is derived from the Sanskrit root śarv-, which means "to injure" or "to kill",^[42] and Sharma uses that general sense in his interpretive translation of the name Śarva as "One who can kill the forces of darkness".^[41] The names Dhanvin ("Bowman")^[43] and Bāṇahasta ("Archer", literally "Armed with arrows in his hands")^[43][44] also refer to archery.

[edit] Identification with Vedic deities

Shiva's rise to a major position in the pantheon was facilitated by his identification with a host of Vedic deities, including Agni, Indra, Prajāpati, Vāyu, and others.^[45]

[edit] Agni

Rudra and Agni have a close relationship.^[46][47] The identification between Agni and Rudra in the Vedic literature was an important factor in the process of Rudra's gradual development into the later character as Rudra-Shiva.^[48] The identification of Agni with Rudra is explicitly noted in the Nirukta, an important early text on etymology, which says, "Agni is called Rudra also."^[49] The interconnections between the two deities are complex, and according to Stella Kramrisch:

The fire myth of Rudra-Śiva plays on the whole gamut of fire, valuing all its potentialities and phases, from conflagration to illumination.^[50]

In the Śatarudrīa, some epithets of Rudra, such as Sasipañjara ("Of golden red hue as of flame") and Tivaṣīmati ("Flaming bright"), suggest a fusing of the two deities.^[51] Agni is said to be a bull,^[52] and Lord Shiva possesses a bull as his vehicle, Nandi. The horns of Agni, who is sometimes characterized as a bull, are mentioned.^[53][54] In medieval sculpture, both Agni and the form of Shiva known as Bhairava have flaming hair as a special feature.^[55]

[edit] Indra

According to a theory, the Puranic Shiva is a continuation of the Vedic Indra.^[56] He gives several reasons for his hypothesis. Both Shiva and Indra are known for having a thirst for Soma. Both are associated with mountains, rivers, male fertility, fierceness, fearlessness, warfare, transgression of established mores, the Aum sound, the Supreme Self. In the Rig Veda the term śiva is used to refer to Indra. (2.20.3,^[57] 6.45.17,^[58][59] and 8.93.3.^[60]) Indra, like Shiva, is likened to a bull.^[61][62] In the Rig Veda, Rudra is the father of the Maruts, but he is never associated with their warlike exploits as is Indra.^[63]