Minor deity in Vedic religion, generally associated with terrible or destructive natural forces, but also with various benevolent aspects. Rudra is thus generally characterised by the coexistence of malevolent and protective powers. In some Vedic texts, Rudra is described with the adjective shiva, meaning ‘auspicious’. As various non-Aryan cults were assimilated into Brahmanism, Rudra was identified with various cult deities with similar aspects — the resultant composite deity then came to be known as Shiva in the first millennium BCE.