The Ashtamurti incarnations of Lord Shiva have been discussed extensively here, here and here. These were the eight forms through which Lord Shiva entered eight places after Pradurbhava from Brahmaji.
I would like to know about whether these forms are Lord Shiva himself or whether these Rudras are kalas of Shiva who attached to the jivatmas aka the adhishthata devatas like Vivasvan (Surya), Vayu, etc.
If they’re Lord Shiva himself there would be dissonance in certain things like Budha being the son of Rudramurti Chandra, rather than Atreya Chandra (who had an affair with Brihaspati’s wife Tara to produce Budha).
If they are just kalas of Lord shiva, what exactly are the Ashtamurtis? What is their form? How do they look? You need a murtiman form of an Ashtamurti for him to be able to produce Hanumanji with Anjana Devi as described in the Ramayana.
Note: One of the linked answers above mentions them as inner power.
While going by the inner power logic, we need to consider the fact that these elements were created from Purusha before Rudra Pradurbhava, as the Purusha Suktam says:
श्रोत्राद्वायुश्च प्राणश्च मुखादग्निराजायत॥१२॥
from the years were born Vayu and Prana. From his mouth was generated fire.
Here it seems as if they are already endowed with their inner power as power is considered inseparable from the main element. Why would they need to be re-given their inner power after Rudra Pradurbhava. And then there is no murtiman form by which Hanumanji can be produced.
Please note this is not a duplicate of : [What are the Ashtamurti forms of Lord Shiva]
