Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 1.1
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ जाबालो भुसुण्डः कैलासशिखरावासमोंकारस्वरूपिणं महादेवमुमार्धकृतशेखरं सोमसूर्याग्निनयनमनन्तेन्दुरविप्रभं
Transliteration (IAST)
atha jābālo bhusuṇḍaḥ kailāsaśikharāvāsamoṃkārasvarūpiṇaṃ mahādevamumārdhakṛtaśekharaṃ somasūryāgninayanamanantenduraviprabhaṃ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ जाबालः भुसुण्डःatha jābālaḥ bhusuṇḍaḥthen Jābāla Bhusuṇḍa
कैलास-शिखर-आवासम्kailāsa-śikhara-āvāsamdwelling on the peak of Kailāsa
ओंकार-स्वरूपिणं महादेवम्oṃkāra-svarūpiṇaṃ mahādevamMahādeva, having the form of «om»
उमा-अर्ध-कृत-शेखरंumā-ardha-kṛta-śekharaṃwho made Umā half of his crest
सोम-सूर्य-अग्नि-नयनम्soma-sūrya-agni-nayanamwhose eyes are the moon, the sun, and fire
Translation
«Hari, om. Then Jābāla Bhusuṇḍa — Mahādeva, dwelling on the peak of Kailāsa, having the form of «om», who made Umā half of his crest, whose eyes are the moon, the sun, and fire…»
Version
d27417460598 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The book opens with a description of the form, and this description will take three lines before the question is asked. The arrangement is worth noting: first the one addressed is described, then the question is asked. This order is constant in the upaniṣads and was discussed when reading Devī (4): three lines of description and one line of action.
The questioner is Bhusuṇḍa, and it is worth saying who this is. In the Yoga-vāsiṣṭha he is an ancient crow living on the wish-tree on Meru, who has survived many dissolutions of the world and therefore knows more than the gods. Here he is called Jābāla, of the line of Jābāla.
The subject of the book is bhasma, «ash», and tripuṇḍra, the three horizontal lines that Śaivas draw on the forehead. Let me say in advance where the reader is going. This is a Śaiva book, and moreover a ritual one: almost the whole of it concerns what to make ash from, how to consecrate it, where to apply it, and what befalls the one who does not. There are two sides to how one relates to it, and both should be named at once.
The Vaishnava side does not smear itself with ash and does not wear the tripuṇḍra; it has its own mark — ūrdhva-puṇḍra, vertical lines applied with clay. To argue over whose mark is better would be to do exactly what this very literature forbids (Rudra-hṛdaya 6–7). But the custom of a mark itself is shared; and why people mark themselves will be discussed in its place.