Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 2.5
॥
Devanāgarī
उद्यन्तमादित्यमभिध्यायन्नुद्धूलिताङ्गं कृत्वा यथास्थानं भस्मना त्रिपुण्ड्रं श्वेतेनैव रुद्राक्षाञ्छ्वेतान्बिभृयात्
Transliteration (IAST)
udyantamādityamabhidhyāyannuddhūlitāṅgaṃ kṛtvā yathāsthānaṃ bhasmanā tripuṇḍraṃ śvetenaiva rudrākṣāñchvetānbibhṛyāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
उद्यन्तम् आदित्यम् अभिध्यायन्udyantam ādityam abhidhyāyanmeditating on the rising sun
उद्धूलित-अङ्गं कृत्वाuddhūlita-aṅgaṃ kṛtvāhaving rubbed the body
यथा-स्थानं भस्मना त्रिपुण्ड्रंyathā-sthānaṃ bhasmanā tripuṇḍraṃin the proper places, with ash, the tripuṇḍra
श्वेतेन एव रुद्राक्षान् श्वेतान् बिभृयात्śvetena eva rudrākṣān śvetān bibhṛyātwith white [beads], let him wear white rudrākṣa
Translation
«Meditating on the rising sun, having rubbed the body, [applying] the tripuṇḍra with ash in the proper places, white — let him wear white rudrākṣa».
Version
fda31718805f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Rudrākṣa, «Rudra's eyes» — the seeds of a tree from which beads are made — are named, and a whole book in this collection will be devoted to them (Muktikā 88). Worth noting the requirement: śveta, «white». The ash is white, the rudrākṣas are white; and the whole attire comes out white.
This color in Indian custom is the color of purity and renunciation; and renunciants wear white or ochre. Hence the prescription. Worth saying something about the beads themselves too, for this subject is shared by every tradition. Beads are a counting instrument: repetitions are counted by them. And that almost every tradition has independently devised them shows how widespread the need to count spiritual labor is.
Vaishnava beads are made from the tulasī wood, and their number is a hundred and eight. The difference in material is explained the same way the difference in marks is: one side takes the wood of Rudra, the other a plant that is offered to Viṣṇu. Separately worth mentioning the word abhidhyāyan, «meditating», applied to the sun. The rising sun is meditated upon, not worshipped; and this distinction exists in the rite: the sun is bowed to, but it is not the subject of the book. Here it is time, not the goal: it is used to determine the hour.