Upanishads · Rudrākṣajābāla 1.15
॥
Devanāgarī
तदक्षममुत्तमं विद्यात्तद्धार्यं शिवपूजकैः । शिखायामेकरुद्राक्षं त्रिशतं शिरसा वहेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
tadakṣamamuttamaṃ vidyāttaddhāryaṃ śivapūjakaiḥ | śikhāyāmekarudrākṣaṃ triśataṃ śirasā vahet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् अक्षम् उत्तमं विद्यात्tat akṣam uttamaṃ vidyātlet him know that seed as best
तत् धार्यं शिव-पूजकैःtat dhāryaṃ śiva-pūjakaiḥit is to be worn by worshipers of Śiva
शिखायाम् एक-रुद्राक्षंśikhāyām eka-rudrākṣaṃon a lock of hair, one rudrākṣa
त्रि-शतं शिरसा वहेत्tri-śataṃ śirasā vahetthree hundred let him bear on the head
Translation
Let him know that seed as best; it is to be worn by worshipers of Śiva. On a lock of hair, one rudrākṣa; three hundred let him bear on the head.
Version
b4413f8c3a92 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The listing of what to wear where begins, and the very first number gives one pause: three hundred seeds on the head. The following lines will add five hundred for the shoulders and bring the count to a thousand. Let us say this soberly: a thousand seeds weigh several kilograms, and a person hung with them from head to waist will not go to the field or to fetch water.
What is at work here is the same thing at work in the numbers of merit: more means better. And as the count there swelled to meaninglessness, so here the quantity has swelled. Let us say why this is bad in substance, not merely inconvenient. A sign that is visible from afar and costs dearly ceases to be a mark of belonging and becomes a mark of status; and the difference between the two is the same as between a wedding ring and a medal.
The Vaiṣṇava side sets against this an old and often-repeated rule: an outward distinction proves nothing. The Bhāgavatam says the mark of a devotee is not adornment but conduct; and of hypocrites wearing signs without substance its books speak more harshly than of unbelievers. There is, however, something to be said in defense of this list. It is written not for everyone, but for the śiva-pūjaka, "worshiper of Śiva," that is, for a person who has devoted himself to a single pursuit; and for such a person, the adornment is a kind of clothing, not an ornament. The difference between a monk's robe and foppery is not the amount of cloth but why it is worn.