Upanishads · Rudrākṣajābāla 1p
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ हैनं भगवन्तं कालाग्निरुद्रं भुसुन्डः पप्रच्छ रुद्राक्षाणां भेदेन यदक्षं यत्स्वरूपं यत्फलमिति । तत्स्वरूपं मुखयुक्तमरिष्टनिरसनं कामाभीष्टफलं ब्रूहीति होवाच । तत्रैते श्लोका भवन्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
atha hainaṃ bhagavantaṃ kālāgnirudraṃ bhusunḍaḥ papraccha rudrākṣāṇāṃ bhedena yadakṣaṃ yatsvarūpaṃ yatphalamiti | tatsvarūpaṃ mukhayuktamariṣṭanirasanaṃ kāmābhīṣṭaphalaṃ brūhīti hovāca | tatraite ślokā bhavanti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
रुद्राक्षाणां भेदेन यत् अक्षंrudrākṣāṇāṃ bhedena yat akṣaṃby the varieties of rudrākṣas, what seed
यत् स्वरूपं यत् फलम् इतिyat svarūpaṃ yat phalam itiwhat its form, what its fruit
तत् स्वरूपं मुख-युक्तम्tat svarūpaṃ mukha-yuktamthat form, joined with mouths
अरिष्ट-निरसनंariṣṭa-nirasanaṃaverting misfortune
काम-अभीष्ट-फलं ब्रूहिkāma-abhīṣṭa-phalaṃ brūhigiving the desired fruit — declare, please
Translation
And then Bhusuṇḍa asked lord Kālāgnirudra: by the varieties of rudrākṣas, what is each seed, what is its form, what its fruit? Declare that form, joined with mouths, which averts misfortune and gives the desired fruit. And he answered: on that, verses.
Version
8c91ec0d6192 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second question is put, and it is worth comparing it with the first, for a shift has occurred between them. At the start of the book the question was: where did this come from, and what comes of it. Now the question is: ariṣṭa-nirasanam kāma-abhīṣṭa-phalam, "averting misfortune, giving what is desired."
The shift is clear: the conversation has moved from origin to use, and to a worldly use at that — to ward off calamity, to obtain what one wants. Let us say this without mockery, for the question is honest and is asked by everyone. A person whose child is ill or whose house is burning asks exactly this; and a tradition that refused to answer him would be not higher but more inhuman.
The Vaiṣṇava side answers such questions and does not drive the asker away. The Gītā names directly four kinds of people who turn to God: ārta ("the suffering"), jijñāsu ("the curious"), arthārthī ("the one seeking gain"), and jñānī ("the knower") — and calls all four sukṛtinaḥ, "acting well" (7.16). The suffering and the gain-seeker are named there first, and this is no slip. People usually come with need, not with love; and a tradition that requires people to come already with love will be left without people.
The Gītā has a reservation too, and it is worth citing in full: of the four, "the knower excels," for he is "constantly united and devoted to the One" (7.17). That is, one may come with need, but to remain at the level of need is to stop at the beginning; and the whole further listing of this book, where benefits are mapped onto seeds, is a speech addressed to those who have come with need.