Upanishads · Rudrākṣajābāla 2.6
॥
Devanāgarī
षड्वक्त्रमपि रुद्राक्षं कार्तिकेयाधिदैवतम् । तद्धारणान्महाश्रीः स्यान्महदारोग्यमुत्तमम्
Transliteration (IAST)
ṣaḍvaktramapi rudrākṣaṃ kārtikeyādhidaivatam | taddhāraṇānmahāśrīḥ syānmahadārogyamuttamam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
षट्-वक्त्रम् अपि रुद्राक्षंṣaṭ-vaktram api rudrākṣaṃand the six-faced rudrākṣa too
कार्तिकेय-अधिदैवतम्kārtikeya-adhidaivatamhas Kārtikeya as its presiding deity
तत्-धारणात् महा-श्रीः स्यात्tat-dhāraṇāt mahā-śrīḥ syātfrom wearing it, let great fortune be
महत् आरोग्यम् उत्तमम्mahat ārogyam uttamamgreat and excellent health
Translation
And the six-faced rudrākṣa too has Kārtikeya as its presiding deity; from wearing it, let there be great fortune, great and excellent health.
Version
8d1787ddc422 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Kārtikeya, also called Skanda and Murugan, is Śiva's son, leader of the heavenly army; his six faces are explained by the legend of his six wet-nurses, the Kṛttikās, after whom he is named. Mahā-śrī and ārogya are promised, "great fortune" and "health," that is, prosperity and freedom from illness. These two words deserve note, for they will recur, word for word, two lines from now. Śrī means "radiance, wealth, fortune"; ārogya, literally "painlessness," from roga, "illness."
These are the most ordinary of human wishes, and they occupy an honored place in the list. Not one of the first six lines says a word about the wearer's character — only about what he will get for it. The Vaiṣṇava side does not object to such prayer and does not itself forbid asking. But it has a counter-passage worth citing, for it overturns the usual relation: Kuntī asks Kṛṣṇa — vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat, "let misfortunes come to us always, for in misfortune comes a sight of You, and one who has seen You is not born again" (Bhāgavatam 1.8.25).
This request is not a praise of suffering and must not be read so. Its sense lies in an observation open to anyone: in contentment a person does not remember God, but in misfortune he does; and so Kuntī asks not for pain, but for the state in which she is able to remember.