Upanishads · Rudrākṣajābāla 2.11
॥
Devanāgarī
नववक्त्रं तु रुद्राक्षं नवशक्त्यधिदैवतम् । तस्य धारणमात्रेण प्रीयन्ते नवशक्तयः
Transliteration (IAST)
navavaktraṃ tu rudrākṣaṃ navaśaktyadhidaivatam | tasya dhāraṇamātreṇa prīyante navaśaktayaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
नव-वक्त्रं तु रुद्राक्षंnava-vaktraṃ tu rudrākṣaṃbut the nine-faced rudrākṣa
नव-शक्ति-अधिदैवतम्nava-śakti-adhidaivatamhas the nine śaktis as presiding deities
तस्य धारण-मात्रेणtasya dhāraṇa-mātreṇafrom the mere wearing of it
प्रीयन्ते नव-शक्तयःprīyante nava-śaktayaḥthe nine śaktis become pleased
Translation
The nine-faced rudrākṣa has the nine śaktis as presiding deities; from the mere wearing of it the nine śaktis become pleased.
Version
d159469786f2 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Nava-śakti, "nine powers," are understood as the nine forms of the Goddess honored on the nine nights of the navarātri festival. The expression dhāraṇa-mātreṇa, "from mere wearing," deserves weighing, for it runs through the whole book and forms its recurring promise. The word mātra, "only, merely," is used where one wants to stress that nothing more is required. And in this form it is a promise of action without participation: put it on — and that is enough.
Let us say plainly what is dangerous and what is attractive in this, for both are evident. It is attractive because it is cheap. Action without participation requires no change of life, no effort, not even attention; it happens by itself, like medicine taken.
It is dangerous because, understood this way, no difference remains between piety and a talisman. A talisman is defined precisely by acting independently of the wearer; and any teaching that has reduced its object to "mere wearing" has turned it into a talisman, whatever it may call it. The Vaiṣṇava side draws this distinction sharply and places it at the very definition of its object. Devotion for it is defined as ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam, "cultivation favorable to Kṛṣṇa" (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11) — and the key word here is anuśīlana, "cultivation, exercise, constant occupation."
This word excludes any "mere." To cultivate means to do, and to do constantly; and a thing that acts by itself, on this definition, is neither needed nor possible.