Upanishads · Rudrākṣajābāla 2.12
॥
Devanāgarī
दशवक्त्रं तु रुद्राक्षं यमदैवत्यमीरितम् । दर्शनाच्छान्तिजनकं धारणान्नात्र संशयः
Transliteration (IAST)
daśavaktraṃ tu rudrākṣaṃ yamadaivatyamīritam | darśanācchāntijanakaṃ dhāraṇānnātra saṃśayaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
दश-वक्त्रं तु रुद्राक्षंdaśa-vaktraṃ tu rudrākṣaṃbut the ten-faced rudrākṣa
यम-दैवत्यम् ईरितम्yama-daivatyam īritamis said to be Yama's own deity
दर्शनात् शान्ति-जनकंdarśanāt śānti-janakaṃfrom sight, it produces peace
धारणात् न अत्र संशयःdhāraṇāt na atra saṃśayaḥand from wearing — no doubt of it
Translation
The ten-faced rudrākṣa is said to be Yama's own deity; from sight it produces peace, and from wearing — no doubt of it.
Version
2f93c6d242d3 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Yama, god of death and judge of the dead, is named its lord; and from a seed belonging to him, śānti, "peace," is promised. This combination is worth examining, for it is not as strange as it seems. Peace is promised not despite Yama, but from him: one who bears the sign of his god does not fear meeting him.
Behind this stands a thought about death carried further in Indian books than in everyday piety. Yama is depicted not as an executioner but as a judge; he wishes no ill and acts on no whim, but carries out the law. Hence in the Mahābhārata he is also Dharma, father of Yudhiṣṭhira and a wholly honorable figure.
The Vaiṣṇava side preserves this understanding and adds something of its own. In the Bhāgavatam there is a whole canto where Yama instructs his messengers (6.3) and explains to them that above his law stands another power: he himself calls his own domain limited and says he has no claim on those devoted to the Lord. This passage deserves knowing, for it establishes the relation between law and grace. The law is not abolished and not called bad — it is called a domain with borders; and the whole dispute over whether observance or turning to God saves a person is settled there not by denying the law, but by pointing out that the law has a limit.
The phrase na atra saṃśayaḥ, "no doubt of it," deserves note as a device. It is placed in verses where one wants to close a question; and its appearance is, to my mind, a fairly reliable sign that the question existed.