Upanishads · Rudrākṣajābāla 3p9
॥
Devanāgarī
तद्रुद्राक्षे कर्णयोर्धार्यमाणे एकादशसहस्रगोप्रदानफलं भवति । एकादशरुद्रत्वं च गच्छति
Transliteration (IAST)
tadrudrākṣe karṇayordhāryamāṇe ekādaśasahasragopradānaphalaṃ bhavati | ekādaśarudratvaṃ ca gacchati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्-रुद्राक्षे कर्णयोः धार्यमाणेtat-rudrākṣe karṇayoḥ dhāryamāṇewhen that rudrākṣa is worn in the ears
एकादश-सहस्र-गो-प्रदान-फलं भवतिekādaśa-sahasra-go-pradāna-phalaṃ bhavatithe fruit of the gift of eleven thousand cows comes to be
एकादश-रुद्रत्वं च गच्छतिekādaśa-rudratvaṃ ca gacchatiand one attains the eleven-Rudra-ness
Translation
When that rudrākṣa is worn in the ears, the fruit of the gift of eleven thousand cows comes to be, and one attains the state of the eleven Rudras.
Version
91deb0f91721 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Ekādaśa-rudratvam, "the eleven-Rudra-ness," the state of the eleven Rudras, is promised. This expression deserves examining, for it belongs to a whole class of promises found constantly in Indian books: becoming the deity itself. Such a promise has its own reckoning in Sanskrit, and it is an old one. One distinguishes sālokya ("to be in the same world as a god"), sāmīpya ("to be near"), sārūpya ("to obtain a form like his"), and sāyujya ("to merge"); and what is named here comes closest to the third — to obtain the form and dignity of the Rudras while remaining oneself.
It is worth noting that this is embedded in the very word rudratvam. The suffix -tva denotes a property, not identity: rudratva is "Rudra-ness," that is, possession of what makes Rudra Rudra — not "being Rudra." This distinction is grammatical but not empty, and the Vaiṣṇava side leans readily on such passages. To acquire a property and to become a person are different things; and every time a book speaks of the "state of the deity" rather than "merging with the deity," it is speaking of a property.
As for the ears, the preference given to them over other places will be explained in the next line, and the explanation there is unexpected.