उपनिषद् · Rudrākṣajābāla 0p1
॥
देवनागरी
अथ हैनं कालाग्निरुद्रं भुसुण्डः पप्रच्छ कथं रुद्राक्षोत्पत्तिः । तद्धारणात्किं फलमिति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
atha hainaṃ kālāgnirudraṃ bhusuṇḍaḥ papraccha kathaṃ rudrākṣotpattiḥ | taddhāraṇātkiṃ phalamiti
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अथ ह एनं कालाग्निरुद्रंatha ha enaṃ kālāgnirudraṃand now him, Kālāgnirudra
भुसुण्डः पप्रच्छbhusuṇḍaḥ papracchaBhusuṇḍa asked
कथं रुद्राक्ष-उत्पत्तिःkathaṃ rudrākṣa-utpattiḥhow did the rudrākṣa arise
तत्-धारणात् किं फलम् इतिtat-dhāraṇāt kiṃ phalam itiand from wearing it, what fruit
अनुवाद
And now Bhusuṇḍa asked Kālāgnirudra: how did the rudrākṣa arise? and what fruit comes from wearing it?
संस्करण
20def3a6ae21 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The book opens with two questions, and it is worth noting at once that the first concerns origin. The asker is the same Bhusuṇḍa who inquired about ash in the Bhasma-jābāla; the one who answers is Kālāgnirudra, "Rudra of the fire of time," that is, Śiva in the form of the fire with which the world ends. The order of the questions is no accident and recurs in every book about sacred emblems: first "where did this come from," then "what will I get from it." The first question asks about foundation, the second about benefit; and what answer is given to the first determines what all the rest of the speech turns out to be.
The thing to be discussed is known to anyone who has seen an Indian with prayer beads: the rudrākṣa is the seed-stone of the fruit of the Elaeocarpus tree, covered in grooves running top to bottom. These grooves are called "mouths," mukha, and the seeds are distinguished by their number — the second half of the book will be about this. The Vaiṣṇava side wears different beads — of tulasī, sacred basil; but the very custom of wearing a mark of belonging on the body is the same for them, and so the dispute here is not about the custom, but about what is attributed to it.