उपनिषद् · Rudrākṣajābāla 1.17
॥
देवनागरी
अष्टोत्तरशतैर्मालामुपवीतं प्रकल्पयेत् । द्विसरं त्रिसरं वापि सराणां पञ्चकं तथा
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
aṣṭottaraśatairmālāmupavītaṃ prakalpayet | dvisaraṃ trisaraṃ vāpi sarāṇāṃ pañcakaṃ tathā
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अष्ट-उत्तर-शतैः मालाम्aṣṭa-uttara-śataiḥ mālāma garland of one hundred and eight
उपवीतं प्रकल्पयेत्upavītaṃ prakalpayetlet him fashion as a sacred cord
द्वि-सरं त्रि-सरं वा अपिdvi-saraṃ tri-saraṃ vā apiin two strands, or three
सराणां पञ्चकं तथाsarāṇāṃ pañcakaṃ tathāand likewise a set of five strands
अनुवाद
A garland of a hundred and eight — let him fashion it as a sacred cord; in two strands, or three, or five.
संस्करण
6e7935f7c20a · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Something is said here that is easy to skip past, and yet it matters more than the whole surrounding listing: beads of one hundred and eight seeds are worn as upavīta. Upavīta is that very cord over the shoulder given at initiation, and in Indian society it is the chief mark of birth into the three higher estates. One who lacks it lacks the rights bound up with it too.
And here the book says: make beads and wear them instead of the cord. This substitution, followed to its conclusion, bypasses the whole estate structure. The cord is given by birth and through a rite not open to all; the seeds are bought or gathered under a tree, and no birthright is needed for that.
It is worth noting how far this diverges from what the same book said seven lines above (1.10), where the seeds were mapped onto the varṇas. There the sign was divided by birth; here the sign replaces the very mark of birth. This contradiction, to my mind, is among those that ought to be counted the book's credit. Its statutory part clings to estate; its living part moves away from it — and moves away precisely where the matter turns to practice rather than rank.
The Vaiṣṇava side walked the same road to its end and beyond. Its beads of tulasī and its necklace of the same are put on anyone who has taken initiation, without distinction of birth; and in the communities where this is established, the cord has stopped being the deciding mark, and the Name has become the deciding thing. The number one hundred and eight, let us add, is the same across all Indian traditions; and the Vaiṣṇava beads have the same number too.