उपनिषद् · Rudrākṣajābāla 3p8
॥
देवनागरी
तद्रुद्राक्षं करेण स्पृष्ट्वा धारणमात्रेण द्विसहस्रगोप्रदानफलं भवति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tadrudrākṣaṃ kareṇa spṛṣṭvā dhāraṇamātreṇa dvisahasragopradānaphalaṃ bhavati
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
तत्-रुद्राक्षं करेण स्पृष्ट्वाtat-rudrākṣaṃ kareṇa spṛṣṭvāhaving touched that rudrākṣa with the hand
धारण-मात्रेणdhāraṇa-mātreṇaand by mere wearing
द्वि-सहस्र-गो-प्रदान-फलं भवतिdvi-sahasra-go-pradāna-phalaṃ bhavatithe fruit of the gift of two thousand cows comes to be
अनुवाद
Having touched that rudrākṣa with the hand, and by mere wearing, the fruit of the gift of two thousand cows comes to be.
संस्करण
2be5ab6f3182 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The count of cows has climbed: ten for mentioning, two thousand for touching; next will come eleven thousand and finally koṭi. That these numbers mean "without count" was discussed when reading the fourth line of the first part. Here it is worth examining something else — the measure itself, that is, the cow.
Go-pradāna, "the gift of a cow," was, in ancient Indian custom, the highest model of generosity. A cow was not property but a source: milk, butter, draft power, fuel; one who gave a cow gave not a thing but a means of living. Hence this measure is not arbitrary; it measured what was truly dear.
It is worth, however, carrying the comparison to its end, for here the vulnerability of the whole turn of phrase is exposed. The gift of a cow is a loss for the giver and a gain for the receiver: someone was left without milk, someone came to have milk. Wearing a seed is neither one nor the other: no one has lost anything and no one has gained anything.
To equate them is to equate an act that cost another person something with an act that cost no one anything. The Vaiṣṇava side, at this point, parts decisively from ritual reckoning and places almsgiving and service to people above signs. The Bhāgavatam says that one who honors an image but does not serve devotees and is not merciful to living beings is a bhakta-ābhāsa, "a semblance of a devotee" (11.2.47); and this word should be remembered every time a sign is offered in place of a deed.