उपनिषद् · Rudrākṣajābāla 3p10
॥
देवनागरी
तद्रुद्राक्षे शिरसि धार्यमाणे कोटिगोप्रदानफलं भवति । एतेषां स्थानानां कर्णयोः फलं वक्तुं न शक्यमिति होवाच
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tadrudrākṣe śirasi dhāryamāṇe koṭigopradānaphalaṃ bhavati | eteṣāṃ sthānānāṃ karṇayoḥ phalaṃ vaktuṃ na śakyamiti hovāca
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
तत्-रुद्राक्षे शिरसि धार्यमाणेtat-rudrākṣe śirasi dhāryamāṇewhen that rudrākṣa is worn on the head
कोटि-गो-प्रदान-फलं भवतिkoṭi-go-pradāna-phalaṃ bhavatithe fruit of the gift of a koṭi of cows comes to be
एतेषां स्थानानां कर्णयोः फलंeteṣāṃ sthānānāṃ karṇayoḥ phalaṃof these places, the fruit of the ears
वक्तुं न शक्यम्vaktuṃ na śakyamcannot be told
इति ह उवाचiti ha uvācaso he said
अनुवाद
When that rudrākṣa is worn on the head, the fruit of the gift of a koṭi of cows comes to be. Of these places, the fruit of the ears cannot be told, so he said.
संस्करण
683e78ad03dc · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The line is oddly built, and the oddness deserves examining. First the highest place is named — the head — and for it a koṭi of cows is promised, that is, more than anything else. And then it is said that of all places, the fruit of the ears cannot be put into words.
That is, highest by count is the head; highest in general are the ears, and this cannot be named by a number. This preference seems arbitrary at first, but is in fact explained by what the whole third part of the book is occupied with: hearing. Those who came said "we wish to hear" (3p4); the teaching is received as śruti, "the heard"; and the organ by which it is received is the ear.
Hence a seed in the ear means more than a seed on the head: the head wears, but the ear receives. There is another side to this too, worth mentioning. The phrase vaktuṃ na śakyam, "cannot be told," is placed where a count is being ended; and its appearance is a sign that the speaker has reached the limit of his reckoning and knows it.
This acknowledgment of a limit, in a book full of numbers, deserves approving notice. It is easy to go on piling koṭi upon koṭi; to say "I count no further" is harder, and this is done only where the object is truly revered. The Vaiṣṇava side judges hearing the same way and places śravaṇam first among the nine kinds of service (Bhāgavatam 7.5.23). The basis there is the same: before one can speak or remember, one must receive; and one receives by the ear.