Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad
From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia
By Swami Harshananda
Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad is a minor Upaniṣad assigned to the Sāmaveda. There are 49 sections comprising anuṣṭubh verses and also the passages in prose. It is in the form of a long dialogue between Kālāgni-rudra and sages like Bhusuṇḍa, Sanatkumāra, Jaḍabharata, Dattātreya, Kātyāyana, Vasiṣṭha and others.
Content of Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad[edit]
The topics dealt with may be summarized briefly as follows:[1]
- Origin of rudrākṣa trees and beads[2]
- Results of wearing the beads or doing japa with them[3]
- Varieties of the rudrākṣa beads[4]
- Methods of wearing the beads on the various parts of the body along with the appropriate mantras[5]
- Rudrākṣas with one to fourteen faces and the results of wearing them[6]
- Things to be given up or avoided by one who wears the beads[7]
- Eulogy of wearing rudrākṣa on various occasions[8]
- Greatness of rudrākṣa[9]
- Eulogy of studying this Upaniṣad[10]
Noteworthy points of Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad[edit]
- The Upaniṣad makes a special mention that one who wears the rudrākṣas must avoid eating meat, onion and garlic.
- A person wearing this should not consume liquor.
- A person if does not want to wear it on regular basis can wear it on special days like eclipses, during the ayanas or equinoxes and saṅkrāntis,[11] full-moon and new-moon days.
References[edit]
- ↑ The numbers in the brackets indicate the verses or sections.
- ↑ Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad 1-5
- ↑ Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad 6-7
- ↑ Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad 8-16
- ↑ Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad 17-25
- ↑ Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad 26-42
- ↑ Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad 43
- ↑ Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad 44-45
- ↑ Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad 46-48
- ↑ Rudrākṣa Jābāla Upaniṣad 49
- ↑ Saṅkrānti means passage of the sun into the next zodiacal sign.
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore