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Rudraksha The Bead Divine
Genuine Om on 9 mukhi, 5 mukhi and 4 mukhi Rudrakshas. From authors collection.Photos by: Rakesh Rati KapoorThe word Rudraksha is derived from the words Rudra + Aksha meaning tears of Rudra, i.e., Lord Shiva.Details about Rudrakshas and their effects are mentioned in various Hindu Puranas like Shiva Purana,Devi Purana, Padma Purana and Rudraksha Jabalopanishad. The following is the authentic informationfrom Shiva Purana. The other Puranas say almost the same thing with a few minor variations.According to Shiva Purana, the demon king Tripurasura became all powerful and became the scourge ofthe Gods. To kill him Lord Shiva decided to create a powerful divine weapon, called Aghora-astra, andwent into meditation. After a long time when he opened his gaze, his eyes smarted and a few tears fell onearth. As nothing divine is ever wasted, the tears became seeds and from the seeds the Rudraksha treewas born. The Rudrakshas we get are the seeds of the Rudraksha fruits.The three eyes of Lord Shiva represent the Sun, Moon and Fire. The Rudrakshas born of the tears of hissolar eye are brown in colour and are of twelve types. Those born of his lunar eye are fair and of sixteentypes. The Rudrakshas related to his Fiery eye are black in colour and are of ten types. This gives us atotal of thirty eight types of Rudrakshas.The wearer of 108 Rudrakshas gets the results of performing Ashwamedha Yagya and his next 21generations will get the good fortune of going to Shiva loka. The wearer of 1100 Rudrakshas becomesequal to Rudra. The one who wears 555 Rudrakshas as a crown becomes equal to lord Shiva. The onewho wears 320 Rudrakshas in three rows across his body, like the sacred thread, becomes equal to lordShiva.
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Rudraksha The Bead Divine
The four basic shades of Rudrakshas -fair, light brown, dark brown and black -are associatedwith the four Varnas of the Hindu society. There are two theories about this. According to onethe Rudrakshas are rated as Brahmins, Kshatriyas , Vaishyas and Shudras. According to theother, people belonging to these casts should wear the respective colored Rudrakshas. If youask HOWSTHAT, the answer is no comment ! Most of the commercially available Rudrakshasare coloured to give them a good look.
 
Rudraksha colours
The Rudraksha tree, known scientifically as Elaeocarpus Granitrus is acknowledged as anancient species of trees. It grows in the Himalayan regions of India and Nepal and also inIndonesia. It takes 15 to16 years to mature and bear fruits.
 
The Rudraksha Fruits
Rudrakshas come in various sizes. The smaller Rudrakshas are more famous for their curativeand spiritual value. The Puranas say that one should wear Udad dal size Rudrakshas. Theyare also more convenient and presentable to wear and do not show through the shirt ! Theones that grow in the lower Indian Himalayan altitudes are normally smaller in size. In thehigher altitudes of Nepal, where it it snows more the beads are much bigger.
Smallest to the largest Rudrakshas available from Pandit S.P.Tata's collection
Another variety of Rudraksha is "Patri" Rudraksha. It is very smooth and costs 3 to 4 timesmore. Very difficult to obtain now.Rudrakshas are known by their "Mukhis" or faces. The simple way to know is by counting thenumber of lines on a bead. The Puranas associate various Mukhis with various Gods andhave described their spiritual attributes. Rudrakshas have several curative powers. Forexample a fully tested five mukhi Rudraksha mala controls anger, BP, Diabetics, tooth-ache,piles and gives peace of mind and spiritual inclinations.
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Ganesha Rudraksha
There are two other special type of Rudrakshas. One is Ganesha rudraksha which has aGanesha's trunk type projection. Regarded as highly auspicious and protector frommisfortunes.The other is Gauri-Shankar rudraksha in which two Rudrakshas are joinedtogether, symbolically representing Shiva and Shakti.
Gauri-Shankara Rudraksha
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