Rudraksha and its importance

Rudraksha is a seed which is held in high esteem in spiritual path. The origin of the Rudraksha can be attributed to the story from the Puran. For that we have to know the meaning of Rudh and Vedic god Rudra. In Rigveda we come across the reference to the god Rudra. It is believed that later on Rudra was referred as Lord Shiva in Purans. The origin of the word Rudra is from the Sanskrit word Rudh which means crying by shading tears.

The following story illustrates the origin of Rudraksha.

During the Vedic period there were 3 asuras named – Tarkasur, Kamalaksh, Vidunmali. They did severe penance and obtained boon from Shiva. He gave them 3 gopurams (shikharas) made of Gold, Silver and Iron respectively. Along with that he gave a boon that they can fly anywhere and get any weapon with the help of these shikharas. The 3 asuras conquered all the 3 worlds and tormented Rishis, Munis and Devataas with the help of the boon. Rishis, Munis and Devataas who could not bear this torture did penance to please Lord Shiva. They prayed and stated that he should get back the boons granted to asuras as they were mis-using those to torture them. Lord Shiva agreed to annihilate these asuras. For that purpose he emitted fire from his 3rd eye and destroyed 3 asuras and shikharas. But in the process he felt sorry for the death of the asuras. So droplets of tear fell from his eyes. These tear droplets were known as Rudra-aksha (tear). They later on became Rudraksha.

It is mentioned in old text and Purans that 12 different types of Rudraksha originated from the Sun, 16 different from the Moon and 10 different from the Agni. Those that appeared from the Sun were blood red in color. Those from the Moon were white in color. Those from the Agni were reddish-black.

Rudraksha trees are found in Asia, Malaysia, Australia and Pacific islands. Besides they are also found in Nepal and in India, especially in Bihar, West Bengal, Aasam, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

There are grooves running horizontally from the top to the bottom of the Rudraksha. The faces formed due to these grooves are known as Mukh. The importance of the Rudraksha depends upon the number of grooves (Mukhs). Rudraksha may contain a number of faces which may be unfinished or incomplete. For the sake of spiritual purpose only those faces that are fully developed are considered. A fully developed Rudraksha will be hard and the face will be a well-developed groove. Rudraksha are generally strung on a silk or cotton thread. Copper, silver or gold wire may also be used. Most of the Rudraksha garlands contain 108 beads as this number is considered as sacred among Hindus. The extra bead in the garland is known as Meru, Bindu or Gurubindu. The number of faces (Mukh) may vary from 1 to 25.

It is observed that Shaivaites wear Rudraksha garlands. In Padma Puran it is mentioned that using Rudraksha garland of 27 beads is very beneficial from spiritual point of view. According to Shiva Puran, a Rudraksha garland of 25 different faces is beneficial from spiritual point, health and prosperity. This garland is known as Indramala. It is believed that only 5 people have this in the entire world. Among them 4 are in India. When Rudraksha mala is used for doing Japa, it is stated in Puran that the mantras attain more power and energy.

Rudraksha can be worn as garland around the neck or in ears or head or on wrist. Sadhus and saints wear 3 in each ear, twelve on each wrist, 36 on head, 27-36 as garland around the neck. According to Skanda puran and Padma puran, wearing Rudraksha mala leads to Moksha. In Upadesh Khanda of Suta Samhita, the names of great sages and elders who attained Moksha by using Rudraksha is mentioned.

Though red color seeds are found commonly, white and golden color seeds are very rare. The importance of the Rudraksha does not depend upon its skull.

Rudraksha garland has to be worn only after purifying it by reciting proper mantras and proper ritual. In Shiva puran, the procedure, the ritual and the mantras are mentioned in detail. In Yoga Shastra the details of ruling Deity, ruling planet, Beej mantra and benefit of Rudraksha are stated. They are also mentioned in Bhagwat Puran and Shiva Puran.

Besides these, some special names are also mentioned in Purans. 1 mukhi is known as Bramharoop; 2 mukhis are known as Gauri-Shankar. It is stated in Purans that Rudraksha is the abode of Bramha, Vishnu and Shiva. Mere sight of Rudraksha is supposed to remove sins. It is also mentioned that those who wear Rudraksha garland can perform Japa and recite mantra with calmness and peace of mind.

(Source: Old spiritual Tamil magazine)

A comprehensive chart of Rudraksha is given below -

# of Mukh	Ruling Daity	Ruling Planet	Beej Mantra	Benefit
1	Shiva	Ravi	Om Hreem Namaha	Improves concentration during meditation. Brings detachment from worldly things.
2	Ardha-narishwar	Chandra	Om Namaha	Brings Guru-shishya unity. Cohesion between husband and wife; cohesion between parents and& children – i.e. it brings oneness in everything
3	Agni	Mangal	Om Kleem Namaha	Helps in attaining purity, overcoming inferiority complex, subjective fear, guilt feeling and depression
4	Bramha	Budh	Om Hreem Namaha	Helps in obtaining creative skills, increases memory power and intelligence
5	Kalagni rudra	Guru	Om Hreem Namaha	Helps in getting peace, improving health and reduces BP
6	Kartikeya (Shanmuga)	Shukra	Om Hreem Namaha	Removes emotional sorrows, gives knowledge, wisdom and helps in learning, reduces understanding, appreciation of love, sexual pleasure, music and relationship
7	Maha-laxmi	Shani	Om Hum Namaha	Helps those having miseries due to body illness, financial difficulties, improves the business
8	Ganesha	Rahu	Om Hum Namaha	Removes obstacles, helps in getting Riddhi and Siddhi and overcoming opponents
9	Durga	Ketu	Om Hreem Hum Namaha (Marathi)	Gives lot of energy, power, dynamism and fearlessness
10	Vishnu		Om Hreem Namaha	Helps in overcoming evils
11	Hanuman		Om Hreem Hum Namaha	Gives wisdom, vocabulary, adventurous life, fearlessness and protects from accidental deaths
12	Sun		Om Sraum Raum Kraum Suryaya Namaha	Gives radiance and strength, removes worries, suspicion and fear
13	Indra	Shukra	Om Hreem Namaha	Gives all comforts of life, fulfills earthly desires, gives ashtamahasiddhi, useful in meditation, spiritual and materialistic attainments
14	Hanuman	Saturn	Om Namaha	This is known as Dev Mani. It gives sixth sense. Helps in foreseeing things that are to happen, helps in overcoming calamity, misery, worry. Protects from ghosts, evil spirits and black magic
15	Lord Pashupati	-	Om Namaha Shivaya	Economic progress and helps in overcoming skin diseases
16	Lord Shriram	-	Om Namaha Shivaya	Useful for saints and sadhus, gives victory and protects from heat and cold
17	Vishwa-karma	-	Om Namaha Shivaya	Gaining property, vehicle and physical assets
18	Mother Earth	-	Om Namaha Shivaya	Gives happiness and health, helps in protecting child during pregnancy
19	Lord Narayana	-	Om Namaha Shivaya	No scarcity in lift, gains all worldly pleasures
20	Vishvasu Sadhu and Narayana	-	(secret)	Speaks truth, keeps his word. These qualities one gets due to grace of Lord Shiva. His words come true. He gets 21 mukhi rudraksha and attains Moksha
21	Ekahi Alakh Niranjan	-	(secret)	Very rare, belongs to shakti of all Daities. Bearer gets all comforts, pleasures and finally mukti

(Source : Wikipedia)

Gauri-Shankar (Shiv-Parvati) – it’s a very rare Rudraksha. It is considered to be bestowing peace, comfort, pleasure for the whole family as well as the place it is kept and worshiped.

Another seed similar to Rudraksha is known as Badraksha is found abundantly but it has no spiritual/medicinal value.

Though a number of tests are stated for determining the originality of Rudraksha, it seems none are conclusive. I feel only the grace of Guru can help in getting genuine Rudraksha.

How to worship in a temple

In almost all temples in South India, the following method is practiced for worshiping in a temple. The following rules were laid down in accordance with shastras to get the complete grace of the Lord. This worshiping method could be applied in any Hindu Temple.

1. First we have to take bath and wear washed and dried clothes.
2. The symbolic on the forehead has to be worn, i.e. we have to apply vibhuti (sacred ash) or kumkum (vermilion) as per the custom. Besides this, rudraksha or sphatika has to be worn as per the direction of Guru or as the family custom.
3. We have to take offerings like coconut, betel leaves, betel nut, flowers, fruits, garlands etc as per our capacity or wish.
4. Before entering the temple we have to take gopuram darshan i.e. Rajagopuram and then proceed towards the parikrama.
5. Once we reach the first parikrama, we have to bow down to the dhwajasthambha (flagstaff)
6. Next we have to bow down at the balipitha (sacred sacrificial stone) and offer a token of offering there. Then we enter the main temple (inner parikrama) with hands above our head. Here we pay homage to the deity in the following manner.
1. For Shri Ganapati - one or three pradakshina
2. For Shri Shiva (wherever it can be done) - five or seven or nine or fifteen or twenty one
3. Shri Vishnu - four pradakshina
4. All devis (goddesses) - four pradakshina
5. Shri Somaskanda, Shri Dakshinamurti and Shri Subramaniam - three pradakshina
6. For Shri Maruti - 11 or 16 pradakshina
7. Where we cannot do pradakshina we have to do pradakshina around ourselves three times.
7. Then we accept the archana, abhishek and prasad after taking the arti. It is essential to fully concentrate on the idol at the time of worship, archana and abhishek. 
8. Please note that we have to take the darshan of Shri Nandi dev first in a Shiva temple
9. If there is Shri Chandikeshwar idol we have to take leave from him finally by clapping hands once in front of idol.
10. Finally all men folk have to do sashtang namaskar in front of dhawajasthambha (called kodimaram in Tamil). Ladies have to perform namaskar three times with their head, two hands and two knees touching the ground. If the temple is in the east west direction, namaskar should be done towards the north. If the temple is in the north south direction, then namaskar should be done towards east.

Navagraha Temples - Ketu

Information about Ketu graha

Temple Information:

Temple Name: KEERPERUDPALLAM KETU Temple [KEEDIL (lower)]
Village Location: KEERPERUDPALLAM, Tamil Nadu 609105, India
Historical/ Scriptural Name: NAGANATHAR SWAMY Temple
Deities: Lord Shiva is known as Sri NAGANATHAR and ParvatiJi is known as NAGAVALLI. 

In this particular temple, Abhishek is performed daily during Rahu Kaal.

How to reach the Temple:
It is situated on MAYILADUTHURAI – POOMPUHAR highway.

History of Ketu Graha Temple:

According to Scriptures, this place has great importance. During Samudra Manthan, the great churning of the ocean, Vasuki nag became unconscious and the Asuras cut him into pieces and threw him into this place which was a bamboo forest. Due to grace of Lord Shiva, he became alive again. He did penance at this place and requested Lord Shiva to come stay at this place and grace anyone who worships here. The sacred tree is bamboo.

Ketu Puran: When Rahu and Ketu came to life (refer previous story on Rahu), nobody was ready to accept them. Ketu was brought up by a Brahmin so he acquired Gyan (Knowledge/Higher Learning/Wisdom) from his foster father (Brahmin). He did penance at this place and acquired the status of a Graham (Celestial Body). Ketu’s wife is Chitralekha. His son is Avamrut. There is one more place where there is Ketu temple.

Teerth/ sacred Pond: There is one teerth called Naga Teerth. It is presumed that it was created by Vasuki. On the western side of the Teerth, there are a Pipal and a Neem tree conjoined together. Naga Puja is done at this place.

Importance of Ketu Graha - Astrological Perspective:
According to Astrology, Ketu is MokshaKarak (Harbinger[Karak] of Liberation[Moksha]).

He is very powerful (uchcha) in Vrishchik rashi/ zodiac (by Moon based astrology) and powerless (neech) in Rishabh rashi. Mesh, Karka, Simha, and Kumbha are house of enemy. He gives his benefits in the house in which he stays (as he has no house of his own). Ketu is friendly with Shukra. Surya, Chandra and Mangala are his enemies. Ketu Mahadasha is for 7 years.

His AdhiDevata (Presiding Lord) is Chitragupta and PratyadhiDevata is Ganapati. His Vahan/Mount is Vulture/ Frog.

He is responsible for sudden wealth, hidden wealth, associated with criminal involvement.

Nivritti (Absolution) from Ketu Dosha:
On every Chaturthi, worship Lord Ganesha by performing Abhishek with Durva (sacred grass). Ketu’s cereal is Urad Dal and favored cloth is printed cloth. Giving alms of coconut, cooked rice and fruits to saints (not beggars) also leads to Ketu Dosha Nivritti (Absolution).

NavaGraha Aspect/ Characteristics Summary – Ketu:

#	Navagraha Aspect	Ketu
1	Consort	Chitralekha
2	Cloth color	Multi- Colored Flower Design
3	Gender	Male
4	Element	Earth
5	God	Ganesh
6	Mounts	Vulture/ Frog
7	Presiding Deity	Chitragupta
8	Metal	Mercury
9	Gemstone	Cat's Eye
10	Body Part	Skin
11	Taste	Sour
12	Grain	Horse Gram
13	Season	Autumn
14	Graha deities face this direction	Center East
15	Flower	Red Lily
16	Kshetra vruksha (tree)	Bamboo
17	Week day	Tuesday and Sunday
18	Sound	-

Rangoli for Ketu Graha:
To be drawn when worshiping Ketu god

Mantra for Ketu Graha:

Below is mantra for Ketu god.