Upanishads

Akshamala Upanishad

(Akshamalika Upanishad)

Rigveda
group of Upanishads – Shaiva

HARI OM. Then Prajapati asked Guha: O Brahmana! Tell me the rule for distinguishing the rosaries (akshamala). What are their signs, what are their differences, what are their threads, what are their knots, what are their colours, what is their base, what are their deities, what is the fruit?

To this Guha replied: Coral, pearl, rock crystal, pearl, ashtapada, sandalwood, putrajivika, lotus, rudraksha are these (the varieties of material for the beads of the rosary). Contemplating them in the form of (the letters) from A to KSA, gold, silver, copper, one should internally identify its mouth with (one's) mouth, its lower part with (one's) lower part. The thread that is inside them is Brahma. The right side is Shiva, the left side is Vishnu, the mouth is Saraswati, the lower part is Gayatri, the hole is Vidya, the knot is Prakriti, the vowels are white, the consonants are yellow, the rest are red. Then, having purified its beads with panchamrita, pancha gandha and pancha gavya, having washed them with water mixed with pancha gavya and pancha gandha, one should, in a place pleasing to the mind, contemplate each varna separately from A to KSHA, anointing them with eight incense and sprinkling them from a vessel with a bunch of kusha grass while pronouncing the syllable OM, and worshiping with flowers.

OM Syllable A – Conqueror of death, All-pervading, resides in the first bead.

OM Syllable AA – Essence of charm, Omnipresent, resides in the second bead.

OM Syllable I – Giver of prosperity, Emits light, resides in the third bead.

OM Syllable II – Creates satisfaction of speech, Pure, resides in the fourth bead.

OM Syllable U – Gives all strength, strongest, resides in the fifth bead.

OM Syllable UU – Expels, Invincible, resides in the sixth bead.

OM Syllable RI – Creates light, Changeable, resides in the seventh bead.

OM Syllable RII – Confusing Blazing, resides in the eighth bead.

OM Syllable LRI – Creating enmity, Deluding, resides in the ninth bead.

OM Syllable LRII – Creating delusion, resides in the tenth bead.

OM Syllable E – All-subduing, pure sattva, resides in the eleventh bead.

OM Syllable AY – Belonging to pure sattva, commanding man, resides in the twelfth bead.

OM Syllable O – Consisting of all speech, Eternally pure, resides in the thirteenth bead.

OM Syllable AU – Filled with all speech, subduing, resides in fourteenth bead.

OM Syllable AM – Commanding elephants and others, blinding, resides in the fifteenth bead.

OM Syllable AH – Destroying death, terrible, resides in the sixteenth bead.

OM Syllable KA – Eliminating all poisons, Granting beauty, resides in the seventeenth bead.

OM Syllable KHA – Creating all light, All-pervading, resides in the eighteenth bead.

OM Syllable GA – Eliminating all obstacles, Most Majestic, resides in the nineteenth bead.

OM Syllable GHA – Granting good fortune, Stopping, resides in the twentieth bead.

OM Syllable NA – Destroying all poisons, Terrible, resides in the twenty-first bead.

OM Syllable CHA – Destroying witchcraft, Wrathful, resides in the twenty-second bead.

OM Syllable CHHA – Destroying spirits, Terrible, resides in the twenty-third bead.

OM Syllable JA – Destroying obligations, Difficult to overcome, resides in the twenty-fourth bead.

OM Syllable JHA – Destroyer of the elements, resides in the twenty-fifth bead.

OM Syllable NA – Destroyer of death, resides in the twenty-sixth bead.

OM Syllable TA – Eliminator of all diseases, Extremely fortunate, resides in the twenty-seventh bead.

OM Syllable THA – Image of the Moon, resides in the twenty-eighth bead.

OM Syllable DA – Essence of Garuda, Destroyer of poisons, resides in the twenty-ninth bead.

OM Syllable DHA – Bestower of all perfections, Fortunate, resides in the thirty-first bead.

OM The syllable NA – Granting all perfections, The creator of delusion, abides in the thirty-first bead.

OM The syllable TA – Granting the acquisition of money and wealth and so on, Satisfied abides in the thirty-second bead.

OM The syllable THA – Contributing to the acquisition of Dharma, Undefiled, abides in the thirty-third bead.

OM The syllable DA – Contributing to the increase of prosperity, Pleasant to look at, abides in the thirty-fourth bead.

OM The syllable DHA – Eliminating poisoning by poison, Great, abides in the thirty-fifth bead.

OM Syllable NA – Giver of pleasure and Liberation, Peace, resides in the thirty-sixth bead.

OM Syllable PA – Eliminator of poisons and obstacles, the Existing One, resides in the thirty-seventh bead.

OM Syllable PHAA – Granter of anima and other siddhis, the Image of Light, resides in the thirty-eighth bead.

OM Syllable BA – Eliminator of all evil, the Shining One resides in the thirty-ninth bead.

OM Syllable BHA – Subduer of spirits, Terrible, resides in the fortieth bead.

OM Syllable MA – Producing hatred and delusion, resides in the forty-first bead.

OM Syllable YA – All-pervading, Purifying, resides in the forty-second bead.

OM Syllable RA – Burning, Changeable, resides in the forty-third bead.

OM Syllable LA – Clothed in the universe, Shining, resides in the forty-fourth bead.

OM Syllable VA – Putting an end to everything, Pure, resides in the forty-fifth bead.

OM Syllable SHA – Bestowing all fruits, Purifying, resides in the forty-sixth bead.

OM Syllable SHA – Endowing with Dharma, Artha and Kama, White, resides in the forty-seventh bead.

OM Syllable SA – Cause of everything, Consisting of all colors resides in the forty-eighth bead.

OM Syllable HA – Consisting of all words, Pure, resides in the forty-ninth bead.

OM Syllable LA endowing with all shakti, The basis resides in the fiftieth bead.

OM Syllable KSHA – Encouraging to knowledge of the Supreme Essence, The form of the highest Light (resides) in the crown.

Then say: Those gods who are in the earth, let them be adored! The fortunate ones, let them rejoice, the ancestors, let them rejoice in the light, the light of the rosary filled with Knowledge.

Then say: Those gods who are in the air, let them be adored! The fortunate ones, let them rejoice, the ancestors, let them rejoice in the light, the light of the rosary filled with Knowledge.

Then say: Those gods who are in the sky, let them be adored! The fortunate ones, let them rejoice, the ancestors, let them rejoice in the light, the light of the rosary filled with Knowledge.

Then say: Those mantras that are vidyas, let them be adored! Together with their shakti, they are established.

Then it is said: To those Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, who have qualities. OM. To them – prostration. Their power is established.

Then it is said: To those who are the various tattvas of the Sankhya, to them – prostration. To those who abide at (their) end and follow again.

Then it is said: To those Shaivas, Shaktas, Vaishnavas, of whom there are hundreds of thousands – prostration, prostration! The fortunate ones, let them rejoice and accept (the offering)!

Then it is said: To those who are life and death – prostration, prostration! Have mercy, have mercy!

Then contemplating with feeling the essence of the universe in them, one should touch all the beads of the rosary from A to KSA one hundred and eight times, contemplating the performance of the great sacrifice.

Then again picking them up one should circumambulate them (saying): OM. Homage! To You, Bhagavati! Mother of mantras, O rosary causing (all evil) to disappear!

Homage! To You, Bhagavati! Mother of mantras, O rosary, universal Death! The essence of the Conqueror of death! Illuminating all worlds, protecting all worlds, generating all worlds, generating day. Generating night! You are within the rivers, within the localities, within the islands, You are within the world, You shine everywhere, You reside in all hearts, Homage to You, the supreme form (of Speech), Homage to You, the form of pasyanti, Homage to You, the form of vaikhari! O Essence of all essences, essence of all vidyas, essence of all shaktis, essence of all gods! Worshipped by the sages, animated by Vasishtha, called into being by the sage Vishwamitra. Homage to You! Homage to You!

He who studies (this Upanishad) at dawn will destroy the sin committed by night.

He who studies it in the evening will destroy the sin committed by day. The sinner (who studies it) at dawn and in the evening will become sinless. The mantra pronounced on the beads will create all perfections. Thus said Prajapati Lord Guha.

This is the Upanishad.