Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 51
रुद्राक्षा ये शिवेनोक्तास्ताच्छृणुध्वं द्विजोत्तमाः । आरम्भैकमुखं तावद्याबद्वक्त्राणि षोडश । एतेषां द्वौ च विज्ञेयौ श्रेष्ठौ तारयितुं द्विजाः
rudrākṣā ye śivenoktāstācchṛṇudhvaṃ dvijottamāḥ | ārambhaikamukhaṃ tāvadyābadvaktrāṇi ṣoḍaśa | eteṣāṃ dvau ca vijñeyau śreṣṭhau tārayituṃ dvijāḥ
Ô les meilleurs des deux-fois-nés, écoutez les rudrākṣas enseignés par Śiva : ils commencent par celui à une face et vont jusqu’à celui à seize faces. Parmi eux, deux doivent être reconnus comme suprêmes pour accorder la délivrance, ô brāhmaṇas.
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta), in narration to the sages (deduced)
Tirtha: Kedāra / Kedāranātha-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: dvijottamāḥ / brāhmaṇas
Scene: A teaching scene: Śiva (as Mahādeva) instructs assembled brāhmaṇas about rudrākṣa beads, showing a sequence of beads labeled from one-faced to sixteen-faced, with two highlighted as supreme for deliverance.
FAQs
Śaiva tradition systematizes rudrākṣa types, and certain forms are especially praised for leading toward liberation.
The instruction is embedded in Kedārakhaṇḍa, aligning rudrākṣa-dhāraṇa with Kedāra pilgrimage culture, though no single micro-tīrtha is named in this verse.
Know and honor rudrākṣas by mukha-count (1–16), with special esteem for two regarded as foremost for deliverance.