rudraksha
रुद्राक्ष rudrākṣaThe dried seed of the Elaeocarpus tree, strung as a rosary in Shaiva practice; the name is read as Rudra's eye or Rudra's tear.
Where this term appears
- What is Shaivism? Lineages
The detailed rules for the ash, the rudraksha bead worn as a rosary, and the three-lined mark come mostly from a group of late sectarian Shaiva Upanishads, not from the old Vedic core.
- Who is Shiva? Deities
The seed-rosary, the rudrākṣa , is a prescribed attribute, its name read as "Rudra's eye" or "Rudra's tear," with a tear-origin myth in the Śiva Purāṇa that is itself Puranic tradition.
- Who was Abhinavagupta? Lineages
Three lines of ash mark his forehead, rudraksha beads hang at his ears, his hair is bound with a garland of flowers.