"It must be worn on the head with a mantra to Ishana. It must be worn on the ears with a mantra to Tatpurusha. (Rudra-Mahadeva gayatri.) It must be worn around the neck and also on the chest with a mantra to Aghora. An intelligent person will wear it on the wrist with the bija mantra to Aghora. A string fashioned out of fifteen rudrakshas will be worn around the stomach, with a mantra to Vamadeva. Three, five or seven malas can be worn with the panchabrahma mantra. Alternatively, all the rudrakshas can be worn with the mula mantra. (The basic mantra of AUM Namah Shivaya.) Liquor, flesh, garlic, onion, the shigrum horse-radish, shleshmataka and vit-varaha (the village pig) must be avoided. O Uma! It is recommended that a brahmana should wear a white rudraksha, a kshatriya should wear a red rudraksha, a vaishya should wear a yellow rudraksha and a shudra must necessarily wear a black rudraksha. This is the path indicated in the shruti texts. Irrespective of varna and irrespective of whether one is a householder, resides in the forest, or is a mendicant, this secret and supreme rule must be followed and must not be violated. Everything can be obtained if one wears rudraksha in the proper way. Otherwise, one goes to hell. If one desires the auspicious, one should not wear one that is smaller than an amalaka in weight, is broken, has protrusions, has been bitten by worms, has undesirable holes or is inferior in any way. A rudraksha that is the size of a chick-pea must be avoided. Rudraksha is a subtle form of my lingam and is always praised. Following Shiva's command, all the ashramas and varnas, women and shudras, should wear it. Those who are mendicants must always use pranava to wear rudraksha. If he wears it in the morning, he is freed from all sins committed during the night. If he wears it at night, he is freed from all sins committed during the day. This is also true of morning, mid-day and evening. In this world, those who wear Tripundraka, matted hair and rudraksha, do not go to Yama's world. Thus, rudraksha destroys all sins. Those who wear it are loved by me and are pure. Even if such a person has committed sins, he is purified. A person who wears rudraksha on his hands, arms and heads cannot be killed by any being and roams around the earth in Rudra's form. He must always be worshipped by all the gods and asuras. Since he destroys the sins of anyone who sees him, he is worshipped like Shiva. If a person is not liberated through dhyana and jnana, he must wear rudraksha. He is freed from all sins and attains the supreme destination. When a person performs japa with a mantra, the auspicious qualities become one crore times more, if he wears a rudraksha. If a man wears it, he obtains good merits that are ten crore times more. As long as a living being wears it on his body, till such time he is protected against untimely death. When one sees a person with Tripundraka and rudraksha on his limbs, a person who is performing japa with mahamritunjaya mantra, one sobtains the fruits of seeing Rudra himself.) He is loved by the five divinities. (Ganesha, Devi, Surya, Rudra and Vishnu.) He is loved by all the devas. Wearing a mala of rudraksha, a devotee should perform japa with all the mantras. Devotees of Vishnu and other devas also wear rudraksha without any hesitation. In particular, devotees of Rudra always wear rudraksha."

moksha

The Many Faces of Rudraksha

The Power of Pursuit