Lord Shiv is also known as Rudra and the Lord of Tears. The meaning of the name Rudra is traceable to the Ved and said to be derived from Rud (Dravayit) he who drives away sin or suffering.

Eight different aspects of nature are the direct manifestations of Rudra and they are Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Space, The Sun, The Moon and the Life Force. Anything good and auspicious, anything that keeps us healthy and happy and anything that helps us attain freedom from pain and misery is Rudra.

Birth of Rudraaksh
Naarad said :-- "O Sinless one, The greatness of the Rudraaksh seed that you have described is verily such. Now I ask why is this Rudraaksh so much entitled to worship by the people. Please speak clearly on this point." Naaraayan spoke :-- "O Child! This is the very question that was asked once by Kaarttik, the six faced one, to Bhagavaan Rudra, dwelling in Kailaash. What he replied, I say that now. Listen, Rudra Dev spoke :-- "O Child Shadaanan, I will dwell briefly on the secret cause of the greatness of the Rudraaksh seed. Hear. In days of yore, there was a Daitya called Tripur who could not be conquered by any body. Brahmaa, Vishnu and the other Dev were defeated by him. They then came to me and requested me to kill that Asur. At their request, I called in my mind the Divine Great weapon, named Aghor, beautiful and terrible and containing the strength of all the Devtaa, to kill him. It was inconceivable and it was blazing with fire.

For full Divine 1,000 years I remained awake with eyelids wide open in thinking of the Aghor weapon, the destroyer of all obstacles, whereby the killing of Tripuraasur might be effected and the troubles of the Devtaa be removed. Not for a moment my eyelids dropped. Thereby my eyes were affected and drops of water came out of my eyes. Note here. How enemies are to be killed. It requires great thought, great concentration, great Yog and great powers. O Mahaasenaa, From those drops of water coming out of my eyes, the great tree of Rudraaksh did spring for the welfare of all. This Rudraaksh seed is of 38 varieties. From my Soorya Netra, ie my right eye,  12 yellow colored (Pingal color) varieties came out symbolizing the Sun; 16 varieties of white color came out from my left eye, the Som Netra, representing the Moon, and 10 varieties of black color came out from my third eye on the top, the Agni Netra, representing Fire. Of these the white Rudraaksh are Braahman and they are used by the Braahman; the red colored ones are the Kshatriya and should be used by the Kshatriya and the black ones are Shoodra and should be used by the Vaishyas and the Shoodra.

Rudraaksh - a divine bead to human community provided by the Supreme Power Lord Shiv. The Lord Shiv from his tear created it. At the time of the universal deluge and destruction of all things, my eyes were opened for thousand Dev years (one human year = 1 day of Dev year). In that period, the tears from my eyes dropped in some places of earth, and produced Rudraaksh trees. This is the message of Lord Shiv to saint Bujandar (Rudraaksh Jaabaalopanishad). It is a symbol of spirituality and mystic power. It is having electromagnetic power and it affects both the physical and logical body of the human being while it is on the body.

Botanical Information
Botanically it is known as Elaeocarpus Ganitrus Roxb. It is nearly spherical in shape. The clefts on the surface of the beads are called faces. Faces vary from 1 to 38. Rudraaksh trees are mainly found in South Asian Islands, Nepal, India and Other parts.

Force Found in Rudraaksh Beads
Yogee and monks wearing the Rudraaksh beads to acquire distinguish tremendous quantity of concentration. Apart from this, they get resistance power from this. It regulates and formulates our conscious, sub-conscious, body and shapes our overall personality. Though the Rudraaksh are having 1 to 38 faces, the very common Rudraaksh is 5-faceted. But, each type is having its own characteristics. Yogee, monks and researchers use them for various purposes. See the details on Next Page.

Types of Rudraaksh
See also Types of Rudraaksh. Shiv Puraan mentions only up to 16-Mukhee Rudraaksh. The Late LR Chawduri in his 3 volume "Yantra Tantra and Mantra", has made repeated mention of the existence of 1-Mukhee to 38-Mukhee Rudraaksh, very briefly though, but not other details of the Rudraaksh beyond the 21-Mukhee were given anywhere. There are few websites specialized in 22-38-Mukhee Rudraaksh.

Size of Rudraaksh Referred to in Upanishad
(1) If the size of the Rudraaksh is like Aamalaa fruit is considered as the best size.
(2) If it is as the size of Jujubaa fruit is considered as better size.
(3) Below the above sizes are not advisable.

The very good auspicious Rudraaksh is having an inherent hole and a gold line on it.

Procedures to be followed to wear Rudraaksh:
The non-defective Rudraaksh are selected and they should be tied by silk thread.
Chanting Mantra for Rudraaksh is "Om Namah Shivaaya".
We can wear the Rudraaksh on a morning, after taking bath and chanting "Om Namah Shivaaya", a minimum of 108 times.
Any one, irrespective of sex, age, and religious background can wear Rudraaksh.
Women should avoid these beads during the few days of menstruation.

If any mistake happens with your Rudraaksh, you follow this - mix 4-5 drops of Gangaa Jal in small bottle of clean water and slowly sprinkle the Gangaa Jal mixture water over Rudraaksh beads or Maalaa saying Om Namah Shivaaya (11times) and then light Agar Battee and show them to Rudraaksh beads or Maalaa saying Om Namah Shivaaya again (11times) and then ask forgiveness from Lord Shiv for any mistakes that may have happened knowingly or unknowingly whilst wearing Rudraaksh. If you wish you can pass this message to other people wearing rudraksh beads and Maalaa who may not be aware of it.

Colors of Rudraaksh
The ancient scriptures narrated that four colors of Rudraaksh are available - white, red, yellow and black which are to be worn by the four castes - Braahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shoodra respectively. However, in the present Kali Yug, neither white nor black colored Rudraaksh are available. Most Rudraaksh available are either red or yellow. This may imply (though not necessarily true) that most people are by virtues falling under these two castes - Kshatriya or Shoodra, which is why the nature is making available only these two colors.

How to Keep Them in Good Condition
1. Wash them before wearing, not with soap of any kind, just with water. With the help of brand new tooth brush while making sure that you don’t brush your teeth with that.
2. After every 15 to 20 days depending upon when you get free time first wash them with water then dry them up, after that immerse them in oil. What oil you can use its all up to you but the following one is recommend. Mix the listed oil below in a jar so that you can immerse the Rudraaksh and close the lid so no dust falls in the oil.
Oil Mixture --
(1) Sandalwood oil
(2) Olive oil Extra virgin
(3) Lavender oil
(4) Eucalyptus oil (Neelgiri Oil) (40% of all mixture)
(5) Neem oil
(6) Sesame Seed oil

After immersing them in the oil for a day you can start wearing them the next day what you need to do is to take them out wipe it with paper tissue or clean cloth and wash it with water to take out excess oil and start wearing it again.
Tip: After taking bath every day when you are all done wear Rudraaksh and take bath again with them with clean water so that they stay wet every day.