Thilak

Source: http://www.stephen-knapp.com/tilak_why_wear_it.htm

Tilak: Why Wear It

        This compilation of information will explain what tilak is and why it is worn. As anyone who is familiar with the Vedic tradition knows, many of its followers wear marking on the foreheads. This is called tilak. Some tilak markings are made with ash, some with clay or soil, some are red dots with kum kum, or dyed rice flour, or red dots with additional applications like a few grains of rice stuck to it. Some tilak appears as three lines of ash going horizontally across the forehead that indicates one is a Shaivite, or a small triangle on the nose with a "V" shape rising vertically up on the forehead from between the eyebrows, which indicates one is a Vaishnava. This is a sign of the foot of Lord Vishnu, recited while chanting the name of Lord Vishnu.

        There are different reasons why this is done and what they mean, but here is a description of why Vaishnavas wear their tilok, especially with Gopi-candana (or Gopi Chand). Gopi Candana is the soil that comes from a place not far from Dwaraka. The history is that this is the place where the gopis entered the river to leave their bodies after Lord Krishna left this planet to return to His spiritual abode. Thus, they also followed in this way. The mud that used to be the banks  of that river is called Gopi-candana. Vaishnavas apply this mud while chanting the names of Vishnu in twelve places on the head, arms, chest and back. The process marks the body as a temple, purifies the body, and also acts as protection from evil influences, ghosts, etc. By seeing this tilok on ourselves or other devotees, it serves as a constant reminder of Lord Krishna. Tilak is also used in Deity worship, offered to the Deities and also used with lemon juice to polish brass deities.

The Glories of Gopī-candana Tilaka

Śrī Garga Saṁhitā, Canto Six,

Chapter Fifteen

Translation by Kusakratha Dāsa

Text 15
yasya sravana-matrena
karma-bandhat pramucyate
gopinam yatra vaso 'bhut
tena gopi-bhuvah smrtah

Simply by hearing about Gopi-bhumi, which is so named because the gopīs resided there, one becomes free from the bondage of karma.

Text 16
gopy-angaraga-sambhutam
gopi-candanam uttamam
gopi-candana-liptango
ganga-snana-phalam labhet

In Gopi-bhumi gopi-candana was manifested from the gopīs' cosmetics. A person who marks his limbs with gopi-candana tilaka attains the result of bathing in the Ganga.

Text 17
maha-nadinam snanasya
punyam tasya dine dine
gopi-candana-mudrabhir
mudrito yah sadā bhavet

A person who daily wears gopi-candana tilaka attains the pious result of daily bathing in all sacred rivers.

Text 18
asvamedha-sahasrani
rajasuya-satani ca
sarveṣu tirtha-danani
vratani ca tathaiva ca
krtani tena nityaṁ vai
sa krtartho na samsayah

A person who daily wears gopi-candana tilaka attains the result of performing a thousand asvamedha-yajnas and a hundred rajasuya-yajnas. He attains the result of giving charity and following vows at all holy places. He attains the goal of life. Of this there is no doubt.

Text 19
ganga-mrd-dvi-gunam punyam
citrakuta-rajah smrtam
tasmād dasa-gunam punyam
rajah pancavati-bhavam

Twice as sacred as the mud of the Ganga is the dust of Citrakuta. Ten times more sacred than that is the dust of Pancavati-tirtha.

Text 20
tasmac chata-gunam punyam
gopi-candanakam rajah
gopi-candanakam viddhi
vrndavana-rajah-samam

A hundred times more sacred is the dust of gopi-candana. Please know that gopi-candana is equal to the dust of Vṛndāvana.

Text 21
gopi-candana-liptangam
yadi papa-satair yutam
tam netum na yamah sakto
yama-dutah kutah punah

Even if in the past he has committed hundreds of sins, if a person wears gopi-candana tilaka, then Yamarāja cannot take him away. How, then, can Yamarāja’s messengers touch him?

Text 22
nityaṁ karoti yah pāpī
gopi-candana-dharanam
sa prayati harer dhāma
golokam prakrteh param

A sinner who daily wears gopi-candana tilaka goes to Lord Kṛṣṇa's supreme abode, Goloka, which is beyond the world of matter.

Text 23
sindhu-desasya rajabhud
dirghabahur iti srutah
anyaya-varti dustatma
vesya-sanga-ratah sadā

In Sindhu-desa there was a king named Dirghabahu. He was cruel and sinful and he was addicted to visiting prostitutes.

Text 24
tena vai bharate varse
brahma-hatya-satam krtam
dāsa garbhavati-hatyah
krtas tena duratmana

While he was on the earth this cruel sinner murdered a hundred brāhmaṇas and ten pregnant women.

Text 25
mrgayayam tu banaughaih
kapila-go-vadhah krtah
saindhavam hayam aruhya
mrgayarthi gato 'bhavat

One day he mounted a sindhu horse and went hunting. With a flood of arrows he accidentally killed a brown cow in that hunt.

Text 26
ekada rajya-lobhena
mantri kruddho maha-khalam
jaghanaranya-dese tam
tiksna-dharena casina

One day, greedy to get his kingdom, with a sharp sword his angry minister killed him in the forest.

Text 27
bhu-tale patitam mrtyu-
gatam viksya yamanugah
baddhva yama-purim ninyur
harsayantah parasparam

Seeing him fallen to the ground and dead, the Yamadutas came, bound him, and, joking as they went, took him to the city of Yamarāja.

Text 28
sammukhe 'vasthitam viksya
papinam yama-rad bali
citraguptam praha turnam
ka yogya yanatasya vai

Seeing this sinner brought before him, powerful Yamarāja said to his scribe Citragupta, "What is the proper punishment for him?"

Text 29
sri-citragupta uvāca
catur-asiti-laksesu
narakesu nipatyatam
nihsandeham mahā-raja
yavac candra-divakarau

Śrī Citragupta said: O great king, he should be thrown into eight million four hundred thousand hells for as long as the sun and the moon shine in the sky.

Text 30
anena bharate varse
ksanam na su-krtam krtam
dasa-garbhavati-ghatah
kapila-go-vadhah krtah

On the earth he did not perform a single pious deed. He killed ten pregnant women. He killed a brown cow.

Text 31
tathā vana-mrganam ca
kṛtvā hatyah sahasrasah
tasmād ayam maha-papi
devata-dvija-nindakah

He killed thousands of deer in the forest. He offended the demigods and the brāhmaṇas. He is a great sinner.

Texts 32 and 33
sri-narada uvāca
tada yamajnaya duta
nitva tam papa-rupinam
sahasra-yojanayame
tapta-taile maha-khale
sphurad aty-ucchalat-phene
kumbhipake nyapatayan
pralayagni-samo vahnih
sadyah sitalatam gatah

Sri Nārada said: Then, by Yamarāja’s order, the Yamadutas took that sinner and threw him into a terrible, eight-thousand mile wide cauldron of bubbling boiling oil in the hell of Kumbhipaka. The moment that sinner came to it, the boiling oil, which was as hot as the great fires at the time of cosmic devastation, suddenly became cool.

Text 34
Vaideha tan-nipatanat
prahlada-ksepanad yathā
tadaiva citram acakhyur
yama-duta mahatmane

O king of Videha, as Prahlāda was unhurt in the same situation, that sinner was not hurt by the boiling oil. Then the Yamadutas described that great wonder to noble-hearted Yamarāja.

Text 35
anena su-krtam bhumau
ksanavan na kṛtam kvacit
citraguptena satataṁ
dharma-rajo vyacintayat

Yamarāja and Citragupta carefully reviewed the sinner's case and concluded that while he was on the earth the sinner had not for a moment performed even a single pious deed.

Text 36
sabhayam agatam vyasam
sampujya vidhivan nrpa
natva papraccha dharmatma
dharma-rajo maha-matih

Then Vyasadeva arrived in that assembly. Bowing down before Him, and carefully worshiping Him, saintly and noble-hearted Yamaraja asked Vyasadeva the following question.

Text 37
sri-yama uvaca
anena papina purvam
na krtam su-krtam kvacit
sphurad-agny-ucchalat-phene
kumbhipake maha-khale
asya ksepanato vahnih
sadyah sitalatam gatah
iti sandehatas cetah
khidyate me na samsayah

Sri Yamaraja said: When a certain sinner, who had never performed even a single pious deed, was thrown into the terrible boiling oil of Kumbhipaka, the oil suddenly became cool. Because of this my mind is now tortured with doubts.

Text 39
sri-vyasa uvaca
suksma gatir maha-raja
vidita papa-punyayoh
tatha brahma-gatih prajnaih
sarva-sastra-vidam varaih

Sri Vyasadeva said: O great king, the intelligent sages, who have studied all the scriptures, know that the ways of piety, sin, and spiritual progress are very subtle and difficult to understand.

Text 40
daiva-yogad asya punyam
praptam vai svayam arthavat
yena punyena suddho 'sau
tac chrnu tvam maha-mate

Somehow or other, by destiny, this sinner did perform a pious deed, and by that deed he became purified. O noble-hearted one, please hear the story of this.

Text 41
kasyapi hastato yatra
patita dvaraka-mrdah
tatraivayam mrtah papi
suddho 'bhut tat-prabhavatah

That sinner died in a place where from someone's hand some gopi-candana from Dvaraka had accidentally fallen. Dying in gopi-candana, that sinner became purified.

Text 42
gopi-candana-liptango
naro narayano bhavet
etasya darsanat sadyo
brahma-hatya pramucyate

A person who wears gopi-candana tilaka attains a spiritual form like that of Lord Narayana. Simply by seeing him one becomes free of the sin of killing a brahmana.

Texts 43 and 44
sri-narada uvaca
iti srutva dharma-rajas
tam aniya visesatah
vimane kama-ge sthapya
vaikuntham prakrteh param
presayam asa sahasa
gopi-candana-kirti-vit
evam te kathitam rajan
gopi-candanakam yasah

Sri Narada said: Hearing this, Yamaraja, who understands the glories of gopi-candana, took the sinner, placed him on an airplane that goes anywhere one wishes, and sent him to Vaikuntha, which is above the worlds of matter. O king, thus I have described to you the glories of gopi-candana.

Text 45
gopi-candana-mahatmyam
yah srnoti narottamah
sa yati paramam dhama
sri-krsnasya mahatmanah

One who hears this account of gopi-candana's glories becomes exalted. He goes to the supreme abode of Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

Additional References

If a Vaisnava who wears the sacred tilaka mark which goes upward like a flame eats in anyone's house some grains, I (the Supreme Personality of Godhead) liberate his twenty previous generations from their suffering in hellish planets. [Hari Bhakti Vilasa 4/203 from Brahmanda Purana spoken by the Supreme Lord]
 

Oh king of the birds (Garuda), if gopicandana is marked on anyone's forehead by the mercy of the Supreme Lord, no planets (Sun, Moon, Mars, etc.), Yaksas (semi demigods), Pisacas (ghosts and devils), snakes and demons can harm him. [Hari Bhakti Vilasa 4/238 from Garuda Purana spoken by Narada Muni]

1. Atharvana Upanisad

Anyone who marks his body with the tilak which resembles the lotus feet of Lord hari becomes dear to the Paramatma. He becomes fortunate and attains liberation.

2. Maha Upanisad

One gets released of all the bondage of samsara when one marks his body with the tilak markings and knows Narayana who is known by karma, jnana and bhakti yogas. Ultimately, he attains Lord Visnu.

3. Agni Purana

A brahmana should not wear the three lined tilak across (tiryak pundra) even for as a joke or play. One should mark his body with the vertical tilak only according to the prescribed rules.

4. Brahmanda Purana

A brahmana should wear urdhva pundra; a ksatriya ardha candrakara (half-moon) pundra; vaisya round shaped pundra; and a sudra tri pundra (horizontal tiryak pundra). A brahmana should never wear the horizontal tilak. He is to be considered a sudra if he wears it.

5. Brahmaratra

One should meditate on Me by chanting Om and should mark his body with vertical tilak daily. Anyone who marks thus attains sayujya liberation.

6. Vasista smrti

One should mark the tilak on his forehead as follows: he should start from the nose tip and go till his kesa (hair). The width should be one angula (circa 1 inch). This is urdhva pundra laksana.

7. Sanat Kumara Samhita

Urdhva pundra should be worn with clay and should be worn with a gap inbetween and nicely. In between the two lines, one should mark Sri or Laksmi in the form of Haridhra curna. One should not mark anything else inbetween. Anyone who marks like this is freed from all sinful reactions. Anyone who marks the tilak without any gap is condemned.

8. Padma Purana

Those devotees on whose neck tulasi kanti mala and lotus seed kanti malas are hanging and on whose shoulders there are the markings of conch and cakra and on whose body there are 12 tilak markings, they purify the entire universe immediately.

9. Isvara samhita

Anyone who marks his body with the clay which has touched Lord Visnu's body attains the benefit of an asvamedha sacrifice and is glorified in Visnu's abode. One should mark inbetween the vertical lines mother Laksmi with the help of yellow curna or powder.

SRI VASUDEVA UPANISAD

1.    Om.   The  great  sage Narada bowed down before  the  Supreme

Personality  of  Godhead, Lord Vasudeva and asked: O  Lord,  please

teach  me  the  rules of Vaisnava tilaka.  Please tell  me  of  the

substances,  mantras, places, and other things in  connection  with

it.

2     Lord  Vasudeva said: To please Me, My devotees headed by  the

demigod  Brahma, wear Visnu-candana, which comes from the spiritual

world  of  Vaikuntha.  Because every day the gopis anoint My  limbs

with this candana and then again wash it away, it is also known  as

gopi-candana.  This sacred yellow candana, which holds within it My

cakra, and which is present at Cakra-tirtha, brings liberation  (to

they who wear it).

3    In the following prayer one praises and bows down before gopi-

candana:

      O  gopi, O destroyer of sins, O candana manifested from  Lord

Visnu’s  transcendental body and marked with His cakra, I offer  my

obeisances  to you.  Please give me liberation, for I  am  anointed

with you.

4     One  should go to My Ganges, take some water, bring it to  My

temple,  and  use  it to make gopi-candana paste.   Then,  reciting

either  the  mantras  that begin ‘deva avantu nah’  (May  the  Lord

protect  us), or the Visnu gayatri, or my names beginning with  the

name Kesava, one should apply gopi-candana tilaka.

5     A brahmacari or vanaprastha should, while chanting the Visnu-

gayatri or the holy names beginning with Krishna, apply this tilaka

to his forehead, chest, neck, and shoulders.

5 (A)     Three times he should chant this mantra: O Lord who holds

the  conch shell, cakra, and club in Your hands, O infallible  Lord

who  resides in Dvaraka, O lotus-eyed Lord Govinda, please  protect

me, who have surrendered to You and taken shelter of You.

5  (B)      After meditating in this way, a grhastha should,  while

chanting the Visnu-gayatri or the holy names beginning with Kesava,

apply this tilaka with his ring finger to twelve parts of his body,

beginning with his forehead.

6     A  brahmacari or grhastha should, while chanting  the  Visnu-

gayatri or the holy names beginning with Krishna, apply this tilaka

to his forehead, chest, neck and shoulders.

7     A  sannyasi,  while chanting the sacred syllable  Om,  should

apply  this  tilaka with his forefinger to his head,  forehead  and

chest.

8     As  there  are three Deities (Brahma, Visnu and Siva),  three

vyahrtis (Bhuh, Bhuvah and Svah), three metres in the Vedic  hymns,

three  sacred  fires,  three times, three states  of  being,  three

atmas,  and three letters (a, u, and m) in the sacred syllable  Om,

so Vaisnava tilaka has three parts, which correspond to the letters

in the sacred Om.

9     A  person  who  chants  the sacred syllable  Om  goes  upward

(urdhva).  That is why Vaisnava tilaka is called ‘urdhva-pundra.’

10    A  paramahamsa should say the sacred syllable  Om  and  place

Vaisnava tilaka on his forehead.

11    When  he sees the Supersoul in his heart illumined  with  the

lamp of truth, the yogi attains the liberation of meeting Me.

12    Or the yogi may surrender his heart to the Lord in the tilaka

mark on his chest or to the Lord in the lotus of his heart.

13    In  the  heart is a flame reaching upwards, a  flame  like  a

lightning  flash  from a dark cloud, or like a slender  rice-plant.

In that flame the Supersoul stays.

14    In  the lotus flower of the heart one should search  for  the

Supreme  Lord,  who is present as the tilaka mark.   Gradually  one

should  become  rapt in meditation on Me, Lord  Hari,  the  Supreme

Personality of Godhead, who is present as the Supersoul.

15    He  becomes  liberated who, with single-pointed concentration

meditates on Me, Lord Hari, the eternal Supersoul who stays in  the

lotus flower of the heart.  Of this there is no doubt.

16   By engaging in My devotional service one is able to understand

My transcendental form, which is spiritual, eternal, self-manifest,

filled  with  knowledge  and bliss, and beyond  the  touch  of  the

material world of dualities.

17    I am Lord Visnu, the one Supersoul who stays in the hearts of

the many moving and unmoving creatures.

18   As oil stays in sesame seeds, as fire stays in wood, as butter

stays  in  milk,  and  as fragrance stays in  flowers,  so  I,  the

Supersoul, stay in the hearts of all living creatures.

19    By  anointing  one’s  body with gopi-candana  tilaka  and  by

meditating   on   the   Supreme  Lord,  Hari,   splendid   like   a

transcendental  sun in the brahma-randhra, heart, and  between  the

eyebrows, one attains the Lord in His supreme abode.

20    His  sannyasa  danda raised, his semen flowing  upwards,  His

Vaisnava  tilaka vertical, and his practice of yoga  elevated,  the

sannyasi,  in  this  four  ways  ascending,  goes  to  the  highest

spiritual abode.

21    The final conclusion is that by serving Me with devotion  one

attains the supreme perfection.  Wearing gopi-candana tilaka,  with

single  pointed  concentration  one  should  always  engage  in  My

devotional service.

22    Of  all brahmanas and followers of the Vedas he is  best  who

wears Vaisnava tilaka of gopi-candana mixed with water.

23    If  gopi-candana is not available one may use the earth  from

the  roots  of the Tulasi plant.  In order to attain the  spiritual

goal  that cannot be seen by materialistic men, a person who yearns

for liberation should wear Vaisnava tilaka every day.

24    One  should apply Vaisnava tilaka using the sacred atriratri-

agnihotra  ashes  of the sacred syllable Om, the Visnu-gayatri,  or

the mantras beginning with the words ‘Visnus trini pada.’

25    In  this  way  one should apply Vaisnava  tilaka  with  gopi-

candana.

26    A  person who studies this Upanisad becomes purified  of  all

sins.   Sinful thoughts do not arise in his mind.  He  attains  the

results of bathing in all sacred rivers and lakes.  He attains  the

results  of performing all yajnas.  He is to be worshipped  by  all

the demigods.  He attains unwavering devotion to Me, Lord Narayana,

the goddess of fortune’s husband.  When his spiritual knowledge  is

perfect  he attains the liberation of meeting Lord Visnu.  He  does

not return to the world of birth and death.  He does not return  to

the world of birth and death.

27   Thus spoke Lord Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

28    One  who studies this Upanisad certainly attains  this.   Om.

That is the truth.  Thus says the Upanisad.

Specifics on Different Tilaks

By Jahnava Nitai das:

The tilak is an external symbol of our surrender to Krishna, or to our object of worship. The shape and material used may differ according to the particular process of surrender the sampradaya follows.

In the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya the tilak is made out of the white mud found in anthills. The scriptures tell us that the mud from the base of a Tulasi plant and the white mud from within the ant hill are both pure and best for making tilak. The Sri Vaishnavas will draw two lines representing the feet of Sri Narayana, and in the middle they will put a red line to represent Lakshmi Devi. The red line was originally made from a red stone found within the ant hill. The ants would usually make their ant hill on top of these red stones. When you rub the stone in water, a red color paint is formed. The category of Shakti is generally represented with the color red in all lines, both Vedic and Tantrik. Because the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya begins with Sri Lakshmi Devi, and because they approach Narayana only through Lakshmi, their tilak reflects this process of surrender. The tilaks of each sampradaya actually depict the siddhanta of the sampradaya.

In the Vallabha sampradaya the tilak worn is generally a single vertical red line. This line represents Sri Yamuna Devi. The form of Krishna worshiped in the Vallabha line is Sri Nathji or Govardhana. The consort of the Govardhana hill is the river Yamuna. Their process of surrender goes through Sri Yamuna Devi.

In the Madhva sampradaya the tilak is made out of Gopichandana mud from Dwaraka. Two vertical lines are made out of Gopichandana to represent the feet of Lord Krishna. This gopichandana tilak is nearly identical to that used in the Gaudiya sampradaya. In between a vertical black line is made from the daily coal of the yajna-kunda. In their sampradaya, the process of worship involved nitya-homa, or daily fire sacrifices to the Lord. The remnant coal of the puja was taken each day to mark the forehead. Underneath the black line, a yellow or red dot was put to indicate Lakshmi or Radha. Those who did not perform daily fire sacrifice would only put the simple gopichandana tilak.

In the Gaudiya sampradaya the tilak is usually made out of the Gopichandana mud. Some lineages prefer to use the mud from Vrindavana. The main tilak is basically identical to the Madhva tilak. The slight difference arises due to the emphasis on nama-sankirtana, or the chanting of the Lord's names. In Sri Chaitanya's line, nama-sankirtana is the yajna to be performed in kali yuga, and not the daily fire sacrifice performed in the Madhva sampradaya. As such, the black line made from the ash of the fire sacrifice is not applied in the Gaudiya sampradaya. The second difference arises due to Sri Chaitanya's process of approaching the Lord. In the Gaudiya line one does not approach Srimati Radharani directly, but always indirectly through the servant. To indicate this, the red dot representing Radha is replaced with a tulasi leaf offered at the base of the Lord's feet. Only with the mercy of Tulasi Devi can we develop pure devotion to Sri Sri Radha and Krishna.

In the scriptures there are very general descriptions of the procedure for applying tilak. For example it is mentioned that the tilak should be urdhva-pundra, or vertical lines; the body should be marked in twelve locations, etc. But these instructions are very general and leave a lot of the details to the acharyas. Even in a simple point, such as the location of the tilak, one person may interpret the 'shoulder' to start from the arm, where as another may interpret it to start higher up near the neck. This is actually the case in the two branches of the Sri Vaishna sampradaya.

The actual design of the tilak will manifest either through divine revelation or through scientific study. An example of divine revelation is the Gaudiya lineage of Sri Shyamananda. Radharani revealed a portion of her broken bangle to Sri Shyamananda, which he used in applying tilak to his forehead. As a result, his followers apply a unique design of tilak from other branches of the Gaudiya sampradaya.

In other cases, an acharya may scientifically analyze the sampradaya siddhanta and compare its compatibility with the tilak they wear. The external purpose of the tilak is to differentiate the followers of a sampradaya from other classes of philosophers, just as one branch of the armed forces wears a uniform to differentiate itself from the other branches. In such a case, the tilak may change when there occurs a shift or branching of the sampradaya due to philosophical views. The newly formed branch may re-analyze the tilak in connection with its siddhanta and make changes that fully reflect their process of surrender. Such is the case among the two branches of the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya. Due to a difference of opinion in regards to the process of surrender, two distinct tilaks emerged.

In any case, the ultimate purpose of tilak is to sanctify oneself and mark the body as the temple of the Lord. The scriptures do not specify in detail the manner that this should be done, and as such it is the acharyas who crystalize the procedures while adhering to the general prescriptions given in the scriptures.