The meaning of Srivatsa on Visnu

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Dear Sri Visnupada,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

 

What exactly is the 'Mark of Srivatsa' on Lord Visnu's or Krsna's chest?

There are a number of passages in our books that seem to offer different

explanations, and many devotees do wonder what this mark actually is.

 

The Gaudiya Vaisnava Abhidhana, an exhaustive Bengali Vaisnava encyclopedia,

which was published in Navadvipa in the year 1956, lists five different

meanings under the entry 'Sri-vatsa':

 

1. A lock of hair on the right side of Sri Visnu's chest.

2. The mark of Laksmi on the chest of Visnu.

3. The Kaustubha gem.

4. The mark of Bhrgu's foot.

5. Laksmi in the form of a golden line.

 

Point one seems to be the most commonly accepted meaning. It is also

described that this lock of hair is white and that it is more or less shaped

like a cross. It is sometimes, on paintings or Deities, symbolized by a

flower.

 

Srila Prabhupada writes:

 

"Srivatsa is a curl of white hair on the chest of the Lord which is a

special sign of His being the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In

Vaikunthaloka or in Goloka Vrndavana, the inhabitants are exactly of the

same form as the Personality of Godhead, but by this Srivatsa mark on the

chest of the Lord He is distinguished from all others." (SB 3.19.15)

 

"The Srivatsa mark is described by the Vaisnava-tosani as being a curl of

fine yellow hair on the upper portion of the right side of Lord Visnu’s

chest. This mark is not for ordinary devotees. It is a special mark of Visnu

or Krsna." (SB 10.13.48)

 

Point number two is also often offered as the meaning, namely that the mark

of Srivatsa indicates the place of Laksmi, that is where she rests on the

Lord's chest. This second meaning has also been used by Srila Prabhupada as

follows:

 

"The Lord is further described as having the mark of Srivatsa, or the

sitting place of the goddess of fortune, and His bodily hue is deep bluish.

The Lord is a person, He wears a garland of flowers, and He is eternally

manifest with four hands, which hold [beginning from the lower left hand] a

conchshell, wheel, club and lotus flower." (SB 4.8.47)

 

The third meaning, namely that Srivatsa can also be the Kaustubha jewel, is

less known. Both Srivatsa and Kaustubha are generally listed together in the

same line, often in the same word even, in the verses of the Bhagavatam. But

then such a compound word always has a dual ending, indicating that these

are two things. Haridasa dasa, the compiler of the Gaudiya Vaisnava

Abhidhana, supports the third meaning with a reference to a book of the name

"Bhakti-candrika-patala". This book was compiled by Lokananda Acarya and it

contains the direct instructions of Narahari Sarakara, an associate of Lord

Caitanya.

 

Point four was also confirmed by Srila Prabhupada in his letter to Yamuna

devi:

 

".....Regarding the footprint on Krishna's chest which you say is

Radharani's, that is not correct. That footprint is of Bhrgu Muni."

(Los Angeles 69-08-12)

 

The story of Bhrgu Muni and how it came that he placed his foot on Lord

Visnu's chest, is explained in the Krsna Book, in Chapter 89.

 

Point five is explained as follows in the end of the purport to SB.10.15.8:

 

"The goddess of fortune, who lives in Vaikuntha on the chest of Lord

Narayana, once desired to be embraced on the chest of Sri Krsna, and thus

she performed severe austerities to achieve this blessing. Sri Krsna

informed her that her actual place was in Vaikuntha and that it was not

possible for her to dwell upon His chest in Vrndavana. Therefore she begged

Krsna to allow her to remain on His chest in the form of a golden line, and

He granted her this benediction. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura

recounts this incident from the Puranas."

 

The meaning of the word Srivatsa, may be given as, "The darling of Sri".

The idea is, that He who is the darling of Sri, the goddess of fortune, is

distinguished from others by a special sign on His chest. Thus Srivatsa and

Srivatsa-vaksah (He who has the mark of Srivatsa on His chest) are names of

Lord Visnu. And because Laksmi is kept on the Lord's chest exactly at this

spot, this spot came to be known under the same name. The origin of that

spot is explained differently by different Puranas and other works.

 

There is a further meaning listed in the Mahabharata: A symbol on Lord

Narayana's chest, originally made by the mark of Lord Siva's lance.

 

Your servant

Ekanatha dasa