Symbols worn by Vaisnavas on the body

[Guest guest]

Mani wrote:

>is called "Urdhva pundra" in Sanskrit.

>In Tamil, the white part is called "thirumaN" and

>the red part "sri chUrNam". The whole thing is

>often referred to as "thirumaN" or "nAma", since

>each thirumaN placed on the body represents a

>different name of Sriman Narayana.

 

to elaborate :

forehead: Kesava

belly: Narayana

chest: Madhava

throat: Govinda

right side: Visnu

right arm: Madhusudana

right shoulder: Trivikrama

left side: Vamana

left arm: Sridhara

left shoulder: Hrisikesha

upper back: Padmanabha

lower back: Damodara

 

Mani wrote:

>The primary place for the urdhva pundra is on the

>forehead. The two white lines represent the feet

>of the Lord, and the red line represents Lakshmi

>Thaayar who is everpresent with him. The Azhvaars

>refer to this tradition of wearing the pundra as

>"wearing the feet of the Lord on one's head",

>representing one's eternal relation as his servant.

 

I heard a different meaning. The left line represent Lord Brahma, the

right line Lord Siva and the middle portion is where Lord Narayana

dwells with Mother Lakshmi; so may not be smeared.

This may explain why some put the marks on the Lord's forehead as

Lord Narayana. By putting the marks on the various parts of the human

body, we are acknowldeging and reminded of this fact, and by putting

on the Lord's body, we are not only reminded of this but in His case both

external and internal is the same - spiritual.

 

Mani wrote:

>P.S. It seems that Ramanuja initiated the tradition

>of only using the special white clay for the thirumaN.

>One Azhvaar remarks that even ash can be used (anathema

>to some Vaishnavas due to its connection with Siva),

>but best would be the dust of the feet of other devotees!

 

Ash is in the mode of ignorance known as the Tamo guna; so may be

avoided.

 

What is the difference between the Tengalai and the Vadagalai

forehead marks? Which one did Sri Ramanuja initiate?

 

The part about dust of feet is interesting. Some people I have seen go

to the sanctum sanctorum and wipe off some dust from the floor and apply

to their forehead, I think in an effort to gather the dust from the feet

of devotees those that we can see and those that we cannot see such as the

heavenly beings.

 

 

When I was in the undergraduate engineering in India, one of our

teachers, an Iyengar wore the forehead marks everyday. He was also one

the better teachers we had, in the sense of pulling the mischief-mongers

up to a better standard. He was always mumbling something and talked

very little outside of the class, now I know that mumbling to be

constant repetition of the Lord's name. How many do we know in US who go

to work or school wearing the forehead marks? If you know of any, please

make it known to this group. May be it will insprire those not wearing

now, to do so! In the Padma purana the Lord says that one who wears the

marks becomes fearless.

 

 

-Eswar

[Guest guest]

Folks -:-)

 

Some quick thoughts:

 

(1) The number of namams is twelve (dva-dasa) corresponding to the

Lord's names we recite in "achamanam". This is what I learnt and not eleven as

someone wrote. (Apologies, I am new to the group and slowly i get to know th

names).

 

(2) An interesting fact for some may be that during times of grief,only

the Thiruman is worn without the Sri Churanam.

 

 

PS:

 

Who am I: I am a moderate Vaishnava wishing to learn more about the

philosophical aspects of all religions, particularly our sect.

 

TGS