T ILAKA DHARANAM
(The wearing of marks on the forehead)

One of the special features of the Hindu religion is that every one of its followers must wear some mark on his forehead, such as Vibhuti (ash), or Tirumann (holy sand or holy mud), Gobichandan, or chandan or carbon black streaks, or kumkum, etc.

The wearing of these marks like Vibhuti or basma reminds us of so many aspects of our dhama. The wearing of kumkum also reminds us of many great truths. The wearing of gobichandan reminds us of Lord Vishnu. In the case of Madhvas also, the black lines Vishnu. In the case of Madhvas also, the black lines remind them to Vishnu. Thus, the wearing of these marks has got its special significance.

The wearing of Vibhuti reminds us of Paramesvara. Is is said:

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The term ‘Vibhuti’ means wealth. How do we say that Vibhuti signifies wealth?

For this, we have to analyse the manner in which Vibhuti is prepared. It is prepared from something in which Lakshmi resides. It is prepared from cowdung which comes from the hind part of the cow where Lakshmi resides. The Vibhuti which is sold in the bazaars may not be pure Vibhuti obtained in this manner. Pure Vibhuti has to be prepared by burning dried cowdung cakes. Lakshmi resides in the hind part of the cow, and other Devatas also reside in various parts of the cow. So, cowdung has a special significance, and the Vibhuti prepared by burning cowdung is also considered to be a sign of wealth.

Lakshmi resides in five places, mainly, the hind part of the cow, the head of the elephant, the line of parting of hair on a married woman’s head, in the lotus and in the Bilva leaves. In North India, married women wear sindoor at the line of parting of the hair on their heads.

This is our dharma and this is of very great significance.

While other flowers and leaves have to be plucked and used on the same day for the puja, the Bilva leaves and lotus flowers could be kept and used for about ten days, because Lakshmi resides in them, and therefore there is no nirmalya dosha. But all other flowers have to be plucked and used the same day.

Lakshmi also resides in other places, for instance, where there is courage, where there is good conduct, where there is truth and so on. The cowdung itself is regarded as sacred, and the Vibhuti obtained by burning it is considered to be a sign of wealth. As long as we have Vibhuti, there will be no poverty and there would be no question of taking loans.

I often used to say that our country is in debts today and has taken so much of loans only because our people have left off the habit of wearing Vibhuti or marks on their foreheads. If our people would have continued this habit, we would not have incurred so much of loans. If once again all of us start wearing tilak or marks on our foreheads, we shall be able to wipe off all our debts. There are actual instances in history where after people started wearing Vibhuti, the country had become prosperous. In Madurai, Saint Tirujnanasambandar had exhorted all the people to wear Vibhuti, and soon the country became prosperous and all poverty vanished. When wealth or Vibhuti is there, how could there be poverty?

Unfortunately, nowadays, the habit of wearing Vibhuti is becoming less and less. Some people wear Vibhuti for a short while, while doing their anushtana and while going to office, they just wipe it away. Therefore, our people get only that much of joy or happiness and they enjoy only that much of wealth and they do not have full satisfaction also in anything that they do.

Therefore, the wearing of Vibhuti is very necessary. It is a symbol of wealth and prosperity and happiness. In fact, Isvara Himself wears Vibhuti. He wears three horizontal bands of Vibhuti on His forehead. Therefore, the wearing of Vibhuti reminds us of Isvara ultimately.

Vibhuti has no form and no colour and its colour is just white. Other things may have some chemical colours, but Vibhuti is pure white. It also denotes the last state of everything in the world. The last product of complete burning is only ashes. That last state of things is the state of Paramesvara. It implies purity also. Vibhuti thus reminds us ultimately of the fact that only ashes remain when a thing is burnt completely, or only Para Brahman remains in its pure and white form. Thus, the wearing of Vibhuti reminds us of so many great philosophical truths also.

If we trace the cause of all things, we find that only one eternal substance is the sole and universal cause of the variety and multiplicity that we see in this world. It is as a symbol of that ultimate source of things that we wear Vibhuti. Vibhuti reminds us that everything is Sivamayam only, which is the ultimate goal of all life. When a thing is burnt, first it becomes black, and when it is burnt, first it becomes black, and when it is burnt again, it becomes white ash, and even if we burn it again, this white ash alone remains. Therefore, the consummation of all bodies is ashes only. So, Vibhuti in the material plane corresponds to Siva in the spiritual plane. When we burn everything in the fire of knowledge, what remains is Siva only or Parabrahman only.

Similarly, kumkum or vermilion which is saffron or red in colour reminds us of Lakshmi. The method of preparing kumkum has been prescribed. It is prepared from turmeric by mixing with lime juice, ghee and so many other things and we should wear only kumkum prepared in this manner. We should use only that kumkum while worshipping Devatas and then wear it. It reminds us of Parvatisvarupa or Lakshmisvarupa. It reminds us of Lakshmi who is red in colour and thus it is also a sign of wealth.

The wearing of gobichandan reminds us of the gobimud which was sanctified by the holy feet of Lord Krishna, and it reminds us of the gopis and then also of the Lord. Therefore, we wear gobichandan to remind ourselves of Lord Vishnu.

The Madhvas wear carbon black mark on their body and on their forehead. The carbon black denotes the idea that ultimately everything will perish in this world and become charred into carbon on being burnt. Therefore, nobody should have any attachment to any worldly thing, but everybody should develop Vairagya or detachment. The Madhvas wear this along with Gobichandan. Thus, they remind themselves of Lord Vishnu and also develop the spirit of renunciation and detachment.

The wearing of tilak in any one of these forms is a special characteristic of the Hindu religion. It is also an indication of the fact that those who wear it are believers in the theory of past and future birth. Even Buddhists and Jains accept this theory and therefore they also wear such marks on their foreheads.

There is also another significance in the wearing of tilak or Vibhuti on our foreheads.

We often refer to:

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And we say:

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It means that whatever is written on the forehead of a person cannot be altered and nobody can change it. Even Isvara cannot change it. It is written on the forehead and therefore, everyone has to suffer it. When a person is suffering and he complains about it, we just tell him ‘It is written on your forehead, therefore you have to suffer.’ But if something good happens, at that time, nobody says that it is written on his forehead and therefore he is happy or he is enjoying. It is only when bad things happen that we invoke this idea. Actually, both good and bad are written on the forehead, and every individual has to experience it.

At the time of solar or lunar eclipse, those persons in whose stars the eclipse takes place or whose stars are affected wear a palm leaf containing a scroll written on it which serves as prophylactic or preventive against the bad effects of the eclipse on them. For instance, during lunar eclipse, the following is written:

<xpùÉä xɱÉÉä ªÉ¨ÉÉä @ñIÉÉä ´É¯ûhÉÉä ´ÉɪÉÖ®äú´É SÉ*
EÖò¤Éä®ú <ǶÉÉä PxÉÎxi´ÉxnÚù{É®úÉMÉÉäilÉ´ªÉlÉÉÆ ¨É¨É**

During a solar eclipse, the words:

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Are changed to:

PxÉxiÉÖ +EòÉæ{É®úÉMÉÉäilÉ´ªÉlÉÉÆ

Unfortunately, that habit is going out of practice. Even within a period of 40 years, I feel that I myself have seen two generations or two eras, the old era and the new era. The wearing of the palm leaf scroll is just a protection against the evil effects of the eclipse.

When we go out in the hot sun, we wear shoes to protect our feet. Even though the road is so hot, we do not feel it because we are wearing the shoes. Similarly, when there is rain, we wear the raincoat, and go out. The rain falls on the raincoat, but we do not get wet thereby because there is a cover to protect us. In the same way, the palm leaf with the mantra written on it protects us from all evil effects of eclipses.

Similarly, Vibhuti also protects us and reminds us of the karma theory, and at the same time it also reminds us of Paramesvara. All of us have to face the good as well as bad things of life. We cannot avoid them but at least we can reduce their intensity to some extent. That is why we have prayascitta, Navagraha-homa and other such things. The fruits of whatever karmas we do have to be experienced by us, and none can stop it. We can only reduce the extent of suffering. As the Tamil proverb says, what came to take away the head could be made to take away only the turban:

“Talaikku vandathu Talaippagaiyodu poccu”

In the north, I find that the wearing of turban on the head is more common, and perhaps this proverb also may have had its origin here, because the wearing of turban on our side is not so very common. Nobody can completely eliminate the effects of actions, but the evil effects could be reduced to some extent.

Sometimes, I see people who are worried so much that they start weeping. There are some others who when they get something bad in their life just get upset for a short period and then they forget everything about it and they are able to bear the suffering when it comes. They develop the mental power to bear the sufferings and they are not, therefore, upset very much by the miseries that follow.

When Vibhuti is worn on the forehead, it reminds us of Isvara and the forehead on which the bad thing has been written by Brahma gets the grace of God, and therefore the obstacles, miseries, sorrows and sufferings become less and do not affect us very much. That is the principle behind the wearing of marks like Vibhuti on the forehead. An ordinary man will not have the capacity to bear his suffering, but when he develops bhakti toward Isvara and reminds himself of Isvara by wearing Vibhuti or tilak on the forehead it gives him the grace of God; he can suffer the adversity with greater mental strength and get the necessary power to do so. So, everyone should get up in the morning and after morning ablutions and bath, etc., should wear Vibhuti or other tilak on his forehead, and thus remind himself of Isvara and with His grace, conduct the affairs of daily life.