Tilaka: The
Mark of God
By Rohininandana Dasa
Anyone who wishes to acknowledge the simple truth that
"I am Lord Krishna's servant" can wear tilaka, the clay
mark devotees wear on the forehead and other places on
their body. You may not feel you have much devotion to
Krishna, but you're not prohibited from wearing tilaka,
because it's a sign that you're trying to be His
devotee. What's more, the qualifications for being
Krishna's devotee soon develop in a person who learns
the art of wearing tilaka.
Why
Decorate the Body?
A devotee of Krishna decorates the body because it's a
temple of God. Instead of decorating our body as if it
were the self, or destroying it, or despising it for its
filthy emissions, we can respect and care for it as a
residence of the Supreme Lord. The soul lives within the
body, and so too does the Supersoul, the Lord. As a
house is built and maintained for the pleasure of its
owner, so "our" body is meant for the pleasure of its
real owner, Lord Krishna. Decorating the body with
tilaka pleases Him.
Putting on tilaka helps remind us we belong to Krishna.
And when others see a person wearing tilaka they are not
only reminded of Krishna but relieved of sinful
reactions.
When we wear tilaka on our bodies, the Lord protects us
from all sides. When Srila Prabhupada gave a disciple
the name Tilaka Dasi, he told her that Tilaka meant
"victory personified."
When to
Wear Tilaka
Although you can put on tilaka anytime, the best time to
apply it is after bathing or showering. Wearing tilaka
is especially appropriate during your puja, or worship,
at home. When you're worshiping as a family, everyone
can wear it, or at least the person offering arati (the
pujari). You can also wear tilaka when you visit the
temple or attend festivals like Rathayatra.
An important time to wear it is at death. Either before
someone dies or just afterwards, if you apply tilaka at
least to the person's forehead, he or she will obtain
eternal benefit. Of course, death can come anytime, and
so it's wise to wear tilaka always.
You may feel shy about wearing tilaka publicly, but
don't jump to conclusions about what others may think.
They may be intrigued. Srila Prabhupada told a story
about a factory in India where most of the Hindu workers
were accustomed to wearing tilaka. When their new boss,
a Muslim, told them that whoever kept wearing tilaka
would lose his job, the next day everyone except one man
came to work with forehead blank. So then the owner
called a meeting and announced that from then on this
one brave man would be the only person allowed to keep
wearing tilaka.
Different
Types of Tilaka
If you travel in India you'll see a variety of marks
adorning people's foreheads and bodies. Such marks
indicate their affiliation with a particular group and
their devotion to a certain form of God or demigod.
Broadly speaking, you will see two types of tilaka: the
vertical mark of the Vaisnavas, or devotees of Krishna
and His incarnations, and the three horizontal lines of
the Saivites, followers of Siva and adherents to the
impersonal conception of God.
Among the Vaisnavas are many sub-groups, identifiable by
their styles of tilaka -- it's shape and color and the
type of material used to make it. The tilaka worn by
devotees in the Hare Krishna movement indicates that we
are in the disciplic line from Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
The upper part of this tilaka, shaped like the prongs of
a tuning-fork, represents Lord Krishna's footprint, and
the leaf-shaped part on the nose represents a leaf of
the tulasi, Krishna's favorite plant. The two lines also
represent the walls of a Radha-Krishna temple, and so
the space between the lines is Radha and Krishna's
abode. For other Vaisnavas the two lines may indicate
Brahma and Siva, and the space between the abode of
Vishnu. A red line in the center may represent Laksmi,
Lord Vishnu's eternal consort. The two lines may also
indicate the banks of the Yamuna. Or they may represent
Lord Rama and Laksmana standing on either side of Sita.
The stroke at the base of the tilaka represents the
devotee Hanuman kneeling at Their feet. Tilaka styles
are as varied as the understandings behind them.
How to
Make Tilaka
ISKCON devotees generally make their tilaka from a
cream-colored clay called gopi-candana, obtained from a
sacred lake near Dvaraka, Lord Krishna's ancient city on
the west coast of Gujarat. Krishna's greatest devotees,
the gopis, once visited this lake. You can most likely
obtain some from your local temple or supplier of
devotional items. If not, clay from Vrndavana or any
other holy place is fine. You can even use potters'
clay. According to the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, a book by
Srila Sanatana Gosvami on Vaishnava practices, any kind
of earth may be used for tilaka, especially earth from a
riverbank or from beneath a tulasi bush.
Put a little water in the palm of your left hand and
move your block or ball of tilaka clay briskly until you
get a smooth paste. As you do this, chant Hare Krishna,
or if you like you can recite a mantra from the Padma
Purana. You can find this mantra in a purport in the
Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 20.202).
How to
Apply Tilaka
Apply tilaka with the ring finger of your right hand.
Make a mark -- about as wide as the space between your
eyebrows -- from the root of your nose to your hairline.
Now use another finger, perhaps the little one, to make
a clear space in the middle to form two vertical lines.
If these lines come out crooked, you can straighten them
with a third finger. If your forehead is bumpy, like
mine, you can develop your own way of applying the clay.
Now make the leaf-shaped mark, which should extend from
the base of the lines to about three quarters of the way
down the nose.
After marking your forehead, apply tilaka to eleven
other places on your body, as shown on the facing page.
As you apply the tilaka, recite the appropriate names of
Vishnu listed here. Om kesavaya namah means "O my Lord
Kesava, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You." So
as we mark our bodies, we chant twelve of His holy
names.
If you can't find the clay to make tilaka (or if your
wearing tilaka wouldn't sit well with your boss), you
can go through the same procedure using only water. Use
water that has bathed the Deity or pure water you've
sanctified by chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama
Rama, Hare Hare. By chanting the names of the Lord and
applying the invisible representation of His temple,
you'll be protected and spiritually inspired for a
Krishna conscious day.
For more about tilaka, see The Nectar of Devotion, pages
54 and 73–74.
===end of article from Rohininandana Das==
Further
Information Regarding the Wearing of Tilaka
Put the water in your left hand, and rub
the hard tilak into the water, creating a wet paste out
of the clay. Begin by putting your ring finger of the
right hand into the clay, and starting between the
eyebrows, bring the finger straight up to the hairline,
making two straight lines. It should look like a long,
narrow U-shape. Then use some more tilak to make the
marking on your nose, it should extend about 3/4 of the
way down your nose. As you apply the tilak to your body,
chant the following mantras:
forehead: om keshavaya namaha
belly: om narayanaya namaha
chest: om madhavaya namaha
neck: om govindaya namaha
right: belly om vishnave namaha
right: arm om madhusudhanaya namaha
right: shoulder om trivikramaya namaha
left: belly om vamanaya namaha
left arm: om shridharaya namaha
left shoulder: om hrishikeshaya namaha
upper back: om padmanabhaya namaha
lower back: om damodaraya namaha
Take the remaining tilak, and wipe it on the back of the
head, in the area of the sikha, and chant om vasudevaya
namaha.
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