The Glories Of VaishnavaTilaka
According to theGaudiya Vaishnava tradition, gopi-chandana, or the sacred mud from Dwaraka, isapplied on the body in twelve places while reciting mantras to Lord Vishnu.This process purifies one's body, designating it as a temple of the Lord. Besides purification, the tilaka also offers the wearer protection from ghosts,evil influences, bad dreams, accidents and many other things. It keeps one'smind calm and allows one to constantly remember Lord Krishna. The following story from the Garga Samhita describes the wonderful glories ofthe sacred mud known as gopi-chandana. ~ From GargaSamhita, Canto Six, Chapter Fifteen, Translation by Sri Kushakratha Das ~ Text 15 yasyasravana-matrena
karma-bandhat pramucyate
gopinam yatra vaso 'bhut
tena gopi-bhuvah smrtah Simply by hearingabout Gopi-bhumi, which is so named because the gopis resided there, one becomefree from the bondage of karma. Text 16 gopy-angaraga-sambhutam
gopi-chandanam uttamam
gopi-chandana-liptango
ganga-snana-phalam labhet In Gopi-bhumigopi-chandana was manifested from the gopis' cosmetics. A person who marks hislimbs with gopi-chandana tilaka attains the result of bathing in the Ganga. Text 17 maha-nadinam snanasya
punyam tasya dine dine
ngopi-chandana-mudrabhir
mudrito yah sada bhavet A person who dailywears gopi-chandana tilaka attains the pious result of daily bathing in allsacred rivers. Text 18 asvamedha-sahasrani
rajasuya-satani ca
sarvani tirtha-danani
vratani ca tathaiva ca
krtani tena nityam vai
sa krtartho na samsayah A person who dailywears gopi-chandana tilaka attains the result of performing a thousandasvamedha-yajnas and a hundred rajasuya-yajnas. He attains the result of givingcharity and following vows at all holy places. He attains the goal oflife. Of this there is nodoubt. Text 19 ganga-mrd-dvi-gunam punyam
citrakuta-rajah smrtam
tasmad dasa-gunam punyam
rajah pancavati-bhavam Twice as sacred asthe mud of the Ganga is the dust ofChitrakuta. Ten times more sacred than that is the dust ofPanchavati-tirtha. Text 20 tasmac chata-gunam punyam
gopi-chandanakam rajah
gopi-chandanakam viddhi
vrndavana-rajah-samam A hundred times moresacred is the dust of gopi-chandana. Please know that gopi-chandana is equal tothe dust of Vrindavana. Text 21 gopi-chandana-liptangam
yadi papa-satair yutam
tam netum na yamah sakto
yama-dutah kutah punah Even if in the pasthe has committed hundreds of sins, if a person wears gopi-chandana tilaka, thenYamaraja cannot take him away. How, then, can Yamaraja's messengers touchhim? Text 22 nityam karoti yah papi
gopi-chandana-dharanam
sa prayati harer dhama
golokam prakrteh param A sinner who dailywears gopi-chandana tilaka goes to Lord Krishna supreme abode, Goloka, which isbeyond the world of matter. Text 23 sindhu-desasya rajabhud
dirghabahur iti srutah
anyaya-varti dustatma
vesya-sanga-ratah sada In Sindhu-desa therewas a king named Dirghabahu. He was cruel and sinful and he was addicted tovisiting prostitutes. Text 24 tena vai bharate varse
brahma-hatya-satam krtam
dasa garbhavati-hatyah
krtas tena duratmana While he was on theearth this cruel sinner murdered a hundred brahmanas and ten pregnant women. Text 25 mrigayayam tu banaughaih
kapila-go-vadhah krtah
saindhavam hayam aruhya
mrgayarthi gato 'bhavat One day he mounted asindhu horse and went hunting. With a flood of arrows he accidentally killed abrown cow in that hunt. Text 26 ekada rajya-lobhena
mantri kruddho maha-khalam
jaghanaranya-dese tam
tiksna-dharena casina One day, greedy toget his kingdom, with a sharp sword his angry minister killed him in theforest. Text 27 bhu-tale patitam mrtyu-
gatam viksya yamanugah
baddhva yama-purim ninyur
harsayantah parasparam Seeing him fallen tothe ground and dead, the Yamadutas came, bound him, and, joking as they went,took him to the city of Yamaraja. Text 28 sammukhe 'vasthitam viksya
papinam yama-rad bali
citraguptam praha turnam
ka yogya yanatasya vai Seeing this sinnerbrought before him, powerful Yamaraja said to his scribe Chitragupta,"What is the proper punishment for him?" Text 29 sri-chitragupta uvaca catur-asiti-laksesu
narakesu nipatyatam
nihsandeham maha-raja
yavac candra-divakarau Sri Chitraguptasaid: O great king, he should be thrown into eight million four hundredthousand 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 didnot perform a single pious deed. He killed ten pregnant women. He killed abrown cow. Text 31 tatha vana-mriganam ca
krtva hatyah sahasrasah
tasmad ayam maha-papi
devata-dvija-nindakah He killed thousandsof deer in the forest. He offended the demigods and the brahmanas. He is agreat sinner. Texts 32 and 33 sri-narada uvaca
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 Narada said:Then, by Yamaraja's order, the Yamadutas took that sinner and threw him into aterrible, eight-thousand mile wide cauldron of bubbling boiling oil in the hellof Kumbhipaka. The moment that sinner came to it, the boiling oil, which was ashot as the great fires at the time of cosmic devastation, suddenly became cool. Text 34 vaideha tan-nipatanat
prahlada-ksepanad yatha
tadaiva citram acakhyur
yama-duta mahatmane O king of Videha, asPrahlada was unhurt in the same situation, that sinner was not hurt by theboiling oil. Then the Yamadutasdescribed that great wonder to noble-hearted Yamaraja. Text 35 anena su-krtam bhumau
ksanavan na krtam kvacit
citraguptena satatam
dharma-rajo vyacintayat Yamaraja andChitragupta carefully reviewed the sinner's case and concluded that while hewas on the earth the sinner had not for a moment performed even a single piousdeed. Text 36 sabhayam agatam vyasam
sampujya vidhivan nrpa
natva papraccha dharmatma
dharma-rajo maha-matih Then Vyasadevaarrived in that assembly. Bowing down before Him, and carefully worshiping Him,saintly and noble-hearted Yamaraja asked Vyasadeva the followingquestion. Text 37 and 38 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, wasthrown into the terrible boiling oil of Kumbhipaka, the oil suddenly becamecool. 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, knowthat 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, bydestiny, this sinner did perform a pious deed, and by that deed he becamepurified. 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 ina place where from someone's hand some gopi-chandana from Dvaraka hadaccidentally fallen. Dying in gopi-chandana, that sinner became purified. Text 42 gopi-chandana-liptango
naro narayano bhavet
etasya darsanat sadyo
brahma-hatya pramucyate A person who wearsgopi-chandana 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-naradauvaca iti srutva dharma-rajas
tam aniya visesatah vimane kama-gesthapya vaikuntham prakrteh param presayam asa sahasa
gopi-chandana-kirti-vit
evam te kathitam rajan gopi-chandanakamyasah SriNarada said: Hearing this, Yamaraja, who understands the glories ofgopi-chandana, took the sinner, placed him on an airplane that goes anywhereone wishes, and sent him to Vaikuntha, which is above the worlds of matter. Oking, thus I have described to you the glories of gopi-chandana. Text 45 gopi-chandana-mahatmyam
yah srnoti narottamah
sa yati paramam dhama
sri-krishnasya mahatmanah Onewho hears this account of gopi-chandana's glories becomes exalted. He goesto the supreme abode of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality ofGodhead... |
