History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.153
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.153
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v2.c34.153.1
After one bathes, one has to sip water (Dakṣa II. 20. ff) and make marks on his forehead (variously called *tilaka*, *ūrdhvapuṇḍra*, *tripuṇḍra* &c.) according to one's caste or sect. In the Āhnikaprakāśa (pp. 248-252), in the Smṛtimuktāphala (āhnika pp. 292-310) elaborate rules are laid down on this subject. In the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa¹⁶⁰² it is stated that for making ūrdhvapuṇḍra (vertical mark of a line or lines on the forehead) one may select earth from the top of mountains or from banks of holy rivers like the Indus and the Ganges, from places sacred to Viṣṇu, from ant-hills and from the root of the *tulasī* plant. The thumb, the middle finger and the finger next to the small finger are to be used in making the mark, but the nails should not come in contact with the earth employed. The mark may be of the form of a lamp and its wick, or of the form of bamboo leaves or a lotus bud, or of a fish or tortoise or a conch and the mark may be in length from two to ten fingers. The marks are to be made on the forehead, the chest, the throat and its pit, on the abdomen, the right and left sides, the arms, the ears, the back, the back of the neck, after taking the twelve names of Viṣṇu (viz. Keśava, Nārāyaṇa &c.) for each of the above twelve parts of the body.
v2.c34.153.2
The *tripuṇḍra* mark (three oblique lines) is to be made with holy ashes (*bhasman*) and the tilaka with sandalwood paste.¹⁶⁰³ According to the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa, the ūrdhvapuṇḍra is made after a bath with loose earth in such a way that it resembles the outline of the foot (of Hari),¹⁶⁰⁴ the tripuṇḍra with holy ashes after homa, and the tilaka (a circular mark) with sandalwood paste on worshipping gods (devapūjā). The Sm. M. (āhnika p. 292) quotes Vāsudevopaniṣad for making the ūrdhvapuṇḍra mark on the forehead and other places with Gopīcandana (magnesian or calcareous clay) or in its absence with earth from the roots of the *tulasī* plant. Sacrifice, gifts, japa, homa, study of the Veda, tarpaṇa of the Manes, if done without the ūrdhvapuṇḍra mark, become fruitless (according to Viṣṇu quoted in Sm. M. āhnika p. 292). The Vṛddha-Hārīta smṛti (II. 58-72) has a long note on *ūrdhvapuṇḍra*. The Sm. M. (āhnika p. 296) notes that some texts of the Pāśupata and other Śaiva sectarians run down ūrdhvapuṇḍra and highly extol the tripuṇḍra mark, while Pāñcarātra texts enjoin the marking of the body with śaṅkha, cakra and other weapons of Viṣṇu and condemn tripuṇḍra. Devout worshippers of Viṣṇu who are followers of Madhvācārya brand the weapons of Viṣṇu such as the conch on their arms and bodies with heated metal pieces, just as early Christians stamped the cross on the forehead with red-hot iron (vide Wilson's 'Religious Sects of the Hindus', vol. I. p. 42). Works like Vṛddha-Hārīta II.
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44-45, the Pṛthvī-candrodaya condemn the practice of branding the body with marks of the conch &c. with red-hot iron as fit only for śūdras. The Smṛtyartha-sāgara of Chalāri quotes passages of the Vāyupurāṇa and Viṣṇupurāṇa supporting branding. In the Kālāgnirudropa-niṣad the procedure¹⁶⁰⁵ of the tripuṇḍra mark is laid down. Holy ashes are taken from the sacred fire with the five mantras 'sadyo jātam' (Tai. Ār. 10. 43-47) and they are then invoked with the mantras 'agniriti bhasma'; part of the ashes is then taken in the palm of one's hand with the mantra 'mā nastoke', (Ṛg. I. 114. 8) and mixed with water and therewith lines are made on the head, the forehead up to the (middle of the) eyebrows and eyes, on the chest and shoulders, after repeating 'tryāyuṣam Jamadagner' when applying the ashes to the forehead, 'kaśyapasya tryāyuṣam' when applying to the navel (or chest) and so on (the head coming last). The Sāṅkhyāyana gṛ. says¹⁶⁰⁶ "He makes the tripuṇḍra mark with ashes with the five formulas 'tryāyuṣam' &c. on his forehead, chest, right and left shoulders and then on the back; (by doing this) he studies these Vedas, one, two, three or all." The Smṛtimuktāphala¹⁶⁰⁷ (āhnika p. 301) quotes a passage from Baudhāyana in which the words of the exhortation to the pupil returning home 'bhūtyai na pramaditavyam' occurring in the Tai. Up. I. 11 are interpreted as referring to the making of the tripuṇḍra mark with ashes (*bhūti*).
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This is a fine example of how sectarians twist the words of ancient texts to bolster up their practices and dogmas. In the Kādambarī (para 34) Hārīta is described as ornamented by the tripuṇḍra mark of ashes. The Ācāramayūkha quotes a verse from the Bhaviṣyapurāṇa 'of him who does not bear the tripuṇḍra mark, truthfulness, *śauca*, *japa*, *homa*, pilgrimage and worship of gods—all this becomes futile' and a verse from the Smṛtiratnāvalī as to the parts of the body that are to be smeared with holy ashes, viz. the forehead, the region of the heart, navel, throat, shoulders, the joints of the arms, the back and the head. The Smṛtimuktāphala (āhnika p. 310) gives the following sage advice to the Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava sectarian writers that were guilty of running down the practices of each other 'As one God appears in the form of various deities, all should worship their (favourite) god, whether Śiva, Viṣṇu or any other, without indulging in the calumny of other deities and they should wear the puṇḍra mark that is deemed to be pleasing to any deity without calumniating other sect marks'.¹⁶⁰⁸ The Nirṇayasindhu (II pariccheda) when dealing with the 11th day of Āṣāḍha sets out from the Rāmārcana-candrikā passages about the marking of the body with conch figure by means of heated metal pieces and also quotes the Pṛthvīcandrodaya and other works that condemn such practices and remarks that one may follow the *śiṣṭas*. The ācāraratna (p.
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37 a) states that votaries are of several kinds, viz. Śaivas and Vaiṣṇavas who are purely followers of the Vedic cult, Śaivas and Vaiṣṇavas who follow both Vaidika and Tāntrika practices and the same two following purely the Tāntric cult.