History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.153.4

v2.c34.153.4

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.