Acharya vaibhavam - 38- puNdra samskAram [wearing ThirumaN]

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

 

Recap: The Pancha samskara are the following:

 

1. tApa samskaram- or wearing [or embossing] the marks

of the Conch [shakhu] and Discuss [ChakrA] the two

weapons [ornaments] of MahavishNu.

2. pundram: To wear the dvAdasa Urdhva pundram (12

Thiruman & Srichoornam)

3. nAmam: To be initiated by the AchAryA afresh

as " RAmAnuja dAsan " (addition of 'dAsA'at the end of

ones name) to indicate that one is forever a servant

of the Supreme Lord Sriman NArAyanA and

BhagavAnRAmAnujA.

4. manthram: To get the initiation of " Rahasya Traya

MantrAs " - AshtAksharam, Dvayam and charama slokam.

5. Ijyai: To learn the worship of Sriman nArAyanA in

proper form (Bhagavad ThiruvArAdhanam).

 

today- let us understand what is puNdra samskaram:

To wear the dvAdasa Urdhva pundram (12 Thiruman &

Srichoornam)

 

The Srivaishnava concept is that our body is like a

temple. The Lord resides along with his consort in

Vyooha and upavyooha forms in different parts of our

body. The Srivaishnava marks are only external display

if the upavyooha forms of the Lord. This is known as

Pundra samskara.

 

PuNdra is an abbreviated form of the word Urdhva

puNdra means the wearing on the forehead the symbolic

mark in the shape of the Lord’s Lotus Feet with white

clay. Though it is a common practice among

Srivaishnavas including those who are not initiated,

to war the creed mark as a daily routine , the formal

ceremony of applying it on the face and other selected

parts of the body, twelve in all is observed at the

time of initiation. An orthodox Srivaishnava is

expected to wear the 12 puNdras [ThirumaN] with the

chanting of the names of 12 forms of VishNu. The

significance of wearing the Urdhva puNdra with the

chanting of the names of the Bhagawaan is to purify

the body.

 

The upavyUha forms of NArAyanA also represent the

twelve suns in the Universe corresponding to the

twelve zodiacs of the universe. KeSavA is the

presiding deity of month MArghazhi, NArAyanA is the

presiding deity of month 'thai' and so on. They are

the presiding deities of the twelve AdityAs.

Thus, the sishyA gets the unique previlege to wear the

Thiruman kAppu. So, only after SamAshrayanam should

one wear the dvAdasa Urdhva pundram. From then

onwards, the sishyA withour fail should wear them. All

the evils fly away on seeing the thiruman kApu (kAApu

=> protection).

 

Materialistic people apply powder, cream etc to their

faces, hands etc. They keep on polishing this

temporary body with their deep materialistic

attachment towards it. They more over put many more

ornaments over the lump of flesh(body) and foolishly

think that they look beautiful. The very basic

understanding is that one is a jIvAtmA (soul) who is

ever subservient to the Divya Dampati, and not the

lump of matter surrounding it.

 

The best ornament for the body is Thiruman Kappu. This

should be applied with great humility, thanking the

achAryA and Sriman NArAyanA for their mercy. One

should be really proud of the fact that he is a

servant of NArAyanA. He should be highly enthusiastic

to wear the thiruman kAApu for the reason that it

reminds him of the servant - master relationship

eternally existing between himself and the Supreme

Master Sriman NArAyanA.

 

Materialistic people take pride in identifying

themselves as a fan of some other materialist (cinema

star, sports hero etc), who is also a jIvA suffering

in this whirlpool of samsArA. These so-called 'stars'

of the material world are going to take bodies like

donkey, cat etc in their future births. They are

followed by thousand fools who are also going to take

such bodies in the next births. Materialists are

highly ignorant fools because, their level of

understanding that someone is 'great' is highly

limited. Once one becomes a fan of the greatest of all

greats 'Sriman NArAyanA', he cannot become a fan of

any other person (except NArAyanAs staunch devotees).

Even the greatness of demigods like BrahmA, SivA,

IndrA in comparison with the greatness of nArAyanA is

like the brightness of a small spark of light in front

of the brightness of billions of suns.

 

A Sri VaishnavA is thus never attracted to even any of

the demigods (what to speak of tiny materialists in

earth). One who gets attracted to NArAyanAs divya

mangala vigraha; kalyAna gunAs; avatAra lIlAs as in

NrusimhA, RAmA and KrishnA avAtAra; Holy Names etc can

never turn back to anything short of it. It is

furthermore a duty of a Sri VaishnavA to follow what

the AchAryA has taught him during samAshrayanam. Some

may feel that they are ignorant about these facts.

But, they also see so many Sri VaishnavAs, wearing the

thiruman kApu and thus should automatically enquire

into it. But, there are some who even after knowing

that they should wear the DvAdasa Urdhva pundram

daily, doesn't wear them out of shyness. Actually,

this is due to their ignorance. Any devotee of Sriman

NArAyanA is never a cheap personality. He is the most

glorifiable one. So, one should wear them with love

and enthusiasm without any hesitation. Once one

understands about the glories of Sriman NArAyanA and

the eternal connection existing between himself and

the Lord, he will automatically wear the dvAdasa

Urdhva pundram.

 

One can talk a lot about VedAs, upanishads etc. If he

doesn't put them into practice, there is no use in

learning them. NArAyanA gets pleased when one follows

the sAstrAs. Moreover, if it is a upadeshA from an

AchAryA and is followed by the sishyA, NArAyanA gets

pleased to a much greater extent. At the same time, if

a sishyA doesn't follow the AchAryA, NArAyanA will

never be pleased with him. So, if a Sri VaishnavA

doesn't wear the Urdhva pundrams, he is obviously not

following the AchAryA and thereby becomes avaishnavA

in practice. In extreme circumstances, when one is not

able to wear the dvAdasa Urdhvapundrams, salutations

to Sriman NArAyanA with Anjali MudrA, should be

performed without fail as explained above (AchAryAs

Upadesam). The katA portion in YajurvedA says " One who

prays to the Supreme Lord Vishnu by wearing the

Urdhvapundram and by accepting the hot chakrA on the

shoulder, reaches the Supreme Lord Himself " . Such is

the glory of pundram and thApa samskAram [from Sri

Anand Karalapakkam Swami's article]

 

rakshaartham aghanaakshaartham mangaLArtham cha

bhAmini : |

dhArayEth oordhva pUndram thu sirasaa aharnisam sadaa

||

 

 

Swamy Desikan explains the saasthra pramANam of the

same in crystal clear terms in His Saccharitharaksha,

which is divided into three parts with the titles:

 

SudharsanapaanchajanyadhAranavidhi

UrdhvapuNdra dhAraNa vidhi

BhagavannivEdhithOpAyOga vidhi

 

Swamy Desikan starts the Sacharitharaksha which

establishes the absolute and prime need of Pancha

samskaram:

 

(meaning of 1st sloka): Let us carry the people on our

head who bear the mark of Sudharsana and Paanchajanya;

who wear the UrdhvapuNdra (ThirumaN kaappu) on

foreheads; who consume only the food offered to the

Lord and by virtue of the above who are saluted even

by NithyasUris.

 

All of us have these doubts as to where the saasthrAs

says that one should wear Thiruman kappu. Swamy

Desikan has beautifully explained it in this work.

 

Vedic authority of Urdhva puNdram dhAraNam is:

 

GruthOdhvapuNdra: paramESithAram nArAyaNam saankhya

yOgAdhi gagyam |

jnAthvA vimuchyEtha nara: samasthai: samsaara

paaSairiha chaiva vishNu: ||

 

MahOpanishad statement above says: One who wears

Urdhva puNdra and meditates on Lord Sriman Narayanan

and realizes Him through his mind gets liberated

from the bondage of samsaara.

 

In Paancharaathra samhitha it is said:

 

yagnO dhAnam thapou hOma: bhOjanam pithru tharpaNam

sarvE bhavanthi viphalaa: Urdhva puNdram vinAkruthA:

 

Yaga, charity, penance, daily sacrifice, taking food,

offering of water to manes (argyam) etc., is all null

and void if one does without wearing Urdhva pUndram.

Libations means pouring of water in honour of God.

Manes means spirit of the dead (deceased Father,

Mother. Grand father, Grand mother, Great grand

father, Great grand mother et al).

 

pithru tharpaNam means offering water with sesame

seeds to those twelve Pithru dEvathAs. Hence, wearing

Urdhva pUndram is essential. The shape of Urdhva

pUndra should be in the shape of HaripAdakruthi (in

the shape of the Lotus Feet of Sriman Narayanan). In

Varaaha pUrAna Lord says:

 

yEkAnthina: mahAbhAgA: math swarUpa vidha: amalA:

sAntharAlAn prakurvIran puNdrAn *mama padhaa kruthin*

 

As per Brahmaanandha purAna, in the middle of every

Urdhva puNdra, which is wide and good looking, Lord

Sriman Narayanan stays with His Consort Goddess

Mahalakshmi. The symbol of Mahalakshmi is Sri choorNam

which may be either in red or yellow colour.

 

Thus, Swamy Desikan in the three chapters, establishes

by his beautiful and inimitable style and power of

arguments based strictly on scriptures, the three

important customs and rituals of Srivaishnavas which

are Pancha samskaram, UrdhvapuNdradhAraNam and

partaking of the food offered to the Lord Sriman

Narayanan in archa form.

 

(The above article is based on write up of Sri U Ve

Anantha Naarasihmachariar Swamin of Srirangam)

 

In this connection, a fervent appeal is made to every

Srivaishnava to Strictly adhere to the above customs

and eschew any contact or worship of any deities other

than Lord VishNu. More important: DO NOT WIPE OFF when

you step out of the house. The sikhs do not remove

their turbans; the arabs not their head ring.. But why

should we? That is as bad as not wearing it, if not

worse.

 

Forehead, Presidng lord is Kesavan. His color is

invoked as Golden. His weapons are 4 Chakrams. The

direction assigned to him is East.` Centre Portion of

Stomach, the next site to wear Urdhva Pundram has

Sriman Narayana as the presiding deity. His Color is

visualized as Blue.His Weapons are 4 Conches .The

direction of protection offered by him is West.Thus it

goes on for the rest of the 10 Urdhva Pundram.

 

Incidentally, Urdhva Pundram is associate with Urdhva

Rethas celebrated in the Vedic Passage " Urdhva Retham

virupaksham Viswaroopaya Nama: " Urdhva Pundaram is

also symbolic of Sattvika Guna by Lord Krishna In

Bhagavat Gita (Urdhvam Gacchanti Satttwasthaa:).

Reference to this is from Naaradheeyam.In this

context, this souce says that the Vishnu Bhaktaas

should not wear Tiryak Pundram(cross , horizontal

wearing of the Pundram) even as a playful matter.

 

Vishnu Dharmottaram establishes guidelines as to

which finger to use in applying ThirumaN. Pavitram

wearing finger and the middle finger are taboo. One

should apply ThirumaN , while sitting. The

Thirucchornam used must be sanctified.

 

Any vermillion paste wont do. The thirumaN wearing has

to have the White two lines and the Red or yellow line

at the center, housing the Divine couple, who are

never separated. The two white lines are like temple

for them. Lord Himself says that he and His consort

love to reside in the temple created by the two broad

white lines of ThirumaN with SrI ChoorNam inside.

Narrow crowding of the two lines are not desirable to

him.

 

AsmadhAchArya paryanthAm vandhE GuruparamparAm

Regards

Namo Narayana

dasan