Guest guest Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 Hare Krsna. Is having tatoos on one's back with a picture of the Lord, ok? If not, can you provide some solid references. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 Although sentimentally it sounds harmless to have spiritual tattoos on the body, it is a permanent advertisement. I have seen devotees tatoo tilak on there face then years down the track they are stealing other devotees wives, getting intoxicated, and generally doing all manner of nefarious activity still with vishnu tilak on. The higher vaisnavas see any representation of the Lord in picture form still as a deity to be worshipped with the uttmost respect. It's also not recommended if one engages in sexual activity to have the Lords picture staring one in the face, as this can cause aparadhe. Far better to have vision of the Lord in the temple of your body, than externally making a show of His form on the suface. There is a sect in India that tatoo the holy names on their bodies, faces etc. But the Gaudiya vaisnavas in the line of Saraswati Thakur don't accept this practice. It has more or less been introduced through the western neophyte aspirants as something cool. Unfortunately the Hindhu Gods have found their way into the tatoo shops as pretty far out or psychodelic art works, and many unaware, race into having a tatoo of them in the spurr of the moment, because they are very attractive. On the other hand some devotees take great risks to advertise the beauty of the Lord. Things like the Lords paraphenalia are probably more suitable if you want to have some rememberance. I don't personally know of any sriptural reference to this but you can get some idea around the Acharyas of their understanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 Thank you for your input. You have mentioned some very good points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 "Is having tatoos on one's back with a picture of the Lord, ok? " it is allright only if you can leave your skin out of the bathroom before using it... (it is offensive to bring krsna's picture in bathroom, in the bed sleeping on it (without speaking about having sex in his presence)..... sweat.... diseases.... dirt.... getting older....and so... a picture of the lord is a murti, and imagine wich offences can be caused by having a murti so strictly associated to our poor and dirty material body all life long) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theist Posted March 4, 2005 Report Share Posted March 4, 2005 I remember as a boy in the late 50's we used to buy these stick on tatoos at the corner store. You would put them on and they would stay on quite well until you wanted to wash them off. Maybe they don't make them anymore. But something like that would be alright I imagine. Also on the mundane side tattoo parlors are known spreaders of hepatitis virus strains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pankaja_Dasa Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 I read in Chaitanya Bhagavata that devotees had the holy name covered over their body. What's the harm in having a Tatoo of harinama on your body? And how is having a Tatoo means your a Neophyte? Just do it man. More gain than harm. Oh yes chanting even in bathroom is ok. So I do suspect having Maha-mantra Tatoo is fine. Have it on your neck. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 Devotees usually do have the Holy names all over their body in the form of tilok, the preferred medium is that recommended by Srila Rupa Goswami of the clay from the Holy ground of Sri Vrndavan. The Holy Name is non-different to the Lord. But it's your choice if you think you will gain, dismiss this advice. Henna is used to make temporary tatoos on womens bodies like yantras etc. and this can be a very tasteful artform. By the word neophyte I think is meant those who don't know the acharyas understandings of such topics. Beginners on the path of sadhana bhakti make a lot of mistakes but we don't want our mistakes to dog us or others all the way through our life. "Just do it man. More gain than harm." Where is the gain in committing offence to the Lord or His devotees? Better not to bring the Lord down to our material conception of life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 As pretty as it looks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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