[Advaita-l] mr̥t (clay) and bhasma 'derided' in the Garuda Purana - nahi nindaa nyaaya
V Subrahmanian
v.subrahmanian at gmail.com
Wed Jun 25 13:52:27 EDT 2025
In the Garuda Purana is a chapter on Moksha and the means to it. There,
while explaining vairagyam, the discourse mentions this:
https://sa.wikisource.org/s/8h9
मृद्भस्मोद्धूलनादेव मुक्ताः स्युर्यदि मानवाः ।
मृद्भस्मवासी नित्यं श्वा स किं मुक्तो भविष्यति ॥ २,४९.६६ ॥
If one would attain liberation by merely applying clay (nāmam) and bhasma,
even a dog that always resides in mud and ash would be liberated.
That the derision is not literal; it's only in the spirit of 'nahi nindā
nyāya'.
By mRt is meant the tirumaN and gopi chandanam that Vaishnavas wear on the
forehead and other parts of their body. Bhasma is donned by non-Vaishnavas
on the forehead and other parts of the body.
What is noteworthy is the Garuda puranam accepting both the types in one go
as part of devotional practices as part of the Moksha sādhana.
https://www.facebook.com/chant.mantras/posts/pfbid09j1a9QqfQ5MFV4K7p7WXzgvmB336sddaFfAZ96z7NizBySmUReeAGPGg8cNzpybol
//How to Make Tilaka
ISKCON devotees generally make their tilaka from a cream-colored clay
called gopi-candana, obtained from a sacred lake near Dvaraka, Lord
Krishna's ancient city on the west coast of Gujarat. Krishna's greatest
devotees, the gopis, once visited this lake. You can most likely obtain
some from your local temple or supplier of devotional items. If not, clay
from Vrndavana or any other holy place is fine. You can even use potters'
clay. According to the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, a book by Srila Sanatana Gosvami
on Vaishnava practices, any kind of earth may be used for tilaka,
especially earth from a riverbank or from beneath a tulasi bush.//
One can read this article:
https://adbhutam.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/fie-upon-the-forehead-that-is-devoid-of-bhasma-f-1-1.pdf
where citations from the Vāsudevopanishat and its bhashya of Upanishad
Brahma Yogin and other texts is given on the practice mentioned above.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/watch-how-is-gi-tagged-jaderi-namakatti-made-in-tamil-nadu/article67411033.ece
A documentary on the Nāmakkattai making: the clay stick making process in
the above link.
'Bhasma Lepanam' in Chanakya Neeti
Chanakya 4 BCE,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanakya#cite_note-Miles1981-47, in his
'Chanakya Neeti', says this in the very first verse of the 15th chapter:
यस्य चित्तं द्रवीभूतं कृपया सर्वजन्तुषु l
तस्य ज्ञानेन मोक्षेण किं जटाभस्मलेपनैः ll – चाणक्य नीति
He whose heart melts and liquefies in compassion for all beings, for him,
what have matted hair and application of ashes, got to do with knowledge
and liberation?
The above reveals that even before two millennia there was the practice of
'bhasma lepanam' by those aspiring for Jnana, and through that, Moksha.
See image of the verse and Hindi commentary here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2047616018585082&set=a.697484646931566.1073741827.100000101118270&type=3&theater
Om Tat Sat
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