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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


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