The dog is also sleeping on the side of a street without any difficulty and the king is sleeping on the palace, very nice apartment. A Krishna conscious person, he’s also sleeping. But there are different grades. The Krishna conscious person while sleeping, is chanting Hare Krishna. This can be done. If you practice this Hare Krishna, even in sleeping you’ll chant Hare Krishna. Everything depends on practice.
Lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.2 — Boston, April 28, 1969

“The death and birth is simply change of the body; the subtle body and the gross body.

Just like every night we die. The gross body remains inactive on the bed, and the subtle body takes me away. I dream, I go in the dreamland. I have gone to some friend, I am talking with somebody, I am working in a different way. That is our daily experience. This means that we have got two kinds of body. One body is this gross body, and the other body is subtle body, made of mind, intelligence, and ego. So foolish person, they do not see the subtle body, but the subtle body is there. Everyone will accept. I am working with my mind, intelligence and ego. Everyone knows. So although we cannot see the subtle body, it is there. So death means this gross body, this overcoat is left, and I am carried away by the subtle body, and I enter into another overcoat, or gross body. So practically this is called death. Because we have no vision of the subtle body, how the soul is being transferred or transmigrating from one gross body to another gross body, keeping the subtle body intact. And the subtle body is given up when one is liberated. And at that time he goes, when he is liberated, freed from this subtle body also, at that time he is promoted to the spiritual kingdom in spiritual body. Therefore while living in this gross body, we have to educate our subtle body in such a way that it becomes spiritualized completely.”

(1) Chant these 100 Names of Lord Gaura daily.

(2) Chant a minimum of 16 rounds of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra daily
on a tulasi mala with 108 beads. If possible gradually try to increase
the quality & quantity of your chanting till you can chant 64 rounds
daily as per the instructions of Lord Caitanya and all acaryas.

3) Follow the four regulative principles:

A) No eating of meat, fish, eggs, onion, garlic, etc.
B) No intoxication including tea, coffee, etc.
C) No gambling including frivolous sports.
D) No illicit sex (sex outside of marriage or in marriage not meant
for the procreation of God conscious children).

4) Associate, hear, serve and do sankirtana with devotees who are
purely chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra without any duplicity.

5) Daily read the scriptures like Bhagavad-gita As It Is,
Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta by Srila Prabhupada and Sri
Caitanya-bhagavata, Sri Caitanya-mangala, Hari-nama-cintamani, Bhakti
Ratnakara, etc. which describe the pastimes of Lord Gaurahari.

6) Worship the Deities or Picture of Sri Sri Nitai-Gauranga in your
home. Whatever vegetarian food is cooked daily, please offer it to the
Deities and then partake the divine remnants (prasada) of the Lord.

7) Regularly visit the holy places of the Lord's pastimes like
Navadvipa, Vrndavana & Puri in the association of devotees.

8) Observe fasting twice a month on the holy days of Ekadasi and on
Janmastami, Gaura-Purnima, Nityananda Trayodasi, etc.

9) Daily worship the the most holy Tulasi plant in your home.

10) Practice all the above nine items by taking shelter of and
accepting initiation from a living self-realized spiritual master in
the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya-sampradaya of Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya
Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada.

A living entity who plays the part on behalf of Krsna. God’s representative means the Guru.

1. Guru’s Instructions
We should follow his orders. We should please him if we want to please God.

2. Guru is not God
The Guru should be accepted as God. He is the external manifestation of Krsna but different from the incarnations of Krsna.

3. Symptoms of a Guru
The general symptoms of a Guru are described in the Vedas. To become a Guru is not an easy task. It is a risky job. A guru comes in a disciplic succession. A guru must have heard about the Vedas from his spiritual master. He is a perfect devotee. He serves Krsna by preaching His message. He has to take all the poisons and absorb them. He has to take the responsibility for all the sinful activities of his disciples.

4. Guru also suffers
Due to the sinful activities of the devotees.

He is always feeling that ‘ I am the lowest, everyone is best, everyone is engaged in Krsna’s service I am not engaged.’(Quote Krsnadasa kaviraja)
He says ‘ oh I have not a pinch of devotion to Krsna, I cry to make a show. If I had been a devotee of Krsna, I would have died long ago. But I am living. That is the proof that I do not love Krsna.’(Quote Caitanya Mahaprabhu)
He is always absorbed in Krsna’s love and he say ‘everything is going on but I am the lowest’ therefore I cannot see God.
Quotes from Krsnadasa Kaviraja
Said-‘I am lower than the worm in the stool.’ --cc
I am the lowest.
Everyone is best.
Everyone is engaged in Krsna’s service, I am not engaged.

"O King, one who is My devotee and is fixed in vow, whether man or woman, for the purpose of dharma, should accept these various austerities and observances. I shall now describe to you all of them along with their respective results.

01) No salt - One's voice becomes sweet.
02) No oil - One's life is prolonged and gets progeny.
03) No oil massages - One's body becomes beautiful.
04) No cooking with oil - One's enemies are vanished.
05) No licorice and oil - One becomes wealthy.
06) Give up wearing unoffered flowers - One becomes a Vidyadhara in Devapura.
07) Give up six kinds of tastes (spice, sour, bitter, sweet, salty and harsh) - One never becomes ugly, smelly, or obtains a bad birth.
08) Practice of yoga - One goes to Brahmaloka.
09) No betel nuts - One becomes happy.
10) No cooked food (raw fruits and vegetables) - One obtains purity.
11) No honey - One becomes lustrous.
12) No yoghurt or milk - One attains Goloka.
13) No cooking with earthen pots - (?)
14) No hot food - One gets offspring with a long life.
15) Take rest on the ground or on stone - One becomes an associate of Visnu.
16) One who gives up meat and honey is a yogi and muni.
17) No intoxicating liquors - One becomes powerful and free from disease.
18) Fast for one day - One is honored in Brahmaloka.
19) No cutting of hair and nails - One gets the benefit of taking bath daily in Ganges.
20) No speaking of grama katha (nonsense) - One's order will never be disobeyed.
21) Eat food on the ground without dish or plate - One obtains a kingdom on Earth.
22) Chant the mantra Namo Narayana - One obtains the result of giving in charity 100 times.
23) Offer prayers to the Lord - One gets the result of giving cows in charity.
24) Touch the lotus feet of the Deity - One becomes a successful person.
25) Clean the temple of the Lord - If one is king he remains so for a kalpa.
26) Circumambulating the temple three times offering prayers - At the time of death one will mount a swan airplane and go to Vaikuntha.
27) Singing or playing musical instruments in the temple of the Lord - One goes to Gandharvaloka.
28) Take pleasure in studying the sastras - One goes to Visnuloka.
29) Sprinkle water in the temple - One goes to Apsaraloka.
30) Take bath in a holy place - One's body becomes pure.
31) Worship Lord Visnu with flowers - One goes to Vaikuntha.
32) Eat pancagavya - One gets the result of observing candrayana fasting.
33) Eat one meal a day - One gets the results of performing an Agnihotra.
34) Eat at night only - One gets the result of going to all the places of pilgrimage.
35) Eat at noon only - One attains Devaloka.
36) Take food not obtained by begging or any extraneous endeavor - One gets the results of opening water stands and digging wells.
37) Take bath daily - One will never see hell.
38) No eating on a plate - One gets the result of bathing at Puskara.
39) Eat on a leaf - One obtains the result of living at Kuruksetra.
40) Eat on a stone - One obtains the result of bathing at Prayaga.
41) Giving up drinking to six hours - One will not be attacked by diseases.
42) During the Caturmasya, garlands, caranamrta, candana and water from the conchshell of the Lord, mahaprasadam, Deity garlands must be accepted.

"In this way one who performs this vrata for the satisfaction of Lord Kesava becomes satisfied himself. O best of the Pandavas, among My devotees, he who accepts these vows and austerities during the Caturmasya goes to My abode at the time of death, of this there is no doubt."

Visnu Rahasya (Lord Brahma to Narada Muni): "If one accepts all these Vaisnava austerities and observances with devotion, one attains the supreme destination, O Narada. One who desires within himself to execute all these Vaisnava austerities and vows, his sins obtained within one hundred births are destroyed. If one is exclusively devoted, peaceful, takes daily bath, is fixed in vow and worships the Lord during these four months, he goes to the abode of the Lord. He who accepts the austerity of sleeping on the ground this time when the Visnu Deity is sleeping in yoga nidra underwater, he goes to the abode of Laksmi."

Whoever worships Tulasi Devi with her eight names and their meanings--Vrinda, Vrindavani, Viswapavani, Visvapujita, Tulasi, Puspasara, Nandini, and Krsna Jivani--and properly sings this hymn of eight verses, acquires the merit of performing an Asvamedha (horse) sacrifice.

Vrndavani – One who first manifested in vrindavan.
Vrnda – The goddess of all plants.
Visvapujita – One who the whole universe worships.
Puspasara – The topmost of all flowers, without whom Krsna does not like to look upon other flowers.
Nandini – She gives happiness to everyone.
Krsna-Jivani – The life and soul of Lord Krsna.
Visva-Pavani – One who purifies the three worlds.
Tulasi – One who has no comparison.

"There are no hard and fast rules for chanting Hare Krishna. One can chant Hare Krishnaanywhere... It is not at all difficult. While walking, our students take their beads with them and chant. Where is the loss? But the gain is very great, for by chanting we associate with Krsna personally. Suppose we were to associate personally with the President. How proud we would feel. 'Oh, I am with the President.' So should we not feel very much proud if we were to associate with the supreme president, who is able to create many millions of presidents like those of this world?" - Srila Prabhupada

"That is also confirmed in Vedic language that it does not matter if one is born of low grade family or candalas, if he is a devotee of the Lord, he is first class man. Take all these words very seriously and try to propagate Krishna Consciousness with all serenity. It will be a great gift to the human society." - Srila Prabhupada

"We must not be concerned with pious activities or impious activities. We must be concerned with transcendental activities only. That will save us from this bondage of birth, death, old age and disease. That should be our aim in life." - Srila Prabhupada

"At his first sight of me Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja also saw me with such love. It was in my very first darsana of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja that I learned how to love. It is his boundless mercy that he has engaged an unworthy person like me, in fulfilling some of his desires. It is his causeless mercy to engage me in preaching the message of Sri Rupa and Sri Raghunatha." - Srila Prabhupada

"the Vedic scriptures enjoin that as soon as one passes fifty years of age, he must give up family life and live alone in the forest. After preparing himself fully, he should become a sannyasi, travel widely, and distribute the knowledge of spiritual life to each and every home." - Srila Prabhupada

Every year in the UK we feed our livestock enough food to feed 250,000,000 people while in the world 30,000,000 people die of starvation
20 vegetarians can live off the land required by one meat eater
Every 3 seconds a child dies of starvation somewhere in the world
If Americans reduced their meat consumption by 10% it would free 12,000,000 tons of grain—enough to feed 60,000,000 people (the population of Great Britain)
If all Americans became vegetarian, it would free enough grain to feed 600,000,000 people (the population of India)
Intensification in animal farming has displaced 1,000,000's of people from their traditional lands—eg. indigenous people in south & central america, native americans in north america & crofters in Great Britain — this is continuing today
People displaced from their lands into cities succumb to dietary deficiency, diseases, parasites & opportunistic diseases
In third world countries 1 in 10 babies die before their first birthday
The UK imports £46,000,000 worth of grain from third world countries to feed our livestock
Due to overgrazing 850,000,000 people live on land threatened by desertification & over 230,000,000 already live on land so severely desertified that they are unable to sustain their existence & face imminent starvation
1,000,000,000 people in the west gorging on meat & dairy leave 1,000,000,000 to waste away & 3,500,000,000 teeter on the brink

LAND

If they continue to clear American forests to raise cattle at the present rate, in 50 years there will be none left
1 acre yields 165 lbs of beef or 20,000 lbs of potatoes
8/10 of cultivated land in the UK is used to grow food for animals (14,732,000 hectares)
It takes 16lbs of high protein soya to produce 1 lb of beef
Since 1945 in the UK we have lost 95% of flower meadows, 50% of ancient woodlands, 40% of heathlands, 50% of wet lands & 224,000 km of hedgerows all due to animal farming
Pressure on land due to meat farming leads to soil erosion 6billion tons/year in the USA
If everyone went vegetarian upto 90% of land used for animal farming could be taken out of production & used to replant woodlands, leisure activities etc.
25% of Central america's forests have been destroyed for cattle grazing since 1960
Between 1966-1983 38% of the Amazon rain forest was destroyed for cattle grazing
90% of cattle ranches established on cleared forest land go bankrupt in less than 8 years as the land becomes barren due to nutrient loss & overgrazing
Overgrazing by cattle is destroying the land & increasing desertification, nearly 430 million acres in the USA alone has suffered a 25-50% reduction in yield since first grazed
An inch of topsoil takes 200-1000 years to develop—yet in the USA they have lost around 1/3 of their prime topsoil in 200 years (around 7 inches) due to animal farming
Land will be lost due to rises in sea level due to global warming due to animal farming

AIR

The destruction of the rainforest by cattle farmers is destroying the lungs of the planet & reducing the worlds capacity to replenish our oxygen supply
The 1,300,000,000 cattle in the world emit 60,000,000 tons of methane per year (methane is a greenhouse gas & leads to global warming)
Burning of forests, grasslands & agricultural waste associated with animal farming releases 50-100,000,000 tons of methane per year
Combining these figures, 25% of methane emissions are due to animal farming (not including the billions of sheep, pigs & poultry so the real figure is much higher)
Fertilizer used to grow crops to feed to animals releases nitrous oxide — thought to account for 6% of the greenhouse effect
Fertilizer, weedkiller & pesticides sprayed on crops enter the atmosphere creating a noxious carcinogenic cocktail
CFCs are released into the air from refrigeration units used to store decomposing flesh (meat), milk & butter—CFCs are destroy the ozone layer
Ammonia from animal urine also pollutes the atmosphere
CO2 is released by burning oil & petrol in lorries, ships, abattoirs, dairies, factories etc. associated with meat & dairy production
Emissions from large chemical plants which produce fertilizer, weedkiller & other agricultural chemicals are also poisoning our air

WATER

25 gallons of water to produce 1lb of wheat & 2500 gallons to produce 1lb of meat
UK farm animals produce 200,000,000 tonnes of slurry (liquid excrement) every year, the majority of which ends up in our rivers
Bloody waste water from abattoirs ends up in our rivers
In the USA every second humans produce 12,000 lbs of effluent while farmed animals produce 250,000 lbs
Nitrates & pesticides used on crops grown to feed livestock end up in our rivers
Meat & dairy farming uses 70 litres of water per day per animal in the UK or 159,250,000,000 litres per year in total
The water used to produce 10 lbs of steak is equivalent to the average consumption of water for an entire household for an entire year
Depletion of groundwater reserves to grow crops for animals & to supply abattoirs will lead to greater water shortages
Aquafers (stores of underground water) in the San Joaquin valley in the USA are being drained at the rate of 500,000,000,000 gallons/year to produce meat
18% of all agricultural land in the world is irrigated & as global warming increases (partly due to animal farming) it will cost $200,000,000 to keep these systems going
The water used to produce a 1000 lb beef steer is enough to float a Destroyer battleship
The liquid waste from the various parts of the meat & dairy industry flow into the rivers & from there into the seas polluting them & encouraging huge algal blooms to grow

EFFICIENCY

To produce 1calorie of energy from meat takes 60 calories of petrol, whereas growing grains & legumes to directly feed people produces 20 calories for each calorie of fuel used ( thats 1200 times more efficient)
Meat & dairy farming uses billions of gallons of oil to run tractors, fuel ships & lorries (to move animal feed & animals), pump billions of gallons of water to irrigate fields & run slaughterhouses, power refrigeration units to prevent the corpses from decomposing & to power sewage plants to clean up some of the pollution produced
Cattle convert only 6% of their energy intake (mainly grains & soya) into flesh, the remaining 94% is wasted as heat, movement (which is why they keep many animals in very close confinement), hair, bones, faeces etc
1lb of beef takes 1 gallon of petrol to produce
A family of four eating beef for a year uses enough petrol to run a car for 6 months (obviously depending on how far you drive!)
If the full ecological cost of meat was passed onto the consumer—the price would be quadrupled (at least)
The EC spends o100,000,000's to subsidise animal production resulting in lakes of unwanted milk & mountains of unwanted meat & butter. This money could be better spent encouraging organic fruit, vegetable & grain production
In the USA in 1979 145,000,000 tons of crops were fed to cattle resulting in only 21million tons of animal bodies—the cost of the wasted crops was $20,000,000,000
Between 1950 & 1985 grain production in Europe & the USA increased massively but 2/3 was fed to animals
70% of all grain is fed to animals
Eating vast quantities of animal flesh, eggs, milk & butter is a luxury that most of the planet can not afford

ANIMALS

Fishing with drift (and other modern) nets weakens & destroys ecosystems by indiscriminately killing billions of sea creatures & disrupting the sea bed
Fishermen's nets kill 10 times as many other animals as the fish they are hoping to catch
Fish caught in nets die an agonising slow death of suffocation
Each year 15,000,000,000 land animals are slaughtered for food & an unknown but much larger number of sea creatures (including 1000's of dolphins caught accidentally)
Chickens are crammed into battery cages with upto 3 other birds, they are unable to even spread their wings & many can not even stand up
Unwanted male chicks (because they can't lay eggs) are gassed or pulped while their sisters go to the battery sheds
Chicks are debeaked without anaesthetic to prevent them injuring each other in the unnaturally confined conditions they are kept in—this is equivalent to having your fingernails pulled out without anaesthetic
Modern farming methods using growth hormones & artificial lighting mean that many chickens out grow their bones, resulting in fractured & broken legs
Sows are kept tethered in stalls 1.3 x 1 metre on concrete or slatted floors—they can not even turn around
Poultry raised for meat are kept in windowless broiler sheds, with around 20-30,000 in each shed, they live in an area of 10-20 cm square—fighting due to overcrowding is common & like battery hens they commonly suffer from supperating bed sores
Broilersheds are artificially lit 23 hours a day to produce rapid growth
Animals travel between farms & to slaughter in overcrowded transporters with no food or water—resulting in stress, injuries & deaths—legal requirements are widely ignored
95% of poultry suffer injuries before being killed & 30% suffer broken bones
Problems with stunning practices mean that many animals have their throats slit while still conscious (around 6% of cattle or 200,000 per year) & are then dipped in tanks of scalding water (to loosen feathers, bristles etc.) again while fully conscious
4000 animals die spurting their blood out every minute in a British slaughterhouse
Calf leather comes from animals killed at just 2 weeks old
Cows were fed on the ground up remains of other cows & sheep—the result is thought to be BSE (mad cow disease) in the USA cattle are fed partly on recycled plastic pellets
Cows only give milk for 10 months after they have a calf—so they are routinely artificially inseminated (ie. mechanically raped) to keep them pregnant & milking—their calves are taken away (usually at 12 hours old) for meat or export to veal crates
Cows would naturally live upto 20 years but are slaughtered after 5-7 years when their milk production begins to fall
In the UK animals are killed by first being stunned with electricity or a captive bolt gun (ie. a bolt is fired into their heads) before having their throats slit & being plunged into boiling water—all this happens on a production line with the animals being hung upside down from a moving conveyor belt—this is factory farming
"Animals are those unfortunate slaves & victims of the most brutal part of mankind"—John Stewart Mill (philosopher)
Veal calves are confined in stalls in the dark, unable to move & are fed on pigs blood, chocolate & dried milk (we are drinking the rich fresh milk of their mothers)
Cows naturally produce 5 litres of milk per day for their calves—under the intensified systems of modern farming they produce 25-40 litres per day — resulting in swollen & inflamed udders—at this rate they are soon worn out
Large areas of land are under monoculture to grow crops to feed to animals—these areas are wildlife deserts supporting fewer & fewer species.

HEALTH

Vegetarians have a 20% lower rate of mortality from all causes (ie. they live longer & don't get sick as often)
Meat is full of traces of antibiotics, hormones, toxins produced by stress & pesticide residues that become concentrated from all the crops they have eaten
Fish contain heavy metals & other pollutants -many of which originated on farms
The world health organisation recommends a diet low in saturated fat, sugar, salt & with plenty of fibre—exactly what you get on a vegan/vegetarian diet
Farmed animals contain upto 50% saturated fat in their bodies
Vegetarians have 24% reduced risk of getting heart disease & Vegans a 57% reduction (heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK accounting for 50% of deaths)
Obesity is rare in vegetarians, obesity is related to many diseases
Vegans & vegetarians have lower blood pressure & cholesterol levels—high levels are associated with heart disease, strokes & kidney failure
Vegetarians have a 50% reduced risk of dying of diabetes
Vegetarians have a 40% reduced level of cancer than the general population thought to be because they have a higher intake of vitamins A,C & E
Vegetarians have a reduced risk of developing gall & kidney stones
80% of food poisoning is due to infected meat (faeces, bacteria etc.) after all meat is decomposing flesh—most of the rest is due to salmonella in eggs
Osteoporosis due to calcium loss from bones is mainly due to the sulphur content in meat & casein protein in milk that cause calcium to be lost in the urine—the countries with the highest meat & dairy consumption are those with the highest levels of brittle bones
50% of people do not have the enzyme to digest milk properly & milk allergy is related to asthma & eczema
Meat eaters have double the rate of Alzheimers disease as Vegans & Vegetarians—some people also think that Parkinsons disease is also linked to meat eating
Egg yolk is a dense concentration of saturated fat & the white is high in albumin protein associated with leaching calcium into your urine. Butter is 80% saturated fat, cream is 40% saturated fat & cheese is 25-40% saturated fat
Meat eaters are two and a half times more likely to get bowel cancer than Vegetarians
The cling film used to wrap meat in supermarkets & butchers contains chemicals linked to falling sperm counts in men
Chinese people (living mainly on a vegetarian diet) consume 20% more calories than Americans but Americans are 20% fatter
Of 2,100,000 deaths in the USA in 1987, 1,500,000 were related to diet (ie. meat & dairy)

What exactly is the mark of Srivatsa on Lord Visnu's or Krsna's chest? There are a number of passages in our books that seem to offer different explanations, and many devotees do wonder what this mark actually is.

The Gaudiya Vaisnava Abhidhana, an exhaustive Bengali Vaisnava encyclopedia, which was published in Navadvipa in the year 1956, lists five different meanings under the entry 'Sri-vatsa':

1. A lock of hair on the right side of Sri Visnu's chest. 2. The mark of Laksmi on the chest of Visnu. 3. The Kaustubha gem. 4. The mark of Bhrgu's foot. 5. Laksmi in the form of a golden line.

Point one seems to be the most commonly accepted meaning. It is also described that this lock of hair is white and that it is more or less shaped like a cross. It is sometimes, on paintings or Deities, symbolized by a flower.

Srila Prabhupada writes:

"Srivatsa is a curl of white hair on the chest of the Lord which is a special sign of His being the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Vaikunthaloka or in Goloka Vrndavana, the inhabitants are exactly of the same form as the Personality of Godhead, but by this Srivatsa mark on the chest of the Lord He is distinguished from all others." (SB 3.19.15)

"The Srivatsa mark is described by the Vaisnava-tosani as being a curl of fine yellow hair on the upper portion of the right side of Lord Visnu's chest. This mark is not for ordinary devotees. It is a special mark of Visnu or Krsna." (SB 10.13.48)

Point number two is also often offered as the meaning, namely that the mark of Srivatsa indicates the place of Laksmi, that is where she rests on the Lord's chest. This second meaning has also been used by Srila Prabhupada as follows:

"The Lord is further described as having the mark of Srivatsa, or the sitting place of the goddess of fortune, and His bodily hue is deep bluish. The Lord is a person, He wears a garland of flowers, and He is eternally manifest with four hands, which hold [beginning from the lower left hand] a conchshell, wheel, club and lotus flower." (SB 4.8.47)

The third meaning, namely that Srivatsa can also be the Kaustubha jewel, is less known. Both Srivatsa and Kaustubha are generally listed together in the same line, often in the same word even, in the verses of the Bhagavatam. But then such a compound word always has a dual ending, indicating that these are two things. Haridasa dasa, the compiler of the Gaudiya Vaisnava Abhidhana, supports the third meaning with a reference to a book of the name "Bhakti-candrika-patala". This book was compiled by Lokananda Acarya and it contains the direct instructions of Narahari Sarakara, an associate of Lord Caitanya.
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1. Atharvana Upanisad

Anyone who marks his body with the tilak which resembles the lotus feet of Lord hari becomes dear to the Paramatma. He becomes fortunate and attains liberation.

2. Maha Upanisad

One gets released of all the bondage of samsara when one marks his body with the tilak markings and knows Narayana who is known by karma, jnana and bhakti yogas. Ultimately, he attains Lord Visnu.

3. Agni Purana

A brahmana should not wear the three lined tilak across (tiryak pundra) even for as a joke or play. One should mark his body with the vertical tilak only according to the prescribed rules.

4. Brahmanda Purana

A brahmana should wear urdhva pundra; a ksatriya ardha candrakara (half-moon) pundra; vaisya round shaped pundra; and a sudra tri pundra (horizontal tiryak pundra). A brahmana should never wear the horizontal tilak. He is to be considered a sudra if he wears it.

5. Brahmaratra

One should meditate on Me by chanting Om and should mark his body with vertical tilak daily. Anyone who marks thus attains sayujya liberation.

6. Vasista smrti

One should mark the tilak on his forehead as follows: he should start from the nose tip and go till his kesa (hair). The width should be one angula (circa 1 inch). This is urdhva pundra laksana.

7. Sanat Kumara Samhita

Urdhva pundra should be worn with clay and should be worn with a gap inbetween and nicely. In between the two lines, one should mark Sri or Laksmi in the form of Haridhra curna. One should not mark anything else inbetween. Anyone who marks like this is freed from all sinful reactions. Anyone who marks the tilak without any gap is condemned.

8. Padma Purana

Those devotees on whose neck tulasi kanti mala and lotus seed kanti malas are hanging and on whose shoulders there are the markings of conch and cakra and on whose body there are 12 tilak markings, they purify the entire universe immediately.

9. Isvara samhita

Anyone who marks his body with the clay which has touched Lord Visnu's body attains the benefit of an asvamedha sacrifice and is glorified in Visnu's abode. One should mark inbetween the vertical lines mother Laksmi with the help of yellow curna or powder.

From Sri Garga Samhita, Canto Six, Chapter Fifteen
Translation by Kusakratha Das

Text 15

Simply by hearing about Gopi-bhumi, which is so named because the gopis resided there, one become free from the bondage of karma.

Text 16

In Gopi-bhumi gopi-candana was manifested from the gopis' cosmetics. A person who marks his limbs with gopi-candana tilaka attains the result of bathing in the Ganga.

Text 17

A person who daily wears gopi-candana tilaka attains the pious result of daily bathing in all sacred rivers.

Text 18

A person who daily wears gopi-candana tilaka attains the result of performing a thousand asvamedha-yajnas and a hundred rajasuya-yajnas. He attains the result of giving charity and following vows at all holy places. He attains the goal of life. Of this there is no doubt.

Text 19

Twice as sacred as the mud of the Ganga is the dust of Citrakuta. Ten times more sacred than that is the dust of Pancavati-tirtha.

Text 20

A hundred times more sacred is the dust of gopi-candana. Please know that gopi-candana is equal to the dust of Vrndavana.

Text 21

Even if in the past he has committed hundreds of sins, if a person wears gopi-candana tilaka, then Yamaraja cannot take him away. How, then, can Yamaraja's messengers touch him?

Text 22

A sinner who daily wears gopi-candana tilaka goes to Lord Krsna supreme abode, Goloka, which is beyond the world of matter.

Text 23

In Sindhu-desa there was a king named Dirghabahu. He was cruel and sinful and he was addicted to visiting prostitutes.

Text 24

While he was on the earth this cruel sinner murdered a hundred brahmanas and ten pregnant women.

Text 25

One day he mounted a sindhu horse and went hunting. With a flood of arrows he accidentally killed a brown cow in that hunt.

Text 26

One day, greedy to get his kingdom, with a sharp sword his angry minister killed him in the forest.

Text 27

Seeing him fallen to the ground and dead, the Yamadutas came, bound him, and, joking as they went, took him to the city of Yamaraja.

Text 28

Seeing this sinner brought before him, powerful Yamaraja said to his scribe Citragupta, "What is the proper punishment for him?"

Text 29

sri-citragupta uvaca

Sri Citragupta said: O great king, he should be thrown into eight million four hundred thousand hells for as long as the sun and the moon shine in the sky.

Text 30

On the earth he did not perform a single pious deed. He killed ten pregnant women. He killed a brown cow.

Text 31

He killed thousands of deer in the forest. He offended the demigods and the brahmanas. He is a great sinner.

Texts 32 and 33

Sri Narada said: Then, by Yamaraja's order, the Yamadutas took that sinner and threw him into a terrible, eight-thousand mile wide cauldron of bubbling boiling oil in the hell of Kumbhipaka. The moment that sinner came to it, the boiling oil, which was as hot as the great fires at the time of cosmic devastation, suddenly became cool.

Text 34

O king of Videha, as Prahlada was unhurt in the same situation, that sinner was not hurt by the boiling oil. Then the Yamadutas described that great wonder to noble-hearted Yamaraja.

Text 35

Yamaraja and Citragupta carefully reviewed the sinner's case and concluded that while he was on the earth the sinner had not for a moment performed even a single pious deed.

Text 36

Then Vyasadeva arrived in that assembly. Bowing down before Him, and carefully worshiping Him, saintly and noble-hearted Yamaraja asked Vyasadeva the following question.

Text 37

Sri Yamaraja said: When a certain sinner, who had never performed even a single pious deed, was thrown into the terrible boiling oil of Kumbhipaka, the oil suddenly became cool. Because of this my mind is now tortured with doubts.

Text 39

Sri Vyasadeva said: O great king, the intelligent sages, who have studied all the scriptures, know that the ways of piety, sin, and spiritual progress are very subtle and difficult to understand.

Text 40

Somehow or other, by destiny, this sinner did perform a pious deed, and by that deed he became purified. O noble-hearted one, please hear the story of this.

Text 41

That sinner died in a place where from someone's hand some gopi-candana from Dvaraka had accidentally fallen. Dying in gopi-candana, that sinner became purified.

Text 42

A person who wears gopi-candana tilaka attains a spiritual form like that of Lord Narayana. Simply by seeing him one becomes free of the sin of killing a brahmana.

Texts 43 and 44

Sri Narada said: Hearing this, Yamaraja, who understands the glories of gopi-candana, took the sinner, placed him on an airplane that goes anywhere one wishes, and sent him to Vaikuntha, which is above the worlds of matter. O king, thus I have described to you the glories of gopi-candana.

Text 45

One who hears this account of gopi-candana's glories becomes exalted. He goes to the supreme abode of Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

O Jaimini, anybody who smells the Tulasi leaf which has emanated from Lord Sri Visnu, whatever sins he has in his body are all destroyed. (Padma Purana, Kriya Yogasara 11.135)

If a sinful person leaving his body has a Tulasi leaf in his mouth, he goes to the abode of Lord Sri Visnu. I say this is truth. (Padma Purana, Brahma Khanda 22.7)

Anybody who has a Tulasi wood necklace around his neck, even if he is unclean or performs many bad activities, he is taken with full respect to the abode of Lord Sri Hari. (Padma Purana, Brahma Khanda 22.10)

After offering a Tulasi necklace to Lord Sri Kesava, if someone wears it with devotion, for that person there are no more sins. (Padma Purana, Brahma Khanda 22.17)

Anybody who eats a Tulasi leaf, all of his sins are removed and he becomes meritorious. All sins within his body are removed at once. Anyone who wears a Tulasi wood necklace, no sins can reside in his body. This is exactly true, I say to you. (Padma Purana, Kriya Yogasara 24.26,27)