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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