SRI VASUDEVA UPANISAD
1 Om. The great sage Narada bowed down before the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Lord Vasudeva and asked: O Lord, please
teach me the rules of Vaisnava tilaka. Please tell me of the
substances, mantras, places, and other things in connection with
it.
2 Lord Vasudeva said: To please Me, My devotees headed by the
demigod Brahma, wear Visnu-candana, which comes from the spiritual
world of Vaikuntha. Because every day the gopis anoint My limbs
with this candana and then again wash it away, it is also known as
gopi-candana. This sacred yellow candana, which holds within it My
cakra, and which is present at Cakra-tirtha, brings liberation (to
they who wear it).
3 In the following prayer one praises and bows down before gopi-
candana:
O gopi, O destroyer of sins, O candana manifested from Lord
Visnu’s transcendental body and marked with His cakra, I offer my
obeisances to you. Please give me liberation, for I am anointed
with you.
4 One should go to My Ganges, take some water, bring it to My
temple, and use it to make gopi-candana paste. Then, reciting
either the mantras that begin ‘deva avantu nah’ (May the Lord
protect us), or the Visnu gayatri, or my names beginning with the
name Kesava, one should apply gopi-candana tilaka.
5 A brahmacari or vanaprastha should, while chanting the Visnu-
gayatri or the holy names beginning with Krishna, apply this tilaka
to his forehead, chest, neck, and shoulders.
5 (A) Three times he should chant this mantra: O Lord who holds
the conch shell, cakra, and club in Your hands, O infallible Lord
who resides in Dvaraka, O lotus-eyed Lord Govinda, please protect
me, who have surrendered to You and taken shelter of You.
5 (B) After meditating in this way, a grhastha should, while
chanting the Visnu-gayatri or the holy names beginning with Kesava,
apply this tilaka with his ring finger to twelve parts of his body,
beginning with his forehead.
6 A brahmacari or grhastha should, while chanting the Visnu-
gayatri or the holy names beginning with Krishna, apply this tilaka
to his forehead, chest, neck and shoulders.
7 A sannyasi, while chanting the sacred syllable Om, should
apply this tilaka with his forefinger to his head, forehead and
chest.
8 As there are three Deities (Brahma, Visnu and Siva), three
vyahrtis (Bhuh, Bhuvah and Svah), three metres in the Vedic hymns,
three sacred fires, three times, three states of being, three
atmas, and three letters (a, u, and m) in the sacred syllable Om,
so Vaisnava tilaka has three parts, which correspond to the letters
in the sacred Om.
9 A person who chants the sacred syllable Om goes upward
(urdhva). That is why Vaisnava tilaka is called ‘urdhva-pundra.’
10 A paramahamsa should say the sacred syllable Om and place
Vaisnava tilaka on his forehead.
11 When he sees the Supersoul in his heart illumined with the
lamp of truth, the yogi attains the liberation of meeting Me.
12 Or the yogi may surrender his heart to the Lord in the tilaka
mark on his chest or to the Lord in the lotus of his heart.
13 In the heart is a flame reaching upwards, a flame like a
lightning flash from a dark cloud, or like a slender rice-plant.
In that flame the Supersoul stays.
14 In the lotus flower of the heart one should search for the
Supreme Lord, who is present as the tilaka mark. Gradually one
should become rapt in meditation on Me, Lord Hari, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, who is present as the Supersoul.
15 He becomes liberated who, with single-pointed concentration
meditates on Me, Lord Hari, the eternal Supersoul who stays in the
lotus flower of the heart. Of this there is no doubt.
16 By engaging in My devotional service one is able to understand
My transcendental form, which is spiritual, eternal, self-manifest,
filled with knowledge and bliss, and beyond the touch of the
material world of dualities.
17 I am Lord Visnu, the one Supersoul who stays in the hearts of
the many moving and unmoving creatures.
18 As oil stays in sesame seeds, as fire stays in wood, as butter
stays in milk, and as fragrance stays in flowers, so I, the
Supersoul, stay in the hearts of all living creatures.
19 By anointing one’s body with gopi-candana tilaka and by
meditating on the Supreme Lord, Hari, splendid like a
transcendental sun in the brahma-randhra, heart, and between the
eyebrows, one attains the Lord in His supreme abode.
20 His sannyasa danda raised, his semen flowing upwards, His
Vaisnava tilaka vertical, and his practice of yoga elevated, the
sannyasi, in this four ways ascending, goes to the highest
spiritual abode.
21 The final conclusion is that by serving Me with devotion one
attains the supreme perfection. Wearing gopi-candana tilaka, with
single pointed concentration one should always engage in My
devotional service.
22 Of all brahmanas and followers of the Vedas he is best who
wears Vaisnava tilaka of gopi-candana mixed with water.
23 If gopi-candana is not available one may use the earth from
the roots of the Tulasi plant. In order to attain the spiritual
goal that cannot be seen by materialistic men, a person who yearns
for liberation should wear Vaisnava tilaka every day.
24 One should apply Vaisnava tilaka using the sacred atriratri-
agnihotra ashes of the sacred syllable Om, the Visnu-gayatri, or
the mantras beginning with the words ‘Visnus trini pada.’
25 In this way one should apply Vaisnava tilaka with gopi-
candana.
26 A person who studies this Upanisad becomes purified of all
sins. Sinful thoughts do not arise in his mind. He attains the
results of bathing in all sacred rivers and lakes. He attains the
results of performing all yajnas. He is to be worshipped by all
the demigods. He attains unwavering devotion to Me, Lord Narayana,
the goddess of fortune’s husband. When his spiritual knowledge is
perfect he attains the liberation of meeting Lord Visnu. He does
not return to the world of birth and death. He does not return to
the world of birth and death.
27 Thus spoke Lord Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
28 One who studies this Upanisad certainly attains this. Om.
That is the truth. Thus the Upanisad.
