not very common, it has a long-attested
history as an asceticpractice. As with all
such harsh physical asceticism, this is
believed to give one the great benefits of
spiritual awareness and magical power.
This belief is based partly on the cultur-
ally accepted notion that the willingness
to endure physical suffering generates
such spiritual power, but this belief
could also stem from the strength
of will needed to carry this out—a
strength of will that would presumably
have correlates in other dimensions
of one’s personality.
Urdhvapundra
Name denoting the characteristic fore-
head mark (tika) worn by the ascetic
devotees (bhakta) of the god Vishnu.
The urdhvapundra’s basic pattern is
made of three vertical lines, in contrast
to the three horizontal lines worn by the
Sanyasis, who are devotees of Shiva.
There are many variations in the design,
and many different materials can be
used: sandalwood paste, white clay, yel-
low clay, and red vermilion. The only
thing that is never used is the sacred ash
(vibhuti) characteristic of the Sanyasis.
The design and materials used for the
urdhvapundra are quite distinctive
among various Vaishnavaascetic com-
munities, and from this, one can easily
identify a particular ascetic’s affiliation.
For further information see A. W.
Entwistle, “Vaishnava Tilakas—
Sectarian Marks Worn by Worshipers of
Visnu,” IAVRI-Bulletin11 and 12, 1982.Urdhvaretas
(“[one whose] semen is drawn
upward”) Epithet for someone keepingUrdhvapundra
An ascetic with the urdhvapundra mark on his forehead.
It consists of three vertical lines and indicates that he is a devotee of the god Vishnu.