Smearing of Ashes across Shiva’s Forehead: Significance & Meaning
That which takes birth and blends with ash is called bhasma. Bhasma is the ash of the one who is born. Shma [sma] means ash and shru – shan -means scattered. So, the place where ash is scattered is the smashan- that is the crematorium. The earth is born from fire (the sun). All beings on the earth arise from and merge into its fire.
The skull of man is associated with memories (smruti) of the earth. From outer space, the shape of the earth resembles a skull. Ash contains the following three types of memories (smruti) from the time before birth to that after it.
Yadnyasmruti: Memories of sacrificial fires (yadnyas) in the ajanaj region (lok) and the regions beyond it. (Refer ‘Science of Spirituality : Chapter 25 – Composition of the Universe’.)
Parthivsmruti: Memories of death which are full of agony and sorrow, with reference to the earth and the seven nether regions.
Tanmaysmruti: Memories of sacrifice (austerities) in context with the regions from the earth to the northern (Shiva) region and the southern (dakshin) region.
The three horizontal stripes of ash on the forehead of Lord Shankar signifies three memories.
Ash depicts the worldly desires of a human life.
This portrays the harmful clutches of desires. Never ending want of things. The “dhananjay” vital energy of every dead being made up of the absolute earth element (pruthvi) surrounds the ash.
(The universe comprises of mahadhananjay vital energy.) When a person is reborn this dhananjay vital energy re-enters the body. The frequencies emitted by ash are mostly a result of a painful death.
The smearing of ashes is depicted so by Shiva to serve as a reminder for us to
‘Let go of ignorance. The physical body is not real. The happiness derived from it is fake. Do not get trapped in it’.
Human ash is applied to a jyotirlinga. Pure ash is called holy ash (bhasma). Just as holy ash is an essential ingredient in ritualistic worship so also it plays a very important role in the Shaivism.
Holy ashes hold a special significance from the fireplace (agnikunda) of the Brahmans who perform the ritual of Agnihotra. The ash obtained after cremation of a corpse amidst chanting of mantras is called human ash (chitabhasma). Lord Shiva loves human ash. In Varanasi, the deity Vishveshvar is always smeared with human ash.
Holy ash is of three kinds, namely shantikar, pushtikar and kamad. It is believed to cleanse sins.
Vibhuti is another synonym for holy ash. It is used in tantra, mantra, black magic, etc. to guard the directions or as self-protection. The holy ash is invoked with mantras and is then applied to the forehead of the child or the sick person.
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