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 says the Upanisad.