Glories of applying Vaisnava tilak

From Garga Samhita, Canto Six, Chapter Fifteen,

Translation by Sri Kushakratha Das Text 15 yasya sravana-matrena karma-bandhat pramucyate gopinam yatra vaso ‘bhut tena gopi-bhuvah smrtah Simply by hearing about Gopi-bhumi, which is so named because the gopis resided there, one become free from the bondage of karma. Text 16 gopy-angaraga-sambhutam gopi-chandanam uttamam gopi-chandana-liptango ganga-snana-phalam labhet In Gopi-bhumi gopi-chandana was manifested from the gopis’ cosmetics. A person who marks his limbs with gopi-chandana tilaka attains the result of bathing in the Ganga. Text 17 maha-nadinam snanasya punyam tasya dine dine ngopi-chandana-mudrabhir mudrito yah sada bhavet A person who daily wears gopi-chandana tilaka attains the pious result of daily bathing in all sacred rivers. Text 18 asvamedha-sahasrani rajasuya-satani ca sarvani tirtha-danani vratani ca tathaiva ca krtani tena nityam vai sa krtartho na samsayah A person who daily wears gopi-chandana tilaka attains the result of performing a thousand asvamedha-yajnas and a hundred rajasuya-yajnas. He attains the result of giving charity and following vows at all holy places. He attains the goal of life. Of this there is no doubt. Text 19 ganga-mrd-dvi-gunam punyam citrakuta-rajah smrtam tasmad dasa-gunam punyam rajah pancavati-bhavam Twice as sacred as the mud of the Ganga is the dust of Chitrakuta. Ten times more sacred than that is the dust of Panchavati-tirtha. Text 20 tasmac chata-gunam punyam gopi-chandanakam rajah gopi-chandanakam viddhi vrndavana-rajah-samam A hundred times more sacred is the dust of gopi-chandana. Please know that gopi-chandana is equal to the dust of Vrindavana. Text 21 gopi-chandana-liptangam yadi papa-satair yutam tam netum na yamah sakto yama-dutah kutah punah Even if in the past he has committed hundreds of sins, if a person wears gopi-chandana tilaka, then Yamaraja cannot take him away. How, then, can Yamaraja’s messengers touch him? Text 22 nityam karoti yah papi gopi-chandana-dharanam sa prayati harer dhama golokam prakrteh param A sinner who daily wears gopi-chandana tilaka goes to Lord Krishna supreme abode, Goloka, which is beyond the world of matter. Text 23 sindhu-desasya rajabhud dirghabahur iti srutah anyaya-varti dustatma vesya-sanga-ratah sada In Sindhu-desa there was a king named Dirghabahu. He was cruel and sinful and he was addicted to visiting prostitutes. Text 24 tena vai bharate varse brahma-hatya-satam krtam dasa garbhavati-hatyah krtas tena duratmana While he was on the earth this cruel sinner murdered a hundred brahmanas and ten pregnant women. Text 25 mrigayayam tu banaughaih kapila-go-vadhah krtah saindhavam hayam aruhya mrgayarthi gato ‘bhavat One day he mounted a sindhu horse and went hunting. With a flood of arrows he accidentally killed with a brown cow in that hunt. Text 26 ekada rajya-lobhena mantri kruddho maha-khalam jaghanaranya-dese tam tiksna-dharena casina One day, greedy to get his kingdom, with a sharp sword his angry minister killed him in the forest. Text 27 bhu-tale patitam mrtyu- gatam viksya yamanugah baddhva yama-purim ninyur harsayantah parasparam Seeing him fallen to the ground and dead, the Yamadutas came, bound him, and, joking as they went, took him to the city of Yamaraja. Text 28 sammukhe ‘vasthitam viksya papinam yama-rad bali citraguptam praha turnam ka yogya yanatasya vai Seeing this sinner brought before him, powerful Yamaraja said to his scribe Chitragupta, “What is the proper punishment for him?” Text 29 sri-chitragupta uvaca catur-asiti-laksesu narakesu nipatyatam nihsandeham maha-raja yavac candra-divakarau Sri Chitragupta said: O great king, he should be thrown into eight million four hundred thousand hells for as long as the sun and the moon shine in the sky. Text 30 anena bharate varse

ksanam na su-krtam krtam

dasa-garbhavati-ghatah kapila-go-vadhah krtah On the earth he did not perform a single pious deed. He killed ten pregnant women. He killed a brown cow. Text 31 tatha vana-mriganam ca krtva hatyah sahasrasah tasmad ayam maha-papi devata-dvija-nindakah He killed thousands of deer in the forest. He offended the demigods and the brahmanas. He is a great sinner. Texts 32 and 33 sri-narada uvaca tada yamajnaya duta nitva tam papa-rupinam sahasra-yojanayame tapta-taile maha-khale sphurad aty-ucchalat-phene kumbhipake nyapatayan pralayagni-samo vahnih sadyah sitalatam gatah Sri Narada said: Then, by Yamaraja’s order, the Yamadutas took that sinner and threw him into a terrible, eight-thousand mile wide cauldron of bubbling boiling oil in the hell of Kumbhipaka. The moment that sinner came to it, the boiling oil, which was as hot as the great fires at the time of cosmic devastation, suddenly became cool. Text 34 vaideha tan-nipatanat prahlada-ksepanad yatha tadaiva citram acakhyur yama-duta mahatmane O king of Videha, as Prahlada was unhurt in the same situation, that sinner was not hurt by the boiling oil. Then the Yamadutas described that great wonder to noble-hearted Yamaraja. Text 35 anena su-krtam bhumau ksanavan na krtam kvacit citraguptena satatam dharma-rajo vyacintayat Yamaraja and Chitragupta carefully reviewed the sinner’s case and concluded that while he was on the earth the sinner had not for a moment performed even a single pious deed. Text 36 sabhayam agatam vyasam sampujya vidhivan nrpa natva papraccha dharmatma dharma-rajo maha-matih Then Vyasadeva arrived in that assembly. Bowing down before Him, and carefully worshiping Him, saintly and noble-hearted Yamaraja asked Vyasadeva the following question. Text 37 sri-yama uvaca anena papina purvam na krtam su-krtam kvacit sphurad-agny-ucchalat-phene kumbhipake maha-khale asya ksepanato vahnih sadyah sitalatam gatah iti sandehatas cetah khidyate me na samsayah Sri Yamaraja said: When a certain sinner, who had never performed even a single pious deed, was thrown into the terrible boiling oil of Kumbhipaka, the oil suddenly became cool. Because of this my mind is now tortured with doubts. Text 39 sri-vyasa uvaca suksma gatir maha-raja vidita papa-punyayoh tatha brahma-gatih prajnaih sarva-sastra-vidam varaih Sri Vyasadeva said: O great king, the intelligent sages, who have studied all the scriptures, know that the ways of piety, sin, and spiritual progress are very subtle and difficult to understand. Text 40 daiva-yogad asya punyam praptam vai svayam arthavat yena punyena suddho ‘sau tac chrnu tvam maha-mate Somehow or other, by destiny, this sinner did perform a pious deed, and by that deed he became purified. O noble-hearted one, please hear the story of this. Text 41 kasyapi hastato yatra patita dvaraka-mrdah tatraivayam mrtah papi suddho ‘bhut tat-prabhavatah That sinner died in a place where from someone’s hand some gopi-chandana from Dvaraka had accidentally fallen. Dying in gopi-chandana, that sinner became purified. Text 42 gopi-chandana-liptango naro narayano bhavet etasya darsanat sadyo brahma-hatya pramucyate A person who wears gopi-chandana tilaka attains a spiritual form like that of Lord Narayana. Simply by seeing him one becomes free of the sin of killing a brahmana. Texts 43 and 44 sri-narada uvaca iti srutva dharma-rajas tam aniya visesatah vimane kama-ge sthapya vaikuntham prakrteh param presayam asa sahasa gopi-chandana-kirti-vit evam te kathitam rajan gopi-chandanakam yasah Sri Narada said: Hearing this, Yamaraja, who understands the glories of gopi-chandana, took the sinner, placed him a an airplane that goes anywhere one wishes, and sent him to Vaikuntha, which is above the worlds of matter. O king, thus I have described to you the glories of gopi-chandana. Text 45 gopi-chandana-mahatmyam yah srnoti narottamah sa yati paramam dhama sri-krishnasya mahatmanah One who hears this account of gopi-chandana’s glories becomes exalted. He goes to the supreme abode of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.