Vibhuti - How and Where Should We Apply It

What is Vibhuti?

Vibhuti can be called as the sacred ash. This is a simple powder-like substance white or somewhat dull white but carries in it immense religious and spiritual significance. Applying the Vibhuti in the forehead and some other select parts of the body is a custom that is practiced by many people in this land, from very ancient times. Vibhuti has thus remained an integral part of our culture for long.

What is its Significance?

Vibhuti is regarded as a powerful tool for a person’s growth in spirituality. This can possess in it, intense vibrancy, and remain an effective medium for transferring or transmitting energy. It can thus help to manage one’s energy body and utilize it for an individual’s internal growth and upliftment.  

In India, Vibhuti has strong religious connotations and is generally associated with Gods and Goddesses. It is believed to be something given out by Lord Shiva and remains an essential and integral part of his worship. The scared ash is held as perhaps the holiest of the Prasads, that a devotee can receive from the Lord. It stands as the very symbol of Shaivism and is hence, worn or smeared on the body, by the Shaivites.  

Dr. Pillai, the founder of AstroVed, calls Vibhuti, the carbonization of thoughts. Carbon is nothing but our information bearing atoms. When its residue, the sacred ash, is applied in the third eye area in the forehead, this can bestow divine blessings on the individual, adds Dr. Pillai.    

But is there any other significance to Vibhuti beyond such a domain consisting of Gods, Goddesses, and religion?

Yes, there indeed is.

It is only to the ash, a human body that is cremated ultimately is reduced to. Hence when the ash is applied to the physical frame, it keeps on reminding us about the impermanence of our existence and that someday it can get reduced to virtual nothingness.    

How to prepare the Vibhuti?

It may sound strange, especially to the uninitiated, to know that in the olden times, the Vibhuti that was used by ascetics and the like was only the ash collected from the crematoriums. But as this is untenable in the present times, as an alternative, the Vibhuti can be made out of the cow dung. If this too is difficult, the sacred ash can be prepared out of rice husk.   

When the Vibhuti is appropriately prepared and rightly applied to the body, it can make the person more sensitive to higher aspects of nature and also highly receptive to noble thoughts and ideas. Thus, the sacred ash can make one to experience, hitherto unexperienced and sublime elements of existence.          

Where and how should we apply Vibhuti?

Vibhuti should ideally be applied at the points of the body where some of the Chakras are located.

In our physical body are located, many power centers and these are known as the Chakras. These are energy points that are subtle by nature and hence, are not visible to the eyes. They are spread all over the body, from the foot to the crown of the head. The major ones among these are the Basic Chakras, and these are seven in number. Agna Chakra, Vishuddhi Chakra, and Anahata Chakra are three among these, and the Vibhuti has to be applied at these centers for optimum, divine effect.   

Agna Chakra is located between the eyebrows, in the forehead, Vishuddhi Chakra, at the pit of the throat, and Anahata Chakra, at the center point of the chest. When Vibhuti is applied at the Agna Chakra, our receptivity to knowledge is enhanced, and we become capable of receiving life itself as knowledge.

The sacred ash worn at the Vishuddhi Chakra can strengthen our energy levels and make us so influential that our very presence can impact people and situations around them. This can turn one, a virtual power center. Anahata Chakra is all about the delicate aspect of love. So, when Vibhuti is applied at this point, one becomes the embodiment of love, both emanating and attracting that tender feeling.

Traditionally, the Vibhuti is taken in small quantities, between the ring finger and the thumb of the right hand and applied at the points meant for it. This practice can very well be followed for the wearing of this sacred ash.

Vibhuti is thus a seemingly simple substance with substantial potential, and its proper use with faith can lead a person in the path of spirituality and Godliness.