Verse Text
21. atha vaiṣṇava-cihṇa-dhṛtiḥ, yathā pādme—
ye kaṇṭha-lagna-tulasī-nalinākṣā-mālā
ye bāhu-mūla-paricihṇita-śaṅkha-cakrāḥ |
ye vā lalāṭa-phalake lasad-ūrdhva-puṇḍrās
te vaiṣṇavā bhuvanam āśu pavitrayanti ||122||
Translation
Wearing the marks of the Vaiṣṇava (verse 84), shown in the Padma Purāṇa: Those Vaiṣṇavas who have tulasī beads, lotus seed beads and japa beads around their necks, who have their shoulders marked with the signs of conch and cakra, and who have tilaka on their foreheads quickly purify the earth.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The beads may be made of tulasī wood or the ripe seeds found in the center of the lotus. Akṣa-mālā means a string of beads named akṣa because one can count from the first syllable of the alphabet a to the last kṣa. [Note: Akṣa-mālā also refers to rudrākṣa beads, used by followers of Śiva.] (Akṣa-mālā would then originally be used for japa.)
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Tilaka and Tulasī Beads
In the Padma Purāṇa there is a statement describing how a Vaiṣṇava should decorate his body with tilaka and beads: “Persons who put tulasī beads on the neck, who mark twelve places of their bodies as Viṣṇu temples with Viṣṇu’s symbolic representations [the four items held in the four hands of Lord Viṣṇu—conch, mace, disc and lotus], and who have viṣṇu-tilaka on their foreheads, are to be understood as the devotees of Lord Viṣṇu in this world. Their presence makes the world purified, and anywhere they remain, they make that place as good as Vaikuṇṭha.”