Shiva's Third Eye, the Bindi and the Tilaka: Signs on the Brow

Shiva's third eye is the vertical eye in the middle of the god's forehead, from which, in Hindu mythology, a fire blazes out that burned Kāma, the god of desire, to ashes and will one day consume the universe. It symbolises a sight that sees through illusion and desire, and it makes Śiva trinetra or trilocana, "the three-eyed one". The forehead marks worn by many Hindus, the sectarian tilaka and the bindi dot, have their own histories of devotion, identity and auspiciousness, and are often explained today as honouring this same point.

Shiva the Three-Eyed: Tryambaka and Trilocana§

A verse of the Ṛgveda, later called the Mahāmṛtyuñjaya ("great death-conquering") mantra, invokes a god named Tryambaka, asking to be freed from death like a ripe cucumber from its stalk. Indian tradition has long understood the name as "three-eyed" and identified the god with Rudra-Śiva. Some modern scholars prefer to read ambaka as "mother", so that the name originally meant "having three mothers", and the question remains open. By the time of the epics and Purāṇas, however, Śiva's third eye is fixed in mythology and art, and he bears many names that refer to it: Trinetra, Trilocana, Virūpākṣa ("of unusual eyes") and Lalāṭākṣa ("forehead-eyed").

The third eye suits the great ascetic. He sits in meditation on Mount Kailāsa, withdrawn from the world, his outward eyes half-closed. The third eye is the faculty of the yogin who has turned inward and whose concentrated energy (tapas) is literally heat. When it opens, that heat becomes fire. For the god's wider mythology and worship, see Shaivism, the worship of Shiva and the survey in the third eye: history and meaning.

The Burning of Kama: The Third Eye as Fire§

The most famous story of the third eye concerns Kāma, the handsome god of desire who shoots arrows of flowers from a sugar-cane bow. In its classic form, told by the poet Kālidāsa (usually dated to the fourth or fifth century CE) in the Kumārasambhava ("The Birth of Kumāra"), the gods are oppressed by the demon Tāraka, who can be killed only by a son of Śiva. But Śiva is absorbed in meditation after the death of his first wife, Satī. The gods send Kāma to awaken his desire for Pārvatī, the daughter of the Himālaya, who is serving the god in his hermitage.

Kāma takes aim, and for a moment Śiva's composure wavers. Then, perceiving the cause, the god opens his third eye, and a flame leaps from it and reduces Kāma to ashes before the eyes of his wife, Rati. Kāma survives only as Anaṅga, "the bodiless one", which in Indian poetics explains why desire is everywhere and yet cannot be seen. Pārvatī, rejected, undertakes severe austerities of her own and finally wins Śiva not by beauty but by tapas. Their son Kumāra (Skanda) defeats the demon.

The story recurs in the Śiva Purāṇa and elsewhere; in Vaiṣṇava versions Kāma is reborn as Pradyumna, son of Kṛṣṇa. For Wendy Doniger, the myth expresses a lasting tension in Śaiva mythology between asceticism and eroticism: the god who destroys desire is also the divine lover and father. For devotional readers, the third eye is the eye of wisdom that sees desire for what it is. Both readings agree that the brow-eye is a power of fire and discernment, not simply of vision.

Parvati's Hands and the Sun, Moon and Fire§

Another story explains how the third eye appeared. In a dialogue preserved in the thirteenth book of the Mahābhārata and retold later, Pārvatī playfully covers Śiva's eyes with her hands. At once the whole world falls into darkness, because Śiva's eyes are the light of the world. To save creation a third eye bursts open on his forehead, blazing so fiercely that it scorches the Himālaya, which the god then restores for his wife's sake.

This myth connects with a widespread interpretation of Śiva's three eyes as the sun, the moon and fire, the three sources of light. The right eye is the sun, the left the moon, and the third the fire that both illuminates and destroys. At the end of a cosmic age, in many Purāṇic accounts, it is this fire that burns the universe before it is reabsorbed into the god. In a well-known Tamil tradition, the god Murugan (Skanda) is born from sparks that fly from Śiva's forehead-eyes into a lake, so the same eye that destroys desire also generates the divine warrior.

Other Three-Eyed Deities in Hindu Iconography§

Śiva is not the only three-eyed deity. Many forms of the Goddess are described in meditation verses (dhyāna) as three-eyed, including Durgā, Kālī and Tripurasundarī, and in Śākta theology this is natural, since the Goddess is Śiva's power (śakti) and shares his attributes. Fierce forms of Śiva such as Bhairava, and some images of Gaṇeśa, also have a forehead eye. In sculpture the third eye is usually a vertical, lens-shaped slit, unlike the dot of a bindi.

In temple practice the eyes of an image matter greatly. As Diana Eck has shown, Hindu worship centres on darśan, seeing and being seen by the deity, and consecration rites include the ceremonial opening of the image's eyes. The deity's gaze is an active, blessing presence. The third eye intensifies this idea: it is the sight of a god who sees through everything. See also Hindu gods and goddesses.

The Tilaka: Sectarian Marks of Ash, Clay and Sandal§

A tilaka (also tilak) is a mark applied to the forehead, and sometimes to other parts of the body, with ash, sandalwood paste, clay, turmeric or vermilion. It is worn after worship, received at temples, applied to guests at festivals and placed on a ruler's brow at coronation (rājatilaka). Its forms often indicate sectarian affiliation.

Śaivas wear the tripuṇḍra, three horizontal lines of sacred ash (bhasma or vibhūti), often with a red dot in the centre. The ash recalls the god who smears his body with the ashes of the cremation ground, and so it is a reminder of mortality and renunciation. Later texts multiply the meanings of the three lines: the three Vedas, the three worlds, the three qualities of nature, or the powers of will, knowledge and action. Some late minor Upaniṣads are devoted wholly to the rules of wearing ash.

Vaiṣṇavas wear the ūrdhvapuṇḍra, a vertical mark, usually two upright lines of white clay joined at the bridge of the nose, often understood as the footprint of Viṣṇu, with a red or yellow line in the centre representing the goddess Śrī or Lakṣmī. Communities differ in detail: the two schools of South Indian Śrīvaiṣṇavism are distinguished partly by whether the mark extends down the nose, and Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas of Bengal use clay called gopīcandana with a leaf shape on the nose. Śāktas and many others wear a red vertical line or dot honouring the Goddess. On temple ritual more generally, see Hindu temples, rituals and festivals.

The Bindi: Meaning, Marriage and Fashion§

The bindi takes its name from Sanskrit bindu, "drop" or "dot". It is known by many regional names, including pottu in Tamil, tip in Bengali and tikli in parts of the north. Traditionally it is made with kumkum, a red powder produced from turmeric and slaked lime, or with vermilion (sindūr). In many communities a red bindi, together with sindūr in the parting of the hair, has signalled that a woman is married and that her husband is living; widows traditionally stopped wearing it, a custom that has weakened considerably. Unmarried girls often wore black or other colours.

In the second half of the twentieth century, ready-made felt and adhesive bindis in many shapes and colours made the bindi a fashion accessory as much as a religious mark, worn by women of different religions across South Asia. Some traditional vermilion contained lead or mercury compounds, which has prompted health warnings about certain imported powders. In the diaspora the bindi has carried a heavier weight: in 1987 a gang calling itself the "Dotbusters" attacked South Asian residents of Jersey City, New Jersey, taking its name from the bindi. When the bindi became a Western fashion item in the 1990s, many South Asian writers criticised its adoption as a decoration detached from its meaning.

Brow Marks and the Third Eye: How the Interpretations Fit Together§

Modern devotional books often explain the tilaka and bindi as marking the ājñā centre, the third eye of yoga, and as aids to concentration, protection against the evil eye or a cooling application of sandal over a "hot" point. These explanations are widely held and meaningful to those who wear the marks. Historically, though, the marks seem to have grown out of several overlapping concerns: sectarian identity, ritual purity after worship, auspiciousness and the social markers of marriage. The yogic interpretation draws on the later tradition of meditation between the brows described in ajna and the third eye.

These meanings need not compete. A single dot can at once declare devotion, record a temple blessing, mark a life stage and point to the place where yogins and gods are said to see most deeply.

Frequently asked questions§

What does Shiva's third eye represent?§

It represents a higher, penetrating sight and a fiery power of destruction and purification. In myth it burns Kāma, the god of desire, and at the end of time it consumes the universe; devotees read it as the eye of wisdom that sees through illusion.

What is the difference between a tilaka and a bindi?§

A tilaka is a ritual mark, often indicating sectarian affiliation, applied by men and women with ash, clay, sandal paste or vermilion. A bindi is a dot, traditionally red, worn mainly by women and historically associated with marriage, though today it is also widely worn as an ornament.

Why do Shaivas wear three lines of ash?§

The tripuṇḍra of ash honours Śiva, who smears himself with ashes, and reminds the wearer of mortality and renunciation. Later texts give the three lines further symbolic meanings, such as the three Vedas or the three worlds.

Is the bindi worn to activate the third eye?§

Many people explain it that way today, and the bindi does sit at the point associated with the yogic ājñā centre. Historically, however, it has been worn chiefly as a sign of auspiciousness and marital status, and its yogic meaning is one interpretation among several.

Sources and further reading§

• The Presence of Śiva — Stella Kramrisch, 1981
• Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Śiva — Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, 1973
• The Birth of Kumāra — Kālidāsa, trans. David Smith, 2005
• Darśan: Seeing the Divine Image in India — Diana L. Eck, 1981
• The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India — C. J. Fuller, 1992
• An Introduction to Hinduism — Gavin Flood, 1996