Hindu women sport a colored dot or bindi on the center of their forehead. Married women sometimes wear an extra one near the hair partition. Red-colored bindi is the most common. What is the spiritual significance of this dot?
The phrase bindi has its roots in the word bindu, meaning a dot or a drop. Now that doesn’t tell us much. How does this dot link to divinity? There could be two reasons for bindi to become part of a woman’s facial appearance.
The first one has a Upanishadic linkage. The Yoga Upanishads, describe the various nerve centers in the body. The Sanskrit term for these nerve centers is chakra. These nerve centers are not physical locations, but energy centers. An important one is between the eyebrows and is called ajna. It is a focal point for meditation. The Gita refers to this nerve center and directs a spiritual aspirant to bring focus to the space between the eyebrows. In doing so, the individual experiences an infinite vastness and solitude. The scripture says a true spiritual aspirant brings attention to this ajna chakra even when taking the last breath.
A bindi is nothing but an external activation and a symbol of this nerve center. It is not uncommon to see even men sporting a dot between the middle of their eyebrows. Red color has the longest wavelength or high-intensity energy. Over the years, this became the color of choice for the red dot. The authentic bindi’s were a mixture of turmeric and lemon, giving it the red color. Many wear an ash-colored dot to be reminded of the basic elements of this universe – earth and fire that can reduce anything to ash.
The second reason for wearing a bindi is the symbolic representation of the phase in a woman’s life. Unmarried women wear a smaller bindi, and married women sport a bigger one. Married women may also have a bindi near the hair partition. Above the hair partition, and closer to the center of the skull, is another nerve center called sahasrara chakra. Customs believe this to be the nerve center through which the life force enters the body. A bindi near the partition denotes a commitment to leveraging spiritual intellect in the role of a wife and mother.
There are also traditional beliefs that a woman who has lost her husband should not have a bindi at all.
The belief that bindi is mandatory has diluted with exposure to world cultures. Many now consider it optional and some others experiment with various shapes and colors. With bindi having a spiritual significance and a focal point to experience tranquility, why not make it part of the regular facial appearance?
Krishna, the preceptor of the Gita says:
प्रयाण-काले मनसाऽचलेन भक्त्या युक्तो योग-बलेन चैव ।
भ्रुवोर् मध्ये प्राणम् आवेश्य सम्यक् स तं परं पुरुषम् उपैति दिव्यम् ॥ १० ॥
prayāṇa-kāle manasā’calena bhaktyā yukto yoga-balena caiva |
bhruvor madhye prāṇam āveśya samyak sa taṃ paraṃ puruṣam upaiti divyam || 8.10 ||
One who, at the time of death, fully fixes the focus or life-energy between the eyebrows and contemplates on divinity or the cosmic person with undeviating attention and full devotion, certainly attains everlasting liberation.