Significance of Vibhuthi

Bhagawan materializes Vibhuthi out of nothing and since it is specifically associated with Lord Shiva, it is reverentially called by devotees as Kailasa Vibhuthi. It is named Bhuthi or Vibhuthi since it burns away all sins; Bhasitam because it increases one’s spiritual splendour; Ksharam since it removes danger; and Raksha, for, it is an armour against the machinations of evil spirits. This is how the Vibhuthi is praised in the Brihad Jabala Upanishad. Bhagawan says, what I materialise is a manifestation of divinity with a potent significance as well as symbolisation. It is symbolic of the cosmic, immortal and infinite nature of all forms of God, Atma or the Spirit - that is, what is left when everything worldly, transient and changeable has burnt away. I have spoken to you of the imperative of a desireless life. After Shiva had burnt the God of desire, Kama, into a heap of ashes, he adorned himself with the ash to shine as the conqueror of desire. When Kama was destroyed, Prema reigned as the Goddess of Love. Such is the significance of ash.

In the first place, it is symbolic of the life-death cycle in which everything ultimately reduces itself to ash. "For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Ash or dust is the final condition of things. It cannot undergo any further change. In the spiritual context, it constitutes a warning to the receiver to give up desires, to burn all passions, attachment and temptations in the fires of worship which makes one pure in thought, word and deed.