Urdhwapundra

Urdhwapundra has to be worn bottom up . If one aspires to go to abodes above , he must prctise the urdhwapundra dharan. Wearing vertical pundras with gopi chandana ensures ,aatmashakti to flow upwards. Tiryag jantu are born tiryak and hence they wander laterally .tiryak means lateral . lateral are born animals and their movement is lateral . Men are born downwards and hence all their acts involve use of energy downwards and lose the shakti and go downwards towards hell.

thus those who aspire to go upwards to heavens and moksha should wear urdhwapundra , so says nardiya purana , vadhul smruti . In bhagvat it is mentioned gopis use gomaya to apply punda to krishna after putana samhara.

Pundra can be worn by soil ,gandha[sandal paste], bhasma and water.soil means gopichandana etc , gandha is applied during festivals or while dining, bhasma is applied during homas , it is homa sesha and not ordinary bhasma . water is to be applied when taking bath in holy rivers etc.

krishnarpanamastu.

Digbandhan

Vyahruti is the best digbandhan mantra . Everywhere there are demons and bhutas whose very job is to put some obstacles into good karma . Thus while  japa these attack from all the ten sides.Sadhak has to protect himself from these ,else his pooja phal is drainedout by these forces.

how does digbandhan work? Narayan  panditacharya in his Yogdipika says , every one has a nrasimha agni in his palms. By clapping thrice this agni is lit and intensifies . Then flames of this agni is used to dispel negative forces by clasping middle finger and thumb , the noise generated by clasp , aggravates the flames of this agni and with astra mudra we can drive away the negative forces and sit calmly in japa or sadhana.

krishnarpana