|| shrI sha.nkarAchArya aShTottara-shata-nAmAvaliH ||

[Ravisankar S. Mayavaram]

AUM  bhasmoddhULitavigrahAya namaH

I bow to shrI shankara whose body has the sacred marks of bhasmam or ash.
His body smeared with bhasmam shines like a vigraham.

The sacred ash not only indicates the ephemeral nature of the world (in a
symbolic way), but also protects the wearer from evil influences (being a
yaj~na prasadam). In shrI subrahmanya bhujangam, shrI shankara says that
the vibhuti prasadam of lord shanmukha will destroy many ills and evil
influences.

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

>From  Wed Jun 24 00:21:27 1998
Message-Id: <WED.24.JUN.1998.002127.0500.>
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 00:21:27 -0500
Reply-To: shashi at TAMU.EDU
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Shashidhar Rajamani <rajamani at EE.TAMU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Almanac Questions:
Comments: To: ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU
In-Reply-To: <19980623195423.6221.qmail at hotmail.com> from "Anand Hudli" at Jun
        23, 98 12:54:22 pm
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
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>  I am not sure what system is followed in Kerala.
        The solar calendar.