Importance of jewelry and benefits of wearing ornaments

1. Introduction

        Only in Hindu culture there is a tradition of wearing ornaments all over the body, such as the head, hair, ears, nose, neck, arms, hands, fingers, waist and feet. Apart from these ornaments, women in Hindu Dharma are advised to wear specific ornaments on specific occasions, for example, at the time of the wedding ceremony and festivals ornaments like armlet and waistband are worn. These ornaments are not merely objects for display or deriving pleasure, but are an important medium to provide the woman with Chaitanya (Divine Consciousness) and activate divinity in her.

        After reading this article, one can understand the importance of jewelry and reason for the tradition of wearing ornaments all over body in Hindu culture. It only shows the greatness of Hindu culture, which thinks about the spiritual welfare of humanity at every step.

2. In Hindu Dharma, ‘adorning with ornaments’ is a principal achar (conduct)

        Ornaments are Raja-predominant and bestow Tej (Radiance). Without the ornaments, there is no Tej-imparting manifestation. Without manifestation, there is no activity. Without activity, there is no Prakruti (Primeval Nature). Without the Prakruti, there is no Maya (The Great Illusion). To bestow the world that has taken the form of Maya with Chaitanya (Divine Consciousness), ornaments are necessary.

        The Tej-tattva (Absolute Fire Principle) in ornaments provides appropriate direction to the Raja component in a woman and compels it to perform actions proportionate to the Tej in her. Then, there is very little possibility of a woman (adorned with ornaments) behaving recklessly.

3. Ornaments impart radiance and joy

        Contact with the ornaments awakens the chetana in the body. Chetana in turn imparts alertness to the body. Due to the alertness, the body becomes sensitive to imbibing the sattvik (Sattva-predominant) Tej waves. Through this sensitivity arises radiance. Through the radiance arises divinity, and due to the divinity, joy is established. This joyous state gives an understanding of the blissful God Principle. In addition, through the understanding of the God Principle, one can attain Moksha (Final Liberation).

4. Tarak (Saviour) and marak (Destroyer) Principles

        The joyous radiance of ornaments apparent on the face and body of the wearer eliminates Raja–Tama predominant particles from the atmosphere. Hence, it is tarak, meaning imparter of divinity, so also marak, meaning, destroyer of negative energies.

5. Ornaments are useful in enhancing beauty

        Human beings have a natural interest in their own physical appearance. The ornaments are worn to adorn the body, meaning, to augment one’s beauty.

6. Wearing of ornaments helps in imbibing Divine waves

A. Adorning the Deities with ornaments allows an individual to imbibe the waves emitted by the Deities through the medium of ornaments.

• Ornament is a medium of providing the Deity’s Tej to devotees effortlessly.

• To facilitate imbibing of Divine waves being emitted by the Deities, even the Deities are adorned with ornaments. The overall sattvikta (purity) of individuals in Kaliyug (Era of strife) is less. Therefore, God has created each form of Deity along with their ornaments, so that the individuals benefit from even external mediums like ornaments. Additionally, the waves emitted by the Deities attain a saguṇ (Materialised) character through the medium of the ornament, and such a Principle is easily imbibed by even average individuals. This explains why in Hindu Dharma there is a tradition of adorning the Deity with clothing and ornaments prior to its worship. During Lakshmi–puja (Ritualistic worship), which is a constituent of Dipawali festival, a prayer is offered to Devi (Goddess) Lakshmi to adorn ornaments.

B. Receiving the Chaitanya of Deities through the medium of ornaments

• Ornament is the initiator of the act of imbibing God’s Chaitanya and giving its benefit to the individual.

• By wearing ornaments, the Chaitanya enriched flow of Shakti (Divine Energy) of the Deities is imbibed by the body and the individual gets motivated to perform.

• By wearing the ornaments, it is possible to imbibe saguṇ Chaitanya, keep it concentrated close to the body through the medium of ornaments and emit it in a shorter time as per the requirement.

• Ornaments look graceful on the body, not because of the beauty of the individual, but because of Chaitanya the individual receives from God !

C. Being able to receive waves of Deities by wearing new or silk clothes and various ornaments on the days of festivals, religious rituals and other auspicious days

        Deities sometimes visit the earth region in subtle form on the days of festivals or religious rituals and auspicious days. Wearing new clothes and ornaments on these days is symbolic of welcoming the arrival of the Deities. Pleased, the Deities bestow blessings and the individual is able to imbibe the waves of the Deities.

7. Ornaments with objective dependent designs

        Ornaments with designs of snakes, lotus etc. are worn with the objective of attracting the tarak or marak Principle of the Deity.

8. Unknowingly getting benefit of acupressure treatment while wearing ornaments

        Acupressure means applying pressure on specific points associated with specific body-parts and removing black energy obstacles in the flow of energy of Chaitanya in the body. Acupressure treatment helps alleviate the physical, psychological and spiritual distress of an individual.

        By wearing various ornaments, the acupressure points on the related parts of the body get pressed and unknowingly, acupressure treatment takes place. From this, we get to know that the real purpose in the tradition of wearing ornaments is the acupressure treatment at the spiritual level, with the individual not even realising it. Since the individuals in the earlier times used to follow the tradition of wearing ornaments meticulously, they did not feel the need for acupressure treatment from an external source; for they were subjected to acupressure continuously in their life. In Kaliyug, Hindus have drifted away from the Achardharma (Code of righteous conduct) and hence the need to re-establish the tradition.

9. Purification and awakening of the chakras due to wearing ornaments

        Ornaments are associated with specific parts of the human body. Every body-part is associated with a specific chakra in the body (for example, Anahat-chakra, Adnya-chakra). By wearing ornaments on specific body-parts, the Chaitanya which gets activated through that particular ornament gets linked to the specific chakra associated with that part of the body. This purifies the chakra and, in turn, helps reduce the distress of the individual affected by negative energy. In case of an individual who is not affected by negative energy, awakening of the chakra may occur and he/she might get a spiritual experience related to the chakra. For instance, if the Anahat-chakra is awakened, then bhav (Spiritual emotion) towards God is awakened.

10. Wearing ornaments to avoid the distress due to planets

        Planets have a great impact on the life of human beings. Information on wearing rings with specific stones to avoid distress due to unfavourable planetary motion finds a mention in the science of Astrology.

11. Protection from negative energies

A. By wearing an ornament, a protective sheath is formed around the body-part, thereby reducing the distress due to negative energies

        Wearing ornaments creates a shield around that body-part. As a result, the negative energies cannot trouble an individual. If an individual suffering from distress due to negative energies wears ornaments, then the body of the negative energy in that individual also remains in confinement. (That negative energy stops getting help from other negative energies or from Patal [Hell region].) This is akin to tying up a thief who has entered the house with the intention of burglary. The ornaments worn by an individual for protection from the negative energy within and the negative energy troubling from outside, is like the fencing of a house. Hence, wearing ornaments dilutes the distress due to negative energies.

B. Ornaments as a protective sheath

        Gold ornaments were created to provide protection to the extent of at least 10% from negative energies to the individual not performing any spiritual practice. Since the negative energies first attack the ornaments, the average individual is naturally protected from the direct impact of the attack. In addition, if the ornaments get charged with Raja–Tama, they can be taken off, purified and used again. This means that the ornaments function as a protective sheath.

C. Extent of attracting and transmitting Chaitanya and getting protection from negative energies after wearing ornaments

Note 1 – Spiritual level of men above 50 percent and that of women above 60 percent.

Reference : Sanatan Sanstha’s Holy Text, ‘Science of Ornaments’