Bhagava

Bhagava

[clothes] of a red-ochre color, saffron color

Bhagava-vastra – saffron-colored clothes, which is passed on to a disciple from Guru during initiation into Tradition.

The symbology of saffron dates back to Vedic times. Saffron is the color of vairagya, the color of tyaga, the color of tapasya. It symbolizes fire, combustion of worldly desires, sacrifice, estrangement. There is a version that the red color of clothes is related to the story of 10 Mahavidyas, when Vishnu split the body of the Goddess into ten parts and each part fell into a certain place, forming the famous shakti-pithas. But while Shiva was carrying Sati's dead body, his clothes turned red.

According to another legend, when Shiva passed chira-diksha to Parvati (Udayanath), blood from the wounds cut in Udayanath's ears got on her clothes and the clothes turned a reddish hue.

Many believe that shakti of the Goddess herself is in clothes of this color, and whoever wears such clothes is garbed in the energy of Parvati (Udayanath).

Fabric for clothes used to be colored with natural dyes (clay, for example). There is nothing artificial in these clothes, and it has a certain meaning. And the color of ochre symbolizes a mixture of all colors through nature itself.