Vīṭāmukha

The vīṭāmukha is a round object, like a ball. It is made of wood or stone. An ascetic who practises the most extreme form of tapas (austerity) holds it clenched in his mouth.

The Mahābhārata shows Vidura with a vīṭāmukha in his mouth. Yudhishṭhira found him deep in the forest in his last days. Vidura’s severe discipline of giving up food had left his body as skin, bone and visible veins.

Description

The text gives little detail beyond the bare fact of the practice. A tāpasa (ascetic) who has given up food entirely and lives on air alone holds a round, ball-like object in his mouth.

Before Vidura came into view, Dhṛtarāshṭra described his condition to Yudhishṭhira. He said Vidura ate no food and lived on air. Wandering brāhmaṇas saw him only rarely. His hair was matted, he was ekāki (alone), and his body was reduced to its veins.

When Vidura appeared, he was described in the same way. He had matted hair (jaṭādhāri). He held a vīṭāmukha clenched in his mouth. He was thin, without clothes, and covered in dust and fallen flower pollen.

Meaning in the practice of tapas

Here the vīṭāmukha is an outward sign of an inner discipline. It is a physical aid that fills and controls the mouth of a tāpasa who has stopped eating altogether. This fits a wider pattern. In this tradition, extreme yatidharma (the dharma of the renunciant) shows in visible bodily austerities, such as nirāhāra (going without food), matted hair, nakedness and exposure to the elements.

For Vidura, this last stage of tapas came just before the yogic dissolution of his body into Yudhishṭhira’s own body. After that, a divine voice declared that his body had reached yatidharma and was not to be given the ordinary cremation rites.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 26