This is an article series. Please read all previous articles before reading this article. The URLs for all previous articles are located in the SPECIAL THOUGHTS section.
Previously, we learnt about the purpose of Vrata-s and the importance of some specific observances that have the potential fetch us immense Punya. While not observing those Vrata-s may only result us squandering an opportunity to earn Punya, there are 3 Vrata-s which are mandatory for spiritual seekers. Let’s go over them in the increasing order of importance.
- Chaaturmaasya Vrata
As the name says, Chaaturmaasya Vruta stretches for a duration of 4 Maasa-s i.e., 4 months. It starts on the Shukla Paksha (bright fortnight) Ekaadashi Tithi of Aashaada Maasa. This day is referred to as Devashayani Ekaadashi. As the name suggests, this is the day the Devata-s slip into a “state of sleep”.
But, what does the state of sleep of the Devata-s mean? Aren’t they in all our Indriya-s inside our bodies? What happens to us if/when they sleep?
My take is… in all the places in temperate zones on earth, there are deciduous plants and trees. As the atmospheric temperature falls, they lose all their leaves before entering a period of dormancy. By winter, they will not have a single leaf. The entire landscape will be full of plants and trees without a single leave. I’ve heard tourists from tropic zone, who see these trees for the first time in their lives, usually exclaim “How come all the trees are so dry? Are they all dead?”. The plants are not dead. They are very much alive, but are in a state of dormancy. The “State of Sleep” of Devata-s can be understood to be somewhat like the above.
Devata-s are the ones who guard us, somewhat like how parents take care of their children. What happens when the Devata-s go into a dormant state? To understand this, we have to ask ourselves, “What happens when the day ends and the night falls?”. Night is when nocturnal activities begin. Most predators, i.e., carnivorous animals and birds, hunt at night, and therefore, for the prey animals, it is a challenge to get through the night. Somewhat similarly, the activities of the Asura-s go into a higher gear when the Devata-s go into a dormant state. They enter into the Saatvik food items that a spiritual seeker usually partakes. And therefore, there are specific dietary restrictions to be observed during Chaaturmaasya. There is a different dietary restriction for each month as follows:
Month 1: Shaakha Vrata (from Aashaada Shukla Dwaadashi until Shraavana Shukla Ekaadashi). The dietary restriction is abstinence from green leafy vegetables, including spinach, coriander, curry leaves, and herbs.
Month 2: Dadhi Vrata (Shraavana Shukla Dwaadashi until Bhaadrapada Shukla Ekaadashi). The dietary restriction is abstinence from yogurt/curd.
Month 3: Ksheera Vrata (Bhaadrapada Shukla Dwaadashi until Ashwina Shukla Ekaadashi). The dietary restriction is abstinence from milk.
Month 4: Dvidala Vrata (Ashwina Shukla Dwaadashi until Kaarteeka Shukla Ekaadashi) The dietary abstinence from pulses or lentils (Dvidala) and specific grains.
Most of the important festivals celebrated by most Hindus all over the world fall within this period referred to as Chaaturmaasya. Some of these festivals are Guru Poornima, Naaga-Garuda Panchami, Krishna Jayanti, Ganesha Chaturthi, Pitru Paksha, Navaratri, and Deepaavali. Therefore, it becomes important for spiritual seekers to keep their minds in a Saatvik and humble frame of mind during this period. Typically, a spiritual seeker puts in some effort to evaluate where he/she is in terms of gaining some dilution over the Ari Shad-Varga. My personal experience has been that ignoring the above dietary restrictions during Chaaturmaasya causes the internal enemies to flare up. As has been mentioned previously, any food we consume has a subtle effect on our minds. But we are not always observant to notice those subtle effects. For example, if one has never had coffee, then the effect of drinking a cup of coffee one fine day will be more easily noticeable. But, for a regular coffee drinker, these effects are not noticeable. Similarly, the effects of skipping the dietary restrictions become at least somewhat noticeable to only those who are in the practice of observing at least some dietary restrictions for various other Vrata-s.
2. Ekaadashi Upavaasa Vrata
There is a saying in our Shaastra-s. All the Vrata-s described above are encompassed within one very important Vrata and that is the Nirjala Upavaasa Vrata on Ekaadashi Tithi. This one Vrata is capable of earning millions of units of Punya. But… the consequence of not observing this Vrata (OR observing the Vrata on a wrong day) is a huge loss of Punya accumulated and accumulation of unspeakable Paapa.
Shree Madhwaachaarya has offered a work called “Shree Krishnaamruta Mahaarnava”. It is a compilation of verses from various scriptures. It is a very useful reference to a spiritual seeker as it helps understand the importance and spiritual benefit of various steps we follow in our worship. One of the topics covered in this work is the importance of observing Nirjala Upavaasa Vrata on Ekaadashi Tithi. Most of these verses are taken from Naaradeeya Puraana. Some of the verses quoted are spoken by Shree Vedavyaasa (Avataara of Paramaatma), Brahma, Rugmaangada (very well known for observing various Vrata-s). Some important points to be noted in this scripture are:
- We learnt about Arunodaya and Tithi Nirnaya. The rules followed for Tithi Nirnaya are applicable in determining Ekaadashi Tithi. However, Nirjala Upavaasa is to be observed only on a day when Ekaadashi Tithi has been stated before Arunodaya. If Ekaadashi Tithi has started even 1 minute past Arunodaya, then even though the Tithi for that day is Ekaadashi, Upavaasa is not to be observed on that day. Sometimes, if Ekaadashi Tithi started during Arunodaya on a particular day and Ekaadashi Tithi ended before Sooryodaya on the following day, then it is perfectly alright to observe Upavaasa on Dwaadashi Tithi and break the Upavaasa on Trayodashi. But one should never observe Upavaasa on a day when Ekaadashi Tithi has started during or after Arunodaya.
- We all have witnessed the construction and inauguration of a grand new temple for Baala Raama at Ayodhya. If we were to consider the effort involved in constructing such a temple as equivalent of conducting an Ashwamedha Yaaga, then the scriptures state that thousands of Ashwamedha Yaaga too is not equivalent to 1/16th of Punya accumulated through observing Upavaasa on Ekaadashi.
- People of all Varna-s, men, women, and everyone between the ages of 8 and 80 are to observe Nirjala Upavaasa on both Shukla and Krishna Paksha Ekaadashi Tithi.
- As has been quite clear by now, we learnt about all the Devata-s only through the Puraana-s composed by Shree Vedavyaasa, who is an Avataara of Paramaatma. The same Vedavyasa states very clearly about the horrible consequences of consuming food and not observing Upavaasa on Ekaadashi.
Unfortunately, most Hindus don’t believe in doing Nirjala Upavaasa Vrata on Ekaadashi. Most of them argue that God is all merciful, that God doesn’t discriminate among those who do Vrata and those who don’t. My take is that that Devata-s evaluate us based on our intrinsic nature, our abilities and our Karma. In a school, a teacher has to (and usually does) give home works, assignments, projects, tests and so on. Evaluation is based on how a student answers the questions, how valuable the project is and so on. There is always an evaluation criterion. A student disagreeing with the evaluation criteria doesn’t help. If every student is to be given A+ in the end… then why do all the home works, assignments, projects, tests and so on? Why school the kids at all? After all, getting through school is so hard. All of us will have cried on the first day of going to school. What would’ve happened if our parents relented when we cried and kept us home? Where would you’ve been if your parents didn’t send you to school because you cried and it broke their heart to see you cry so hard? Obviously, your parents endured and pushed you into the school and therefore you learnt and therefore you are where you are in your life today. It is same way with Vrata-s. They are like tests. Our evaluation will be based on how well we do in these tests. And especially Nirjala Upavaasa Vrata on Ekaadashi is like a preparatory exam. It is meant for our own good.
Do teachers give A+ even to someone even if all the answers in a test are wrong? If he/she does… then can we call it fair? Suppose, a girl wins her school’s 100-Meter sprint race. Would it be fair to give her an Olympic Gold Medal? If yes, then how is it fair? And, what are we to give a sprinter who wins the 100-Meter dash at the Olympics? And, we’ve all heard about “Decathlon”. A Decathlete has to train well to be good in 10 different events. And to accomplish that he/she has to train individually at various events. And he/she has to demonstrate his/her agility in all the 10 events. He/she can’t participate in one or two events and claim victory over Decathlon. Correct? Similarly, observing other Vrata-s ought to strengthen us in various specific ways and prep us for the Ekaadashi Vrata. How? We aren’t ready to elaborate on this topic just yet.
Further, every species on earth goes through periods where they have nothing to eat. Humans should too. And especially in humans, Vrata-s such as Nirjala Upavaasa Vrata on Ekaadashi brings a Vrati (perform observing the Vrata) to a frame of mind that one has to experience by actually observing the Vrata. How can one comment on the benefits of such a physically and mentally challenging Vrata without ever doing it even once?
That said, it is hard to skip food. Why? Obviously, because the mind has not been trained. So, how to train the mind? The answer is… How do you train your muscles to lift up 50 lbs weight? You start with smaller steps. Try lifting 10 lbs. Then increase to 15, 20, 25… and graduate to 50 lbs. Correct? Similarly, one should first start taking note of the exact day on which to observe Ekaadashi Upavaasa Vrata. Ensure to have a good meal the previous day. On the day of Upavaasa, try skipping breakfast, which shouldn’t be too hard for most adults. After practicing this for a couple of months, the mind will not expect breakfast. Then, graduate to skipping breakfast and lunch. If that’s hard, one can try taking some fruits and milk for lunch. And then, graduate to skipping breakfast, lunch and dinner. If that’s hard… again, like before, try taking some fruits and milk. Sooner or later, the mind will obey. And similarly, try to reduce water intake gradually. Thus, one can train the mind gradually to not expect food or water on Ekaadashi.
3. Krishna Jayanti Vrata
The etymology of the word Jayanti has been explained as “jayam tanoti iti jayanti” i.e., the one which gives “Jaya” to us is referred to as “Jayanti”. Simply put, Krishna Jayanti is Shree Krishna’s birthday. We’ve heard various Jayanti-s which are all basically birthdays of a certain Devata or someone well-known and/or revered by the society. But, arguably, the word “Jayanti” is to be used only for Shree Krishna’s birthday because that is the only day we observe a Vrata. All other festivals are usually referred to by their respective Tithi-s, such as Ganesha Chaturthi, Naaga Panchami, Ratha Saptami, Durga Ashtami, Raama Navami, Guru Poornima and so on.
Previously, we learnt to determine our Vedic birthday. The actual day of Shree Krishna Jayanti Vrata is to be determined the same way. The Sunsign should be Simha, Krishna Paksha, Ashtami Tithi, and somewhere during the day, the Nakshatra will be Rohini for a short time.
It is documented in Bhavishya Puraana that Shree Krishna himself describes to Yudhishtira the details of the Vrata to be observed on Shree Krishna Jayanti. The Vrata involves Shree Krishna Pooja in the morning, at noon, in the evening and again at midnight when Shree Krishna Avataara happened. Devotees make various traditional delicacies and offer to Shree Krishna, but the devotees themselves are to observe Upavaasa until the next morning. The details of the Vrata will be presented sometime in the future. This is the single most important Vrata that a spiritual seeker is to observe without fail. All other Vrata-s are meant to prep us for this Vrata. A spiritual seeker who observes all 24 Ekaadashi Vrata-s in a year, and observes the Krishna Jayanti Vrata as per recommendations by Shree Krishna himself, is said to earn Punya worth millions of Ekaadashi Vrata-s.
Next, we shall continue with the hierarchy of Devata-s in Level 11 and up.
