Trayodaśī Vratas (Nārada Purāṇa)
Trayodaśī Vrata, simply known as Trayodashi Vratas, Sanskrit: त्रयोदशी व्रत, Telugu: త్రయోదశి వ్రతాలు, Hindi: त्रयोदशी व्रत.
Trayodaśī is the thirteenth lunar day (tithi) of each fortnight. Here are the vratas of Trayodaśī through the twelve months, as Sanātana Maharshi taught them in the Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, chapter 122. The presiding devas of the day are Kāmadeva (also called Madana and Manmatha) and Bhagavān Śiva.
Most of the vratas below are kept on Śukla (bright-fortnight) Trayodaśī. Each has its own vidhi (method) and phala (fruit). Special words are explained where they first appear: upavāsa is a fast, eka-bhukta is one meal a day, dāna is a gift, upacāra is an item of offering in pūjā, and a brāhmaṇa-dampati is a brāhmaṇa husband and wife.
The vratas month by month
Caitra Śukla Trayodaśī: Ananga-pūjā
Worship Madana (Kāmadeva), made of candana (sandal paste), with cāmaras (fans of hair) at midday. Manmatha is pleased and enriches the worshipper with sons and grandsons.
Ananga-vrata. On a wooden plank, draw Ananga (Kāmadeva) in sindūra (red powder) and rajanī (turmeric) colour. Worship him at midday with gandha (fragrance), garlands, ornaments, clothes and various foods (bhakshyas), reciting:
Namo Mārāya Kāmāya kāmadevasya mūrtaye — Brahma-Vishṇu-Śivendra-mānaṃ-kshobhakarāya vai.
This means: salutations to Māra, to Kāma, to the form (mūrti) of Kāmadeva, who stirs Brahmā, Vishṇu, Śiva and Indra.
Then honour a householder (gṛhastha) as Manmatha with clothes, garlands and ornaments, and worship a brāhmaṇa-dampati with fragrance, clothes and ornaments. Phala: pushṭi (growth and nourishment) and saṃtosha (contentment).
Madana-dvādaśa-nāma-pūjā (for one year). Worship Madana month by month with twelve names, in the order beginning with Makha (Makhādi-krama): Madana, Hṛdbhava, Kāma, Manmatha, Rati-priya, Anaṅga, Kandarpa, Makara-dhvaja, Kusumāyudha, Manobhava, Vishameśa and Mālatī-priya.
Ajā-dāna (also prescribed). Bathe in a river. Give milk-giving goats to a poor brāhmaṇa who has a large family. Phala: no rebirth.
Mahāvāruṇī yoga. If this Trayodaśī falls on a Śanivāra (Saturday) with Śatabhishā nakshatra, it is Mahāvāruṇī. A bath in the Gaṅgā on this day is better than a koṭi (ten million) solar eclipses. If it is Caitra Śukla Trayodaśī with Śubha-yoga, Śatabhishā nakshatra and Śanivāra together, it is Mahāmahāvāruṇī. This grants mukti to a koṭi of one’s kulas (families or lines).
Vaiśākha Śukla Trayodaśī: Kāmadeva Vrata (yearly)
Keep an upavāsa. Worship Kāmadeva with gandha and the upacāras. Then keep this vrata on every Śukla Trayodaśī through the year. At the end of the year, give an adorned cow to a brāhmaṇa to complete the vrata (vrata-pūrti). Phala: all desired things.
Jyeshṭha Śukla Trayodaśī: Daurbhāgya-śamana
Bathe in river water. Worship three trees that are seen growing in a clean place, facing the sun in the sky: the white Mandāra, the Jillēḍu (Arka), and the red Kaneru (Karavīra). Recite:
O Mandāra! O Karavīra! O Arka! Born of Bhāskara’s part (aṃśa), worshipped by me, destroy our daurbhāgya. Salutations to you.
Do this every year. Phala: daurbhāgya (ill-fortune) is destroyed.
Āshāḍha Śukla Trayodaśī: Pārvatī-Parameśvara Vrata
Keep eka-bhukta. Make images of Pārvatī and Parameśvara in gold, silver or clay. Install them with deva-mantras in a temple (deva-ālaya), a cow-shed (go-shṭha) or the home of a brāhmaṇa. Worship them for five days, keeping eka-bhukta. On the third day, at dawn, bathe the images and worship them. Then give a gift to a brāhmaṇa who knows the Veda and the Vedāṅgas. Keep the vrata for five years. At the end, give a pair of cows (dhenu-yugma) together with the images (pratimās). Phala: for seven births (janmas) there is no separation between husband and wife.
Śrāvaṇa Śukla Trayodaśī: Rati-Kāma Vrata (for women)
This vrata is for preventing vaidhavya (widowhood) and for santati (children). Fast. Make mūrtis of Rati and Manmatha in copper, clay, gold or silver, and worship them with gandha and the upacāras. On Caturdaśī, honour a brāhmaṇa-dampati with satkāra (respectful welcome), feed them, and then give them the images. Keep the vrata for fourteen years. At the end, give a pair of cows. Phala: no widowhood; wealth and children.
Bhādrapada Śukla Trayodaśī: Gotritrātra Vrata
Make images (pratimās) of Lakshmī and Nārāyaṇa in gold or silver. Place them on a pīṭha (seat) with an eight-petal maṇḍala (ashṭadala-maṇḍala), covered with a cloth. Worship them with gandha and the upacāras, offer nīrājana (waving of lights), and give a pot of bathing water (snānodaka-ghaṭa). Do this for three days. At the end, when the month is complete, make the proper dāna, reciting:
Nandā dhenu, the central cow among the five born in the great ocean: salutations.
Worship a brāhmaṇa-dampati and give them the pratimā of Lakshmī and Nārāyaṇa. Phala: the fruit of a thousand aśvamedhas and the fruit of a hundred rājasūyas.
Āśvayuja Śukla Trayodaśī: Trisat-rāśoka-ka Vrata (three-night Aśoka vrata)
Make an Aśoka tree of gold and worship it. The woman keeps an upavāsa and makes 108 pradakshiṇas (circuits) every day, reciting:
O Aśoka tree, created by Śaṅkara for the good of the world, O beloved of Śiva, be gracious to me.
On the third day, worship Bhagavān Śiva at the root of the tree, feed a brāhmaṇa and give dāna. Phala for women: no widowhood; sons and grandsons flourish; the woman is dear to her husband.
Kārtika Kṛshṇa Trayodaśī: a lamp for Yama
Light a tila-dīpa (a lamp with sesame oil) and place it with care outside the house door, saying: “May Yama Dharmarāja be pleased.” Phala: the afflictions of Yama do not come.
Kārtika Śukla Trayodaśī: Pradosha with the Śiva-śatanāmas
Keep eka-bhukta. At pradosha-kāla (the evening twilight), bathe again, in silence. Light one thousand lamps, or at least one hundred. Make a garland of thirty-two ghee lamps (ghṛta-dīpas) for Bhagavān Śiva. Worship Bhagavān Śiva with gandha, fruit, many kinds of naivedya (food offering), clothes and ornaments, and a liṅga made of piṇḍi (flour). Then recite the Śiva-śatanāmas, the names of Bhagavān Śiva:
Rudra, Bhīma, Nīlakaṇṭha, Vedha, Kapardī, Sureśa, Vyomakeśa, Vṛshadhvaja, Soma, Somānātha, Digambara, Bhṛṅga, Umākānta, Vardhī, Tapomaya, Vyāpta, Śipivishṭa, Vyāla-priya, Vyāla, Vyāla-pati, Mahīdhara, Vyoma, Paśupati, Tripura-ghna, Siṃha, Śārdūla, Ṛshabha, Mīna, Mita-nātha, Siddha, Parameshṭhī, Veda-gīta, Gupta, Veda-guhya, Jagat-pashṭha, Vyoma-rūpa, Kalyāṇa, Viśishṭa, Śishṭa, Paramātmā, Gaja-kṛti-dhara, Andhakāsura-cchedī, Nīla-lohita, Śukla, Caṇḍa-muṇḍa-priya, Bhakti-priya, Deva, Yajñānta, Avyaya, Maheśa, Mahādeva, Hara, Tri-netra, Tri-veda, Vedāṅga, Ardha, Artha-svarūpa, Paramārtha, Viśva-rūpa, Viśva, Viśva-nātha, Śaṃkara, Kola, Kāla-avayava-rūpī, Arūpa, Virūpa, Sūkshma-sūkshma, Śmaśāna-vāsī, Kṛtti-vāsā, Śaśāṃka-śekhara, Rudra-bhūmi-śrita, Durga, Durga-pāra, Durgā-avayava-sākshī, Liṅga-rūpa, Liṅgī, Liṅga-pati, Prabhāva-rūpa, Prabhāvārtha, Kāraṇa-kāraṇa, Mṛtyuñjaya, Ātma-bhava-svarūpī, Tryambaka, Śiti-kaṇṭha, Bhakta, Gaurī-yuja, Maṅgala-hetu.
After making the pradakshiṇā and reciting these names, one enjoys all bhoga (pleasures) in this life and at the end reaches Śiva-loka.
Mārgaśīrsha Śukla Trayodaśī
Worship Manmatha (born of the union with Śiva, Śiva-saṃgama-sambhava) at three times of the day (tri-kāla) or at one time (eka-kāla), with gandha and the upacāras. Feed a brāhmaṇa-dampati in a kalaśa or in a maṅgala-paṭṭaṇa, give dakshiṇā (a fee), and keep eka-bhukta. Phala: by the grace of Mahādeva, one is born in bhūloka (the earth) with great saubhāgya (good fortune).
Pushya Śukla Trayodaśī
Worship Acyuta (Śrī Hari) properly. Give a mṛta-pātra (death-vessel) to a brāhmaṇa, for success in all things (sarva-siddhi). Phala: all desired things.
Māgha Śukla Trayodaśī: Māgha Snāna Vrata (three days)
The three days of Māgha snāna (bathing in Māgha) that begin on this Trayodaśī give fruit of many desires (nānā-kāma-phala-prada). Bathing at Prayāga for three days gives more than a thousand aśvamedhas. At Prayāga, bathing, japa, homa and dāna all give akshaya-phala (fruit that does not end).
Phālguna Śukla Trayodaśī: Dhana Vrata
Keep an upavāsa and bow to Jagannātha. On a maṇḍala drawn on cloth, worship Yaksha-pati (Kubera) with gandha and the upacāras on every Śukla Trayodaśī, keeping eka-bhukta throughout. At the end of the year:
- Make a golden mūrti of Dhana-pati.
- Give it pañcāmṛta-snāna (a bath in the five nectars) and offer the sixteen upacāras (shoḍaśopacāra) with various naivedyas.
- Adorn a cow with clothes, gandha and ornaments, and give it to a brāhmaṇa who knows the Veda.
- Feed twelve or thirteen brāhmaṇas and give them dakshiṇā.
- Worship the guru.
Phala: a person without wealth (dhana-hīna) gains wealth and rejoices on earth like a second Kubera.
Sources
- Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 122