Gaurī Mārgaśīra Vrata
Gaurī Mārgaśīra Vrata, simply known as Gauri Margashira Vrata, Sanskrit: गौरी मार्गशीर व्रत, Telugu: గౌరీ మార్గశిర వ్రతం, Hindi: गौरी मार्गशीर व्रत.
The Gaurī Mārgaśīra Vrata is a month-long vrata (vow of worship) kept in the month of Mārgaśīra. It is offered to Bhagavatī Durgā in her form as Gaurī, who is Pārvatī. Women keep it to gain an ideal husband, the reunion of a divided family and the grace of Bhagavān Hari. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa gives it in the Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 27.
Vedāvatī, the daughter of Kuśadhvaja, first kept this vrata on earth at the kshetra of Pushkara. Nārāyaṇa Muni then taught it to Nārada as the vrata for women. The gopikās of Vṛndāvana kept it on the bank of the Yamunā, wishing for Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as their husband. On the last day they received the full phala, and Kṛshṇa himself gave them darśana.
When it begins and where it comes from
In the Hemanta (early winter) season, when the Sun enters Dhanus (Sagittarius), the month of Mārgaśīra begins. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself declared this month to be the greatest of the months. In this month Nārāyaṇa Muni prescribes the Gaurī vrata for all women who want a husband like Kṛshṇa, the welfare of the family and moksha.
On this earth the vrata began with Vedāvatī, the daughter of the great ṛshi Kuśadhvaja. She kept it with great tapas at the kshetra of Pushkara. On the last day of the vrata Bhagavatī Pārvatī herself came to her, seated in a golden ratna-ratha (jewelled chariot). She shone with the light of a crore of suns, and a hundred thousand yoginīs came with her.
Pārvatī told Vedāvatī: “You are none other than Lakshmī herself. In the coming Tretā Yuga, Nārāyaṇa will take birth as Rāma, the son of Daśaratha, in Ayodhyā. You will be born as Sītā in Janaka’s house, ajonī-sambhavā (not born from a womb), in Mithilā. By the power of this vrata you will become Rāma’s wife.” So Vedāvatī became Sītā. By the power of the vrata she won Śrī Hari as her husband in every kalpa.
The vidhi
The night before
On the night before the Sun enters Dhanus, the one keeping the vrata fasts completely (upavāsa).
The morning of the first day
On the morning when the Sun enters Dhanus:
- Bathe in a holy river. The gopikās bathed every day in the Yamunā.
- Wear clothes that have been freshly washed and dried.
- Set up a vedi (raised altar) and place on it an auspicious kalaśa (water pot).
Calling the six devatās into the kalaśa
Call into the kalaśa, with a Vedic mantra, the six devatās: Gaṇeśa, Sūrya, Agni, Nārāyaṇa, Śiva and Durgā. Offer to each the five upacāras: gandha (fragrance), pushpa (flowers), dhūpa (incense), dīpa (lamp) and naivedya (food), and bow to each with namaskāra. This first worship must not be left out.
The sand mūrti of Durgā
On the river bank, shape in sand a mūrti of Durgā with ten arms (daśabhujā). Decorate it with:
- candana (sandalwood paste)
- aguru (paste of the fragrant wood)
- kastūrī (musk)
- kumkuma (saffron)
- a sindūra tilaka on the forehead
- below the sindūra, a candana-candra-rekhā, a crescent-moon mark in sandal
Daily worship
Every day of the month, worship the mūrti of Durgā with the full Shoḍaśopacāra pūjā, the sixteen steps of worship.
The dhyāna of Gaurī comes from the Kauthuma śākhā of the Sāma Veda. It describes her as Śivā, who lives in Śiva’s heart. Her face is pleasant, with a gentle smile. She is famous and has beautiful eyes. She is ever young (navayauvana). She wears ratna-kaṅkaṇas (jewelled bracelets), ratna-daṇḍa-kaḍiyams (jewelled arm-bands) and ratna-sampūrus (jewelled anklets). Her ratna-kuṇḍala earrings are bright. Bees, drawn by the Mālatī flowers in it, gather around the garland on her hair-bun. She has a kastūrī dot with a sindūra tilaka above it. Her silk garments blaze. She wears jewelled crowns (ratna-kirīṭas) and jewelled necklaces (ratna-hāras), and garlands of Pārijāta flowers. Her hips are firm, and her body bends a little under the weight of youth and her full bosom. Brahmā and all the devas praise her. Her tejas equals ten million suns. Her lower lip is like a ripe red fruit. Her body is the colour of Campaka blossoms, her teeth are white like pearls and her face is like the moon. She grants all desires and moksha.
Mantra and japa
Say this mantra from the Sāma Veda 1000 times every day, on a coral mālā:
Oṃ Śrī Durgāyai sarva-vighna-vināśinyai namaḥ
The text describes this mantra as bīja-akshara-yukta (joined with a bīja syllable). It says the mantra gives its fruit within one prahara of recitation.
The food rule
Through the whole month the one keeping the vrata eats only havishya or fruit. Havishya is a simple preparation of unpolished rice, called pongal, cooked as food fit for naivedya. Rich foods and tāmasika foods are forbidden.
The prayer to Durgā
Each day the gopikās prayed: “O Devī, Jagat-mātā! Giver of sṛshṭi (creation), sthiti (keeping) and laya (dissolution)! You who bear the vrata of protecting your devotees! Give us Kṛshṇa, the son of Nanda Gopa, as our husband.” Each woman may word her own prayer according to the phala she wants.
The last day
On the last day of the vrata, the one keeping it does these things:
- She takes the closing bath. The gopikās bathed in the Yamunā and left their garments on the bank, as the vrata lays down. This bath was the occasion of the vastrāpaharaṇa, in which Bhagavān Kṛshṇa took their garments.
- She worships the sand mūrti of Durgā with the full sixteen steps (shoḍaśopacāra).
- She recites the Sarvāmaṅgalā Durgā Stotra. This is Brahmā’s own stotra to Mūla Prakṛti, which Nārāyaṇa gave him when the threat of Madhu and Kaiṭabha came. The stotra praises Durgā by eight names, with the meaning of each.
- She recites the Jānakī-kṛta Pārvatī Stotra. This stotra is attributed to Sītā (Jānakī). It praises Pārvatī as the śakti of all beings and the giver of a husband.
When the gopikās had finished the vrata and these recitations, Bhagavatī Pārvatī herself appeared before them in a ratna-ratha with a hundred yoginīs. She embraced Rādhā and blessed the gopikās. She spoke at length of Rādhā’s true identity as Kṛshṇa’s eternal śakti. She told them that three months hence the gopikās would sport with Kṛshṇa in the Rāsa Maṇḍala in Vṛndāvana.
Then Bhagavān Kṛshṇa appeared before the gopikās gathered there. He showed his divine form: dark in colour (śyāma-varṇa), in yellow garments (pītāmbara), wearing the vanamālā (garland of forest flowers), smiling and holding a flute and a lotus. He gave the gopikās their varas (boons) and said: “Three months hence you will sport with me in the Rāsa Maṇḍala in Vṛndāvana. You came with me from Goloka. You will go back with me to Goloka.”
The phalaśruti
The Purāṇa declares these results of the Gaurī Mārgaśīra Vrata:
- Unmarried girls will get a husband equal to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa in qualities: virtuous, loving and devoted.
- Separated families: relatives who have been parted for a long time will be reunited within one month of the end of the vrata.
- Bhakti: the one who keeps the vrata gains deep Hari-bhakti and Hari-dāsya-mukti (freedom in the service of Hari).
- Protection: the Sarvāmaṅgalā Stotra, recited on the last day, removes all dangers. These are dangers from royal courts, cremation grounds, fire, storms, sea voyages, battle, prison, curses (śāpa), family quarrels, poverty and loss of position.
- Moksha: those who recite the stotras of this vrata three times every day gain Hari-bhakti and Hari-dāsya-mukti, and in the end the highest state, which is like the state of Rādhā (Rādhā-gati).
- Vedāvatī’s phala: Bhagavān Śrī Hari as her husband in every birth and every kalpa.
Sources
- Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 27