Putra-Prāpti Vrata

Putra-Prāpti Vrata, simply known as Putra Prapti Vrata, Sanskrit: पुत्र-प्राप्ति व्रत, Telugu: పుత్ర ప్రాప్తి వ్రతం, Hindi: पुत्र प्राप्ति व्रत.

The Putra-Prāpti Vrata is kept on Bhādrapada Kṛshṇa Ashṭamī, the eighth tithi of the dark fortnight of the month of Bhādrapada. This is the same tithi as Kṛshṇa Janmāshṭamī. It is offered to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa by those who want a son (putra-prāpti). The Varāha Purāṇa (Chapters 57–66) gives it as one of its twelve monthly vratas, and it is shown through the account of King Śūrasena.

When it is kept and to whom

The Putra-Prāpti Vrata falls on Bhādrapada Kṛshṇa Ashṭamī. This tithi is of the highest importance in the Vaishṇava calendar. It is the very night on which Bhagavān Kṛshṇa was born in Kaṃsa’s prison in Mathurā.

The Purāṇa teaches that Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself entered the womb and was born on this tithi. So the tithi has endless power to bless couples who seek children. The devatā worshipped is Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as an infant, Bāla-Kṛshṇa.

The account of King Śūrasena

The Varāha Purāṇa shows the Putra-Prāpti Vrata through the account of King Śūrasena. He was a righteous king. He longed for a son to carry on his line, but for many years he had no children.

A great ṛshi told Śūrasena that Bhagavān Kṛshṇa is the source of all children, because every jīva (living being) that is born takes birth by his will. The ṛshi said that Bhagavān Kṛshṇa would give a son if the Putra-Prāpti Vrata were kept on Bhādrapada Kṛshṇa Ashṭamī with full bhakti and a complete fast.

Śūrasena and his queen kept the vrata as they were told. By Kṛshṇa’s grace a son was born to them in due time.

The vidhi

  1. The vrata begins on the day before, Saptamī, with a partial fast.
  2. On Ashṭamī the devotee fasts completely. No food is eaten from sunrise to midnight.
  3. A mūrti of Bāla-Kṛshṇa, the infant form or Kṛshṇa with the flute, is set up on a cradle or a decorated altar.
  4. The worship is done at midnight, the hour of Kṛshṇa’s birth. The offerings are fragrant flowers (tulasī is essential), incense, ghee lamps, camphor, and sweets made of butter and milk.
  5. The devotee sings the Kṛshṇa-janma-stotra.
  6. After the midnight worship, the fast is broken with prasāda.
  7. The devotee recites or hears the account of the Putra-Prāpti Vrata with devotion.

The phala

The Putra-Prāpti Vrata gives the vara (boon) of a son to those who keep it with sincere longing and full bhakti.

It also helps those who want daughters, good marriages for their children, long life for the children they already have, and the healing of their children’s illnesses. Through Kṛshṇa’s grace it fills the home with the joy and laughter of children.

Those who keep it every year on Kṛshṇa Janmāshṭamī, even without any wish for a son, gather great puṇya (merit) and reach Goloka at the end of their lives.

Sources

  • Varāha Purāṇa, Chapters 57–66