Phālguna
Phālguna, “the month of the Phalgunī nakshatras”
Grammar: masculine noun; the month named after the nakshatras Phalgunī (Pūrva and Uttara Phalgunī).
Meaning: a month of the lunar year.
In the scriptures: in the Kālāshṭamī vrata to Bhagavān Śiva that Pulastya Maharshi teaches Nārada, Phālguna begins the second six months. In the kṛshṇa paksha of Phālguna one fasts duly on the ashṭamī. The very next day one bathes the deity with pañcagavya (cow’s milk, curd, ghee, dung and urine), worships with jasmine flowers, offers dhūpa of sandal and naivedya of rice cooked with ghee and jaggery in a copper vessel, and gives the naivedya to a brāhmaṇa with a dakshiṇā of two cloths, uttering the name Rudra (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 17).
In the dvādaśa-patraka yoga (the yoga of the twelve leaves) that Brahmā taught Sanatkumāra, the eleventh leaf is the syllable “vā” on the knees, with the rāśi Kumbha and the month Phālguna (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 35).
When Bhagavān Śiva gives Bhagavān Vishṇu the divine Sudarśana cakra, he says that in it are tapas, the twelve tapasvīs, and the months from Caitra to Phālguna (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 56). In his stotra to Bhagavān Vishṇu, Brahmā says: “You are Time, shining in the form of the months Āśvayuja, Pushya, Māgha, Phālguna, Caitra, Vaiśākha” (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 66).
In Prahlāda‘s teaching to Bali on the gifts dear to Bhagavān Vishṇu month by month, in Phālguna one gives paddy, green gram, cloth, deer skin and the like, for the prīti (pleasure) of Govinda (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 68).
Related terms: Phalgunī · Kālāshṭamī · Dvādaśa-patraka · Pañcagavya · Caitra
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 17, 35, 56, 66, 68