Māsopavāsa Vrata (Agni Purāṇa)
Māsopavāsa Vrata · māsa-upavāsa-vrata, “the vow of fasting for a month”
The Māsopavāsa Vrata is the month-long fast offered to Bhagavān Vishṇu. It is kept for thirty days, from Āśvayuja śukla Ekādaśī to Kārtika śukla Ekādaśī, the day of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s utthāna (rising), and closed on the Dvādaśī that follows. In the Agni Purāṇa, Agni Deva teaches it to Vasishṭha Maharshi as “the best of all vratas” (Chapter 204). Through the month the keeper takes no food, bathes three times a day, worships Śrī Mahāvishṇu at dawn, noon and evening, and lives in the temple.
Its fruit is very great. One who keeps it gains everything (Chapter 198) and never goes to naraka (Chapter 203). Kept thirteen times it gives both bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (moksha); the keeper lifts a hundred generations of his family to Vishṇuloka, and the land where he lives becomes free of pāpa. Hayagrīva also teaches Brahmā the homa and the gifts that close a month-long fast (Chapter 66).
Who may keep it, and the preparation
Agni Deva says: “O Vasishṭha Mahāmuni, now I will tell you of the māsopavāsa vrata, the best of all.” Before taking it up, one performs a Vaishṇava yajña, takes the permission of the ācārya (teacher), and tests one’s own strength by keeping the kṛcchra and other hard vratas. Then one keeps the māsopavāsa. It is to be kept by the vānaprastha (forest-dweller), the sannyāsī (renunciant) and the widow.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 204
The saṅkalpa
On Āśvayuja śukla Ekādaśī the keeper fasts and takes the vrata for thirty days with this saṅkalpa (declaration):
“O Mahāvishṇu! From this day for thirty days, until your utthāna, I will remain without food and worship you. O all-pervading Hari! If I die between Āśvayuja śukla Ekādaśī and Kārtika śuddha Ekādaśī, the time of your utthāna, by your grace may my vrata not be broken.”
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 204
The daily rule
Through the thirty days the keeper:
- bathes three times a day;
- worships Śrī Mahāvishṇu with fragrant substances and flowers at dawn, at midday and in the evening;
- sings of him, and keeps up dhyāna (meditation) and japa on him;
- gives up idle talk and gives up the desire for wealth;
- touches no one who is not keeping a vrata;
- does not urge on those who do what the śāstras forbid;
- lives in the devālaya (temple) for the whole thirty days.
If the keeper faints, he is given milk mixed with ghee to drink. Havis (offered food) taken with a brāhmaṇa’s permission, and medicine, fruit and roots taken with the ācārya’s permission, do not break the vrata. One who keeps it with the faith that Śrī Mahāvishṇu himself is the mahaushadhi (the great medicine) is able to complete it.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 204
The close on Dvādaśī
On Kārtika śukla Dvādaśī the keeper worships Śrī Mahāvishṇu, feeds brāhmaṇas, gives them dakshiṇā, breaks his own fast (pāraṇa) and ends the vrata.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 204
The udyāpana
At the udyāpana (the concluding rite) a Vaishṇava yajña is performed and thirteen brāhmaṇas are fed. With their permission, one brāhmaṇa is given thirteen uttarīyas (upper cloths) and thirteen lower cloths, with a vessel (pātra), a seat (āsana), an umbrella (chatra), a pavitra, sandals (pādukā), a yoga-paṭṭa and a yajñopavīta (sacred thread). Then an image of himself, set on a bed (śayyā), and a golden image of Mahāvishṇu are worshipped and given to another brāhmaṇa, who is honoured with cloths and other gifts.
The keeper says: “Freed of all pāpas, by the prasāda (grace) of the brāhmaṇas and of Śrī Mahāvishṇu, I shall go to Vishṇuloka.” The brāhmaṇas answer: “O you whose self is divine! Go to Vishṇuloka, free of disease and sorrow, and shine there in a vimāna, bearing the form of Vishṇu.” Then the keeper bows to the brāhmaṇas and gives the bed to the ācārya.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 204
The homa that closes the month-long fast
Hayagrīva tells Brahmā the rite for the māsopavāsa and the like. First Śrī Hari is pleased by yajña:
- A Vaishṇava caru (cooked offering) of tila (sesame), rice, nīvāra (wild rice) and śyāmāka (millet), or barley in place of the millet, mixed with ghee, is offered into the fire with the mūrti-mantra.
- Homa is made again to the lords of the months, Vishṇu and the others: twelve oblations of aśvattha samidhs dipped in ghee, with mantras such as “oṃ śrī vishṇave svāhā”.
- Twelve oblations with the mantra “vishṇor arāṭam asi”.
- Twelve oblations of caru with the mantra “irāvatī”.
- Oblations of ghee with the mantra “tad viprāsaḥ”.
- The śesha-homa (homa of the remainder) and three pūrṇāhutis (full oblations).
- Reciting the anuvāka “yuñjate” with the praṇava, the keeper eats the caru from a plate of aśvattha leaves.
- Twelve brāhmaṇas are fed for the twelve lords of the months, and the ācārya is the thirteenth.
- They are given thirteen kalaśas full of sweet water, a fine umbrella, sandals, clothes, gold and garlands. For the completion of the vrata, every gift is thirteen in number.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 66
The phala
- One who keeps thirteen māsopavāsas in this way gains both bhukti and mukti.
- He lifts up a hundred generations of his family and takes them with him to Vishṇuloka.
- The land where one who keeps the māsopavāsa lives becomes free of pāpa. “What need to speak of the family in which he is born?”
- One who keeps the month-long fast and worships Śrī Mahāvishṇu gains everything.
- One who keeps the māsopavāsa, the Ekādaśī Vrata or the Bhīshmapañcaka Vrata does not go to naraka.
- The Kaumuda Vrata lasts the same days as the māsopavāsa, ending on the Devajāgaraṇī Ekādaśī, but it is kept with one meal a day, and the Agni Purāṇa says it gives a greater fruit.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 198, 203–204, 207
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 66, 198, 203–204, 207