Vṛntāka-tyāga Vrata

Vṛntāka-tyāga Vrata · vṛntāka-tyāga-vrata, “the vrata of giving up the brinjal”

Kalā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kalā.

The Vṛntāka-tyāga Vrata is the vrata of giving up vṛntāka, the brinjal, for a set time and closing the vow with the pūjā of Yamarāja and his attendants. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa teaches it to the king he addresses as Mahārāja in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa (Chapters 112–113). The vratī gives up the brinjal for one year, six months or three months. He then fasts on Bharaṇī or Maghā nakshatra, worships Yamarāja under seven names, offers homa, and gives a golden brinjal with other gifts to a brāhmaṇa. The vrata gives the fruit of the Pauṇḍarīka yajña.

When it is kept

Śrī Kṛshṇa announces the rite of giving up vṛntāka, and the text itself explains the word in brackets as the brinjal (baigan). The vratī gives it up for one year, or six months, or three months, and then performs the udyāpana, the closing rite, on the nakshatra Bharaṇī or Maghā.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 112–113

The udyāpana

  1. With a saṅkalpa (a formal resolve), the vratī fasts on the nakshatra Bharaṇī or Maghā.
  2. He makes one sthaṇḍila, a prepared ground altar, and on it, with akshata and flowers, invokes Yamarāja and his attendants.
  3. With gandha, flowers, naivedya and the other upacāras (offerings) he worships under these seven separate names, in order: Yama, Kāla, Nīla, Citragupta, Vaivasvata, Mṛtyu, Parameshṭhī.
  4. He establishes the fire and offers homa of sesame and ghee, using these same names as mantras.
  5. He performs the svishṭakṛt homa and the prāyaścitta homa.
  6. He gives dāna to a brāhmaṇa with dakshiṇā: ornaments, clothes, an umbrella, shoes, a black blanket, a black bull, a black cow, and a vṛntāka made of gold.
  7. He feeds brāhmaṇas according to his means.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 112–113

The phala

The vratī gains the fruit of the Pauṇḍarīka yajña. For seven births he does not have to see Yama, and he dwells long in svarga (heaven), honoured.

The index of the Bhavishyottara at the close of the Uttara Parva names this rite as Vṛntāka Vidhi.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 112–113, 208

Sources

  • Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 112–113, 208