Twelve Names of the Araṇya Dvādaśī
Araṇya Dvādaśī Dvādaśa Nāma, “the twelve names of the forest twelfth day”
The twelve names of the Araṇya Dvādaśī are the names of Bhagavān Vishṇu with which twelve brāhmaṇas are fed, one for each name, in the forest feasts of the Araṇya Dvādaśī vrata. Śrī Kṛshṇa gives them to Mahārāja Yudhishṭhira in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa.
The vrata
Śrī Kṛshṇa says that this is the vrata Sītā kept in the forest long ago at the command of Rāmacandra, satisfying the wives of the munis with many kinds of food. On the bright ekādaśī of Mārgaśīrsha the devotee bathes, worships Bhagavān Janārdana, fasts and keeps vigil at night. The next day he takes brāhmaṇas learned in the Veda to a grove, feeds them chiefly on fruit, and then eats after taking pañcagavya. He keeps the vrata so for a year. In Śrāvaṇa, Kārtika, Māgha and Caitra he seats forest-dwellers, munis and brāhmaṇas in a beautiful forest and feeds them with many cooked foods, fruits and perfumed drinks.
The twelve names
With these names, each with namaskāra, one brāhmaṇa is fed for each:
- Vāsudeva
- Janārdana
- Dāmodara
- Madhusūdana
- Padmanābha
- Vishṇu
- Govardhana
- Trivikrama
- Śrīdhara
- Hṛshīkeśa
- Puṇḍarīkāksha, the lotus-eyed
- Varāha
Each is given cloth and dakshiṇā, with the words vishṇur me prīyatām, “may Vishṇu be pleased with me”. Then the devotee eats with friends and kin.
The phala
One who keeps the Araṇya Dvādaśī so goes with his family in a divine vimāna and dwells in Śvetadvīpa, the abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu, until the pralaya, and then attains mukti. A woman who keeps it enjoys all the happiness of the world and by Bhagavān Vishṇu’s grace reaches the loka of her husband.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 66
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 66