Dvādaśī
Dvādaśī · dvādaśī, “the twelfth (lunar day)”
Kāma has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kāma. Pāpa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Pāpa. Śravaṇa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Śravaṇa. Caitra has other meanings too: see all meanings of Caitra. Saṅkalpa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Saṅkalpa. Bhīma has other meanings too: see all meanings of Bhīma. Jaya has other meanings too: see all meanings of Jaya. Viśvarūpa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Viśvarūpa. Dilīpa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Dilīpa.
Grammar: feminine noun, from dvādaśa (twelve): “the twelfth”, that is, the twelfth tithi (lunar day).
Meaning: the twelfth tithi of the bright and of the dark paksha (fortnight), the day after Ekādaśī. It is a parva day, sacred to Bhagavān Vishṇu.
In the scriptures: in the Brahma Purāṇa, Vyāsa teaches the munis that when Sūrya is in Kanyā rāśi the days are the best for śrāddha, the rite for the pitṛs, and gives the fruit of śrāddha on each tithi. Śrāddha on ekādaśī makes one rich in all the Vedas; śrāddha on dvādaśī brings victory; śrāddha on trayodaśī brings increase of progeny, cattle, intelligence, independence, nourishment, long life and prosperity (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 220).
Telling the munis the fruit of keeping the night vigil and singing the glory of Bhagavān Vishṇu, Vyāsa tells of a cāṇḍāla of Avantī, skilled in singing and devoted to Bhagavān Vishṇu. Every month, firm in his vrata, he fasted on Ekādaśī, kept awake through the night and sang songs of the avatāras of Bhagavān Vishṇu. In the morning, on the Dvādaśī tithi, he bowed to Bhagavān Vishṇu, came home, fed his daughters, his sons-in-law, his sisters’ sons and his household, and only then ate himself (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 228).
In the phalaśruti at the close of the Purāṇa, those who, being pure, have the Brahma Purāṇa recited by brāhmaṇas or recite it to others on parva days such as ekādaśī and dvādaśī go to Vishṇuloka (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 246).
Related terms: Tithi · Ekādaśī · Trayodaśī · Paksha · Śrāddha · Prajāgara
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 220, 228, 246