Dhvajāropaṇa Vrata

A vrata is a sacred vow, usually kept on a set day with fasting, pūjā and other observances. Dhvajāropaṇa means “raising the flag”. The Dhvajāropaṇa Vrata is the yearly vow of raising a flag at the temple of Bhagavān Vishṇu. It is described in the Yāga Kāṇḍa (Sarga 7) of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa.

It is mainly performed on Caitra Śukla Pratipadā (the first day of the bright half of the month of Caitra) or on Rāma Navamī (Caitra Śukla Navamī). The vrata involves preparing a flag showing Garuḍa and Hanumān, making 108 homas (fire offerings) with pāyasa (sweet rice pudding) and ghee, keeping nine nights of vigil with kīrtana (devotional singing), and raising the consecrated flag at the Vishṇu temple on Ekādaśī (the eleventh day). The phalaśruti (statement of the fruits) calls it the greatest destroyer of all pāpa (wrongdoing), greater even than bathing in the Gaṅgā, serving Tulasī, or the pūjā of a Śivaliṅga. For every day the flag stays at the temple, the performer gains a thousand yugas near Hari (Vishṇu).

Occasion and Setting

During Bhagavān Rāma’s Aśvamedha Yāga (the great horse sacrifice), the kings who had gathered performed Dhvajāropaṇa in the yajña-maṇḍapa (the pavilion of the sacrifice) on Caitra Śukla Pratipadā. When Vishṇudāsa asked Rāmadāsa about this rite, Rāmadāsa described the full vidhi (ritual method). The rite is said to be meant for all kings (sarva-nṛpālu) who come to the yāga, and they should know this yearly vrata.

Proper Dates

The Dhvajāropaṇa Vrata for Vishṇu should be performed on one of these days:

  • Caitra Śukla Pratipadā (first tithi of the bright half of Caitra; a main date)
  • Caitra Śukla Navamī (Rāma Navamī; also a main date)
  • Caitra Śukla Daśamī
  • Āśvayuja Śukla Daśamī
  • Kārttika Śukla Pratipadā

A tithi is a day of the lunar calendar. Caitra is named as the essential month for this vrata. If it is missed in Caitra, it should be done on one of the other festival days listed. For Vishṇu, Dhvajāropaṇa must be performed only in Caitra, Kārttika or Āśvayuja, not in other months.

For other deities, the days given are:

  • Śiva temple: Māgha Kṛshṇa Caturdaśī (the fourteenth day of the dark half of Māgha), with Nandī and Bhṛṅgī shown on the flag
  • Pārvatī temple: Āśvayuja Śukla Ashṭamī, or in Caitra
  • Gaṇeśa temple: Bhādrapada Śukla Caturdaśī
  • Sūrya temple: Mārgaśīrsha Śukla Shashṭhī

Vidhi (Ritual Method)

The Preparatory Days (Pratipadā to Navamī)

  1. On Caitra Śukla Pratipadā, or the chosen starting day, rise at dawn, clean the teeth and bathe, finish the daily rites, and offer pūjā to Vishṇu.
  2. Have four brāhmaṇas recite the svastivācana (blessing for well-being), and then perform the nāndī-śrāddha (an offering to the ancestors made before an auspicious rite) for the vrata.
  3. Attach the Gāyatrī mantra to the flag-pole by wrapping it in a consecrated cloth.
  4. Paint Garuḍa (Vainateya) and Hanumān on the flag.
  5. Offer pūjā to Sūrya, Candra, Māruti (Hanumān) and Garuḍa.
  6. Install Sūrya and Brahmā in two separate pots, and offer pūjā with turmeric, dūrvā grass and white flowers.
  7. Prepare a piece of ground the size of a cow-hide, and clean and consecrate it for the sacred fire.
  8. Bring fire from one’s home, place it on the consecrated ground, and make 108 homas with pāyasa and ghee, in this order:
    • First, pūjā with the mantras of the Purusha Sūkta
    • Then 8 āhutis (offerings) with “Vainateyāya svāhā”
    • Then 8 āhutis with “Mārute svāhā”
    • Then the Candra-dhenu homa
    • Then the saura (solar) mantras
    • Finally, recitation of the Śānti Sūktas with devotion
  9. Spend the night awake near Hari, singing kīrtanas with purity of body and mind.
  10. Repeat this pūjā, vigil and kīrtana for nine nights.

The Flag During the Preparatory Days

During the preparatory period, from Pratipadā to Daśamī, pūjā is offered to the flag every day at the performer’s home before it is taken to the temple.

On the Day of Raising the Flag (Ekādaśī)

  1. Rise at dawn, bathe and finish the daily rites.
  2. Offer pūjā to all the devas as before, with gandha (sandal paste), pushpa (flowers) and akshata (unbroken rice).
  3. With auspicious music, place the flag on a white seat and carry it in procession to the Vishṇu temple, with recitation of stotras (hymns of praise) and kīrtanas.
  4. Set the flag firmly and beautifully at the temple entrance or inside the temple.
  5. Offer pūjā to Hari at the temple with gandha, pushpa and akshata, dhūpa (incense), dīpa (lamp), and naivedya (food offering) of many kinds of dishes.
  6. Raise the flag to the top of the temple or of the flag-pole (dhvaja-stambha).
  7. If it is not done on Ekādaśī, it may be done on Dvādaśī (the twelfth day). It is also valid on Navamī, or on the 2nd, 4th, 6th or 8th tithi.

After Raising the Flag

After the flag is raised:

  • Perform pūjā of the brāhmaṇas
  • Honour the ācārya (the teacher who guides the rite) with dakshiṇā (a gift) and ācchādana (clothes)
  • Feed the brāhmaṇas with devotion
  • Spend time in satsaṅga (good company) with family, friends and relatives, speaking the truth, devoted to Nārāyaṇa, and performing the pārvaṇa rites

The Stotra at the Temple

After the flag has been installed, this stotra is to be recited to Vishṇu:

Namaste puṇḍarīkāksha! namaste viśvabhāvana! namaste’stu hṛshīkeśa mahā-purusha pūrvaja! Yenedamukhyaṃ jñātaṃ yasmin sarvaṃ pratishṭhitam, layameshyati yatraitaṃ taṃ prasanno’smi mādhavam. Na jānanti paraṃ daivaṃ sarve brahmādayaḥ surāḥ, dhyāyanti yogino yaṃ vai taṃ vedajñāna-rūpiṇam. Antarikshaṃ tu yannābhiḥ dyaurmūrdhā yasya caiva hi, pādād-abhūc-ca vai pṛthvī taṃ vedaṃ viśva-rūpiṇam. Yasya śrotre diśaḥ sarvā yac-cakshur-dina-kṛc-charī, ṛk-sāma-yajusho yena taṃ vande brahma-rūpiṇam. Yasmāt brāhmaṇā jātā yadbhāho’bhavan-nṛpāḥ, vaiśyā yassorutojātāḥ padbhyāṃ śūdras-tv-ajāyata. Manaś-candramā jāto dineśaś-cakshushas-tathā, prāṇebhyaḥ pavano jāto makhādagnir-ajāyata, pāpa-sandāha-mātraṃ vadanti pūrushaṃ tu yam.

Whoever recites this fine stotra every day is freed from all pāpa and reaches Vishṇu-loka, the world of Vishṇu.

Phalaśruti (The Fruits of the Vrata)

The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa promises remarkable fruits for this vrata:

  • As long as the cloth of the raised flag waves in the wind, all the performer’s pāpa is destroyed, without doubt.
  • Even a mahāpātakī (one guilty of the gravest wrongs) or a sarva-pātakī (one guilty of every wrong) who performs Dhvajāropaṇa at a Vishṇu temple is freed from all pāpa completely.
  • For every day the raised flag stays at Hari’s temple, the performer will spend a thousand yugas near Hari.
  • A person of dharma who simply sees the raised flag and bows to it is at once freed from a crore (ten million) upakilbishas (lesser wrongs).
  • If rain or dew wets the flag-cloth at Hari’s temple for even half a nimisha (half a blink of the eye), all the performer’s pāpa is washed away.

The text then makes a striking comparison: bathing in the Gaṅgā, serving Tulasī and the pūjā of a Śivaliṅga are not equal to Dhvajāropaṇa. This places the vrata among the most powerful of all purifying acts.

Śrī Rāma’s Own Practice

The text records that Śrī Rāma had himself performed Dhvajāropaṇa for Śiva earlier, on Māgha Kṛshṇa Caturdaśī, before the Aśvamedha. During the yāga, all the kings performed Dhvajāropaṇa on Caitra Śukla Pratipadā, recognising Rāma himself as Mahāvishṇu present in the yajña. The flag-poles they set up were so tall and so many that the whole sky was covered with flags.

Sources

  • Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Yāga Kāṇḍa (Book 3), Sarga (Chapter) 7