Dharaṇī Vrata

Dharaṇī Vrata, simply known as Dharani Vrata, Sanskrit: धरणी व्रत, Telugu: ధరణీ వ్రతం, Hindi: धरणी व्रत.

The Dharaṇī Vrata is a vow of Ekādaśī (the eleventh tithi) and Dvādaśī (the twelfth) to Bhagavān Vishṇu, also called Nārāyaṇa. The Varāha Mahā Purāṇa teaches it in Chapters 39 to 50. It takes its name from dharaṇī, the earth. Bhūdevī, the Earth, sank to Pātāla, the lower world (sutala), and she kept this vrata there. She fasted and worshipped Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa with a steady mind until he came as Bhagavān Vishṇu, whose banner is Garuḍa, and lifted her back to her place.

The name and its origin

The text says, in Chapter 50:

Because Bhūdevī herself kept this vrata while sunk in Pātāla, it won the high name “Dharaṇī Vrata”.

The ṛshi Durgāsa teaches this vrata in full to a hunter who is sorry for his past. He tells him:

Not just any great tapas is needed. A small effort brings you to the eternal Deva.

The Ekādaśī saṅkalpa

On the evening of Ekādaśī:

1. Make the saṅkalpa (vow):

Puṇḍarīkāksha! Acyuta! I will not eat on Ekādaśī. The next day I will eat. Be my refuge.

1. Sleep that night in the presence of the deva, saying Namo Nārāyaṇāya.

The vidhi on Dvādaśī morning (Ch. 39)

Taking sacred earth (mṛttikā-grahaṇa)

Early in the morning, at dawn, go to a river, a lake, a pond or the well of the house and take sacred earth with these mantras.

To Bhūdevī:

Devī! By your power all living beings are held up and fed. By that truth (satya), take away all my pāpa.

To Varuṇa:

O Varuṇa! All the rasa (essence) in you is eternal and always present. By that, make this earth pure.

With the earth, draw a circle (cakra) in the water, and bathe inside it.

In the shrine (devālaya)

After the bath, put on clean clothes and go to the shrine of the deva. Worship Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, the great yogī, with these mantras for the standard Dvādaśī form. Each is said with Namaḥ.

The four kumbhas

Set four sacred vessels (kalaśas or kumbhas) before the deva. They stand for the four oceans. Each vessel has:

• water inside;
• shoots of mango leaf at the mouth (the source calls this kaṇṭha amaraṃ śigurulu);
• a white cloth wrapped round it;
• a copper vessel over it, holding sesame and gold coins.

In the middle of the four vessels, place a clean platform covered with cloth. On it set a vessel of gold, silver, copper or wood, or even a leaf. Fill it with water. Inside it place a golden fish image (matsya pratimā) for Bhagavān Vishṇu, together with the Vedas and the Upanishads.

The night vigil

Worship the deva all night with flowers, fruits, many kinds of food, incense and garments.

The gifts on Dvādaśī morning

At sunrise on Dvādaśī:

• Give the eastern vessel to a Bahvṛca brāhmaṇa (of the Ṛgveda).
• Give the southern vessel to a Chāndoga brāhmaṇa (of the Sāmaveda).
• Give the western vessel to a Yajuḥśākhā brāhmaṇa (of the Yajurveda).
• Give the northern vessel to any brāhmaṇa one chooses.

While giving, say:

May the Ṛgveda be pleased by this eastern vessel. May the Sāmaveda be pleased by the southern. May the Yajurveda be pleased by the western. May the Atharvaveda be pleased by the northern.

The golden matsya image goes to the ācārya (teacher). Feed brāhmaṇas with good food and give generous dakshiṇā. Then eat in silence with the family.

The phala of the Dharaṇī Vrata

The text says, in Chapter 39:

If I had a thousand mouths and the lifespan of Brahmā, even then I could not fully tell the merit of this vrata.

Fruit in this life

• Saubhāgya (good fortune), wealth, grain, a good wife and children.
• The poor become rich.
• A woman who has no child gets a virtuous son.
• Lost kingdoms are won back.
• Past pāpa (sin), even that of brahmahatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa), is destroyed at once.

Equal to the Kṛtayuga

One single Dharaṇī Vrata Ekādaśī, kept rightly, is equal to:

• in the Kṛtayuga, 4 lakh 4 thousand 800 years of tapas;
• the merit of living in Brahmaloka for one full day of Brahmā, which is a kalpa.

Fruit after death

• After death, residence in Brahmaloka for one whole kalpa.
• After the dissolution of Brahmā, the keeper merges with Brahmā and is born again as a Vairāja deva in the next creation.
• All brahmahatyā and the other great pāpa are destroyed in an instant.

Who may be taught

• Do not teach this vrata to the faithless, to nāstikas (those who deny the Veda), or to those who hate the devas and brāhmaṇas.
• Do not teach it to one who has no guru-bhakti (devotion to the teacher).
• The text says: “One who receives this from a guru and then does not honour that guru, such a wretch suffers crores of births in naraka (hell).”
• It also says: “One who teaches it to a qualified person receives merit a crore times greater.”

The vrata and Bhūdevī

The text says plainly:

Bhūdevī herself, sunk in Pātāla, did this Dharaṇī vrata, and through it Bhagavān Vishṇu, whose banner is Garuḍa, lifted her back to her own place.

So the vrata is joined to the great act of restoring the earth, which is the main theme of the Varāha Purāṇa itself.

Sources

• Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 39–50 (the Dharaṇī Vrata; the naming of the vrata is in Chapter 50 and the phala in Chapter 39)