Malla Dvādaśī
Malla Dvādaśī · malla-dvādaśī, “the twelfth day of the mallas”
The Malla Dvādaśī is a vrata kept through a whole year, from the śukla dvādaśī of Mārgaśīrsha to the śukla dvādaśī of Kārtika, and offered to Śrī Kṛshṇa. Each month the keeper does pūjā under one of twelve names of Bhagavān Vishṇu, with gandha, pushpa, dhūpa, dīpa, song, instruments and dance. The Bhavishya Purāṇa gives it in Uttara Parva, Chapters 73–74, where Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa himself tells it to Yudhishṭhira.
Śrī Kṛshṇa tells that it began when he was eight years old. On the bank of the Yamunā, great mallas (wrestlers) and gopīs did his pūjā, three hundred and sixty mallas held a malla-yuddha, and a great utsava followed. Because the mallas began it, the vrata is called the Malla Dvādaśī. Śrī Kṛshṇa says that it is very dear to him, and that its keeper gains ārogya, strength, aiśvarya and the eternal Vishṇuloka.
How the vrata began
Yudhishṭhira asks about the Malla Dvādaśī, and Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa answers. When he was eight years old, he says, he was seated on a siṃhāsana under a vaṭa tree in Bhāṇḍaura-vana, on the bank of the Yamunā.
Great mallas and gopīs did his pūjā there with curd, milk, fruit and flowers. The mallas named are Surabhadra, Maṇḍalīka, Yogavardhana, Yakshendrabhadra and others. The gopīs named are Gopālī, Dhanyā, Viśākhā, Dhyānanishṭhikā, Anugandhā, Sudhagā and others.
Then three hundred and sixty mallas, doing his pūjā with bhakti, held a malla-yuddha. For Śrī Kṛshṇa’s delight they held a very great utsava, with many kinds of food, go-dāna, gatherings and pūjā, and brāhmaṇas too were honoured with śraddhā. From that day the Malla Dvādaśī came into practice.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 73–74
The rule
Begin on the Mārgaśīrsha śukla dvādaśī and continue to the Kārtika śukla dvādaśī. Each month, in order, do the pūjā under these twelve names, with gandha, pushpa, dhūpa, dīpa, song, instruments and dance:
Say the words kṛshṇo me prīyatām (may Kṛshṇa be pleased with me).
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 73–74
The phala
The gopas who performed this vrata received cows, buffaloes, farmland and the like in abundance. Whoever performs it will, by Śrī Kṛshṇa‘s anugraha, obtain ārogya, strength, aiśvarya and the eternal Vishṇuloka.
The list of vratas in Uttara Parva, Chapter 208, names the Malla Dvādaśī.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 73–74, 208
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 73–74, 208