Aṅgāraka Vrata
Aṅgāraka Vrata, simply known as Angaraka Vrata, Sanskrit: अङ्गारक व्रत, Telugu: అంగారక వ్రతం, Hindi: अंगारक व्रत.
The Aṅgāraka Vrata is kept on a Caturthī (the fourth tithi) that falls on Maṅgalavāra (Tuesday). It is offered to Aṅgāraka, the graha Maṅgala (the planet Mars). The Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 72, gives it. It grants rūpa (beauty), saubhāgya (good fortune), ārogya (health), aiśvarya (lordship) and saptadvīpādhipatya (rule over the seven dvīpas, or continents).
The vrata comes from a talk between Virocana and Śukra, told by Pipalāda to Yudhishṭhira. The vrata ends with the dāna of a kapilā cow with gold horns and a gold Aṅgāraka pratimā set on grain. The phala is seventy thousand kalpas in Rudraloka.
Origin of Aṅgāraka
Parameśvara told the origin of Aṅgāraka to Brahmadeva, as part of the Virocana and Bhārgava itihāsa.
Bhagavān Śiva became furious when his yajña was destroyed. Sweat fell from his forehead in fierce drops. From those drops Vīrabhadra was born. He was terrifying, with many faces and eyes, blazing like fire, with ten thousand arms, thighs and weapons. He went down through the seven pātālas and scorched the seven oceans. Then Vīrabhadra came back to the earth and got ready to destroy the three worlds.
Bhagavān Śiva stopped him and said:
“Vīrabhadra! You have destroyed Daksha’s yajña. That is enough. Now give peace to the world and become one of the grahas. By my grace, people will worship you in their thousands. You were born from the sweat of my body that fell on the earth (aṅgāra means ember or spark), so you will be known as Aṅgāraka. Your second form will live in the divine worlds, as the planet Mars in the sky.”
At the word of Bhagavān Śiva, Vīrabhadra became calm. He could take any form (kāmarūpa), and he at once became the graha Maṅgala in the sky.
The talk of Virocana and Śukra
Pipalāda told this itihāsa to Yudhishṭhira at Naimishāraṇya.
Once Śukra Bhārgava saw Virocana, the son of Prahlāda. Virocana was a young asura of sixteen years, blazing with beauty and radiance. Śukra smiled and said, “Well done! Well done!” Virocana did not understand this praise that he had not asked for. He asked Śukra why he smiled.
Śukra answered: “I smiled in wonder at the power of a vrata. In an earlier birth you were a śūdra. You happened to see someone doing the Aṅgāraka Pūjā. Just by seeing that pūjā and the go-dāna (gift of a cow) that goes with it, you got this great beauty. You became famous as Virocana, ‘he of brilliant radiance’. This is the greatness of the vrata. Even seeing it gives rūpa and aiśvarya. What need is there to speak of doing it?”
Virocana was amazed. He asked to hear the whole vidhi. Śukra taught it to him, and Virocana kept the vrata exactly as taught. Pipalāda then urged Yudhishṭhira to keep it as well.
When it is kept
The vrata is kept on a Caturthī tithi that falls on Maṅgalavāra (Tuesday). Four or eight such Tuesday Caturthī days may be chosen for the vrata.
The preparations
- Wear a padmarāga (ruby).
- Face north.
- Recite the mantra “agnirmūrdhā divaḥ”. Śūdras recite it silently.
- Bathe with mṛttikā (sacred earth).
- Stay without luxury or show through the whole day.
The vidhi at dusk
- Smear the threshold with gomaya (cow dung).
- Draw an ashṭadala padma (eight-petalled lotus) with kuṅkuma or red candana.
- Place four clay karaka vessels on it. Fill them with red rice, padmarāga gems, bhakshya and bhojya foods (things to chew and things to eat), and various fruits with gandha (scent) and mālya (garlands).
- Offer all this as naivedya to Aṅgāraka.
The dāna
Prepare these:
- A kapilā cow with gold horns, silver hooves, a bronze milking vessel, a calf, and a fine decorated cloth over her. She must be of excellent character and good nature.
- A gold pratimā of Aṅgāraka, four-armed, tall and well formed, and also thumb-sized.
- A copper vessel (tāmra pātra) filled with grain. The pratimā is placed on it, with jaggery on top.
The whole offering is given to a qualified brāhmaṇa. He must be a Sāmavedī, master of his senses (jitendriya), fit to receive dāna, of good character and lineage, a householder, and without show. A bed is also given to him (śayyā-dāna).
The meaning of the arghya-dāna mantra is: “O Bhūmiputra (son of Earth)! O Mahābhāga! Born of the sweat of Śaṅkara! I have taken refuge in you for beauty (svarūpa). Accept this arghya.”
The fast
The devotee fasts through the day. At night he takes a meal without salt, spice or sour taste.
The phala
One who keeps four or eight Aṅgāraka Vratas on Tuesday Caturthī days enjoys these through all births:
- Rūpa, extraordinary beauty
- Saubhāgya
- Saptadvīpādhipatya, rule over the seven dvīpas, in this life
In the next life, after seventy thousand kalpas in Rudraloka, where he is worshipped by the devas, he reaches moksha. Even Virocana, lord of the daityas, who only saw the vrata, got matchless beauty and royal glory.
Sources
- Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 72