Aśūnyaśayana Vrata (Vāmana Purāṇa)
Aśūnyaśayana Vrata · aśūnya-śayana vrata, “the vow of the bed never empty”
The Aśūnyaśayana Vrata, the vrata (sacred vow) of the bed never empty, is a vrata to Bhagavān Vishṇu together with Mahālakshmī, as Lakshmī-Nārāyaṇa. In the Vāmana Purāṇa it is kept on the Aśūnyaśayana Dvitīyā, the second tithi of Śrāvaṇa, on which Prajāpati Viśvakarmā sleeps, and is carried on as the cāturmāsya vrata until Sūrya enters Vṛścika rāśi. Its prayer asks that, as Bhagavān Vishṇu is never apart from Lakshmī even for a moment, the vratī’s bed too may never be empty and his household life never be lost. Pulastya Maharshi teaches it to Nārada in Chapter 17 as “the first vrata”, and says that one who keeps it never in life suffers separation from anyone.
When it is kept
Nārada asked Pulastya Maharshi which vratas and ārādhanas (acts of pūjā) Candra had performed to make Śiva and Keśava gracious. Pulastya answered: “Listen to the meritorious vratas, spoken of by the kāmukas (those who seek their desires), for pleasing Śarva and Keśava.” He told first how Bhagavān Vishṇu sleeps on Śesha from the Āshāḍha śukla ekādaśī, and how in Śrāvaṇa the devas sleep one by one, tithi by tithi. “Nārada! The day on which Prajāpati Viśvakarmā sleeps is called the holy Aśūnyaśayana Dvitīyā.”
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 17
The vidhi
- On that day place on a bed the four-armed Mahāvishṇu, who bears the Śrīvatsa mark, together with Mahālakshmī. Worship him with fragrances (gandha), flowers and the rest, and lay fragrant fruits on that bed.
- Offering them, pray to Madhusūdana in the words given below.
- Having prayed, bow again and again, and having made Śriyaḥpati (the husband of Śrī) gracious, eat on that day only at night, food without oil and salt.
- The next day give a fruit to an excellent brāhmaṇa, with dakshiṇā (gift) according to one’s means, making the saṅkalpa (resolve): “May Lakshmīnātha be pleased!”
- In this way keep the cāturmāsya vrata until Sūrya enters Vṛścika rāśi. Then the devatās wake from sleep one by one.
- Then, on the dvitīyā, give away the image (vigraha) of Lakshmī-Nārāyaṇa together with its bed and bedding, in a manner fitting one’s wealth.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 17
The prayer to Madhusūdana
“O Trivikrama! Ananta! Jagannivāsa! Just as you remain with Lakshmī, never leaving her even for a moment, so by your grace may our beds too never be empty even for a moment! May we too be aśūnya-śayanas, those whose beds are never empty! O Acyuta! Varada! As your bed, with Lakshmī, is never empty, so, O Amitavīrya, Vishṇu, may there never be any loss of our household life at any time!”
The names of Bhagavān Vishṇu in the prayer, in order, are Trivikrama; Ananta; Jagannivāsa, the abode of the world; Acyuta, the never-falling; Varada, the giver of varas; Amitavīrya, of boundless valour; and Vishṇu.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 17
The phala
“Thus I have told you the first vrata,” Pulastya Maharshi said. “One who performs it never in life suffers separation from anyone.”
The Purāṇa also tells of those who had kept it. When the city of the rākshasa king Sukeśī, by the light of the dharma its people kept, shone so brightly that night could not be told from day, people talked of the cause of the brightness. Some said: “We worshipped Mahāvishṇu with great bhakti and śraddhā, with fine flowers, fragrances and the like. We worshipped that Lakshmī-Nārāyaṇa for four months, beginning with the month of Śrāvaṇa in which falls the Aśūnyaśayana Dvitīyā, which grants every desire. Pleased with this, Śriyaḥpati has granted us the supreme happiness of a bed never empty, full of great enjoyments and always resplendent.”
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 16–17
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 16–17