Prakīrṇa Vratas
Prakīrṇa Vrata · pra-kīrṇa vrata, “the vratas of many kinds”
Kanyā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kanyā. Kumbha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kumbha. Makara has other meanings too: see all meanings of Makara. Mesha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Mesha. Mīna has other meanings too: see all meanings of Mīna. Mithuna has other meanings too: see all meanings of Mithuna. Siṃha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Siṃha. Tulā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Tulā. Vṛshabha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Vṛshabha. Vṛścika has other meanings too: see all meanings of Vṛścika.
The Prakīrṇa Vratas are the many short vratas (sacred vows) that Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa teaches in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Chapter 121. Prakīrṇa means scattered, of many kinds, and the chapter carries that name. Śrī Kṛshṇa opens it with the words: “Mahārāja! Now I describe the various most secret prakīrṇa vratas.” There is no narrative in the chapter. It is one long teaching, and each vrata is given in a few sentences: when it is kept, what the vratī (the one who keeps the vrata) gives up or does, what is given to a brāhmaṇa, and the phala (the fruit) it brings.
The vratas are as varied as their name. Some are kept for a day, some for a month, a year or more. Some are kept by a woman for her saubhāgya (good fortune). Some turn on a single rite, such as the Kāntāra Vrata, where the gift is made standing in water up to the neck; others on a full order of steps, such as the Brahmakūrca Vrata with its pañcagavya from five cows, and the Saptasundaraka Vrata with its seven suvāsinīs (auspicious married women). They bring the vratī to Vishṇuloka, Śivaloka, Rudraloka, Sūryaloka, Gaurīloka and the other lokas, and at the end Śrī Kṛshṇa declares that even hearing or reading their method destroys pāpa (sin).
Some terms return through the list. Nakta is a single meal taken at night. Ekabhukta is one meal a day. Ayācita is living on what comes unasked. Dakshiṇā is the gift given to the brāhmaṇa.
The vratas below stand in the order of the chapter. Its other vratas are named at the end.
The vratas
Pātra Vrata
Bathe at dawn and offer pūjā to the aśvattha tree. Give brāhmaṇas a vessel filled with sesame. Phala: the vratī has no grief over anything done or left undone. This vrata removes all pāpas.
Vācaspati Vrata
Make a golden mūrti of Bṛhaspati and adorn it with yellow cloth and the like. On a puṇya (holy) day, give it to a brāhmaṇa. Phala: it gives strength (bala) and intellect (buddhi).
Śilā Vrata
Remaining on one meal a day, give to seven brāhmaṇas with families things made with salt, pungent things, bitter things, cumin, black pepper, asafoetida and dry ginger, and śilājīt: these seven substances. Phala: the vratī attains Lakshmīloka and skill in speech (vākpaṭutā).
Śivakeśava Vrata
Keeping nakta, give a gṛhastha (householder) brāhmaṇa a cow, cloth, and a Sudarśana cakra and a triśūla of gold. Bow to him and say:
शिवकेशवौ प्रीयेताम्
śivakeśavau prīyetām
May Śiva and Keśava be pleased.
Phala: it destroys even the mahāpātakas (the greatest pāpas).
Rudra Vrata (first)
Keep one meal a day for a year. Give a brāhmaṇa a golden bull and a tiladhenu (a cow of sesame) with its accessories. This is the first of three vratas of this name in the chapter. Phala: it removes every kind of pāpa and grief, and brings the vratī to Śivaloka.
Gṛha Vrata
On pañcamī, bathe in water mixed with all the oshadhis (healing herbs). Give a gṛhastha brāhmaṇa the household articles (upaskara), among them a mortar. Atri Muni taught this vrata to Anasūyā. Phala: all comforts (sukha) are obtained.
Nīla Vrata
With śraddhā (faith), give a gṛhastha brāhmaṇa a golden lotus and a blue lotus together with a vessel of sugar. Phala: whoever does it attains Vishṇuloka.
Gaurī Vrata
Through the month of Caitra, give up curd, milk, ghee, and things made with guḍa (jaggery), khāṇḍ (raw sugar) and sugarcane. Afterwards offer pūjā to two brāhmaṇas. Give curd, milk, two cloths, vessels filled with rasa and the like to the brāhmaṇa, saying:
गौरी मे प्रीयताम्
gaurī me prīyatām
May Gaurī be pleased with me.
Phala: the vratī attains Gaurīloka. See also no. 4 of the Shashṭi Vratas.
Pañca Vrata
After keeping ekabhukta on pūrṇimā, make a mūrti of Pūrṇimā from sandal and offer pūjā to it. Then give five brāhmaṇas five pots filled with the five things: milk, curd, ghee, honey and white sugar. Phala: all wishes are fulfilled.
Lakshmī Vrata
Fast on pañcamī for a year. Then give a brāhmaṇa a golden lotus and an excellent cow. Phala: it gives radiance (kānti) and saubhāgya. The vratī has Lakshmī birth after birth, and at the end Vishṇuloka.
Dhārā Vrata
A woman, beginning in Caitra, drinks water by rule (in the morning) for a year, and offers a stream of water (for Bhagavān Sūrya). At the end of the year she gives a new kalaśa (pot) filled with ghee. Phala: she obtains saubhāgya. The vrata destroys all diseases, gives saubhāgya and destroys the pride of a co-wife.
Deva Vrata
Install by the proper rite the mūrtis of Bhagavān Rudra with Devī Gaurī, Bhagavān Vishṇu with Devī Lakshmī and Bhagavān Sūrya with Rājñī, and offer them pūjā. Give the mūrti to a brāhmaṇa with a cow bearing a bell, a milking vessel and dakshiṇā. Phala: the body becomes divine.
Śukla Vrata
Every day for a year, anoint the Śivaliṅga and the mūrti of Bhagavān Vishṇu with white sandal, white flowers and the like. Then give a brāhmaṇa a beautiful cow with a pot full of water. Phala: this vrata is very auspicious, and the doer attains Śivaloka.
Patra Vrata
A woman gives up tāmbūla (betel leaf) for a year. At the end she makes three tāmbūlas of gold, with a pearl in place of lime, together with areca powder. She offers them to Bhagavān Gaṇeśa and gives them to a brāhmaṇa. Phala: she never meets misfortune, and she has excellent fragrance in the mouth and saubhāgya.
Dīpa Vrata
Offer a lamp every day at sandhyā (dusk) for a fixed period. Take no forbidden food and no oil. When the vrata is complete, give a brāhmaṇa a lamp, a golden cakra, a golden triśūla and two cloths. Phala: the vratī becomes greatly radiant. This vrata gives kānti. See also no. 22 of the Shashṭi Vratas.
Saptasundaraka Vrata
This vrata is kept by a woman for seven days and an eighth. Keeping ekabhukta for a week, she offers pūjā to Bhagavatī Gaurī with gandha (fragrant paste), flowers, red sandal and the like. On each day in order she honours one suvāsinī under one of seven names: Kumudā, Mādhavī, Gaurī, Bhavānī, Pārvatī, Umā and Kālī. She honours her with flowers, sandal, kuṅkuma, tāmbūla, coconut and ornaments, and dismisses her with the sentence in that day’s name:
कुमुदा प्रीयताम्
kumudā prīyatām
May Kumudā be pleased.
On the eighth day she invites the same suvāsinīs and satisfies them with food of the six tastes. She gives them cloths, garlands, ornaments, mirrors and the like, and she also offers pūjā to one brāhmaṇa. Phala: she obtains a beautiful body and saubhāgya.
Kalpa Vrata
Live on milk for three days. Make a kalpavṛksha (wish-giving tree) of more than one pala of gold, set it on a heap of rice, and cover it with fine cloth and garlands. Give it to a brāhmaṇa with a cow and her calf, and gold. Phala: the vratī gets a dwelling in svarga (heaven) for a whole kalpa. See also no. 28 of the Shashṭi Vratas.
Dvāra Vrata
Keeping ayācita, give a brāhmaṇa an excellent heifer adorned with all ornaments, at vyatīpāta, at an eclipse or at an ayana-saṅkrānti. Phala: the vratī has no hardship in going to the other world, and his road is pleasant.
Vaiśvānara Vrata
Give fuel in the seasons of Hemanta and Śiśira. At the end, give a brāhmaṇa ghee and a cow. Phala: the vratī attains health, lustre (dyuti), radiance (kānti) and Brahmapada. This vrata destroys all pāpas.
Devī Vrata
For a year, live on milk on pañcamī. At the end, give a brāhmaṇa two cows. Phala: the vratī lives in Lakshmīloka for one kalpa. See also no. 37 of the Shashṭi Vratas.
Bhānu Vrata
For a year, keep nakta on saptamī. At the end, give a milch cow to a brāhmaṇa. Phala: the vratī attains Sūryaloka. See also no. 38 of the Shashṭi Vratas.
Vināyaka Vrata
For a year, eat at night on caturthī. At the end, give eight cows to an agnihotrī brāhmaṇa. Phala: all kinds of obstacles (vighna) are removed.
Govinda Vrata
Fast on twelve dvādaśīs. At the end, give brāhmaṇas twelve pots full of water, with cloths, according to ability. Phala: all the vratī’s undertakings succeed, and this vrata brings him to the pada (abode) of Bhagavān Govinda.
Brahmakūrca Vrata
Fast on Kārtika śukla caturdaśī. At night drink pañcagavya, taken from five cows: the urine of a kapilā (tawny) cow, the dung of a black cow, the milk of a white cow, the curd of a red cow and the ghee of a dappled cow. Mix these with kuśa water, with mantras, and consume it. Next day, bathe at dawn and offer tarpaṇa and the rest to the devatās and pitṛs. Feed a brāhmaṇa, and then eat in silence. Phala: all pāpas done in childhood, youth and old age are destroyed.
Sumukha Vrata
For a year, give up tāmbūla and the other mukhavāsa (mouth-fresheners). At the end, give a cow to a brāhmaṇa. Phala: the vratī attains Kuberaloka.
Rudra Vrata (second)
On the ashṭamī and caturdaśī of Jyeshṭha, practise pañcāgni-sevana, sitting among the five fires. Give a brāhmaṇa a cow with gold. Phala: the vratī attains Rudraloka.
Dhāma Vrata
Fast for three nights. On Phālguna pūrṇimā, give a house. Phala: the vratī attains Sūryaloka.
Indu Vrata
Fast on pūrṇamāsī. At the three sandhyās, offer pūjā to a brāhmaṇa with his wife, giving cloths, ornaments, food and the like. Phala: by its power the vratī attains moksha (liberation).
Saukhya Vrata
On the ekādaśī, caturdaśī and ashṭamī of Māgha, keep ekabhukta and give things that ward off cold: cloth, shoes, blanket, hide and the like. On these same tithis in the hot month, give things that ward off heat: an umbrella, a fan and the like. Phala: the vratī obtains the fruit of an aśvamedha yajña.
Dhānya Vrata
On śukla saptamī, keep nakta and offer pūjā to Sūryanārāyaṇa. Give a brāhmaṇa saptadhānya (the seven grains) and salt. Phala: the vratī uplifts seven generations of his kula (family line).
Bhīma Vrata
Fast for one month. Give a cow to a brāhmaṇa. Phala: the vratī attains Vishṇuloka. See also no. 29 of the Shashṭi Vratas.
Rudra Vrata (third)
Beginning in Kārtika, on the tṛtīyā of each month, consume at night lapasī (gruel) cooked in cow’s urine. Phala: this is a greatly auspicious vrata. The vratī lives one kalpa in Gaurīloka and then becomes a king on earth.
Kanyādāna Vrata
A man gives a kanyā (maiden) in dāna, or causes her to be given. Phala: he reaches Brahmaloka with twenty-one of his kulas. No dāna is higher than kanyādāna, and by it undecaying svarga is obtained.
Kāntāra Vrata
Make an elephant of sesame paste. Adorn it with two red cloths, an aṅkuśa (goad), a cāmara (fly-whisk), a garland and the like, and set it in a copper vessel. Offer pūjā to a brāhmaṇa with his wife, with cloths, ornaments and the like. Then, standing in water up to the neck, give them the elephant. Phala: freedom from all dangers of forests and the like, and from pāpas.
Purandara Vrata (Indra Vrata)
When Jyeshṭhā nakshatra comes, perform the vrata, pūjā and havana of Indra with the mantras beginning:
त्रातारमिन्द्रमवितारमिन्द्रम्
trātāram indram avitāram indram
Phala: those who do this live in Indraloka until pralaya.
A vrata without a name
The text gives this rite no name. On pañcamī, live on milk, and give a brāhmaṇa a golden mūrti of a nāga. Phala: the vratī never has fear of serpents.
Rājñī Vrata
On the day of Uttarāyaṇa, bathe Sūryanārāyaṇa with one ser of ghee. Give an excellent mare to a brāhmaṇa. Phala: the vratī obtains the desired fruit, and at the end lives in Sūryaloka with son, brother, wife and others.
Yoga Vrata
Keep nakta on the twenty-seven yogas beginning with Vishkumbha, and on them give these things to a brāhmaṇa, in order, one for each yoga:
- Ghee
- Oil
- Fruit
- Sugarcane
- Barley
- Wheat
- Gram
- Beans
- Śāli rice
- Salt
- Curd
- Milk
- Cloth
- Gold
- Blanket
- Cow
- Bull
- Umbrella
- Shoes
- Camphor
- Kuṅkuma
- Sandal
- Flowers
- Iron
- Copper
- Bronze
- Silver
Phala: the doer is freed from all pāpas and is never separated from what he holds dear.
Rāśi Vrata
On the twelve pūrṇimās from Kārtika pūrṇimā to Āśvina pūrṇimā, take in order golden mūrtis of the twelve rāśis: Mesha, Vṛsha, Mithuna, Karka, Siṃha, Kanyā, Tulā, Vṛścika, Dhanu, Makara, Kumbha and Mīna. Adorn each with cloths, garlands and the like, offer it pūjā, and give it to a brāhmaṇa with dakshiṇā. Phala: all troubles are stilled, all hopes fulfilled, and the vratī attains Somaloka.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 121
The other vratas of the chapter
The same chapter also teaches the Prīti, Kāma, Śiva, Saugandhya, Saubhāgya, Kīrti, Sāma, Vīra, Pitṛ, Vāri, Vṛtti, Ahiṃsā, Sūrya, Vaishṇava, Śīla, Varuṇa, Kānti, Brahma, Sugati, Vishṇu, Phala, Saura, Vṛsha, Prājāpatya, Tryambaka, Ṛshi, Candra, Bhavānī, Tāpana, Soma, Āgneya, Viśva, Mahī, Umā and Prāpti Vratas. Their rites are told in full with the Shashṭi Vratas. Its Sārasvata Vrata is told with the other accounts of the Sārasvata Vrata.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 121
The phala of hearing them
The chapter closes with these words of Śrī Kṛshṇa: “Mahārāja! I have told you these various vratas. By merely hearing or reading the method of these vratas, pātakas, mahāpātakas and upapātakas are destroyed. Whoever keeps these vratas with bhakti will find nothing hard to obtain: wealth, happiness, children, svarga or anything else.”
The index of the Uttara Parva, in Chapter 208, names the Pañcāśīti Vrata at this place in its order, after the arghya vratas and before Māgha Snāna. At its close it says of all the vratas and rites of the Parva that they are deva-kāryas (works for the devas), and that those who seek their own welfare must perform these works of dharma according to their means.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 121, 208
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 121, 208