Upavāsa Vidhi
Upavāsa Vidhi, simply known as Upavasa Vidhi, Sanskrit: उपवास विधि, Telugu: ఉపవాస విధి, Hindi: उपवास विधि.
The upavāsa vidhi is a graduated system of fasting that the ṛshi Aṅgiras once taught to Bhīshma. Bhīshma passed it on to Yudhishṭhira in two chapters of the Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābhārata (Chapters 106 and 107). It is for every varṇa, and especially for the poor, who cannot afford the great yajñas but can still gain the same fruit by fasting.
The teaching has two parts. The first is a calendar of single-meal fasting (ekabhukta) on named tithis and through the months of the year. The second is a scale of fasts, from eating once a day up to eating once every twenty-nine days. Each step of the scale is matched with a named yajña, a number of years in svarga (heaven) and a particular vimāna (a heavenly chariot).
The question of Yudhishṭhira
Yudhishṭhira notes that even mlecchas and people of every varṇa seem to feel a buddhi (inclination) towards upavāsa, and he asks the reason. He says that brāhmaṇas and kshatriyas are said to keep the greater number of niyamas (vows of discipline). So what place does upavāsa have for the other varṇas? Are niyama and upavāsa meant for everyone?
He then asks:
- What gati (destiny) does a person of great śraddhā in upavāsa reach?
- What phala does a man gain by keeping upavāsa?
- How does the one who fasts (the upavāsin) escape adharma, gain dharma, and win svarga and puṇya?
- What should the upavāsin give, and by what dharma does he gain sukha (happiness)?
Bhīshma answers that he once put this same question to the ṛshi Aṅgiras, rich in tapas (austerity) and born of Agni. Aṅgiras then taught him this puṇya vidhi of upavāsa. This is in Chapter 106.
Limits for each varṇa
Aṅgiras first lays down who may fast and for how long.
- Brāhmaṇas and kshatriyas are told to fast up to three nights.
- All varṇas may fast for six days or for a single day.
- Vaiśyas and śūdras gain no fruit from a fast of three days. Only a two-day fast is allowed for them. The experts in dharma-śāstra did not allow the three-day fast for these two varṇas.
The months and tithis
Chapter 106 gives these results for ekabhukta (eating one meal in the day).
- On pañcamī, shashṭhī or pūrṇimā, with mind and senses controlled, it gives forbearance, beauty and great learning. If it is kept with worship of the devas and the feeding of brāhmaṇas, it also gives sons and freedom from poverty.
- On Ashṭamī and Caturdaśī of the kṛshṇa-paksha (the dark fortnight), it gives freedom from disease and strength.
- Through the whole month of Mārgaśīrsha, with brāhmaṇas fed as far as one is able, it frees one from disease and pāpa (sin). It gives all auspiciousness and plenty of grain (oshadhis).
- Through Pushya, it gives beauty, a pleasing form and kīrti (fame).
- Through Māgha, kept with nishṭhā (steady devotion), it gives greatness among one’s kinsmen in a wealthy family.
- Through Phālguna, it makes one dear to women.
- Through Caitra, it gives birth in a great family known for gold, gems and pearls.
- Through Vaiśākha, with the senses controlled, it gives the first place among one’s own people, for a man or a woman alike.
- Through Jyeshṭha, it gives prosperity that no one can match.
- Through Āshāḍha, kept without tiring, it gives plenty of wealth, grain and children.
- Through Śrāvaṇa, together with abhisheka of Bhagavān Śiva wherever it can be done, it lets one raise up one’s kinsmen.
- Through Bhādrapada, it gives plenty of cattle that stay and thrive.
- Through Āśvayuja, it gives a shining body, many vehicles and many sons.
- Through Kārtika, it gives heroism, many wives and kīrti.
- On the second paksha of every month, it gives cattle, sons and many wives.
- Three-day ekabhukta every month, kept for twelve years, gives gaṇādhipatya (the chieftainship of a troop) that has no equal and no fault.
All these disciplines together are to be practised for ten years, and for two more years according to one’s vṛtti (means of living).
The scale of fasts and their fruit
The rest of Chapters 106 and 107 gives a rising scale. One eats only once in a fixed number of days, usually for twelve months. Each step is matched with the fruit of a named yajña, a span of years in svarga and a vimāna with its own description.
| Regimen (eating once every N days, for the stated time) | Fruit of the yajña | Vimāna | Years in svarga |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morning and evening only, no water between, 6 years | — | Gold-coloured vimāna (putame-baṅgāru-varṇa) | 1,000 years in Prajāpati-loka / Brahmaloka |
| One full year, ekabhukta | Atirātra yajña | — | 10,000 years |
| One year, fasting at the 4th meal (alternating) | Vājapeya yajña | — | — |
| One year, eating at every 6th meal | — | Vimāna drawn by cakravākas | 24,000 years |
| One year, at the 8th meal | Gavāmaya yajña | Vimāna drawn by haṃsas or bhāraḍvājas (cranes) | 50,000 years |
| One year, alternating pakshas | — | — | 60,000 years, woken by the music of the vīṇā and mṛdaṅga |
| One year, with one water-only month in the year | Viśvajit yāga | Vimāna drawn by lions and tigers | 70,000 years |
| Three years, ekabhukta, devoted only to one’s dharma-patnī (wife) | Fruit of the Agnishṭoma | Vimāna shaped like a swan, the colour of a white cloud | 2 padma years, with apsarasas |
| 12 months, eating every 2nd day, devoted to the agnihotra | Agnishṭoma yāga | Vimāna drawn by haṃsas or krauñcas | With the finest women of Indraloka |
| 12 months, eating every 3rd day | Atirātra yajña (in its finest form) | Vimāna of peacocks and haṃsas | 3 padma years among the Saptarshis |
| 12 months, eating every 4th day | Vājapeya yajña (finest) | Vimāna ridden by Indra’s own daughters | At world’s end in Indraloka |
| 12 months, eating every 5th day | Dvādaśāha yajña | White vimāna marked with haṃsas and garlanded with suns | 16 + 35 padma years |
| 12 months, eating every 6th day, keeping mauna (silence) | Gomedha yajña | Vimāna the colour of fire-flame, with haṃsas and peacocks | Thousands of crores of years, cradled in the laps of apsarasas |
| 12 months, ekabhukta on the 7th day, silent, celibate, avoiding flowers, unguents, wine and meat | Bahusuvarṇa yajña | — | Many times the earlier count, in the lokas of the Maruts and Indra |
| 1 year, eating on the 8th day | Pauṇḍarīka yāga (finest) | Vimāna the colour of a lotus | With women of every varṇa and beauty |
| 1 year, eating by day on every 9th day | 1,000 Aśvamedhas | White-lotus vimāna | 18,000 years, a kalpa and lakhs of crores of years, escorted by the daughters of Rudra |
| 1 year, eating every 10th day | 1,000 Aśvamedhas (finest) | Vimāna with pillars and four gates, seven storeys and a thousand banners | Escorted by the daughters of Brahmā |
| 1 year, eating every 11th day | Fruit of the Soma yajña | — | 100 padma + 14 mahākalpa years, with the daughters of Soma |
| 1 year, eating every 12th day | Reaches the lokas of Varuṇa, Indra, Rudra, the Maruts and Śukra, then Brahmaloka | — | As long as the sun and moon move in the sky, living on amṛta alone |
| 1 year, eating every 13th day | Fruit of the devasattra | Gold-built jewel vimāna, the rakta-padmodaya | Until the end of the yuga or kalpa |
| 1 year, eating every 14th day | Fruit of the mahāmedha | — | One full year with the divine women of that world |
| 1 year, eating every 15th day | 1,000 Rājasūyas | Vimāna with pillars and four gates, seven storeys and a thousand banners, with khaḍgamṛga and elephant mounts | 1,000 yugas |
| 1 year, eating every 16th day | Fruit of the Soma yajña | — | 100 padma + 14 mahākalpas, with the Soma-kanyās |
| 1 year, eating every 17th day | Reaches the lokas of Varuṇa, Indra, Rudra, the Maruts and Śukra, then Brahmaloka, and sees Viśvarūpa with his 32 forms | — | As long as the sun and moon last |
| 1 year, eating every 18th day | Sees all seven lokas | — | 1,000 kalpas |
| 1 year, eating every 19th day | Sees all seven lokas and joins the hosts of apsarasas | — | 10,000 crore years |
| 1 year, eating every 20th day, celibate, truthful, without meat | Reaches the Āditya-lokas | — | — |
| 1 year, eating every 21st day | Reaches the lokas of Śukra and Indra, then of the Aśvins and the Maruts | — | — |
| 1 year, eating every 22nd day, free of envy | Reaches the Vasu-lokas | — | — |
| 1 year, eating every 23rd day | Reaches the lokas of Vāyu, Śukra and Rudra | — | Thousands of years |
| 1 year, eating every 24th day | Reaches the Āditya-lokas | — | Many crores of years |
| 1 year, eating every 25th day | Reaches a station honoured in the devalokas | A single vimāna, decorated in front, behind and at the sides in four colours | Thousands of kalpas |
| 1 year, eating every 26th day | Reaches the lokas of the seven Maruts and the eight Vasus | — | — |
| 1 year, eating every 27th day | Reaches honour in the devaloka among devarshis and rājarshis | — | 3,000 yuga-kalpas |
| 1 year, eating every 28th day | Gains the fruit of a devarshi | — | One lakh kalpas, with ornamented women of broad hips |
| 1 year, eating every 29th day, devoted to truth | Reaches the lokas honoured by devarshis and rājarshis, and at last Brahmaloka | — | As many years as the raindrops that fall on Jambūdvīpa in a great rain |
| Māsopavāsa (a full unbroken fast of one month), for 10 years | Reaches the highest svarga; after that, maharshitva (the state of a great ṛshi) with the power to travel anywhere in his own body | — | — |
A general rule closes the scale. No single unbroken fast should be longer than one month. The experts in dharma who know the upavāsa vidhi affirm this. A person free of mental pain and disease who keeps upavāsa gains the fruit of a yajña at every single step of the practice, without exception.
The ṛshis who rose through fasting
Bhīshma says there is no śāstra greater than the Veda, no guru equal to the mother, no gain greater than dharma, and no tapas greater than the vidhi of upavāsa. In svarga and on earth there is nothing that purifies more than brāhmaṇas, and no work of tapas equal to fasting.
The devas themselves kept upavāsa by the vidhi and so reached svarga. The ṛshis too reached the highest siddhi (success) through upavāsa.
- The wise Viśvāmitra bore a single meal for thousands of divine years. Through it he gained vipratva, the state of a brāhmaṇa.
- Cyavana, Jamadagni, Vasishṭha, Gautama and Bhṛgu were all great ṛshis full of forbearance. They reached svarga by this same path.
Aṅgiras first set this vidhi out in its right order for the great ṛshis of old. One who teaches it to others also meets no sorrow. Bhīshma adds that Aṅgiras himself laid out this discipline in due order. To read it or hear it frees a person from every saṅkaṭa (difficulty). Such a person even understands the calls of birds and beasts, and gains kīrti that stands firm. All of this is in Chapter 106.
Chapter 107: the same teaching for the poor
Yudhishṭhira says that Bhīshma has already explained the yajñas in full, with the qualities a yajamāna (the sponsor of a yajña) gains in this world and after death. But the poor (daridra) cannot do such yajñas. They lack the means, or they are alone, or have no helpers, or do not have the required qualities. He asks how the poor can gain a phala equal to that of the wealthy who perform these yajñas.
Bhīshma answers that Aṅgiras taught exactly this long ago: a system built on upavāsa that gives the same fruit as the yajñas. He gives the whole scale a second time in Chapter 107. The series runs again from eating only morning and evening up to an interval of twenty-nine days. It is matched again with the Agnishṭoma, Atirātra, Vājapeya, Dvādaśāha, Gomedha, Bahusuvarṇa and Pauṇḍarīka, the fruit of a thousand Aśvamedhas and a thousand Rājasūyas, the Soma yajña, the Devasattra, the Mahāmedha, and at last Brahmaloka itself.
Bhīshma ends by saying that he has now set out, without leaving anything aside, the highest vidhi of yajña in the form of the fruit of upavāsa. It shows exactly how the poor may gain the fruit of yajñas. A man who is devoted to worshipping the devas and the brāhmaṇas of the earth, and who follows these rules of upavāsa, reaches the paramagati. This is the same goal that the wealthy patrons of the great Vedic yajñas reach.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 106
- Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 107