Māsa Nakshatra Pūjā

The Māsa Nakshatra Pūjā is a cycle of pūjā that lasts a whole year. Māsa means month, and a nakshatra is a lunar mansion, one of the twenty-seven star groups the Moon passes through. In this practice, the pūjā of each month is linked with a particular nakshatra. Its phalaśruti (the promised fruit) is divine jñāna (knowledge) and, in the end, Brahmaloka, the world of Brahmā.

The Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa describes this pūjā in two chapters that fit together. In Chapter 174 the ṛshi Mārkaṇḍeya explains how it is done. In Chapter 191 the devī Śāmbarāyaṇī tells Indra that she gained her amazing knowledge of the history of the universe by performing this very pūjā all her life.

The Yearly Cycle

The Māsa Nakshatra Pūjā begins in the month of Kārttika and goes on through all twelve months. Each month, the devotee performs pūjā to Bhagavān Vishṇu in line with the nakshatra linked to that month. The practice includes:

• Pañcagavya snāna: a ritual bath with the five products of the cow (milk, curd, ghee, urine and dung)
• Three pāraṇas: ritual meals that close the fast, kept at points through the year
• Seasonal naivedyas: food offerings suited to each season
• Completing the year: at the end of the year the devotee gives ghana-kumbha dāna, the gift of a filled golden pot

The Fruit of the Pūjā

The fruit promised for this pūjā is unusually great. A devotee who completes the yearly cycle sincerely gains moksha-jñāna, the knowledge that sets one free. The Purāṇa also says that keeping this pūjā steadily for a whole life, across many births, leads to the highest kind of jñāna. This includes knowledge of the history of the manvantaras (the great ages ruled by each Manu), the cycles of the universe, and the nature of all the avatāras. The testimony of Śāmbarāyaṇī supports this remarkable claim.

Śāmbarāyaṇī’s Testimony

Śāmbarāyaṇī was a devī of great learning. Indra himself came to her and asked her to tell the history of all fourteen Manvantaras: the daityas (asuras) defeated in each, the avatāras of Vishṇu in each age, the sons of each Manu, and the Saptarshis (seven great ṛshis) and Indras of each age. After hearing this full account, Indra asked her how she had gained such deep knowledge.

Śāmbarāyaṇī answered that she had performed the Māsa Nakshatra Pūjā without a break for an entire lifetime, and that she was now in her seventh kalpa (a vast cycle of time). The merit of this single vrata (sacred vow), gathered over many lives, had given her the power to hold and pass on all this knowledge of the universe.

She told Indra that when she finished speaking she would leave for Brahmaloka. She urged him to perform the Māsa Nakshatra Pūjā too, for the good of the three worlds. Her account of the fourteen manvantaras (Chapters 176–189) is the fullest and most orderly telling of manvantara history in the Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa.

Sources

• Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 174
• Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 191