Puṇyaka Vrata: Pārvatī's Vow for Married Women

A vrata is a sacred vow, usually kept with fasting and set rules. The Puṇyaka Vrata is a vrata for married women. Bhagavatī Pārvatī was the first to keep it, and after the Pārijāta-haraṇa (the bringing of the divine Pārijāta tree of svarga to earth) she taught it to a gathering of divine women led by Arundhatī. Nārada heard it directly from Pārvatī and later told it to Rukmiṇī when she asked him about it at Dvārakā.

The vrata rests on patnīvratā-dharma, a wife’s full devotion to her husband, which is its first requirement. Keeping it brings saubhāgya (good fortune in marriage), beauty, children, prosperity and good character. Because Pārvatī was the first to keep it, it is also known as the Umā-vrata.

How the Teaching Was Passed On

After Kṛshṇa brought the Pārijāta tree to Dvārakā, and after the Shaṭpura-vadha (the destruction of Shaṭpura) was completed at Śiva’s direction, Nārada was one day in Dvārakā with Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa and his queens, Jāmbavatī, Satyabhāmā and others. Rukmiṇī came to Nārada and asked: “What is the origin of the Puṇyaka Vrata? What are its rules? When should it begin? What dāna (gift) should be given? What fruit does it bring?” Nārada answered by telling what he had seen with his own eyes when Pārvatī taught it to the divine women.

Its Origin: Pārvatī’s Gathering

Pārvatī first kept this vrata herself, with the blessing and permission of Mahādeva (Śiva). Then she invited all the great women of the three worlds to a gathering. Among those present were:

Aditi and all the daughters of Daksha
Śacīdevī
Rohiṇī, Phālgunī, Revatī, Śatabhishā, Maghā and the other nakshatra devīs (the devīs of the lunar mansions)
The rivers Gaṅgā, Sarasvatī, Veṇī, Godāvarī, Vaitaraṇī and Gaṇḍakī
The devoted wives of the ṛshis, including Arundhatī and Lopāmudrā
The daughters of the mountain, Girijā
The daughters of Agni, and Svāhā, Agni’s wife
Sāvitrī
Ṛddhi, wife of Kubera
The wives of Varuṇa, Yama and Vasu
The qualities in bodily form: Śrī, Hrī, Dhṛti, Kīrti, Āśā, Medhā, Prīti, Mati and Khyāti

Pārvatī honoured them all and gave great gifts: mountains of sesame, mountains of jewels, mountains of fire-crystals and many garments. Then, when Arundhatī asked, she began to teach the rules of the vrata. Nārada was also at this gathering, and before the teaching began he had received all the items of the vrata as a gift from Pārvatī.

The Foundation: Patnīvratā-dharma

Pārvatī began by setting out the foundation of the vrata, which cannot be set aside:

“I learned this vrata by the grace of my husband and kept it with his permission. Only women who are true to patnīvratā-dharma have the right to keep it. For those who are not true to it, even dāna, upavāsa (fasting) and other austerities bring no fruit. A woman who follows her husband’s wishes can bring about his liberation, whatever his character may be. O Arundhatī, rich in tapas! For women, the husband alone is the devatā. Pleasing the husband is equal to practising all dharmas. True fruit comes only from the vrata of devoted wives.”

So the vrata starts from an inner state of full devotion to one’s husband. This is not just a rule. It is the ground from which every ritual draws its power.

Daily Rules

From the very first day, before beginning any vrata or fast, the woman must:

Get her husband’s permission
Bow down to her parents-in-law
Hold darbha grass, akshata (unbroken rice) and a water pot, and pour water over her husband’s head and then over her own
Not sleep on a bed (she sleeps on the ground)
Wash her feet with her hands only
Avoid anger, quarrelling and weeping on the day of the vrata
Wear only clean white clothes
Give up kajal (kohl), gandha (sandalwood paste), flowers, tooth-cleaning twigs and oil massage of the whole body
Use clay for cleaning (in place of oil-based cleansers)
Not travel by bullock-cart, camel or donkey
Not bathe without clothes

For bathing, water from a river, a mountain spring, or a large tank or well is suitable. If these are not available, a bucket of water is enough. A bath in which the head is dipped (śiraḥsnāna) brings the fruit of tapas.

Length and Completion

The vrata may be kept for one year, six months or one month. At the end of the chosen time:

Eleven women are invited
The dāna is first presented with water, with the ācārya (officiating teacher) acting as go-between
The ācārya formally gives the husband to his wife, a ritual renewal of the marriage bond before a sacred witness
Completion day: Navamī (the ninth day) of the bright fortnight
Both the first and the last days require a fast
The husband has his hair cut, bathes, and wears ornaments and flower garlands, as at a wedding
The wife bathes her husband with buckets of sanctified water while reciting the sacred mantra

The completion mantra (Sanskrit):

āpodēvya ṛshīṇāṃ hi viśvadhātryō divyāmadantyō yāḥ śaṃkarā dharmhadhātryaḥ hiraṇyavarṇāḥ pāvakā śivatamē narasēna śrēyasō māṃ jushantu! apāmēsha smṛtō mantraḥ sarvatra anyatra mē śṛṇu mantrāḥ purāṇavihitāḥ strīṇāṃ sarvāṃgaśōbhanē!

The mantra goes on to call the five elements (pañcabhūtas), Candra (the Moon), Āditya (the Sun), Yama, the ten directions and the ātman (self) as witnesses to the woman’s vrata. All the items used in the ritual are also made holy with these mantras.

Dāna (Gifts)

After bathing her husband, the woman gives:

A meal for her husband and for a pure, self-controlled, learned brāhmaṇa
Two garments for the brāhmaṇa
A bed, a vehicle, a house and servants, as she is able
Ornaments and a heap of jewels, as she is able
Sesame mixed with rice
Garments of many colours
Elephants and horses if she can; if not, godāna (the gift of a cow) is required
Salt, cream, jaggery, honey, gold, all fragrances and many fruits, used for the pūjā of Śaṅkara’s stone image, followed by pañcāmṛta-abhisheka (bathing the image with five nectars)

These six items, given together, are said to fulfil all wishes:

Kapilā cow (a tawny cow)
Kāṃsya vessel (a bronze bowl)
Mṛgacarma (deer skin)
Tila (sesame)
Vastra (cloth)
Ādarśa (mirror)

Sesame must be given with the husband’s express permission.

The Fruit of the Vrata

A woman who completes this vrata becomes:

Santānavatī: blessed with good children
Saubhāgyavatī: blessed with good fortune
Saundaryavatī: blessed with beauty
Sampannā: prosperous
Susvabhāvā: of good character

She is also said to uplift both her own family line and her husband’s. Satyabhāmā called the vrata Tīvrataka, “the intense one”, and declared that keeping it uplifts the husband’s line, the father’s line and the woman herself.

Food Rules During the Year of the Vrata

No brinjal (vaṅkāya)
No rabbit meat (śaśa-māṃsa)
No deer meat
No ash-gourd (ānapa-kāya)
No meals at night for the whole year
Give fruits, flowers and sweets (piṇḍivanta) to a poor but worthy brāhmaṇa
Give gold to brāhmaṇas as one is able

Pārvatī adds that the highest state needs no vrata at all: “A woman who eats only after everyone else in the house has eaten, who causes no one grief, who sees her husband as her devatā, who speaks sweetly, who serves her parents-in-law with devotion and who holds to dharma, needs to keep no separate vrata.”

The Vrata for Children

A separate practice taught in the same setting is for women who wish for children:

It is kept in the months of Jyeshṭha and Āshāḍha
The woman bathes in water that has been used to wash a cow’s horns
She gives a pot filled with water
After one or two months of the practice, she offers pañcāmṛta (sugar-water, ghee, curd, milk and honey) in a water-filled pot to a learned and self-controlled brāhmaṇa
The result: sons are born, and if a daughter is wished for, a daughter comes
The best gifts are a cow and gold; otherwise a gift of cloth is required, and the brāhmaṇa must also be given a yajñopavīta (sacred thread)
She eats only once a day, feeding the brāhmaṇa first and then her husband
After a full year of this, the woman shines with beauty, virtue, purity and wealth

Widows

Pārvatī also speaks directly about widows (vidhavās):

“A widow should always honour an image (paṭa) of her husband. For every act, whether a vrata, a fast or a meal, she should ask the permission of that image. Through this she reaches her husband’s loka (world).”

Those Who Kept the Vrata Afterwards

After Nārada passed on Pārvatī’s teaching:

Aditi kept this vrata and gave the Pārijāta tree (bound to Kaśyapa) to Nārada as its dāna
Sāvitrī kept it
Satyabhāmā kept it and gave it the name Tīvrataka
Indrāṇī kept it
All the devoted wives who heard the teaching kept it

Pārvatī declared: “From today, the divine women, Aditi, Indrāṇī and all the others, will spread the knowledge of this vrata. You will become teachers who teach its rules well. And through the avatāra-līlā (divine play) of Bhagavān Vishṇu, the wives of Kṛshṇa will come to know it especially.”

Sources

Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Vishṇu Parva, Chapters 79–81
Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 83