Ananta Caturdaśī Vrata
Ananta Caturdaśī Vrata · ananta-caturdaśī-vrata, “the vrata of the fourteenth day of the endless one”
Ananta has other meanings too: see all meanings of Ananta.
The Ananta Caturdaśī Vrata is kept on the caturdaśī of the bright fortnight of Bhādrapada for Bhagavān Vishṇu in the form of Ananta. Its mark is the doraka, a cord of fourteen knots tied on the hand. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa teaches it to Yudhishṭhira in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, with the account of Śīlā and Kauṇḍinya. It destroys all pāpa, gives welfare and fulfils all desires, and one who keeps it or hears its kathā merges in the form of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
The Madhyama Parva too says that this vrata destroys all pāpas and, done with bhakti, gives endless happiness.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 2, Chapters 7–8; Uttara Parva, Chapter 94
Who Ananta is
Yudhishṭhira asks whether this Ananta is the nāga Śesha, another nāga, Paramātmā or Brahman. Śrī Kṛshṇa answers: “Ananta is my own name. I stand as the divisions of time: kalā, kāshṭhā, muhūrta, day, paksha, month, ṛtu, ayana, saṃvatsara, yuga and kalpa. I myself was born in the family of Vasudeva, to take away the burden of the world and destroy the dānavas. Pārtha, know me to be Vishṇu, Jishṇu, Hara, Śiva, Brahmā, Bhāskara, Śesha, the all-pervading Īśvara, and Ananta also.”
The vidhi
The women at the river give Śīlā the method.
- Make naivedya of a prastha of cooked food and go to the river bank.
- Bathe there, and in a maṇḍala do pūjā of Bhagavān Vishṇu in the form of Ananta with gandha, flowers, dhūpa, dīpa and other upacāras.
- Listen to the kathā.
- Offer him the naivedya. Give half to a brāhmaṇa and keep half to eat as prasāda.
- Before Bhagavān Ananta place a doraka with fourteen knots and anoint it with kuṅkuma and the like.
- Offer the doraka to him, then tie it with the mantra: a man on the right hand, a woman on the left.
- After tying it, eat the naivedya.
- At the end meditate on Anantadeva Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa of universal form, and go home.
अनन्तसंसारमहासमुद्रे भग्नान् समभ्युद्धर वासुदेव ।
अनन्तरूपे विनियोजितात्मा ह्यनन्तरूपाय नमो नमस्ते।anantasaṃsāramahāsamudre bhagnān samabhyuddhara vāsudeva |
anantarūpe viniyojitātmā hyanantarūpāya namo namaste|O Vāsudeva, I am sinking in the great ocean of endless saṃsāra. Lift me out. Join me also to your Ananta form. O you of endless form, my salutations to you again and again.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 94
Śīlā and Kauṇḍinya
The account is told in full under Śīlā and Kauṇḍinya.
In the Kṛtayuga lived a brāhmaṇa named Sumantu of Vasishṭha‘s gotra, married to Dīkshā, daughter of Maharshi Bhṛgu. They had a daughter with all good marks, named Śīlā. After some time Dīkshā died of fever, and that pativratā reached svarga. Sumantu then married a maiden named Karkaśā, who was like her name, harsh and always quarrelsome.
Śīlā lived in her father’s house, drawing the auspicious signs of Vishṇu, the svastika, padma, śaṅkha and others, on walls, thresholds and pillars, and doing arcana of them. Sumantu gave her in marriage to Kauṇḍinya Muni. When he asked his wife for a gift for the son-in-law, Karkaśā became angry, pulled down the maṇḍapa, gave a few leftovers as provisions for the road, said “Go!”, and shut the door.
Kauṇḍinya left slowly with Śīlā by bullock cart. At noon they reached the bank of a river. Śīlā saw women in fine clothes doing pūjā of Janārdana with bhakti on that caturdaśī. She asked what the vrata was, and they told her it was Ananta Caturdaśī, and gave her the method. She kept it, offering the leftovers given for the road, gave half to a brāhmaṇa, ate half herself, and tied the doraka.
As soon as they reached home, by the power of the vrata, their home became full of wealth, grain and cattle. Śīlā shone with necklaces of gems, pearls and gold, and looked like Sāvitrī herself.
Some time later, one day her husband in anger broke the Ananta doraka tied on her hand. All their Lakshmī was lost. Thieves stole the cattle, quarrels broke out, friends cut off ties, and poverty ruled their home, because Bhagavān Ananta had been dishonoured.
Kauṇḍinya in the forest
In sorrow Kauṇḍinya went into a dense forest, longing for the darśana of Bhagavān Ananta. He kept the vrata again without food and in brahmacarya, and did japa of the names. He asked a mango tree full of fruit and flowers, “Have you seen Bhagavān Ananta?” It did not know. He asked a cow with her calf, a bull sitting on the grass, two lovely ponds, a donkey and an elephant, and none of them knew. In utter despair he fell on the earth.
At that moment, in grace, Bhagavān Ananta appeared before him in the form of an old brāhmaṇa, and then gave him darśana of his divine four-armed Viśvarūpa. Kauṇḍinya, full of joy, prayed and asked forgiveness for his offences, saying that his birth had borne fruit that day.
He asked who the beings of the forest were, and Bhagavān Ananta explained:
- The mango tree was a learned brāhmaṇa who knew the Veda, but was very proud of his learning and gave no vidyā to disciples.
- The cow was barren earth without fertile power.
- The bull had taken refuge in truth and dharma, and was Dharma himself in form.
- The two ponds were two brāhmaṇa sisters who kept up an improper dispute over dharma and adharma and gave no dāna to any brāhmaṇa, guest or hungry person. Here too they keep clashing in the form of waves.
- The donkey was in a past birth a person of great anger.
- The elephant was in a past birth a corrupter of dharma.
“Vipra, now go home and keep the Ananta Vrata, and I will give you the place of an excellent nakshatra. You yourself will obtain sons, grandsons and happiness in the world, and at the end moksha.” Having given this vara, Bhagavān Ananta withdrew.
Kauṇḍinya came home and kept the vrata with bhakti. With Śīlā he obtained the highest happiness, and at the end the two were established in svarga as the nakshatra named Punarvasu.
The phala
One who keeps this vrata or hears this kathā also merges in the form of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 94
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 2, Chapters 7–8; Uttara Parva, Chapters 94, 208