Kokilā Vrata
Kokilā Vrata · kokilā vrata, “the vow of the kokilā bird”
The Kokilā Vrata is a vrata of one month, kept through the whole of Śrāvaṇa by a woman who seeks her good. She bathes each day with paste of tila and herbs, meditates on Bhagavān Sūrya, and worships a kokilā (the Indian cuckoo) shaped from ground tila, addressing her as Kokilā Devī. In the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa (Chapter 11), Yudhishṭhira asks Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa for the vrata by which women of good family keep a pure mutual love with their husbands. Śrī Kṛshṇa tells him how Kīrtimālā, the queen of Śatrughna at Mathurā, asked her kulaguru Vasishṭha Muni for such a vrata, kept it, and gained unbroken saubhāgya (the good fortune of a wife) and the love of her husband. Its phala is saubhāgya for seven births and, at the end, Gaurīloka.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 11
Kīrtimālā’s question
On the bank of the Yamunā is the beautiful city of Mathurā, where Śrī Rāmacandra established his brother Śatrughna as king. His queen was Kīrtimālā, a great pativratā (a wife wholly devoted to her husband). One day she bowed to her kulaguru, Vasishṭha Muni, and asked: “Best of munis, tell me a vrata by which my unbroken saubhāgya will grow.” Vasishṭha taught her the Kokilā Vrata.
When it is kept
The saṅkalpa (solemn resolve) is made on the evening of Āshāḍha pūrṇimā, and the vrata lasts through all of Śrāvaṇa, one month.
The vidhi
- On Āshāḍha pūrṇimā in the evening she resolves: “For the whole of Śrāvaṇa I shall bathe daily, eat at night, sleep on the ground, keep brahmacarya and have dayā (compassion) for living beings.”
- Rising in the morning she takes all the materials and goes to a river, tank or the like.
- There she cleans her teeth, applies an ubṭan (paste) of fragrant substances, tila and āṃvalā, and bathes by the rule. She bathes in this way for eight days.
- For the next eight days she bathes after applying an ubṭan of aushadhis (herbs).
- On the remaining days she bathes after rubbing on an ubṭan of vaca.
- Then she does dhyāna of Bhagavān Sūrya.
- She grinds tila and makes from it a mūrti of the kokilā bird.
- She does pūjā of it with red candana, campā flowers, leaves, dhūpa, dīpa, naivedya, tila, rice, dūrvā and other offerings, and prays with the mantra.
- After the pūjā she comes home and takes her meal.
The mantra begins:
तिलसहे तिलसौख्ये तिलवणे तिलप्रिये।
tilasahe tilasaukhye tilavaṇe tilapriye |
O Kokilā Devī, Tilasahā! You are dark like tila; you have your happiness from tila; tila is most dear to you. Grant me saubhāgya, sampatti (wealth) and sons. Salutations to you.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 11
The close of the vrata
At the end of the month she makes a kokilā of tila paste, sets gem eyes and golden wings on it, and places it in a copper vessel. With dakshiṇā she gives cloth, grain and guḍa as dāna to her father-in-law, a daivajña (one who knows the jyotisha), a purohita or some brāhmaṇa.
The phala
The woman who keeps the Kokilā Vrata by this rule has saubhāgya for seven births, and at the end sits in an excellent vimāna and goes to Gaurīloka.
Kīrtimālā heard the rite from Vasishṭha and observed it in that way. From it she gained unbroken saubhāgya, a son, happiness and prosperity, and the favour and love of Śatrughna. Other women who keep this vrata with bhakti also gain happiness, saubhāgya and the like.
The Uttara Parva names the Kokilā again in the list of vratas at its close (Chapter 208).
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 11, 208
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 11, 208