Pañcāgnisādhana Rambhā Vrata
Pañcāgnisādhana Rambhā Vrata · pañca-agni-sādhana rambhā vrata, “the Rambhā vow of tending the five fires”
Rambhā Vrata has other meanings too: see all meanings of Rambhā Vrata.
The Pañcāgnisādhana Rambhā Vrata, the Rambhā Tṛtīyā called Pañcāgnisādhana, is a vrata for saubhāgya (the blessing of a happy married life) that begins on the śukla tṛtīyā of Jyeshṭha. The vratī sits among five fires, facing east, and meditates on Bhagavatī Mahāsatī. The Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Chapters 18–19, gives it, and the text also calls it the Rambhā (Gaurī) vrata.
Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa teaches it to Yudhishṭhira, who has asked what vrata makes a woman’s gṛhasthāśrama (household life) go well and wins her husband’s love. He tells how Devī Pārvatī, on Kailāsa, told Bhagavān Śiva that she had kept this vrata in childhood in her father’s house, and that by its fruit she had him as husband. By the same vrata Lopāmudrā gained the great muni Agastya. Śrī Kṛshṇa then gives a short rule: a maṇḍapa, an image of Mahādevī Rudrāṇī, the Saubhāgyāshṭaka of eight offerings, a mantra asking for a husband, a home and wealth, and the feeding of brāhmaṇa couples on the caturthī. The list of vratas in Uttara Parva, Chapter 208 names the Pañcāgni Sādhana.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 18–19, 208
The question on Kailāsa
Yudhishṭhira asked Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa: by what vrata in this mṛtyuloka may the gṛhasthāśrama of women run well, and may they also gain the love of the husband?
Śrī Kṛshṇa told him of a time on the lovely peak of Kailāsa, covered with many creepers, adorned with many flowers, served by munis and kinnaras, and full of song and dance. Devī Pārvatī and Bhagavān Śiva sat there, surrounded by munis and devatās. Bhagavān Śaṅkara asked her: “Sundarī, what excellent vrata did you perform, by which you have today become so dear to me, as my left side?”
Devī Pārvatī said: “Nātha, in childhood I performed the Rambhā vrata. By its fruit I have you as husband, and I have become the mistress of all women and your ardhāṅginī.”
Bhagavān Śaṅkara asked: “Bhadrā, how is that Rambhā vrata, giving happiness to all, performed? How did you perform it in your father’s house?”
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 18–19
Devī Pārvatī’s vrata in her father’s house
Devī Pārvatī told him that once in childhood she was sitting in her father’s house with her sakhīs (companions). Her father Himavān and her mother Menā said to her: “Daughter, perform the beautiful Rambhā vrata, which increases saubhāgya. As soon as you begin it you will gain saubhāgya, aiśvarya (prosperity and power) and the state of Mahādevī.”
They told her how it is done:
- On the śukla tṛtīyā of Jyeshṭha, bathe and take the niyama (the rule) of this vrata.
- Kindle five fires around you: the gārhapatya fire, the dakshiṇāgni, the āhavanīya, the sabhya fire and, fifth, the fire of Sūrya, in the form of tejas. Take the service of these.
- Sit in the middle of them, facing east, wearing deerskin, jaṭā, valkala (bark cloth) and the like.
- Meditate on Bhagavatī Mahāsatī: four-armed, adorned with all ornaments, seated on a lotus.
That same Mahāsatī, they said, pervades everywhere in the forms of Mahālakshmī, Mahākālī, Mahāmāyā, Mahāmati, Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Sindhu, Śatadru, Narmadā, Mahī, Sarasvatī and Vaitaraṇī. So do her ārādhanā alone.
Devī Pārvatī ended: “Prabho, by the rule told by my mother I performed the Rambhā (Gaurī) vrata with śraddhā and bhakti, and by the power of that vrata I gained you.”
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 18–19
Lopāmudrā
Śrī Kṛshṇa said to Yudhishṭhira, calling him Kaunteya, that by this Rambhā vrata Lopāmudrā too gained the great muni Agastya and was honoured in the world.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 18–19
The short rule
Śrī Kṛshṇa then gave the vrata in brief.
- The vratī makes a beautiful maṇḍapa (pavilion), perfumes it with gandha and flowers, and adorns it.
- In the maṇḍapa, set up an image of Mahādevī Rudrāṇī, of gold or the like as means allow.
- Do her pūjā with gandha, flowers, dhūpa, dīpa and many kinds of naivedya.
- Before the Devī, offer the Saubhāgyāshṭaka, the eight: jīrā (cumin), kaḍuhuṇḍa, apūpa, phūla (flowers), pure nishpāva (sem), lavaṇa (salt), cīnī (sugar) and guḍa (jaggery).
- Sit in padmāsana before the Devī till sunset.
- Then bow to Devī Rudrāṇī and say the mantra given below.
- Bow to her again and again in this way, and ask the Devī’s forgiveness.
- Do pūjā of a renowned brāhmaṇa with his wife, with all requisites, and give dāna.
- Give naivedya and the like to suvāsinī women.
- Having done everything by this rule, ask forgiveness for the removal of pāpa.
- Next day, on the caturthī, feed brāhmaṇa couples with food of sweet rasas and complete the vrata.
The mantra is this:
वेदेषु सर्वशास्त्रेषु दिवि भूमौ धरातले।
दृष्टः श्रुतश्च बहुशो न शक्त्या रहितः शिवः॥
त्वं शक्तिस्त्वं स्वधा स्वाहा त्वं सावित्री सरस्वती।
पतिं देहि गृहं देहि वसु देहि नमोऽस्तु ते॥vedeshu sarvaśāstreshu divi bhūmau dharātale |
dṛshṭaḥ śrutaśca bahuśo na śaktyā rahitaḥ śivaḥ ||
tvaṃ śaktistvaṃ svadhā svāhā tvaṃ sāvitrī sarasvatī |
patiṃ dehi gṛhaṃ dehi vasu dehi namo’stu te ||In all the Vedas and śāstras, in svarga and on earth, it has never been heard or seen anywhere that Śiva is without Śakti. O Devī Pārvatī, you are Śakti, you are Svadhā, Svāhā, Sāvitrī and Sarasvatī. Give me a husband, a good house and wealth. Namaskāra to you.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 18–19
The phala
As soon as the vrata is begun it gives saubhāgya, aiśvarya and the state of Mahādevī. In the family of any woman or man who keeps it, the family will grow, and good offspring and wealth will come. Women gain unbroken saubhāgya and the excellent happiness of gārhasthya (household life) that fulfils all desires, and at the end of life they gain, as they wish, the loka of Bhagavān Vishṇu or of Bhagavān Śiva.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 18–19
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 18–19, 208