Pushpa Dvitīyā
Pushpa Dvitīyā · pushpa dvitīyā, “the second-day vow of flowers”
The Pushpa Dvitīyā is a vrata of one year, begun on Kārtika śukla dvitīyā, in which the vratī takes only flowers as food. It is for one who desires a beautiful form, and the Aśvins are satisfied by it. Sumantu Muni teaches it to King Śatānīka in the Dvitīyā Kalpa of the Brahma Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa (Chapter 19), after telling how Cyavana Maharshi made the Aśvinī Kumāras drink soma on Dvitīyā. Dvitīyā is the tithi dear to the Aśvins, for on this day they attained devatva and became worthy of a yajña-bhāga.
The vidhi
- Beginning on Kārtika śukla dvitīyā, under niyama, the vratī takes only flowers as food for one year.
- He gives to brāhmaṇas the edible flowers available in each ṛtu, and then eats.
- At the end of the vrata he gives to brāhmaṇas flowers of gold or silver, or lotuses. By that the Aśvins are satisfied.
The phala
The Aśvins give a greatly radiant divine vimāna that goes wherever one wishes, and he may delight with women in svarga for a long time. Having enjoyed all bhogas, at the end of the kalpa the vratī is born in this world as a brāhmaṇa worthy of honour, and in seven births he is learned in the Vedas and Vedāṅgas.
Besides being learned in every birth, in the Kṛta Yuga he becomes a great giver, a performer of yajñas, a fine speaker, without sorrow of mind or disease of body, with sons and grandsons, long-lived with his wife, and he flourishes. Or he becomes the king of a great kingdom with a great city of Madhyadeśa as its capital.
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 19