Saṅkashṭa Caturthī Vrata

Saṅkashṭa Caturthi Vrata, simply known as Sankashta Chaturthi Vrata, Sanskrit: सङ्कष्ट चतुर्थि व्रत, Telugu: సంకష్ట చతుర్థి వ్రతం, Hindi: संकष्ट चतुर्थी व्रत.

The Saṅkashṭa Caturthī Vrata is the monthly fast and worship of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa on the kṛshṇa caturthi, the fourth day of the dark fortnight. It is kept with the full shoḍaśopacāra pūjā (worship with sixteen offerings), with worship by twenty-one names using twenty-one kinds of leaves, and with the Candra-arghya, an offering of water to the moon at moonrise. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 58–59 and 68–71, teaches it.

The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa says it removes all saṅkaṭas (crises and troubles), frees departed ancestors from naraka (hell), and in the end brings the one who keeps it to Gaṇeśa-loka. The Māgha kṛshṇa caturthi is especially auspicious. When the caturthi falls on a Tuesday (Aṅgāraka Caturthī), its power is multiplied.

The occasion

Saṅkashṭa means crisis, affliction, great difficulty. The vrata is the monthly worship of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa on the kṛshṇa caturthi, kept to remove saṅkaṭas from one’s own life and from the lives of one’s family and ancestors. It is one of the main monthly vratas of the Gaṇeśa tradition.

The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa shows the power of this vrata through several narratives:

  • Bhṛśuṇḍi’s ancestors were saved from Kumbhīpāka naraka when he kept the vrata.
  • The birth of Kṛtavīrya shows what comes of a vrata that is kept imperfectly.
  • Rukmiṇī, Pradyumna and Bhagavān Kṛshṇa all kept the vrata to bring back members of their family who were lost.

(Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 58–59)

The fast

The devotee fasts on the kṛshṇa caturthi day and takes only water or very little permitted food (fruit, milk). The fast lasts until the moonrise worship and the Candra-arghya are done. It is broken only after water has been offered to the moon with the prescribed mantra and the prasāda has been received. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 68)

The shoḍaśopacāra pūjā with Purushasūkta mantras

The pūjā uses the Purushasūkta mantras for each of the sixteen upacāras (ritual services). The Purushasūkta is the Vedic hymn of the cosmic Person. Each of the sixteen steps goes with its own verse or group of verses from it.

  1. Āvāhana: invoking the presence of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa, with the first verse of the Purushasūkta.
  2. Āsana: offering a sacred seat.
  3. Pādya: washing the feet with pure water.
  4. Arghya: the welcoming offering of water in a conch or a vessel.
  5. Ācamanīya: water for ritual sipping.
  6. Snāna or Abhisheka: bathing the mūrti, or doing a symbolic bath.
  7. Vastra: offering a garment or cloth.
  8. Yajñopavīta: offering the sacred thread, shown by dūrvā grass or a thread.
  9. Gandha: sandalwood paste put on the mūrti.
  10. Pushpa: flowers offered with the Purushasūkta verses.
  11. Dhūpa: incense waved before the mūrti.
  12. Dīpa: a lamp waved (dīparādhana).
  13. Naivedya: the food offering, modakas and other prescribed sweets.
  14. Tāmbūla: betel leaf, areca nut and lime.
  15. Pradakshiṇā: walking around the mūrti three times.
  16. Namaskāra or Sāshṭāṅga praṇāma: full prostration.

(Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 68)

The pūjā with twenty-one names and twenty-one leaves

After the shoḍaśopacāra, a special worship with twenty-one names is done. Each of the twenty-one names of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa is recited while one kind of leaf or plant material is offered. This is the mark of the Saṅkashṭa Caturthī pūjā.

The twenty-one leaves used in the tradition are:

  1. dūrvā
  2. bela leaves
  3. tulasī
  4. āmra (mango)
  5. apāmārga
  6. karavīra
  7. vishṇukrānta
  8. dādima (pomegranate)
  9. devadāru
  10. maruva
  11. arjuna
  12. āmrātaka
  13. śamī
  14. āśmantaka
  15. kubja
  16. gūḍūcī
  17. ketakī
  18. keśara
  19. āgastya
  20. badara
  21. paṭala

Each leaf goes with one of the twenty-one names of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa. Each name is chanted as its leaf is offered. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 68)

The Candra-arghya at moonrise

The Candra-arghya is the high point of the Saṅkashṭa Caturthī. It is the offering of water to the moon when it rises in the dark-fortnight sky on the night of the caturthi. This sets this vrata apart from the other vratas of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa.

When the moon rises, the devotee stands facing it. The devotee holds a copper or silver vessel filled with clean water, flowers and akshatā (unbroken rice). The water is poured toward the moon while the prescribed Candra-arghya mantra is chanted. The mantra calls on the moon with respect and keeps in view the Candra-śāpa, the curse that Bhagavān Gaṇeśa laid on the moon. The moon is honoured as a divine light, and its bond with the caturthi of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa is acknowledged.

After the Candra-arghya, the fast is broken and the prasāda of the pūjā is eaten. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 68)

Special days

Māgha kṛshṇa caturthi. Of the twelve monthly Saṅkashṭa Caturthīs in a year, the one in the month of Māgha is the most powerful. On this day Bhagavān Gaṇeśa appeared to Maṅgala (Aṅgāraka) during his tapas near the Narmadā and gave him his place among the planets. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 60)

Aṅgāraka Caturthī. A caturthi that falls on a Tuesday (Maṅgalavāra) is called Aṅgāraka Caturthī. It carries the joint grace of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa and Maṅgala. This joining is especially strong for removing obstacles about health, property, conflict and legal matters. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 60)

The Candra-śāpa and the moon

The Saṅkashṭa Caturthī vrata asks the devotee to look at the moon and offer water to it on kṛshṇa caturthi night. On Bhādrapada śukla caturthi the moon is not to be looked at. The Candra-śāpa narrative gives the bond between Candra and Bhagavān Gaṇeśa. (Candra-śāpa narrative)

The udyāpana

A devotee may vow to keep a number of monthly vratas, usually twelve or twenty-four. When that number is complete, the series is closed with an udyāpana (concluding rite). The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa gives a set procedure for it:

  • setting up the mūrti of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa on a decorated altar;
  • the full shoḍaśopacāra pūjā;
  • homa (fire offering);
  • tarpaṇa (water libation);
  • a feast for brāhmaṇas.

The udyāpana seals the puṇya (merit) gathered through all the monthly vratas and makes sure of its full fruit. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 71)

The phalaśruti

The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa gives these fruits for the Saṅkashṭa Caturthī Vrata:

  • All saṅkaṭas that come from karma, from circumstance or from enemies are removed.
  • Departed ancestors who suffer in the various narakas are freed and lifted up. Bhṛśuṇḍi’s ancestors in Kumbhīpāka were freed by his keeping of the vrata.
  • The devotee’s family is protected from untimely death, disease, poverty and disgrace.
  • With time, the puṇya gathered by keeping the vrata every month changes the devotee’s life completely and in the end leads the devotee to Gaṇeśa-loka.

(Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 58–59 and 68–71)

Sources

  • Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 58–59 (the narratives of Bhṛśuṇḍi, Kṛtavīrya, and Rukmiṇī, Pradyumna and Kṛshṇa)
  • Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 60 (Māgha kṛshṇa caturthi and Aṅgāraka Caturthī)
  • Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 68 (the fast, the pūjā, the twenty-one leaves, the Candra-arghya)
  • Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 69–71 (including the udyāpana in Chapter 71)