Māsa-Navamī Vrata

The sixth sarga of the Manohara Khaṇḍa of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa tells of a brahmin of Kerala who was deeply devoted to Bhagavān Rāma. Every Navamī, the ninth lunar day, he did pūjā to Bhagavān Rāma on an altar made of sand. This is the Māsa-Navamī Vrata, the vrata (vow) of the Navamī of every month. Through it he became the ruler of a kingdom of women, and in the end he reached Vishṇu-sāyujya, moksha (liberation) by union with Bhagavān Vishṇu.

The Kerala brahmin’s devotion

The brahmin could not obtain or set up a proper mūrti (consecrated image). So he did his regular pūjā on an altar of carefully shaped sand. On every Navamī he did a full Rāma-pūjā there, with all the usual offerings: flowers, dhūpa (incense), dīpa (lamp), naivedya (food offering), and devotional recitation.

A Navamī happens twice a month, once in the bright fortnight and once in the dark fortnight. Navamī is special for Rāma’s devotees, because Bhagavān Rāma was born on Caitra Śukla Navamī. The Māsa-Navamī Vrata therefore keeps the day of that birth alive every month. The brahmin did it with the same care and love even though he lacked the rich materials usually thought needed for pūjā. His sand altar showed that the heart of devotion matters more than the material of the altar.

Hanumān’s roar

During or after one of the brahmin’s Navamī pūjās, Hanumān appeared near the place and gave his great roar. Hanumān is always present wherever Bhagavān Rāma is loved and honoured. In the Rāmāyaṇa his roar had shattered mountains and frightened armies. Here, too, it had a great effect: all the men in the area died at once from the sound. The women were left alive and unharmed.

The kingdom of women

With all the men gone, the region became a kingdom of women, with no male rulers or householders. The Kerala brahmin, devoted to Bhagavān Rāma and keeping the Māsa-Navamī Vrata, was the only man left. In the order that followed, he became the ruler of the women’s kingdom.

He did not win this rule by war or by politics. It came through the working of divine providence around his sādhana (spiritual practice). The kingdom under him stayed turned toward the dharma that his Rāma-pūjā had set in place.

Vishṇu-sāyujya

Through the puṇya (merit) of his Māsa-Navamī Vrata, Rāma-pūjā with sand on every Navamī and with full devotion, the Kerala brahmin in the end reached Vishṇu-sāyujya, liberation by merging into the nature of Bhagavān Vishṇu. This is one of four kinds of liberation in the Vaishṇava tradition; the others are sālokya, sāmīpya and sārūpya.

The account shows the power of steady Rāma-pūjā on Navamī, even with the simplest materials, and ranks it among the highest puṇya practices.

Sources

• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Manohara Khaṇḍa, sarga 6