Cāturmāsya
Cāturmāsya · cātur-māsya, “the four-monthly rite”
Vṛścika has other meanings too: see all meanings of Vṛścika.
Grammar: neuter noun, from catur (four) and māsa (month): “that which belongs to four months”.
Meaning: (1) the Vaidika cāturmāsya, the four-monthly yāga, one of the rites of the Vaidika householder; (2) the four-month vrata of the rainy season, kept while Bhagavān Vishṇu sleeps. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa uses the word in the first sense.
In the scriptures:
One of the five yajñas. At Daksha‘s yajña Agni declared that Śrī Hari, the form of the yajña, is himself in the form of five yajñas: agnihotra, darśa, pūrṇamāsa, cāturmāsya and somayāga (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 7). Śuka tells Parīkshit that Bharata, son of Ṛshabha, performed at their proper times, with śraddhā, the agnihotra, darśa, pūrṇamāsa, cāturmāsya, paśuyāga and somayāga, and so worshipped Śrī Hari (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 7).
A devatā. Among the children of Savitā and his wife Pṛśni are Agnihotra, Paśuyāga, Cāturmāsya and the Pañca-mahāyajñas, glossed as the presiding devatās of the Vaidika rites (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 6, Chapter 18).
Ishṭa karma. Nārada Maharshi tells Yudhishṭhira that pravṛtti karma is of two kinds, ishṭa and pūrta; the ishṭa are agnihotra, darśa, pūrṇamāsa, cāturmāsya, paśu-yāga, soma-yāga and the like; these involve hiṃsā and many materials, and, done from desire, they cause unrest (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 15).
For the vānaprastha. Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Uddhava that the knowers of the Veda prescribed for the vānaprastha, as for the gṛhastha, the agnihotra, the darśa-pūrṇamāsa and the cāturmāsya; wasted by tapas, the vānaprastha reaches Maharloka and from there reaches Śrī Kṛshṇa (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 18).
Related terms: Agnihotra · Darśa · Pūrṇamāsa · Ishṭi · Yajña · Vrata
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 7; Skandha 5, Chapter 7; Skandha 6, Chapter 18; Skandha 7, Chapter 15; Skandha 11, Chapter 18