Meghapālī
Meghapālī · megha-pālī, “the Meghapālī creeper”
Karavīra has other meanings too: see all meanings of Karavīra.
Grammar: feminine noun.
Meaning: a red creeper, worshipped in the Meghapālī vrata.
In the scriptures: Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Yudhishṭhira that Meghapālī is a red creeper with leaves like tāmbūla and with mañjarīs (flower-clusters). It grows in gardens, on village paths and mostly on mountains (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 16–17). The index of the Bhavishyottara names it (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 208).
The vrata
On Āśvina kṛshṇa tṛtīyā, women or men, with bhakti, for the attainment of saddharma, give arghya to Meghapālī with saptadhānya and sprouted wheat, or with piṇḍas of tila and taṇḍula. The saptadhānya here are yava, godhūma, dhāna, tila, kaṅgu, śyāmāka and caṇaka.
Vaiśyas living by trade do its pūjā with grain, oil, guḍa, kuṅkuma, gold and pada; the text glosses pada as eight things: shoes, umbrella, cloth, ring, kamaṇḍalu, seat, vessel and food. Excellent women do pūjā of the Meghapālī grown in an auspicious place with fruit, gandha, flowers, akshata, nārikela, kharjūra, anāra, kanera, dhūpa, dīpa, dadhi and heaps of newly sprouted grain. They cover it with red cloth, adorn it with abīra and give arghya, and that arghya is offered to a learned brāhmaṇa.
The phala
By the giving of arghya to Meghapālī, whatever pāpas were done knowingly or unknowingly are destroyed. The woman or man who does this pūjā gains the highest aiśvarya (prosperity), lives a hundred years in the mortal world with happiness and saubhāgya, and at the end rides a vimāna to Vishṇuloka. They raise seven of their kula from naraka to svarga. All the pāpas of one who, in fear of naraka, gives arghya with fruit and the like to Meghapālī are destroyed as darkness is destroyed by the sun.
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 16–17, 208