Rasa-Kalyāṇinī Tṛtīyā Vrata
Rasa-Kalyāṇinī Tṛtīyā Vrata, simply known as Rasa Kalyanini Tritiya Vrata, Sanskrit: रस-कल्याणिनी तृतीया व्रत, Telugu: రస కళ్యాణినీ తృతీయ వ్రతం, Hindi: रस कल्याणिनी तृतीया व्रत.
The Rasa-Kalyāṇinī Tṛtīyā Vrata is a twelve-month vrata of Devī Pārvatī. It begins on Māgha Śukla Tṛtīyā and goes on through each following month. Parameśvara taught it to Pārvatī as another vrata of the Tṛtīyā group that destroys pāpa (sin), and it is known locally as the Rasa-Kalyāṇinī Tṛtīyā Vrata. The Matsya Mahā Purāṇa gives it in Chapter 63.
In this vrata Devī is worshipped with twenty-two nāmas (names). Each name is placed on a limb, first on the right side and then on the left. Each month the observer gives up one food and gives a karakaṃ (a clay vessel) filled with a set sweet or food. At the end of the twelve months a gold Gaurī pratimā and a silver cow-and-bull pair are given to the ācārya.
When it is kept
The vrata begins on Māgha Śukla Tṛtīyā. It is kept on the Tṛtīyā of each of the twelve months, from Māgha to Pushya, as the monthly schedule below shows.
The vidhi
On Māgha Śukla Tṛtīyā the observer:
- bathes with cow milk and sesame (pounded sesame and sesame oil);
- worships Devī Pārvatī with honey, sugarcane juice and rose water;
- performs the pūjā from the feet upward, worshipping first the right limbs and then the left.
Pañcagavya (the five products of the cow) is the food for the fast in all months. Those who lack full strength may fast through the day and eat at dusk.
The twenty-two nāmas and the limbs
The pūjā places twenty-two nāmas of Devī on her right and left limbs.
| Nāma | Limb |
|---|---|
| Lalitā | Right foot (dakshiṇa pāda) and right ankle (dakshiṇa gulpha) |
| Īśānā | Right calf (dakshiṇa jaṅghā) and right knee (dakshiṇa jānu) |
| Śrī | Right thigh (dakshiṇa ūru) |
| Madālasā | Right waist (dakshiṇa kaṭi) |
| Aparṇā | Right abdomen (dakshiṇa udara) |
| Madana-vāsinī | Right breast (dakshiṇa stana) |
| Pramadā | Right throat (dakshiṇa kaṇṭha) |
| Mādhavī | Right arm (dakshiṇa bhujāgra) and left arm (vāma bhujāgra) |
| Kamalā | Right eyebrow (dakshiṇa bhrū) and left eyebrow (vāma bhrū) |
| Candrārdha-dhāriṇī | Right eye (dakshiṇa netra) and left eye (vāma netra) |
| Rushā | Face (mukha) |
| Utkaṇṭhinī | Left throat (vāma kaṇṭha) |
| Amṛtā | Left breast (vāma stana) |
| Abhayā | Right arm (dakshiṇa bāhu) and left arm (vāma bāhu) |
| Viśokā | Right hand (dakshiṇa kara) and left hand (vāma kara) |
| Manmatha-dhāyā | Heart (hṛdaya) |
| Pāṭalā | Left abdomen (vāma udara) |
| Surata-vāsinī | Left waist (vāma kaṭi) |
| Tryambaka-priyā | Left thigh (vāma ūru) |
| Gaurī | Left knee (vāma jānu) and left calf (vāma jaṅghā) |
| Gāyatrī | Left ankle (vāma gulpha) |
| Dharā-dharā | Left foot (vāma pāda) |
After the pūjā a brāhmaṇa couple is honoured. These are given as dāna:
- water kalaśas (pots);
- two white vastra (cloths) for the woman, or two dhotis and an uttarīya (upper cloth) for the man;
- a gold lotus;
- gandha (scent) and mālya (garlands);
- the karakaṃ of the day with its bhakshyas (sweet foods).
The dāna mantra is “Kumudā prīyatāṃ.”
The monthly schedule
Each month the observer gives up one food and fills the karakaṃ with a set food.
| Month | Food given up | Food in the karakaṃ | Dāna mantra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Māgha | Lavaṇa (salt) | Laḍḍus | Kumudā prīyatāṃ |
| Phālguṇa | Jaggery (guḍa) | Śoka-vartuḷas | Mālatī prīyatāṃ |
| Caitra | Yava-rāja (barley sugar) | Saṃyāvamu (semolina, ghee and sugar pudding) | Gaurī prīyatāṃ |
| Vaiśākha | Honey | Pūrīs | Rambhā prīyatāṃ |
| Jyeshṭha | Pānakam (a cool drink) | Ghaṭikās | Bhadrā prīyatāṃ |
| Āshāḍha | Jīrakam (cumin) | Ghṛta-pūram (a sweet) | Jayā prīyatāṃ |
| Śrāvaṇa | Pulao | Būrelas (dumplings) | Śivā prīyatāṃ |
| Bhādrapada | Curd | Maṇḍigas (a wheat sweet) | Umā prīyatāṃ |
| Āśvayuja | Ghee | Milk | Ratiḥ prīyatāṃ |
| Kārtika | Wild honey | A leafy vegetable preparation | Satī prīyatāṃ |
| Mārgaśīrsha | Dhaniyas (coriander) | Curd rice | Maṅgalā prīyatāṃ |
| Pushya | Śarkarā (sugar) | A sweet without sorrow (śoka-rahita) | Rati-lālasā prīyatāṃ |
The dāna at the end
At the end of the twelve months these are given to the ācārya with the mantra “Bhavānī prīyatāṃ”:
- a gold Gaurī pratimā the size of a thumb, inlaid with the five jewels (pañcaratna);
- the pratimā holds a japa-mālā (prayer beads) and a kamaṇḍalu (water pot), has four arms, a crescent moon on the head and a white silken veil;
- a karakaṃ filled with śarkarā, with the gold Gaurī pratimā placed on top;
- a silver go-mithuna (a cow and bull pair), adorned with gold ornaments and covered with white cloth;
- vastra, pātras (vessels) and the things that go with them.
The phala
One who completes this vrata is freed from all pāpa in that life and enjoys happiness for nine thousand arbuda years. The observer gains the phala of a thousand agnihoma yajñas. Women who keep it reach Gaurī-loka and enjoy it without any sorrow. This holds whether the woman is a suvāsinī (a married woman), a kanyā (a girl), a vidhavā (a widow) or unmindful. Those who read or hear this account are freed from all pāpa and reach Gaurī-loka together with supreme jñāna.
Sources
- Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 63