Vaṭa-Sāvitrī Vrata

Vaṭa-Sāvitrī Vrata · vaṭa-sāvitrī-vrata, “the vrata of Sāvitrī at the banyan”

The Vaṭa-Sāvitrī Vrata is a vrata (a sacred vow kept with fasting and pūjā) kept by a woman on the amāvāsyā (new-moon day) of the month of Jyeshṭha. She worships Sāvitrī, the great pativratā (wife wholly devoted to her husband), at the root of the vaṭa tree, the banyan, and bows to Sāvitrī and Satyavān together. The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 194) gives it among the vratas of the full-moon and new-moon days, taught by Agni Deva, and calls it a vrata that gives bhukti and mukti, the enjoyments of this world and moksha (freedom from rebirth).

The woman fasts for three days before the amāvāsyā. On the day itself she worships Sāvitrī with the seven grains, binds a thread round the banyan before dawn, dances and sings near the tree at daybreak, gives the naivedya (food offered to the devatā) to a brāhmaṇa, feeds brāhmaṇas at home and closes the vrata with a prayer to Sāvitrī Devī. The woman who keeps it gains saubhāgya, the good fortune of a happy married life, and every other blessing.

The vidhi

  1. The woman who keeps the vrata fasts for three days.
  2. On Jyeshṭha amāvāsyā, at the root of the vaṭa tree, she worships Sāvitrī, the great pativratā, with the seven grains (sapta-dhānya).
  3. When a little of the night still remains, she winds a kaṇṭha-sūtra (a sacred thread) round the vaṭa tree and worships the tree with kuṅkuma and the other offerings.
  4. At daybreak, near the vaṭa, she dances and sings songs.
  5. Saying the mantra below, she bows to Sāvitrī and Satyavān, and gives the naivedya offered to them to a brāhmaṇa as dāna (a sacred gift).
  6. Then she returns home, feeds brāhmaṇas, and only afterwards eats herself.
  7. She completes the vrata saying “sāvitrī devī prīyatām“, “may Sāvitrī Devī be pleased”.

नमः सावित्र्यै सत्यवते
namaḥ sāvitryai satyavate
Salutations to Sāvitrī, and to Satyavān.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 194

The phala

The Agni Purāṇa says that the woman who keeps the vrata in this way gains saubhāgya and every other good fortune. Agni Deva names it a vrata that gives both bhukti and mukti.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 194

Sources

  • Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 194