Prayer to Dūrvā

Dūrvā Prārthanā · dūrvā-prārthanā, “the prayer to dūrvā”

The prayer to Dūrvā is the prayer of two verses with which the devatās first worshipped dūrvā grass, asking saubhāgya and offspring. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa tells it to Yudhishṭhira in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, with the Dūrvāshṭamī vrata of the Bhādrapada śukla ashṭamī.

The origin of dūrvā

When the devatās churned the Kshīrasāgara for amṛta, Bhagavān Vishṇu held Mandarācala against his thigh with his hand. Through the friction of its turning, hairs of Bhagavān Vishṇu fell into the ocean, and, thrown up by the waves, they arose as dūrvā, green, beautiful and auspicious. On that dūrvā the devatās set down the kumbha of amṛta, and by the touch of its drops the dūrvā became free of age and death, pure and honoured.

The prayer

On the śukla ashṭamī of Bhādrapada the devatās worshipped it with gandha, flowers, dhūpa, dīpa, naivedya, dates, coconut, grapes, wood-apple, orange, mango, bījapūra and pomegranate, curd, akshata and garlands, with these verses:

त्वं दूर्वेऽमृतजन्मासि वन्दिता च सुरासुरैः।
सौभाग्यं संततिं कृत्वा सर्वकार्यकरी भव॥
यथा शाखाप्रशाखाभिर्विस्तृतासि महीतले।
तथा ममापि संतानं देहि त्वमजरामरे॥

tvaṃ dūrve’mṛtajanmāsi vanditā ca surāsuraiḥ |
saubhāgyaṃ saṃtatiṃ kṛtvā sarvakāryakarī bhava ||
yathā śākhāpraśākhābhirvistṛtāsi mahītale |
tathā mamāpi saṃtānaṃ dehi tvamajarāmare ||

O Dūrvā, you are born of amṛta and honoured by suras and asuras; granting saubhāgya and offspring, be the accomplisher of every work. As you spread over the earth with branch upon branch, so give me offspring too, O ageless and deathless one.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 56

The phalaśruti

The wives of the devatās and the apsarās also worshipped dūrvā, and on earth Vedavatī, Sītā, Damayantī and other women worshipped it and each gained what she desired. The woman who bathes, worships dūrvā, gives sesame, wheat and the seven grains in dāna, feeds a brāhmaṇa and keeps this Dūrvāshṭamī with śraddhā gains sons, saubhāgya and wealth, and at the end goes to svarga with her husband and dwells there until the pralaya. The line of one who keeps it never fails, but grows like the shoots of dūrvā.

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 56