Prayer to Rohiṇī and Candra
Rohiṇī Candra Prārthanā · rohiṇī-candra-prārthanā, “the prayer to Rohiṇī and Candra”
The prayer to Rohiṇī and Candra is the closing prayer of the Rohiṇīcandraśayana vrata, addressed to Śrī Kṛshṇa in the form of Candra, with Rohiṇī. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa teaches it to Yudhishṭhira in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, calling the vrata most secret and the giver of undecaying svarga. In it the image of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa is worshipped with the names of the moon.
The setting
The vrata is kept when a pūrṇimā falls on a Monday or in Rohiṇī nakshatra. The vratī bathes in water with pañcagavya and mustard, recites the mantra āpyāyasva 108 times, worships the limbs of Bhagavān Śrī Madhusūdana uttering the names of Candra, worships Rohiṇī Devī, wife of Indu, and sleeps on the ground. The flowers change month by month from Śrāvaṇa. After a year, golden images of Candra and Rohiṇī are set in a bronze vessel of akshata on a pot of milk and given with a bed, a white cow and a conch. A brāhmaṇa couple is honoured as Candra with Rohiṇī present, and the vratī prays to them.
The prayer
“Śrī Kṛshṇa, as Rohiṇī Devī does not leave your bed, you who are in the form of Candra, and goes nowhere else, so may I never be parted from these riches. Candradeva, you alone give all the highest bliss and mukti. By your grace may I gain both bhoga and moksha, and may my undivided bhakti in you always remain.”
The phala
For one who fears saṃsāra and seeks moksha this vrata is the highest. It gives beauty, health and long life and is dear to the pitṛs. A man who keeps it becomes ruler of the three worlds and dwells in Candraloka for twenty-one hundred kalpas; a woman gains the same and is freed from coming and going in saṃsāra. One who daily reads or hears this account of the pūjā of Śrī Madhusūdana through the names of Candra is given excellent understanding and goes to the dhāma of Bhagavān Śrī Vishṇu.
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 206