King Hadadhanva further inquired from the Sage Valmiki, “O saintly one, please tell me how to perform udyapana - the bonafide breaking of Purushottama vrata. Which rules and regulations should one follow? Which are the special days to finish one's vow of worship to Lord Shri Krishna in Purushottama month?” The great sage replied, “In Purushottama month, one can break his worship and vows on the fourteenth day, ninth day or on the eighth day of the dark fortnight. Early in the morning, one should leave his bed. After performing his morning duties, he should invite qualified brahmanas and give them charity according to his ability. If it is not possible to invite thirty brahmanas, one should invite five or seven according to his capacity. At mid-day, one should purify a certain area with cow dung and water. Then he should draw a round circle with the help of rice powder. He should bring four new pots and place them in the four directions with a coconut upon each of them. The pots should first be filled with water. He should then establish Lord Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha in each pot serially and invite four qualified brahmanas to sit inside the circle and chant the holy name of Krishna. By presenting new clothes, two sets for each brahmana, he should welcome them and humbly request them to chant the Holy Name. He should also present each of them a ring to wear. To purify himself, he should perform the purifying processes mentioned in the sastra. When the invited brahmanas are engaged in their chanting, one should start his worship to Lord Purushottama with his wife. He should engage the brahmanas to separately chant the names of Chaturbhuja (Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha) in the four corners of the circle. Four different lamps should be offered in the four directions. Then one should offer arghya. And while performing worship by giving arghya, one should chant the following mantra:
“O Supreme Lord! O Sanatana, O Purushottama, O Hari, I am paying my obeisances unto You. Please, along with Your beloved Radha, accept my offerings. I am paying my obeisances unto You, Shri Shri Radha Shyamasundara, whose bodily color is like a beautiful dark blue cloud and who wears effulgent yellow garments on His body most gracefully.”
“In this way one should pay his obeisances to Lord Purushottama. Then he should offer flowers (puspanjali) to Shri Radha Krishna and pay his full obeisances to the Lord along with his wife. Next he should give some charity to the invited brahmanas according to his ability. The brahmanas should be pleased to the best of his ability. He should also offer some new clothes and ornaments in the name of Lord Siva and goddess Parvati, and offer two pairs of new shoes to them.”
“The best of all kinds of charity is to present Shrimad Bhagavatam to a qualified brahmana. By presenting Shrimad Bhagavatam, which is the literary incarnation of Lord Purushottama, to a Vaishnava devotee of the Lord, one can deliver his forefathers for one crore of lifetime's succession. All his forefathers will attain Goloka Dhama and live blissfully with Lord Purushottama! After performing the above concluding ceremonies and worship, one should break his vows and worship.”
Sage Valmiki then said, “Now I will explain how to avoid the reaction of offenses committed during the Purushottama month. One should feed some qualified brahmanas and present them some gold to nullify his reactions at the end of the Purushottama month. If one has taken his meal on Amavasya day, he should present cows along with other daksina to qualified brahmanas. One who has not taken his bath properly in a holy place should present some milk and curd to brahmanas. If someone eats fruits, oil or ghee during Purushottama month, then he should give the same in charity to brahmanas at the end of Purushottama month. If someone eats rice and wheat, he should give the same in charity at the end of the month. If someone sleeps on the floor during Purushottama month, he should break his vow by presenting in charity a nice bed along with a pillow to a worthy brahmana.”
“A person who eats on leaf plates during Purushottama month should feed some brahmanas with ghee and sugar. One who did not cut his nails and hair during Purushottama month should give a mirror in charity to a brahmana. One who has offered lamps throughout the month should give some new lamps and new pots in charity to brahmanas. A person who broke any of the rules during the Purushottama month should feed brahmanas with different kinds of sweet juice. Anyone who thus observes Purushottama month in a faithful and devotional way will attain Goloka at the end of his life.”
Having narrated everything about Purushottama month. Sage Valmiki then told King Hadadhanva, “O King, now I am going to the river Sarayu to take a bath.” The king then worshiped him in a very submissive way to please him. After blessing the king with all good fortune, Sage Valmiki left that place for Sarayu. When Sage Valmiki left the palace, the king along with his queen left his kingdom and started to live in a simple and peaceful way in the forest. When the sacred month Purushottama appeared, both husband and wife performed their worship exactly as they had heard of it from Sage Valmiki. At the end of Purushottama month, a celestial airplane came to carry King Hadadhanwa and his queen to Goloka!
Comments
Post a Comment