The Sankranti in Ashadha masa is the ingress of Sun to cancer (karkataka) and marks the beginning of Dakshinayana (south ward travel of Sun). Thirty Ghatis prior to ingress is Punyakala. The time closer to ingress is all the more holy. For Sankranti near midnight, previous day is Punyakala and there afternoon hours are considered more holy. In case of ingress within two hours of sunrise, next day is Punyakala. Some astrology books specify next day Punyakala, for ingress up to three hours before sunrise. The charities for this sankranti is Ghrutadhenu . Hair cutting is prohibited when Sun traverses the signs of Cancer, Virgo, Sagittarius and Aquarius. Observing ekabhakta (eating only once in a day) for whole of ashadha month bestows wealth, food and progeny. Daanam of Umbrellas, Sandals, Salt and gooseberries to Brahmans and needy pleases lord Vamana. The world renowned Rathyatra of Lord Jagannatha of Puri is held on Ashadha Sukla Dwitiya with Pushya nakshatra. The bright Dasami and pournamasi of Ashadha month are manvadi tithis.
The Sayana Utsava of Lord Mahavishnu
Ashadha sukla ekadasi is celebrated as Sayana ekadasi. This is the day when Lord Vishnu goes to bed. An idol of Sri Mahavishnu adorned with Conch, Chakra, gada , Lotus, ornaments and Sri Lakshmi sitting at his feet shall be kept resting on a decorated and well laid out bed. Puja shall be performed with all the prescribed upacharas. The prayer to Vishnu is “O Lord of the three worlds, when you sleep, the whole world shall sleep, when you are awake, all the moving and non moving things in the worlds can be awake (functional)”. Fasting and vigil are observed in the night of Ekadasi as per ones capacity. Puja shall be performed again on Dwadasi and on Trayodasi. Therefore this is a Vrata accomplished in three days. Smarthas and Vaishnavas shall begin the Vrata as per their Ekadasi and do sayanotsav on Ekadasi night, Waking up festival is in the day. Breaking fast shall be on Dwadasi. Fast breaking shall be done on Dwadasi without Anuradha nakshatra.
Beginning of Chaturmasya Vratam
Chaturmsya Vrata commences from the evening of Dwadasi. After breaking fast in the day, worship Vishnu in the evening and do the sankalpa for beginning of Chaturmasya. When starting for the first time, combust periods of Guru, Sukra shall be avoided. When continuing year after year such restrictions are not followed. Saivites may also observe Chaturmasya.
After performing Puja for Mahavishnu using fragrant flowers and with the prayer, the samkalpa shall be done as : “for the four months of the year, till you wake up O Lord, I shall refrain using green vegetables in Sravana and Curd (yoghurt) in Bhadrapada. I shall give up milk in Aswina and pulses in Kartika months. Bless me to successfully complete this resolution”. Offfer Arghya with a conch. This is a Nitya Vrata.
In case of selecting some other material for abstinence, appropriate words shall be used like Sugar, oils in place of “ green vegetables” or additional resolves like “I shall practice yogabhyasa” or “I shall maintain silence” , “I shall live in isolation” etc can also be done.
Prohibited materials during Chaturmasya
Eight food materials which are meat or equal to meat : Lime made of seashells, Water collected in leather container, Lemon, guava, Rice other than cooked for a yajna, rice not offered to a deity, Burnt food, Masoor dal, Meat in any form. Nishpava (Thattapayaru, karamani),Full Urad, Greens cooked with salt, Brinjal (ordinary violet coloured), Green long brinjal, Fruits without seeds, Radish, (both white and red), white pumpkin, Sugarcane, fresh jujube (elandai), Fresh gooseberry, Tamarind fruit are to be avoided in fruits and vegetables. Sleeping on a raised bed, intercourse with one’s wife other than required for progeny are prohibited. Food prepared by others of not one’s own household (i.e, from restaraunts or hotels), alcohol in any form, honey, Horse gram, white mustard and pointed gourd (parval) are to be avoided. Many old books prescribe that true Vaishnavas shall avoid brinjals, (violet and green), bel (Bengal quince, Bilva) and figs always. Those who eat only rice which is offered in Yaga or puja for the whole of four months are relieved of sins. Rice, Moong (whole and broken) , Barley, Sesame, foxtail millet, peas, barnyard millet, wheat, yams, sea salt, cows milk, curd, ghee, jackfruit, coconut, turmeric, long pepper, jeera (coriander, dried ginger, old tamarind, banana, preserved gooseberry and sugarcane products are all permitted foods.
Chaturmasya vrata for fulfilling desires
During the four months of chaturmasya vrata, abstaining from sugar and jaggery bestows sweet voice, giving up oil gives beautiful looks. Those who perform yoga exercises, reach the world of Brahma. Giving up eating of betel leaf gives sweet voice and gives comfort in life. Abstaining from ghee gives smooth complexion. Those who give up vegetables get life-long cooked food. The body gets fragrance if oil on feet is avoided. The world of Vishnu will be obtained by those who give up milk, curd and buttermilk. Those desirous of long living progeny shall give up cooked food. He who sleeps on the floor spreading kusa grass becomes a direct servant of Lord Vishnu. Eating on the ground will give one kingdom, giving up meat and alcohol completely will make one a sage. One who does fasting on alternate days shall attain Brahmaloka. The result of having a daily Gangasnan is achieved by not cutting hair and nails and relieves one of the guilt of breaking silence. Daily prostration to Vishnu shall give the effect of donating a cow. Cleaning the temple of Vishnu will bestow one a kingdom and a hundred circumambulations will grant Vishnuloka. One who eats only once a day shall get the result of doing Agnihotra . Eating out of plant leaves is granting the effect of visiting Kurukshetra and eating only during the sixth part of the day grants heaven. One who eats on a stone plate shall get the result of bath in Prayag. Such resolutions to observe the 4 months penance shall be done on Ekadasi or Dwadasi day. The end of chaturmasya is on Kartik Pournamasi day and the procedure and charities are explained under the head Kartik Masa in a succeeding session.
Vamana puja is done on Ashad shukla dwadasi which is considered as great as performing Naramedi yagna. When the Pournamasi of Ashada falls on Purvashada nakshatra, charity of rice (cooked or raw) to the needy shall grant the boon of a filled granary in one’s house. When Pournamasi is at sunset time, sayanotsava of Lord Mahadeva is celebrated. This Pournamasi is also the date of Kokila vrata. Kokila vrata is done for a month in which daily worship of Devi as Kokila is done before eating in the night. Strict celibacy is maintained. Wearing of sacred thread (Pavitraropan) for Lord Shiva is done on ashad purnima or shravan purnima. Sanyasis shall do shaving and hair cutting on this Pournamasi and stay in one place only for four months then on. Vyasa puja is done on this day, when pournami is spread for at least 6 ghatis at sunrise and for the subsequent 4 months sanyasis shall not do shaving, hair cutting and shall stay in one place.
Sanyasis in chaturmasya
The concise procedure of sanyasis in chaturmasya is given below:
The sankalpa starts with the worship of Srikrishna, Vyasa and other saints with the utterance of time, place etc and resolve of staying for four months. The arrangement of deities shall be Srikrishna in middle, Vasudeva in the east, Balarama in the south, Pradyumna in the west and Aniruddha in the north. South of these 5 deities is Sri Vyasa in the middle, Sumanthu in the east, Jaimani in the south, Vaishampayana in the west and Paila in the north. On the left side of Krishna and others Sri Sankaracharya shall be installed and around him Padmapada in the east, Viswaroopa in the south, Totaka in the west and Hastamalaka in the north. On the side of Srikrishna is Brahma and Mahadev and around them Sanaka and other sages. In the front is to be kept the guru, guru’s guru (parama guru), his guru (parameshti guru), Vashista, Shakti, Parasara, Sukadeva, Goudapada and Govindapada. On the south east Lord Ganesha shall be placed, in the north east Kshetrapala, North West Durga and in the South West Saraswathi. Then the eight Dikpalas are invoked in all the eight directions. Puja of all deities and gurus are done with their respective names preceeded by Om and succeeded by Namaha. Then the resolution of staying in one place for the benefit of all people is uttered. The grihasti (host) shall accept to do necessary hospitality. The householders in order of seniority shall prostrate to the sanyasis and if other sanyasis are present they will also prostrate. If this is not done on pournami, it can be done on dwadasi also.
The dark Dwitiya of ashada is called ashunya sayana vrita. On this day Vishnu and Lakshmi placed on a cot is worshipped. This is said to remove relational problem and separation of husband and wife. After the puja, arghya is offered to Moon and then dinner is taken. This shall be done on each dark Dwitiya for four months and then mattress and bed material shall be given in charity to Brahmins. This bestows domestic peace, happiness and removes all fear of separation of couple. Since the puja is done at moonrise, the thithi shall be at moonrise preferably.