DIFFERENT KIND OF AUSTERITIES

Describing the various types of austerities, Lord Vishnu named a few of them-Yama (Restraining Passion)- his particu!ar austerity comprises of ten virtues- "e!ibacy, #orgiveness, $editation, ruthfu!ness, %onesty, &on-vio!ence, &ot stea!ing, 'ent!eness and (e!f contro!) &iyama (Dai!y Routine)- his austerity stresses the importance of purity* both of the body as we!! as of the mind) +t comprises of the fo!!owing activities* bathing dai!y, contemp!ation, observing fast, performing ob!ations, se!f study, abstinence, penance, avoiding anger, being respectfu! towards teacher and purity) $ahasantapan Vrata- his particu!ar austerity comprises of specific ritua!s re!ated with the usage of ,Panchagavya, (a mi-ture of cow mi!., curd, ghee, cow urine and cow dung)) /n the first day of the austerity a devotee shou!d have on!y mi!., on the second day curd, on the third day ,ghee,, on the fourth day ,gomutra, (cow urine), on the fifth day ,gomaya, (cow dung), on the si-th day he shou!d !ive on!y on ,.ushoda., (drin.ing water from a vesse! in which ,.usha, grass have been .ept) and on the !ast day of the austerity he shou!d observe comp!ete fast) Parna 0richchha Vrata- (eparate so!utions of ,Pa!ash, (1utea frondosa), ,'u!ar, (#icus g!omerata), ,0ama!, ( !otus) and ,1ae!, tree (wood app!e) are prepared after boi!ing the !eaves of respective vegetation mentioned above) /n the first day of the austerity a devotee shou!d have on!y ,Pa!ash, so!ution whi!e on the second day he shou!d have ,'u!ar, so!ution) /n the third day he shou!d have ,0ama!, so!ution whi!e on the fourth day he shou!d !ive on!y on ,1ae!, so!ution) /n the fifth day of the austerity he shou!d !ive on!y on ,0usha, grass so!ution and nothing e!se) his is the manner in which the austerity of ,Parna.richchha vrata, is observed) apta 0richchha Vrata- 2 person observing this austerity shou!d begin by having hot mi!. on the first day fo!!owed by tepid ghee and !u.ewarm water on the second and third day respective!y) %e shou!d observe a comp!ete fast on the fourth day) Pad 0richchha Vrata - his particu!ar austerity !asts for four days) /n the first day a devotee shou!d observe ,3.abha.ta vrata, (having food on!y once a day in the noon)) /n the second day he shou!d observe ,&a.ta, vrata (having food on!y once a day in the night)) /n the third day he shou!d brea. his fast by having whatever is avai!ab!e with him because anything that has been provided by others is strict!y prohibited) %e shou!d observe a tota! fast on the fourth day) 4hen a devotee observes these cyc!es of austerity for three times then it is ca!!ed ,Pra5apatya .richchhra vrata,) 2ti 0richchha Vrata - Ritua!s of this austerity is more or !ess simi!ar to that of Pra5apatya .richchhra vrata with a s!ight difference- here fast is bro.en with a handfu! of coo.ed food) 4hen this particu!ar ritua! is observed for four days then it is ca!!ed 2ti.richchha vrata)

0richchha 2ti.richha Vrata - /bserving the ritua!s of 2ti.richchha vrata for twenty-one days !iving on!y on mi!. and water is ca!!ed 0richchha.richha vrata) Para. Vrata- /bserving comp!ete fast for twe!ve continuous days is ca!!ed Para. vrata) "handrayan Vrata - +t,s an important austerity !asting for a month which commences on #irst day of the bright ha!f of a month by observing fast for the who!e day and brea.ing it in the night with one morse! of food) /n the ne-t day, i)e) ,dwitiya, one morse! of food is increased which means that instead of one morse! of food now two morse!s are ta.en) his way one morse! of food is increased on each of the fo!!owing days ti!! the fourteenth day (chaturdashi) when the fast is bro.en by having fourteen morse!s of food) 2 tota! fast is observed on ,2mavasya, (dar. moon)) /n the ne-t day i)e) first day of the dar. ha!f of the month one morse! is decreased which means that the devotee shou!d brea. his fast with thirteen morse!s of food) his way one morse! is decreased on each successive day ti!! ,chaturdashi, when a devotee brea.s his fast by having on!y one morse! of food) his is the way, how a "handrayan vrata shou!d be observed) 2nang rayodashi Vrata - his austerity is re!ated with the worship of Lord (hiva and commences on the thirteenth day of the bright ha!f of the %indu month $argashirsh and !asts for a year) +t conc!udes e-act!y after a year when ,Rati, and ,2nang, are worshipped with appropriate ritua!s) en thousand offerings are made in the sacrificia! fire) 1rahmins are fed and donations made to them) /ne who observes this austerity is b!essed with hea!th, wea!th and good fortune) 2.hand Dwadashi Vrata - his austerity is re!ated with the worship of Lord Vishnu) +t commences on the twe!fth day of the bright ha!f of the %indu month $argashirsh and !asts for a year consisting of three phases) /ne important characteristic of this austerity is that after four months, which is the first phase of the austerity, five vesse!s fi!!ed with food-grains are donated to 1rahmins) +n the second phase of the austerity consisting of four months and commencing from the %indu month "haitra, pots fi!!ed with parched grams are donated to 1rahmins) (imi!ar!y, in the third and fina! phase of the austerity pots fi!!ed with ghee are donated to 1rahmins) (hiva Ratri Vrata- his austerity is re!ated with the worship of Lord (hiva and a fast is observed on the fourteenth day of the dar. ha!f of the %indu month #a!gun) 2 devotee shou!d observe fast in the night and worship Lord (hiva by chanting ,/m &amah (hivay,) %e shou!d perform ,havan, with b!ac. sesame seeds and worship Lord (hiva at midnight, in the third and the fourth ,prahar, (one prahar e6ua!s three hour) with appropriate ritua!s) /ne who observes fast on this day gets a!! his wishes fu!fi!!ed and attains sa!vation as we!!) 2 devotee who observes (hiva Ratri fast for twe!ve successive years ac6uires .now!edge, wea!th, success and happiness) (uch a man a!so attains to (hiva !o.a after his death)

VIRTUES OF OBSERVING FAST ON SHIVA RATRI NIGHT

During ancient times there !ived a hunter named (undarsen in the province of 2rbuda) /ne day, he went deep into the forest in search of his prey but unfortunate!y he found none) %e wandered

a!! over the p!ace but in vain) 4hen evening came, he c!imbed up a wood app!e (1ae!) tree to protect himse!f from the wi!d anima!s) (undarsen was worried that his fami!y wou!d have nothing to eat that night) 3ngrossed in his contemp!ative mood, he .ept on p!uc.ing !eaves from the ,1ae!, tree and throwing them down) here was a (hiva!inga 5ust under the tree and the !eaves, which (undarsen threw, fe!! down on it) &e-t morning whi!e (undarsen was c!imbing down the tree, his arrow fe!! down) 4hi!e pic.ing up his arrow, he touched the (hiva!inga) (undarsen was unaware of the fact that it was (hivaratri night and he had worshiped Lord (hiva with appropriate ritua!s a!beit inadvertent!y-he had offered 1i!va patra to Lord (hiva and had touched the (hiva!inga) %e attained to (hiva !o.a on account of the virtues attained by his inadvertent worship of Lord (hiva)

THE POWER OF CHASTITY

/nce, sage Vyasa went to 1rahma!o.a to get his doubts c!eared on certain spiritua! matters from Lord 1rahma) 4hi!e dwe!!ing on a wide range of re!igious topics such as importance of austerities and various incarnations Lord Vishnu too. to protect righteousness, Lord 1rahma narrated a ta!e of a 1rahmin woman who possessed divine powers on account of her chastity) Lord 1rahma said--,During ancient times there !ived a 1rahmin named 0aushi. in Pratishthanpur &agar) %e was inf!icted with !eprosy but sti!! his wife was very chaste and faithfu! towards him) %is wife used to be on her toes attending to a!! his demands and !oo.ing after a!! his re6uirements) 1ut sti!!, he used to sco!d and abuse his wife at the first given opportunity without any rhyme or reason) %owever, his wife did not mind his behaviour understanding 6uite we!! the frustrations of a man suffering from dreaded disease !i.e !eprosy), /ne day, something happened which made 0aushi. e-treme!y angry and in a fit of rage he made an impossib!e demand thin.ing that his wife wou!d never comp!y by it giving him an opportunity to curse her to the satisfaction of his heart) (houting angri!y at his wife, 0aushi. said- 2ge has started showing effect on you) You don,t !oo. beautifu! as before) You have a!so started neg!ecting me) a.e me to a beautifu! prostitute so that + can satisfy my se-ua! urge) 0aushi.,s wife was deep!y hurt by his rude and unfair remar.s but she remained coo! and ca!m) 1eing a chaste and faithfu! wife she had no option but to obey her husband,s command) (o, she !eft for a prostitute,s house carrying 0aushi. on her shou!ders) he prostitute,s house was far and it became dar. whi!e they were sti!! on the way) 1ecause of dar.ness, 0aushi.,s wife cou!d not see sage $andavya, who in spite of his innocence was given a severe punishment by the .ing- he had been made to sit on a pointed cone which after having penetrated through his body had pierced even his s.u!!) 1ut, being a great sage, $andavya was engrossed in his meditation even in such a painfu! physica! condition) 7nfortunate!y, 0aushi.,s feet, which were hanging down the shou!ders of his wife, touched $andavya,s body) $andavya,s meditation was disturbed and he came out from his meditative !eve!) 2s a resu!t he became conscious of his unbearab!e physica! pain and cursed that whoever had disturbed his meditation wou!d not !ive to see the ne-t day),

0aushi. died the ne-t day but his wife, who had fu!! confidence in her power of chastity, .new that her husband wou!d be a!ive once again) (he cursed angri!y -- ,$andavya has a misconception about his power) %e thin.s that on!y he can contro! the natura! phenomena but perhaps he does not .now what feats a chaste woman is capab!e of performing) +ts my command to the (un not to rise from tomorrow onwards), 2nd indeed, the (un stopped rising from the ne-t morning !eading to catastrophic fa!!out) 3verything went haywire in the wor!d, which made the deities e-treme!y worried) hey came to me (Lord 1rahma) with a re6uest to revea! why (un had stopped rising) + to!d them that it was a!! due to the curse of a chaste woman and then + narrated the who!e story) + revea!ed to them that nobody e-cept (ati 2nusuya was capab!e of bringing bac. order in the wor!d) + advised them to see. the he!p of (ati 2nusuya who was famous for her e-ceptiona! chastity) (o, a!! the deities went to (ati 2nusuya and re6uested her to ma.e the (un rise so that everything became order!y in the wor!d once again) (ati 2nusuya agreed to !end her he!p in bringing bac. norma!cy in the wor!d) (he, by the virtue of her chastity not on!y made the (un rise dai!y but a!so made dead 0aushi. a!ive once again) (uch is the power commanded by a woman practicing the austerity of chastity) here are numerous e-amp!es of such women famous for their chastity and (ita was one of them) VIII. THE TALE OF RAMAYANA Lord 1rahma then went on to describe the famous ta!e of Ramayana the mere !istening to which abso!ves a man from a!! his sins) %e began by giving the detai!s of (ri Ram,s !ineage and said--,+ (Lord 1rahma) manifested from the Lotus originating from the nave! of Lord Vishnu) (age $arich manifested from me whi!e 0ashyap was $arich,s son) (urya manifested from 0ashyap, Vaivaswat-$anu from (urya and +.shava.u was born to Vaivaswat-$anu) he great 0ing Raghu was a!so the descendant of +.shava.u) Raghu,s son was 25a, whose son was Dasharath) Dasharath had three 6ueens-0ausha!ya, 0ai.eyi and (umitra) 0ausha!ya gave birth to (ri Ram whi!e 0ai.eyi was the mother of 1harata) (umitra had two sons-La.shman and (hatrughan) (ri Ram had great devotion towards his parents) (age Vishwamitra, who was tormented by the demons, too. (ri Ram and La.shman a!ong with him so that he cou!d do his penance peacefu!!y) %e assured Dashrath that he wou!d ma.e both his sons proficient in a!! the scriptures as we!! as in the usage of various weapons) 4ith great re!uctance, Dasharath a!!owed (ri Ram and La.shman to go a!ong with Vishwamitra) /nce in the forest (ri Ram assured his 'uru to do his penance without bothering about the demons) Vishwamitra commenced his penance and (ri Ram .i!!ed a!! the demons trying to disturb him) he names of few demons .i!!ed by (ri Ram were ada.a, (ubahu, etc) 8ana.a, the father of (ita had organi9ed a grand ,(wayamvar, ceremony to which he had invited a!! the prominent .ings of that time) %e had a!so sent invitation to Vishwamitra) Vishwamitra set out for 8ana.apur accompanied by (ri Ram and La.shman)

8ana.a had a huge bow gifted to him by Lord (hiva and which he worshipped dai!y with appropriate ritua!) /nce during the process of c!eaning the area where (hiva,s bow was .ept, (ita !ifted the bow and .ept it a distance) Later on she forgot to .eep it bac. at the origina! p!ace) 4hen 8ana.a came to worship the bow he was surprised to find it to be .ept at a different p!ace) %e made an in6uiry and (ita confessed that she had .ept it whi!e c!eaning the p!ace of worship) 8ana.a 5ust cou!d not be!ieve that his tender !oo.ing daughter possessed such strength and power) &o wonder he decided to give (ita,s hand in marriage to such a man who cou!d brea. (hiva,s bow) (o, he made a dec!aration that anybody capab!e of brea.ing (hiva,s bow cou!d have (ita as his wife) here were many mighty warriors present at the ,(wayamvar, ceremony but none had the strength to even !ift the bow what to say about brea.ing it) #ina!!y, as the destiny wou!d have !i.ed it, (ri Ram bro.e the bow into three pieces and thus married (ita) La.shman married 7rmi!a- another daughter of Dasharath whi!e 1harata and (hatrughan married $andavi and 0eertimayi respective!y, both daughters of 0ing 0ushadhwa5a) Later on, when Dasharath decided to crown (ri Ram as the 0ing of 2yodhya, 0ai.eyi p!ayed a spoi!sport and demanded her son-1harata to be made the 0ing of 2yodhya and (ri Ram to be sent into e-i!e for fourteen years) 2ctua!!y, 0ai.eyi had ta.en undue advantage of Dasharath,s he!p!ess condition to serve her own interest) /nce, Dasharath was busy fighting a batt!e ob!ivious of the fact that one of the whee!s of the chariot was about to e5ect from its a-!e as the nai! supporting it had fa!!en off) 0ai.eyi, who was a!so accompanying him, saved his !ife by preventing the whee! from fa!!ing off and thus maintaining the ba!ance of the chariot) 4hen Dasharath !earnt how 0ai.eyi had saved his !ife he promised to grant her two boons) 2t that time 0ai.eyi did not as. for any thing and mere!y said that she wou!d demand at the appropriate time) (o, when the time for Ram,s coronation came she thought it was the best opportunity for her to remind Dasharath about the two boons he had promised to grant her) Dasharath, bound by his deep !ove for (ri Ram on the one hand and by his vow on the other, agreed to 0ai.eyi,s demand with a heavy heart) (ri Ram without any hesitation fo!!owed his father,s order and !eft for the forest) %ow cou!d have (ita and La.shman !ived without him: (o, they too accompanied him to the forest) +n course of his 5ourney, (ri Ram passed by many ho!y p!aces and fina!!y after reaching "hitra.oot he made a ,Parna .uti, (hermitage made of !eaves) and started !iving there) he shoc. caused by (ri Ram,s separation proved to be fata! for Dasharath, who died with an unfu!fi!!ed desire of having a g!impse of his dearest son) 1harata, who at that time was at his materna! unc!e,s p!ace, returned to 2yodhya after hearing the news of his father,s demise and performed his !ast rites) %e then went to "hitra.oot and tried his !eve! best to convince (ri Ram into returning bac. to 2yodhya) 1ut, (ri Ram did not agree, as it was against his princip!e to disobey the commands of his father) (ri Ram gave his pair of wooden sanda!s to 1harata as a to.en of !ove and re6uested him to return to 2yodhya) 1harata returned to 2yodhya and .ept (ri Ram,s sanda!s on the throne) %e then stationed himse!f at &andigrama city situated at the outs.irts of 2yodhya and started ru!ing from there on beha!f of his e!der brother) %e had vowed not to return to 2yodhya ti!! the comp!etion of (ri Ram,s period of e-i!e)

#rom "hitra.oot, (ri Ram reached Danda.aranya accompanied by (ita and La.shman and started !iving in a hermitage made of !eaves) here they a!so met prominent sages !i.e 2tri and 2gastya) /nce an ogress named ,(urpana.ha, (Ravan,s sister) attac.ed (ri Ram but La.shman reta!iated by severing both her ears as we!! as her nose) (urpana.ha, bad!y in5ured and b!eeding profuse!y, went to 0hardushan and narrated her woefu! ta!e) 0hardushan attac.ed (ri Ram with a huge army consisting of fourteen thousand so!diers but !ost a!! his men in the batt!e) he revengefu! Ravan went to the hermitage disguised as a hermit and abducted (ita whi!e (ri Ram was away in pursuit of $arich-the go!den deer) 2ctua!!y, $arich was a demon, who had disguised himse!f as a go!den deer on the instruction of Ravan so that (ita cou!d be abducted successfu!!y) Ravan .new 6uite we!! that it was impossib!e for him to abduct (ita in the presence of (ri Ram) (o, he hatched a p!an according to which $arich was to disguise himse!f as a go!den deer and enchant (ita) Ravan was sure that (ita after being enchanted by the beauty of the go!den deer wou!d as. her husband to get it at any cost) 3verything happened as per the p!an of Ravan and he was successfu! in abducting (ita) 4hen (ri Ram did not find (ita in the hermitage he became worried and started searching for her frantica!!y) /n the way he met o!d 8atayu, who had got in5ured whi!e trying to resist Ravan from ta.ing away (ita) 8atayu informed him that Ravan had ta.en (ita towards south) 8atayu was so bad!y in5ured that he died soon after giving (ita,s information to (ri Ram) (ri Ram performed his !ast rites and continued with his search) %e proceeded towards south as per the instructions of 8atayu and reached ,Rishyamoo., mountain where he met (ugriva, whom he befriended) %e .i!!ed 1a!i, who harboured enemity against his brother- (ugriva) %e then made (ugriva the 0ing of ,0ish.indha, and himse!f went to !ive at ,Rishyamoo., mountain) (ugriva sent mon.eys in a!! directions to find out (ita,s whereabouts) %anuman went towards south and with the he!p of (ampati managed to find out the e-act !ocation where Ravan had .ept (ita) %anuman too. a giant !eap and the ne-t moment he found himse!f on the other side of the ocean) %e went to ,2sho. Vati.a, where Ravan had .ept (ita in captivity) %e presented the ring to her, which (ri Ram had given him) (ita, in turn gave her ,"hudamani, (ornament) and re6uested him to give it to (ri Ram) 8umping from one branch to another, hungry %anuman ate a!! the fruits and in the process destroyed the beautifu! garden) 4hen Ravan came to .now about the destruction caused in the beautifu! garden of ,2sho. Vati.a,, he sent many demons to capture %anuman) 1ut, a!! of them were .i!!ed inc!uding 2.shay 0umar, Ravan,s son) 7!timate!y, %anuman was made captive by $eghanad and produced before Ravan, who ordered his tai! to be set ab!a9e as a punishment) %anuman, with his tai! ab!a9e, 5umped from one pa!ace to another and burnt the go!den city of Lan.a within no time) %e then returned to his master (ri Ram and described everything in detai!) #ina!!y, (ri