MantraOnNet.com: Pratipad Fast
Brahma Said:-
Now I shall describe the mode of practising the
Vratas, which should be performed on the days of
the first phase of the moon, etc. A votary should
take a single meal on the day of the first phase of
the moon, and make the gift of a cow of the Kapila
species, the next morning. The Vratam is called S’ikhi
Vratam, the merit of which leads the performer to
the region of the Fire-God, after death. The Vratam
should be commenced from the month of Chaitra,
and the God Brahma should be worshipped with offerings
of perfumes, flowers, and flower-garlands. The wor-
ship should be closed with a rite of Homa, and the
votary should think himself as to have been already
possessed of the good he covets in life. A person
seeking personal beauty in his next re-birth, should
worship the god with the offerings of flower-gar-
lands, etc., on the day of the sixth phase of the
moon’s increase in the mouth of Kartika, and thenceforth
on the same day, each month, for a year. The S’ridhara
manifestation of Vishnu should be worshipped in the
company of his consort Lakshmi, on the day of the
third phase of the moon’s wane in the month of
S’ravana, Beds, bedsteads, and fruits, etc., should be
gifted to the Brahmanas at the close of the worship,
which should be conducted by reciting the Mantras,
which respectively run as, “Om, obeisance to S’ridhara;”
and “Om, obeisance to S’ri.” The God S’iva and his
consort Uma should be as well worshipped on the
third day of the fortnight in the month of Chatra.
Offerings of viands and Madanaka should be made
to the deities.
The Vratam, which should be commenced from the month of Chaitra, should be practised, for a year for the fruition of the end for which
it is undertaken. The God S’iva has given this in-
junction to his divine consort. A Vrati should form all
adjure the use of salt in his meals, on the day of the
third phase of the moon in the month of Phalguna,
and refrain from using any, for a year. The Vratam
should be closed by making gifts of beds and fur-
nished dwelling houses to the Brahmanas. A married
couple belonging to the same social order should be
sumptuously feasted on the occasion as the proto-
type of the divine man and wife, and addressed as,
“Be thou propitiated, 0 thou the consort of the god
of becoming, etc.” He, who performs the Vratam as
above described, in translated to the region of Gauri
after a prosperous career on earth. The different mani-
festations of energy such as, Gauri, Kali, Uma, Bhadra,
Durga, Kami, Sarasvati, Mangala, Vaishnavi, Lakshmi,
S’iva and Narayani, should be successively worshipped
on the day of the third lunar phase, each month,
whereby the performer would never know the pangs
of separation and bereavement. The Vrati should fast
on the day of the fourth phase of the moon’s in-
crease in the month of Magha, and give measures of
sesame seeds to the Brahmanas, taking nothing but
sesame water that day.
The Vratam should be per-
formed on the same day, each month, for a period
to two years, the rewared of its performance being
a peaceful and undisturbed life on earth. “Gah Svaha”
is the principal Mantram, which should be used in
the worship, and the rites of Shadanganyasa, etc.,
should be duly performed. The Gayatri Mantram sacred
to the god of this worship (Ganapati) reads as follows, “Om, let us know the long-eared deity; let us
meditate upon the Self of the god with protruted
lips, may the tusked-one lead us to do the same.”
Burnt offerings of sesame seeds should be made to
the god, and his divine cohorts should be likewise
worshipped as follows:?”Obeisance to Gana, obeisance to Ganapati, obeisance to Kushmand’aka, obeisance
to Amogholka, obeisance to Ekadanta, obeisance to
Tripurantaka-rupi.” After that, S’yamadanta, Vikaralasya.
A’haves’a, and Padmadanshtra, should be worshipped.
After that, the votary should laugh, and clap his
hands and dance round the divine image for the
propitiation of the god.
The reward of thus worshipping the god, for a year, on the day of the fourth
phase of the moon’s increase, each month, is erudition, opulence, fame, longevity and a large progeny.
The God Gana should be worshipped on a Monday
marked by the four phase of the moon’s increase,
and rites of Japa and Homa should be duly per-
formed thereafter, the reward of the performance being
an immunity from the calamities of the world, and a
glorious residence in heaven after death. By worshipping the god Vignes’vara on the day of the fourth
phase of the moon’s increase with offering of sugar,
laddukas and other articles of confectionary, a man
becomes the happy possessor of all earthly good
things in life. By worshipping the god with the offerings of Damanaka flowers, the votary is blest with
the pleasures of fatherhood. The God Gana may be
worshipped under the auspices of the fourth phase
of the moon in any month of the year by reciting
the Mantra which reads as, “Om, obeisance to Ganapati.”
The Mantra specifically sacred to the deity, should
be as well recited on the occasion; and libations of
clarified butter, cast into the fire, the reward of the
performance being an immunity from all earthly ca-
lamities and the enjoyment of all good things, which
this life can possibly offer.
The man. who worships
the image of the God Vinayaka and addresses him
in any of the following names, viz., the worshipped
one of the gods, the one-tusked deity, the god with
the protruted lips, the three-eyed or the three-mouthed
one, the blue-necked celestial, the large-bellied god,
the dreadful one, the lord (succourer) of distress, the
dusk-coloured deity, the young moon Vinayaka, the
lord of the Gangas and the elephant-faced one, attains to an elevated status after death, and becomes
entitled to the privilege of heaven in the capacity of
a liberated Self. The intelligent votary, who worships the true import of any or all of the above said
epithets, witnessess the relisation of all his heart left
objects.
The divine serpents Vasuki, Tahshaka, Kaliya,
Manibhadraka, Airavata, Dhritarashtra, Karkataka, and
Dhananjaya, should be bathed with clarified butter,
etc., in either of the blessed month’s of Shravana,
Bhadra, A’s’wina or Kartika and under the auspices
of the fifth phase of the moon’s increase. The ser-
pents named Ananta, Vasuki, S’ankha, Padma, Kamvala,
Karkotaka, Shankhaka, Kaliya, Takshaka, and Pingala,
should be worshipped in each month of the year. A
votary by worshipping these eight celestial serpants
in the light fortnight of Bhadra, is liberated from the
trammels of rebirth. The pictures of these celestial
serpents should be drawn on each side of the door
of the house under the auspices of the fifth phase of
the moon’s increase in the month of Bhadra, and the
household should invoke and worship the divine snakes
by name, in each of them. Milk and clarified butter
should be offered to the images of snakes on the
occasion, inasmuch as it would ward off the danger
of snake bites in the household. The Vratam is called
Dashtoddhara (prophylasis against snake bites) Panchami.