MantraOnNet.com: The Vow of Monthly fasting
Now I shall describe the process of observing
the best of the Vratas of a month’s fast. 0 thou holy
sage, a man belonging to the orders of Yoti, or
Vanaprastha, as well as a widowed wife, should practise
the abovesaid Vrata, after having performed the sacrifice known as the Vaishnava Yajna. and obtained permission of his or her spiritual preceptor in that
behalf. The fast should be observed under conditions, laid down under the head of the Krichchha
Vratas described before, or otherwise as the observer
would be capable of.
The Vrata should be first un-
dertaken on the day of the eleventh phase of the
moon’s increase in the month of Ashvina, and thenceforth
the observer should go on fasting for thirty days
continuously, by reciting the following verses. “This
day forward I shall fast and worship thee, 0 Vishnu,
for thirty days continuously till thy wakening in the
month of Karticka. May this Vrata undertaken by
me, be deemed complete, 0 lord, in the ven of my
dying in the course of its observance or before the
day of thy wakening.”.
Each day, the practiser of the Vrata should thrice
bathe in the course of its observance, thrice worship
the god Vishnu with offerings of flowers and per-
fumes etc., recite the Gita sacred to the god, and
meditate upon his immutable self. He should give
up all profane talks, forego all pecuniary concerns,
keep himself aoof of the company of all men not
practising a similar Vrata, nor engage in conversation with the wicked and the evil-doers. The full
term of its observance (thirty days) should be spent
in a divine edifice, and the Brahmanas should be
feasted at its close, on the completion of the worship on the day of the twelfth phase of the moon.
Then the observer of the vow should pay remunera
tions to the Brahmanas and break his fast. A man by
practising the Vrata, as above indicated, becomes
entitled to enjoy the pleasures of heaven as an emancipated spirit, for the period of thirteen Kalpas.
The
ceremony, known as the Vaishnaba Yajna, should
be performed at the close of the Vrata, and gifts of
a pair of cloths, a metal pot, a seat, an umbrella, a
prepared holy thread, a pair of shoes and a Yogapatta,
should be made to each of the theirteen Brahmanas
invited on the occasion. A golden image of the god
Vishnu should be worshipped in a bed with clothes
etc. and a Brahmana should be addressed as follows
“Through the grace of Vishnu, I stand absolved of
all sin, 0 thou twice born one. I shall ascend the
region of Vishnu, and ultimately become merged in
the essence of that deity.” Then the Brahmana would
reply as follows- “Depart and Depart, 0 thou who
art wise with the wisdom of god. Go to the sinless
region of Vishnu, and stay there, shaped after the
image of that God.” Having thus addressed the Brahmana,
the observer of the Vrata, should make a gift of the
bed with the golden image, to his spiritual preceptor.
The practiser of such a Vrata, redeems the souls
of his relations, remove up to the hundredth degree,
and carries their souls with his ownself into the region of Vishnu. Even the country dwelt in by such
an observer of a month’s fast, becomes blissful and
sinless, not to speak of his Vandhus and relations.
Thickened milk and clarified butter may be safely
given to a penitent, falling down in a swoon while
observing the Vrata, without any fear of breaking or
vitiating his vow, since clarified butter permitted to
be taken by a Brahmana on such an occasion, does not detract its merit and since Vishnu, the maker of all medicinal remedies, pardons the guilt of taking fruits, edible roots, thickened milk and medicines administered by the preceptor is such an emergency.