Different Kind Of Austerities

YAMA (RESTRAINING PASSION)- This particular austerity comprises of ten virtues- Celibacy, Forgiveness, Meditation, Truthfulness, Honesty, Non-violence, Not stealing, Gentleness and Self control.

NIYAMA (DAILY ROUTINE)- This austerity stresses the importance of purity: both of the body as well as of the mind. It comprises of the following activities: bathing daily, contemplation, observing fast, performing oblations, self study, abstinence, penance, avoiding anger, being respectful towards teacher and purity.

MAHASANTAPAN VRATA- This particular austerity comprises of specific rituals related with the usage of ‘Panchagavya’(a mixture of cow milk, curd, ghee, cow urine and cow dung). On the first day of the austerity a devotee should have only milk, 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 sixth day he should live only on ‘kushodak’( drinking water from a vessel in which ‘kusha’ grass have been kept) and on the last day of the austerity he should observe complete fast.

PARNA KRICHCHHA VRATA- Separate solutions of ‘Palash’(Butea frondosa), ‘Gular’(Ficus glomerata), ‘Kamal’( lotus) and ‘Bael’ tree (wood apple) are prepared after boiling the leaves of respective vegetation mentioned above. On the first day of the austerity a devotee should have only ‘Palash’ solution while on the second day he should have ‘Gular’ solution. On the third day he should have ‘Kamal’ solution while on the fourth day he should live only on ‘Bael’ solution. On the fifth day of the austerity he should live only on ‘Kusha’ grass solution and nothing else. This is the manner in which the austerity of ‘Parnakrichchha vrata’ is observed.

TAPTA KRICHCHHA VRATA- A person observing this austerity should begin by having hot milk on the first day followed by tepid ghee and lukewarm water on the second and third day respectively. He should observe a complete fast on the fourth day.

PAAD KRICHCHHA VRATA- This particular austerity lasts for four days. On the first day a devotee should observe ‘Ekabhakta vrata’(having food only once a day in the noon). On the second day he should observe ‘Nakta’ vrata(having food only once a day in the night). On the third day he should break his fast by having whatever is available with him because anything that has been provided by others is strictly prohibited. He should observe a total fast on the fourth day. When a devotee observes these cycles of austerity for three times then it is called ‘Prajapatya krichchhra vrata’.

ATI KRICHCHHA VRATA- Rituals of this austerity is more or less similar to that of Prajapatya krichchhra vrata with a slight difference- here fast is broken with a handful of cooked food. When this particular ritual is observed for four days then it is called Atikrichchha vrata.

KRICHCHHA ATIKRICHHA VRATA- Observing the rituals of Atikrichchha vrata for twenty-one days living only on milk and water is called Krichchhakrichha vrata.

PARAK VRATA- Observing complete fast for twelve continuous days is called Parak vrata.

CHANDRAYAN VRATA- It’s an important austerity lasting for a month which commences on First day of the bright half of a month by observing fast for the whole day and breaking it in the night with one morsel of food. On the next day, i.e. ‘dwitiya’ one morsel of food is increased which means that instead of one morsel of food now two morsels are taken. This way one morsel of food is increased on each of the following days till the fourteenth day (chaturdashi) when the fast is broken by having fourteen morsels of food. A total fast is observed on ‘Amavasya’ (dark moon). On the next day i.e. first day of the dark half of the month one morsel is decreased which means that the devotee should break his fast with thirteen morsels of food. This way one morsel is decreased on each successive day till ‘chaturdashi’ when a devotee breaks his fast by having only one morsel of food. This is the way, how a Chandrayan vrata should be observed.

ANANG TRAYODASHI VRATA- This austerity is related with the worship of Lord Shiva and commences on the thirteenth day of the bright half of the Hindu month Margashirsh and lasts for a year. It concludes exactly after a year when ‘Rati’ and ‘Anang’ are worshipped with appropriate rituals. Ten thousand offerings are made in the sacrificial fire. Brahmins are fed and donations made to them. One who observes this austerity is blessed with health, wealth and good fortune.

AKHAND DWADASHI VRATA- This austerity is related with the worship of Lord Vishnu. It commences on the twelfth day of the bright half of the Hindu month Margashirsh and lasts for a year consisting of three phases. One important characteristic of this austerity is that after four months, which is the first phase of the austerity, five vessels filled with food-grains are donated to Brahmins. In the second phase of the austerity consisting of four months and commencing from the Hindu month Chaitra, pots filled with parched grams are donated to Brahmins. Similarly, in the third and final phase of the austerity pots filled with ghee are donated to Brahmins.

SHIVA RATRI VRATA- This austerity is related with the worship of Lord Shiva and a fast is observed on the fourteenth day of the dark half of the Hindu month Falgun. A devotee should observe fast in the night and worship Lord Shiva by chanting ‘Om Namah Shivay’. He should perform ‘havan’ with black sesame seeds and worship Lord Shiva at midnight, in the third and the fourth ‘prahar’(one prahar equals three hour) with appropriate rituals. One who observes fast on this day gets all his wishes fulfilled and attains salvation as well. A devotee who observes Shiva Ratri fast for twelve successive years acquires knowledge, wealth, success and happiness. Such a man also attains to Shiva loka after his death.

VIRTUES OF OBSERVING FAST ON SHIVA RATRI NIGHT- During ancient times there lived a hunter named Sundarsen in the province of Arbuda. One day, he went deep into the forest in search of his prey but unfortunately he found none. He wandered all over the place but in vain. When evening came, he climbed up a wood apple (Bael) tree to protect himself from the wild animals. Sundarsen was worried that his family would have nothing to eat that night. Engrossed in his contemplative mood, he kept on plucking leaves from the ‘Bael’ tree and throwing them down. There was a Shiva linga just under the tree and the leaves, which Sundarsen threw, fell down on it.

Next morning while Sundarsen was climbing down the tree, his arrow fell down. While picking up his arrow, he touched the Shiva linga. Sundarsen was unaware of the fact that it was Shivaratri night and he had worshiped Lord Shiva with appropriate rituals albeit inadvertently-he had offered Bilva patra to Lord Shiva and had touched the Shiva linga. He attained to Shiva loka on account of the virtues attained by his inadvertent worship of Lord Shiva.

THE POWER OF CHASTITY- Once, sage Vyas went to Brahmaloka to get his doubts cleared on certain spiritual matters from Lord Brahma. While dwelling on a wide range of religious topics such as importance of austerities and various incarnations Lord Vishnu took to protect righteousness, Lord Brahma narrated a tale of a Brahmin woman who possessed divine powers on account of her chastity. Lord Brahma said-

‘ During ancient times there lived a Brahmin named Kaushik in Pratishthanpur Nagar. He was inflicted with leprosy but still his wife was very chaste and faithful towards him. His wife used to be on her toes attending to all his demands and looking after all his requirements. But still, he used to scold and abuse his wife at the first given opportunity without any rhyme or reason. However, his wife did not mind his behaviour understanding quite well the frustrations of a man suffering from dreaded disease like Leprosy.’

One day, something happened which made Kaushik extremely angry and in a fit of rage he made an impossible demand thinking that his wife would never comply by it giving him an opportunity to curse her to the satisfaction of his heart. Shouting angrily at his wife, Kaushik said- Age has started showing effect on you. You don’t look beautiful as before. You have also started neglecting me. Take me to a beautiful prostitute so that I can satisfy my sexual urge.

Kaushik’s wife was deeply hurt by his rude and unfair remarks but she remained cool and calm. Being a chaste and faithful wife she had no option but to obey her husband’s command. So, she left for a prostitute’s house carrying Kaushik on her shoulders.

The prostitute’s house was far and it became dark while they were still on the way. Because of darkness, Kaushik’s wife could not see sage Mandavya, who in spite of his innocence was given a severe punishment by the king- he had been made to sit on a pointed cone which after having penetrated through his body had pierced even his skull. But, being a great sage, Mandavya was engrossed in his meditation even in such a painful physical condition. Unfortunately, Kaushik’s feet, which were hanging down the shoulders of his wife, touched Mandavya’s body. Mandavya’s meditation was disturbed and he came out from his meditative level. As a result he became conscious of his unbearable physical pain and cursed that whoever had disturbed his meditation would not live to see the next day.’

Kaushik died the next day but his wife, who had full confidence in her power of chastity, knew that her husband would be alive once again. She cursed angrily – ‘ Mandavya has a misconception about his power. He thinks that only he can control the natural phenomena but perhaps he does not know what feats a chaste woman is capable of performing. Its my command to the Sun not to rise from tomorrow onwards.’

And indeed, the Sun stopped rising from the next morning leading to catastrophic fallout. Everything went haywire in the world, which made the deities extremely worried. They came to me (Lord Brahma) with a request to reveal why Sun had stopped rising. I told them that it was all due to the curse of a chaste woman and then I narrated the whole story. I revealed to them that nobody except Sati Anusuya was capable of bringing back order in the world. I advised them to seek the help of Sati Anusuya who was famous for her exceptional chastity. So, all the deities went to Sati Anusuya and requested her to make the Sun rise so that everything became orderly in the world once again. Sati Anusuya agreed to lend her help in bringing back normalcy in the world. She, by the virtue of her chastity not only made the Sun rise daily but also made dead Kaushik alive once again. Such is the power commanded by a woman practicing the austerity of chastity. There are numerous examples of such women famous for their chastity and Sita was one of them.