How to observe Vaikunta Ekadasi?

Vaikunda Ekadashi fasting

Vaikunta Ekadashi, is the most important of the twenty four Ekadashi observances in South India. Fasting and all night prayer dedicated to Lord Vishnu is the main observance of the day. It is believed that venerating Lord Vishnu on Vaikunda Ekadasi will help to free soul from cycles of rebirth and grant moksha. Another important belief is that Vaikunta Dwara, the doors of heaven, will open on this day and give easy access to Lord Vishnu.

Those visiting Vishnu Temples like Tirupati or Srirangam on Vaikunta Ekadashi can pass through the Vaikunta Dwara, the door through the inner most sanctum sanctorum. In South India, Vaikunta Ekadashi is also known as Mokshada Ekadasi. In 2014, Vaikunta Ekadasi is on January 11.

How to observe Vaikunta Ekadasi?

Vaikunta Ekadashi falls on the eleventh day of Pushya Shukla Paksha.

Things needed for Puja and Prayer

• A picture or photo or idol of Lord Vishnu
• Fruits
• Tulsi leaves
• Betel leaves (optional)
• Betel nuts (optional)
• Yellow bananas
• Unbroken coconut (optional)

Observance

• Wake up early in the morning. Take bath and offer prayers.
• You can perform a simple puja to Lord Vishnu at home by offering fruits and Tulsi leaves.
• You can just light the lamp and prayer or meditate for few minutes – or the normal ritual you do daily. Only difference is that today it is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
• If there is a Vishnu temple nearby visit the temple and witness morning pujas and rituals.
• Complete fast or upavasam on the day is the main observance.

Fasting

Fasting for 24 hours. It is believed that a partial or total abstinence from food on Ekadasi is rewarded with bliss.

If you have any health problem or are taking medicines, please consult your doctor before deciding on fasting. You can also opt for a partial fast by avoiding food made of rice.

Do not eat food made from rice on Ekadashi.

Evening Prayers

• Take a bath in the evening.
• Repeat the morning puja to Vishnu
• Visit Vishnu temple and witness the evening puja and rituals.

Prayers for Vaikunta Ekadasi

• Vishnu Ashotharam
• Vishnu Sahasranamam
• Or Simple Chanting of – Om Namo Narayana
• No Sleep
• Staunch devotees who observe Vaikunta Ekadasi fasting do not sleep on the day. They spend the whole night at Vishnu temples or by singing prayers or listening stories dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

Next Day Morning

The fast is broken on the next day (Dwadashi) after taking bath. Offer prayers to Lord Vishnu by lighting a lamp and then you can break the fast.

Tulasi Vivah on Uthana Dwadasi

This festival comes on Shukla Paksha Dwadasi, in the month of Karthik. This happens to be the last day of chatur maasa . On Uthana Dwadasi day Lord Vishnu is supposed to get up from sleep. It is said that a year in a humans life is one day to the gods. On Uthana Dwadasi day Lord Vishnu is stirring from his sleep. There are some stories connected to this too.

How to perform Tulasi Vishnu Vivaha

• On this day, Saligrama puja is important and Tulasi puja. In most houses Saligrama puja is performed and brahmin couples are given festival food and Tulasi Vivah is performed in the evening. After food, this couple are given thamboola and a minimum of blouse piece if not sari and shalya is presented along with Kheer Dana.
• For the evening naividya, 4/5 different kind of laddus and sweets are made, and also a flavored milk boiled well with sugar saffron and cardomom added. Koshambari is also made.

• An arathi is prepared as follows. On a plain silver or pithal plate draw a rangoli design with honey using a matchstick or a new toothpick. Over this sprinkle some Gasagase (poppey seeds) all over and then gently tap out the extra gasgase. You will now have a beautiful decoration on the plate. Over this arrange 5 amlas and wicks soaked in ghee over the amlas. 
• For the Amlas in the Arati, make a dough with Haldi posder and water. Prepare equal sized balls and over this place the Amla and the wick soaked in oil. This will help balance the Amlas and prevent them from rolling over.
• Decorate the frontyard of the house with mango leaves and rangoli. 
• Decorate the tulasi vrindavan - draw rangoli in front of the vrindavan. If there no place in the back yard for this , one may keep the pot or a small vrindvan with a tulasi plant near the god, for the puja.
• In the Tulasi vrindavan a small branch of amla is kept, a few amlas have also to be in the branches. Keep a small idol of Krishna in the Vrindavan, next to the plant and perform puja. Light as many lamps as possible. 
• You will need to get ready the naividya, the arathi, sweet smelling flowers, a pair small garlands. 
• Decorate the tulasi and put a few abharana( jewels, like we would decorate a bride). Sing songs and stotras to Tulasi and Krishna and Lakshmi, nd perform the puja.
• After the puja and before the various arathis, offer to the Lord and Tulsi, a sari and blouse and pair of dhotis offer haldhi kumkum and on to plate do the offer Mangala Dravya for Tulasi, then the naividya and the arathis. Puja is to performed with haldhi kumkum etc as we perform Lakshmi puja.

Prayers for Tulasi Pooja

Tulasi Praathane namah tulasi kalyaaNi namo vishhnu priye shubhe |namo moksha pradaayike devi namaH sampatpradaayike ||

Tulasige Namaskara
Yanmule sarva thirthani yanmadye sarva devatha |yadagre sarva vedashcha Tulasi thvam namam mayham ||

Tulasi Dyana
dyayescha tulasim devim shyamam kamala lochanamprasannam panmakalhara varabhaya chaturbhujakiritahara keyura kundaladi vibushitamdhavalankusha samyuktam nishedushim

Tulasi Ashhtottara Shatanamavali 

Click here for Tulasi Ashtottara Shatanamavali in English and Kannada 

The second half of Ashwija maasa and Kartic maasa are the darkest months of the year. Before the times of kerosene lamps and electric lights, it would have been very difficult to sight a village. When lamps are lit and kept in front of the houses in the evenings and early mornings the travellers could easily sight the village.

Amlas are given importance, as the coming months are cold with fog, which will cause cold etc. Amlas are an excellent source of Vitamin C, a preventive for winter ailments in the olden days.

In places where a Amla tree is present, it is worshipped and revered. It is said that every house must have an Amla tree, a parijatha flower tree and a tulasi plant. Some even say that a house without a tulasi plant, is equal to cemetery.

Growing a tulasi plant is not at all difficult only it needs to be watered every day.The plant has also be planted in a fairly big pot or brindhvan, so the plant will space for the roots to spread.

Any plant for that matter is like child. take care of it and it will grow well. The plant also needs to kept in sunny place. In summer when it is very hot, it can be watered twice or shifted to a shade.

Do grow a tulasi plant where ever you are.

Lord Hayagriva

The incarnation of Lord Vishnu with a Horse Head

Hayagriva is an incarnation of Hindu God Vishnu with a horse head. The main purpose of this incarnation of Vishnu was to recover the Vedas, which were stolen by Asuras or Demons. In this incarnation, Vishnu is worshipped in a human body with a horse head. An important temple where the Hayagriva murti is worshipped is the Hayagriva MadhavaTemple at Hajo in Assam. 

In Hindu scriptures there are two important 

legends relating to the incarnation of Hayagriva. The origin of Hayagriva Avatar is dealt in the ‘Shantiparva’ of Mahabharata and the Puranas.

In one legend, Kashyapa Prajapati had a son named Hayagriva which means ‘one with a horse’s head.’ Through intense austerities he pleased Goddess Durga and attained the boon that he will only be killed by another Hayagriva. With this new found strength, Hayagriva started creating mayhem in the world. Devas approached Vishnu to rescue the world and he readily agreed. 

A terrific battle ensued between Vishnu and the demon. But with Goddess Durga boon to his aid, Hayagriva could not be killed. Vishnu left the battlefield to take rest. He went to Vaikunta and started meditating with his head supported by his bow. Devas were worried at Vishnu leaving the battlefield and entering into a long meditation. They looked out for ways to wake him up and finally sort the help of termites to eat away the bow.  While the termites were eating the bow, the string snapped and Vishnu’s head was severed. The entire universe trembled and Devas took refuge in Goddess Durga.

A smiling Goddess Durga – who knew what Vishnu was up to – asked the Devas to attach a head of a horse on Vishnu. Brahma did the auspicious deed and now Vishnu was Hayagriva. He went to the battlefield and fought demon Hayagriva and killed him.

In another legend, Lord Vishnu took the form of a horse and restored the Veda that was stolen from Lord Brahma by the demons Madhu and Kaitabha. As lord Vishnu took the form of a horse, this incarnation is called Hayagriva (the horse-head). After Vishnu created lord Brahma, he taught Brahma the all eternal Vedas. Once lord Brahma had mastered the Vedas, he was filled with pride that he was the only entity that had the knowledge of the all eternal and holy Vedas. 

Lord Vishnu thought otherwise and created demons Madhu and Kaitabha from two water drops on the lotus that he mounts. He then instructed them to steal the Vedas from Lord Brahma and hide it. Thus, Lord Brahma was in a fix that he was not able to save the holy and all eternal Vedas from theft and prayed to Lord Vishnu to do the needy. Lord Vishnu took the form of Hayagriva or Hayavadana and restored the all pervading Veda to safety, thus curbing the pride of Brahma. So the day of upakarma is also celebrated as Hayagriva Jayanthi. As the Vedas were restored on this day, Upakarma is performed on this day to mark a new beginning.

Hayagriva is also the name of an important Buddhist deity. An important temple dedicated to Lord Hayagriva is the HayagrivaMadhava Temple at Hajo in Assam.

Pushya Putrada Ekadashi

What is it? 

 

Ekadashi is observed as a spiritual discipline on the 11th day of each Paksha (half month), by Upavasa (fasting) either as repentance for sins committed or for gaining self-control. The time of observance of this ritual sometimes varies between the followers of Smarta, Vaishnava and Srivaishnava traditions, based on whether they follow the Siddhanta or Aryamana method of calculations. The Ekadashi during the month of Pushya is called Putrada Ekadashi.

Putrada Ekadashi (literally meaning ‘Ekadashi that is the giver of sons’) falls on the 11th lunar day of the fortnight of the waxing moon (growing) in the Hindu month of Pushya (December-January). This day is also known as Pushya Putrada Ekadashi, to differentiate it from the other Putrada Ekadashi in Shravana (July-August), which is also called Shravana Putrada Ekadashi.
Couples fast on this day and worship Lord Vishnu for a good son. This day is especially observed by Vaishnavas, followers of Vishnu.

A son is considered important in Hindu society as he takes care of his parents in their old age and by offering shraddha (ancestor rites), ensures the well-being of his parents in their after-life. While each Ekadashi is prescribed for a certain goal, the goal of having sons was considered so great that two Putrada (‘giver of sons’) Ekadashis are devoted to it.

The Legend

 

The Bhavishya Purana reveals the tale of Putrada Ekadashi as told by Lord Krishna to King Yudhishtira. King Suketuman ruled the city of Bhadravati. He had a wife called Shailya. They did not have a child of their own and were grieved by the absence of progeny for many years. They were worried, not only about the lack of a successor to the throne, but also as to who would offer Tarpana (oblations to ancestors) after their death.

Once, after many years of frustration, on the eleventh day of the month of Pushya, the King, without letting anyone know, rode off on his horse to the forest. He spent the day wandering amidst the heavy jungle and wild animals. Time, taking its lead, clocked afternoon and he felt thirsty and very hungry. In his search for food and water, he came across a small lake at a distance. On the banks of the Lake Manasarovar, he noticed an ashram residence of great Rishis. The King alighted from his horse and drank water from the lake. His left eye started fluttering. The King thought of this as a good omen. He bowed to each Rishi one after the other. On greeting, the King asked, “O Rishis, why have you all assembled here in this dense jungle?” The Rishis replied, “O King, we have come here for a holy dip in this lake. Today is Putrada Ekadashi. One who observes a fast (Vratha) on this day with complete faith to the Almighty achieves the fulfillment of any wishes one might have - people who will observe this fast will conceive a child”. On listening carefully to the discourses of the Rishis, the King felt very relieved and at ease. He had found the answers to his problems.

The King stayed the night with the Rishis and performed the Vratha of Putrada Ekadashi by fasting. He focused all his senses and thoughts to the devotion to God. The Rishis blessed him by saying, O King, “By performing the Vratha like you did, the Almighty will bless you with a child and fulfill all your desires”.

The King arrived back at the palace, next morning. As time passed, a beautiful son was born to the King and the Queen. The King was very happy and the palace rejoiced with the arrival of an heir, who grew up to become a heroic king.

According to the Purana, Krishna says to Yudhishtira - “One who performs the Vratha, reads and listens to the above episode, will achieve and be gifted with equal rewards as performing millions of Yajnya. It is believed that performing a Vratha on Ekadashi gives both spiritual rewards and resolves various social issues of devotees.”

In our next post, we will learn about the scientific significance of celebrating Ekadashi, and the Ekadashi recipes for a well rounded body, mind and soul.