Devibhagavatapurana 11.23.21
Devībhāgavatapurāṇa 11.23.21
- Language
- Sanskrit
11.23.21
kṣīrāhārī phalāśī vā śākāśī vā haviṣyabhuk |
bhikṣāśī vā japedvidvānkṛcchracāndrāyaṇādikṛt ||
One is to practise Krichchra chândrâ yana Vrata and to take for his food, milk, fruits, roots and vegetables, Habisyannam and food obtained by begging so that one may become sinless. One is to make japam for Puras’charanam. One is to avoid salt, salty or alkaline substances, acid, garlic, turnips, eating in Kâmsa vessels, chewing betels, eating twice, putting on impure clothings, the intoxicating things and the unsâstric nocturnal japam; also one is not to waste one’s time over blaming and trying to find faults with the relatives, playing at dice, or talking at random with one’s wife (so that evil effects may arise). One is to spend one’s time in worshipping the Devas, reciting the hymns of praise, and studying the S’âstras. One is to sleep on the ground, practise Brahmacharyam, and the vow of silence, bathe thrice, not practise anything which befits the S’ûdras only. One is to worship everyday, make charities duly and be always happy, recite stotras daily, do occasional Deva worships, have faith in one’s Guru and Deva. These twelve rules are to ensure success to the devotee who does Puras’charanam. One is to daily praise the Sun, with one’s face turned towards Him, do japam before Him; or one is to worship one’s own Deity in front of fire or the image of any god, and do japam simultaneously. The devotee who practises Puras’charanam is to bathe, worship, do japam, meditate, practise Homa, Tarpanam, is to have no desires and to surrender all fruits to one’s own desired Deity, etc. These are necessarily to be observed by him. Therefore while doing japam, Homa, etc., the devotee’s mind is to remain always pleasant and satisfied. One should be ready to practise tapasyâ, to see the S’âstras and be merciful to all the beings. As asceticism leads one to to heaven and to the attainment of one’s desires, therefore know this that all the powers come to an ascetic. An ascetic can cause another’s death (mâran); he can injure others, cure diseases and kill all. Whatever the several Risis wanted from the Devî Gâyatrî and to that end made Puras’charanam and worshipped Her, they obtained from Her all those things. O Nârada! I will speak of S’ânti Karmas etc., in a future chapter. Here I will speak of those rules, etc., that are to be observed in Puras’charanam in as much as they play the principal part to success.
First of all shave yourself and have your hairs and nails, etc., cut off and bathe and be pure. Then perform the Prâjâpatya prâyas’chitta for one’s peace and purification and next do the puras’charanam of the Gâyatrî. Do not speak the whole day and night. Keep your thoughts pure. If words are to be spoken, speak only what you take as true. First recite Mahâvyârhiti and then the Sâvitrî mantra with Pranava prefixed. Then recite the sin-destroying mantra “Âpohisthâ, etc.,” and Svasti matî Sûkta and “Pâvamânî Sûkta.” In every action, in its beginning and at its end one is to understand the necessity of doing the Japam, why and what for one is doing that.
One is to repeat the Pranava, the three Vyârhitis and Sâvitrî ayuta times or one thousand times or one hundred times or ten times. Then offer with water, the peace offerings (tarpanam) to the Âchârya, Risi, Chhandas, and the Devas. Being engaged in action, do not speak any impure language of the Mlechchhas or talk with any S’ûdra or any bad person. Do not talk with wife in the period of menstruation, with one who has fallen, with the low-class person, with any hater of the Devas and the Brâhmanas, Âchâryas and Gurus, with those who blame the fathers and mothers; nor show any disrespect to anybody. Thus I have spoken in due order about all the rules of Krichchhra vrata. Now I will speak of the rules of the Prâjâpatya Krichchhra, S’ântapana, Parâka Krichchhra and Chândrâyana.
Translations (1)
- The Sri Mad Devi Bhagavatam — Swami Vijnanananda 1921, English