The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.117

v2.c17.117

11. *Śayana Caturdaśī Yātrā.* On the 14th of the waxing moon in Āṣaḍha (June-July) the whole day is spent in singing, music and feasting, and at midnight a small image of Śiva in silver and one of Pārvatī in gold are put reclining in a bed, and there kept to sleep for four months. This is a counterpart of the Vaiṣṇavite ceremony of *Śayana*, which commences on the 11th of that lunar month, and is emblematic of Viṣṇu's sleep on the primeval waters when nothing else was existent. The ceremony is commonly called *Cāturmāsyā* or the "quadrimensial fast", during which, as in Lent, pious people abstain from many of the comforts and conveniences of life, some abstaining from rice, some from the use of bedsteads, some from plates and dishes, getting their meals served on the bare earth. In Vedic times there was current a rite of this name which commenced from March or April and lasted four months. The Buddhist preserved the name, but changed the time to the middle of Āṣāḍha when the setting in of the rains rendered itinerancy impossible, and an asylum in a monastery unavoidable. The common name for this fast among the Buddhists was *Vassā* (*ante* I, p. [157]). The Hindus have since revived it under the supposition that [80] it is an observance in commemoration of Viṣṇu's sleep. Not to be outdone in any way by their Vaiṣṇava rivals, the Śivites have attributed a similar sleep to Śiva and his consort, and the following invocation from the *Ekāmra Candrikā*, requesting the couple to go to sleep, will give an idea of how the transfer has been made. "Thou art the father of the universe, and thou art its mother. By the sight of ye two, creation becomes sanctified. You two are the creator of the universe in the form of Brahmā and and Sāvitrī. In the form of Lakṣmī and Viṣṇu, you Maheśvara are the protector. In the form of Śiva and Umā, thou art the saviour of mankind. Do thou, O Śambhu, sleep on this bedstead along with Umā. By thy sleep, O lord of the Universe (Jagannātha), all mankind—all who have attained their wishes by thy sight, O Śaṃkara—will rest in peace."