History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.175

v6.c81.175

When a person undertakes a vrata he must see to it that he finishes it; for dire consequences are laid down for him who gives it up 'through heedlessness. Chāgaleya declares¹¹⁵ 'when a person, having first undertaken a vrata, does not carry it out, being led away by some desire, he while alive becomes (i e. is to be treated as) a cāṇḍāla and after death becomes a dog'. In such a case where through greed, infatuation or inadvertence a man is guilty of breaking his vrata, he has to undergo three days' fast and also shave his head and then begin the vrata (the remainder acc to Nirṇayasindhu, the whole of it acc to Śūlapāṇi). The Varāhapurāṇa states 'that man who undertakes a vrata on ekādaśī day but does not, owing to foolishness, finish it, reaches a very evil state'.