History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.391

v6.c81.391

It would now be proper to give a comparatively early but brief description of ekādaśīvrata The Nāradapurāṇa (Pūrvārdha chap 23 verses 12 ff) describes the procedure as follows—on the 10th *tithi* the man who has to observe the vrata should after getting up brush his teeth, take a bath, bathe a Viṣṇu image in pañcāmṛta and offer worship (of several *upacāras*) to it On the 11th, after bathing, he should bathe the image with pañcāmṛta and worship Viṣṇu with sandalwood paste, flowers and the like and repeat the mantra²⁶⁹ 'after remaining without food on the ekādaśī I shall, O lotus-eyed one, on the next day partake of cooked food; be you, O Acyuta, my refuge'. He should take no food, should curb his senses, should lie down in front of the Viṣṇu image, keep awake engaged in songs, music and dances relating to Viṣṇu and listen to stories about Viṣṇu contained in the Purāṇas On the 12th tithi, he should after a bath for himself, bathe the image with milk and then address the following prayer²⁷⁰ 'O Keśava! May you by reason of this vrata favour (me) who am blinded by the darkness of ignorance, may you turn your benignant face (towards me) and bestow on me the sight of knowledge'. Then he should feed brāhmaṇas and give them dakṣiṇā (gifts or fees) according to his ability After that he should perform his daily five sacrifices (brahmayajña, pitṛtarpaṇa, vaiśvadeva, bali and atithi-pūjana) and should himself take his meal along with his relatives and should observe restraint of speech when eating While engaged in the upavāsa-vrata, a person should never look at cāṇḍālas, persons guilty of grave sins, atheists, those that have violated the rules of proper conduct, those who engage in vituperations or back-biting; he should not speak with the husband of a vṛṣalī, with one who acts as a priest for those who are unfit for performing sacrifices, with one who worships images in temples for money, with one who subsists by practising the profession of singing or medicine (for money), with one who is a bard or one who is opposed to gods and brāhmaṇas or those who are fond of eating at others' houses and adulterers One who is engaged in upavāsa-vrata should be pure (in body and mind), should control himself and should be intent on doing good to all For the meaning of vṛṣalī, vide H of Dh vol. IV. p. 104 note 236 and p 394 note 881. Manu III. 152 provides that physicians and priests doing worship in temples for money are unfit to be invited at śrāddha.