History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.411

v6.c81.411

The question as to the tithi on which the gods (and particularly Viṣṇu) went to sleep very much exercised the minds of the authors of Purāṇas and of the digests For example, the Vāmanapurāṇa (16 6-16) contains verses ²⁸¹ some of which may be summarised here; 'a person should arrange a couch in the form of the hoods of the snake Śeṣa for the lord of the world (Viṣṇu) on the 11th tithi of Āṣāḍha and offer worship; he should, being himself pure, seek on the 12th permission from brāhmaṇas invited, and should bring to sleep the Lord that wears yellow clothes'. Then the purāṇa proceeds to narrate how Kāma (God of Love) sleeps on 13th of Āṣāḍha on a bed of *kadamba* flowers, the Yakṣas on 14th, Śiva on the 15th (i. e. Pūrṇimā) on a bed of tiger-skin, then Brahmā, Viśvakarmā, Pārvatī, Gaṇeśa, Yama, Skanda, the Sun, Kātyāyanī, Lakṣmī, Lord of snakes, Sādhyas respectively go to sleep on the tithis of the dark half from 1st to 11th. The K. V. (p. 225) and Hemādri (on Kāla pp. 888–889) quote certain verses according to which Kubera, Lakṣmī, Bhavānī, Gaṇeśa, Soma, Guha, Bhāskara, Durgā, the Mātṛs, Vāsuki, sages, Viṣṇu, Kāma, Śiva are the lords of tithis from 1st to 14th for pavitrāropaṇa (i. e. giving the sacred upavīta to the gods) and for śayana.