History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.804

v6.c81.804

Āśvina amāvāsyā is a very important day. One should take an oil bath in the morning⁵¹¹ and perform the worship of Lakṣmī for the removal of *alakṣmī* (bad luck, penury) Some texts add that the barks of five trees⁵¹² should be boiled in water for the bath and the person should have lights waved before him by women. The Bhaviṣyottara (in chap. 140, verses 14-29) describes the celebrations on amāvāsyā at some length. Briefly it comes to this. In the morning one should take (an oil) bath, worship gods and pitṛs and perform the pārvana śrāddha with curds, milk, ghee and feed brāhmaṇas with various edibles. Then in the afternoon the king should proclaim in his capital 'today is the sovereignty of Bali; O people! enjoy yourselves'. People also in their houses should make merry with dance and music, should offer tāmbūla to each other and anoint their bodies with saffron powder, dress themselves in silken robes and wear gold and jewels, young women move about in groups wearing brilliant clothes, the houses should be full of rows of lamps, handsome maidens should cast rice grains about and the waving of lamps (nīrājana) should be resorted to which confers victory. Towards midnight the king should move about in the capital on foot to see the fun and charm of the festival and then return to his palace. When midnight is past and people's eyes are heavy with approaching sleep, the women in the city should create great noise by beating winnowing baskets and drums and should drive out alakṣmī (ill luck) from the courtyards of their houses. Hemādri (on vrata vol. II. pp. 348-349) quotes from Bhaviṣya certain additional items: 'no one except children or ailing persons should take a meal by day, one should worship Lakṣmī in the evening and should illuminate with treelike rows of lights shrines of gods, squares where four roads meet, cemeteries, rivers, mountains, houses, bottoms of trees, cowpens, caves. They should decorate shops where merchandise is bought and sold with white cloth and flowers, then feed brāhmaṇas and hungry persons in places surrounded by lamps and take dinner dressed in white garments and decked with ornaments. The Nīlamata-purāṇa calls this amāvāsyā night 'Sukha-suptikā' and describes it (verses 505–510) in the same way as Hemādri's quotation does⁵¹³ In Bengal Kālī is worshipped on this day, who it is said is both Lakṣmī and Sarasvatī In modern times this is a day specially for merchants and traders. On this day they worship their books of account, invite friends, customers and other traders and give them tāmbūla and some sweets. Old accounts are closed and new ones opened. There is a popular legend that Brahmā gave to brāhmaṇas rakṣābandhana (Śrāvaṇa Full Moon day) as their festival, Dasarā to kṣatriyas, Divālī to traders and Holīkā to Śūdras The night of the worship of Lakṣmī⁵¹⁴ is called Sukharātri, since Lakṣmī gives up her sleep on the amāvāsyā when the sun is in Lībrā (or Balance) and it is provided in some works that at the dawn of Sukharātri when the house is illuminated by lamps one should honour one's relatives with words of complimentary queries and worship Lakṣmī, that removes the taint of ill luck, with auspicious flowers, sandalwood paste, curds, yellow pigment and fruits The Kṛtyatattva quotes a verse "when there is 14th tithi in a portion of the day and there is amāvāsyā on the night of that day Lakṣmī should be worshipped and (that night) should be known as Sukharātrikā" and then gives an elaborate procedure of the worship of Lakṣmī. Some works such as the Varṣakriyākaumudī, Kṛtyatattva (p 452) and Dharmasindhu (p 107)