Vrata
Encyclopedia
In the context of Hinduism
and Hindu mythology
, the term vrata (pronunciation: vrat or brat) denotes a religious practice to carry out certain obligations with a view to achieve divine blessing for fulfillment of one or several desires. Etymologically, vrata, a Sanskrit word (and also used in several Indo-European languages
), means to vow or to promise.
In Jainism, the vratas (elements of self control) form the core of the practical Jainism. The Jain monks follow the five Mahavrata
s (great vratas), while the laity follow the five Anuvratas (minuscule vratas). In addition, there are several common fasts which are also termed vratas.
A vrata may consist of one or more of several actions. Such actions may include complete or partial fasting
on certain specific days; a pilgrimage
(thirtha) to a particular place or places; a visit and darshan
and puja at a particular temple or temples; recitation of mantra
s and prayer
s; performing puja and havan
s.
According to Hindu scriptures, vrata assists the person doing the vrata to achieve and fulfill his desires as performing vratas are supposed to bring the divine grace and blessing. Sometimes, close relatives or family purohit
s may be entrusted with the obligation of performing the vrata on behalf of another person. The object of performing vrata is as varied as the human desire, and may include gaining back lost health and wealth, begetting offspring, divine help and assistance during difficult period in one’s life. In Ancient India
, vrata played a significant role in the life of individuals, and it continues to be practiced in modern times as well by a number of Hindus.
religious and ritualistic literature. Derived from the verbal root ‘vrn’ (‘to choose’), it signifies a set of rules and discipline. Hence ‘Vrata’ means performance of any ritual voluntarily over a particular period of time. The purpose is to propitiate a deity
and secure from it what the vrati, the performer wants. This whole process, however, should be undertaken with a sankalpa or religious resolve, on an auspicious day and time fixed as per the dictates of the Hindu religious almanacs called panjika
.
None of these disciplines are exclusive; they may be present in every vrata, in any combination.
or day is a ‘dina-vrata’. One lasting for a vaara or a paksha
(week or fortnight) is a ‘vaara-vrata’ or a ‘paksha-vrata’ as the case may be. One to be undertaken on a particular tithi
(a day according to the lunar calendar) or when a particular nakshatra
(asterism) is on the ascendant, is respectively called a ‘tithi-vrata’ or ‘nakshatra-vrata’. Most of the vratas now in vogue are based on the tithis of the lunar calendar.
(an aspect of God
) worshipped; for instance, Swarna-gauri-vrata is dedicated to Gauri
, another name of Parvati
Devi
. Likewise Vara-siddhi-vinayaka-vrata is for propitiation of Lord Ganesha
or Satya-narayana-vrata to Vishnu
known as Satyanarayana.
The 10th Canto, 22nd Chapter of Bhagavata Purana
, mentions young marriageable daughters (gopis) of the cowherd men of Gokula
, worshiping Goddess Katyayani and taking a vrata or vow, during the entire month of Margashirsha, the first month of the winter season, to get Lord Krishna as their husband .
(alien)! During the Vedic period sacrifices were strictly restricted to the men of the three upper castes called dvija
s meaning twice-born. The doors of the vratas were thrown open to one and all during bhakti
movement, thus bringing ritualistic Hinduism to especially the lower castes and women. They had been denied that privilege for centuries. Historically speaking, this might have been a master-stroke devised by the liberal-minded religious leaders of the Hindu society to prevent the exodus of their flock to the Jaina
and Buddhist folds, which were singularly free from the labyrinth of rituals and offered a simple religion of ethical conduct for the common public.
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology
Hindu religious literature is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Nepali and Indian culture...
, the term vrata (pronunciation: vrat or brat) denotes a religious practice to carry out certain obligations with a view to achieve divine blessing for fulfillment of one or several desires. Etymologically, vrata, a Sanskrit word (and also used in several Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
), means to vow or to promise.
In Jainism, the vratas (elements of self control) form the core of the practical Jainism. The Jain monks follow the five Mahavrata
Mahavrata
The Mahavratas are the five great vows Jain monks observe. They are:# Ahimsa # Satya # Asteya # Brahmacharya # Aparigraha...
s (great vratas), while the laity follow the five Anuvratas (minuscule vratas). In addition, there are several common fasts which are also termed vratas.
A vrata may consist of one or more of several actions. Such actions may include complete or partial fasting
Fasting
Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day , or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive,...
on certain specific days; a pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
(thirtha) to a particular place or places; a visit and darshan
Darshan
or Darshan is a Sanskrit term meaning "sight" , vision, apparition, or glimpse. It is most commonly used for "visions of the divine" in Hindu worship, e.g. of a deity , or a very holy person or artifact...
and puja at a particular temple or temples; recitation of mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
s and prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
s; performing puja and havan
Havan
Havanam is the term for a sacred purifying ritual in Hinduism that involves a fire ceremony. It is a ritual of sacrifice made to the fire god Agni. After lighting a Havan Kund , objects such as fruits, honey, or wooden goods are put into the sacred fire...
s.
According to Hindu scriptures, vrata assists the person doing the vrata to achieve and fulfill his desires as performing vratas are supposed to bring the divine grace and blessing. Sometimes, close relatives or family purohit
Purohit
Purohit in Indian religious context means a family priest, from Sanskrit , translated as: one placed foremost, from Puras meaning front, and hita, placed. Rajpurohit is a term used to denote a priest for a royal family or a king who was the authorized person that carried out rituals for the...
s may be entrusted with the obligation of performing the vrata on behalf of another person. The object of performing vrata is as varied as the human desire, and may include gaining back lost health and wealth, begetting offspring, divine help and assistance during difficult period in one’s life. In Ancient India
History of India
The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from...
, vrata played a significant role in the life of individuals, and it continues to be practiced in modern times as well by a number of Hindus.
Etymology
The Sanskrit word ‘vrata’ denotes ‘religious vow’. It is one of the most widely used words in the HinduHindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
religious and ritualistic literature. Derived from the verbal root ‘vrn’ (‘to choose’), it signifies a set of rules and discipline. Hence ‘Vrata’ means performance of any ritual voluntarily over a particular period of time. The purpose is to propitiate a deity
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
and secure from it what the vrati, the performer wants. This whole process, however, should be undertaken with a sankalpa or religious resolve, on an auspicious day and time fixed as per the dictates of the Hindu religious almanacs called panjika
Panjika
The panjika , is the Hindu astronomical almanac, published in Maithili, Assamese, Bengali and Oriya. In colloquial language it is called a ‘panji’. In other parts of India it is called a panchangam...
.
Vrata in the Puranas
The puranas denote various types of vratas.- ‘kayika-vrata’. It is a vrata pertaining to the bodyBodyWith regard to living things, a body is the physical body of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death...
. The stress is on physical austerity like fasting, remaining sleepless, taking baths and such other restraining activity in connection with one’s body. - ‘vachika-vrata’ or vrata pertaining to speech. Here much importance is given to speaking the truth and reciting the scriptures, both being a function of the organ of speech.
- ‘manasa-vrata’ or vrata pertaining to the mindMindThe concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different traditions, ranging from panpsychism and animism to traditional and organized religious views, as well as secular and materialist philosophies. Most agree that minds are constituted by conscious experience and intelligent...
. The emphasis here is on controlling the mind, by controlling the passions and prejudices that arise in it. - PayovrataPayovrataPayovrata is the vrata or penance observed by Goddess Aditi to propitiate Lord Vishnu.-Ritual Activity:It is usually observed for 12 days, and during that time the devotee subsists on a diet of milk alone...
- is the vrata or penance observed by GoddessGoddessA goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
AditiAditiAditi in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. In the Vedas Aditi is mother of the gods from whose cosmic matrix the heavenly bodies were born...
to propitiate Lord VishnuVishnuVishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
. This vrata is discussed in detail in the Bhagavata PuranaBhagavata puranaThe Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...
. http://vedabase.net/sb/8/16/en1
None of these disciplines are exclusive; they may be present in every vrata, in any combination.
Time based vrata
There are vratas again based on time. A vrata to be performed just for a dinaDina
Dina may refer to:*Sanskrit word meaning "day"*Dina , game by Bit Corp*Hebrew word meaning "judged"*Dina , Russian futsal club based in Moscow-Places:*The Massina Empire...
or day is a ‘dina-vrata’. One lasting for a vaara or a paksha
Paksha
Paksha , is a fortnight in a month of the Hindu lunar calendar. Literally meaning side or period, that is either side of the Full Moon Day or Purnima...
(week or fortnight) is a ‘vaara-vrata’ or a ‘paksha-vrata’ as the case may be. One to be undertaken on a particular tithi
Tithi
In vedic timekeeping, a tithi is a lunar day, or the time it takes for the longitudinal angle between the moon and the sun to increase by 12°. Tithis begin at varying times of day and vary in duration from approximately 19 to approximately 26 hours. There are 30 tithis in each lunar month, named...
(a day according to the lunar calendar) or when a particular nakshatra
Nakshatra
Nakshatra is the term for lunar mansion in Hindu astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 sectors along the ecliptic...
(asterism) is on the ascendant, is respectively called a ‘tithi-vrata’ or ‘nakshatra-vrata’. Most of the vratas now in vogue are based on the tithis of the lunar calendar.
Based on deity
Another classification is according to the deityDeity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
(an aspect of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
) worshipped; for instance, Swarna-gauri-vrata is dedicated to Gauri
Gauri
Gauri is an India musical raga that appears in the Sikh tradition from northern India and is part of the Sikh holy scripture called Sri Guru Granth Sahib Every raga has a strict set of rules which govern the number of notes that can be used; which notes can be used; and their interplay that has to...
, another name of Parvati
Parvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
Devi
Devi
Devī is the Sanskrit word for Goddess, used mostly in Hinduism, its related masculine term is deva. Devi is synonymous with Shakti, the female aspect of the divine, as conceptualized by the Shakta tradition of Hinduism. She is the female counterpart without whom the male aspect, which represents...
. Likewise Vara-siddhi-vinayaka-vrata is for propitiation of Lord Ganesha
Ganesha
Ganesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
or Satya-narayana-vrata to Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
known as Satyanarayana.
The 10th Canto, 22nd Chapter of Bhagavata Purana
Bhagavata purana
The Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...
, mentions young marriageable daughters (gopis) of the cowherd men of Gokula
Gokula
Gokula or Gokul Singh was a Jat chieftain of Sinsini village in Bharatpur district in Rajasthan, India. Later, he became a chieftain of Tilpat in Haryana. His father's name was Madu. Madu had four sons namely, Sindhuraj, Ola, Jhaman and Saman. The second son Ola later became famous as Gokula...
, worshiping Goddess Katyayani and taking a vrata or vow, during the entire month of Margashirsha, the first month of the winter season, to get Lord Krishna as their husband .
Impact on society
Who are the persons eligible to perform a vrata? Anyone who has faith in it and wishes to perform it as per the rules, even if the person be a mlecchaMleccha
Mleccha , also spelt as Mlechchha, people of foreign extraction in ancient India. Mleccha was used by the Aryans much as the ancient Greeks used barbaros, originally to indicate the uncouth and incomprehensible speech of foreigners and then extended to their unfamiliar behaviour...
(alien)! During the Vedic period sacrifices were strictly restricted to the men of the three upper castes called dvija
Dvija
Dvija is one of the members of the first three varnas in Hindu Dharma. Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas are included in Dvija.The first birth is physical. The second occurs when one uptakes fulfilling a role in society...
s meaning twice-born. The doors of the vratas were thrown open to one and all during bhakti
Bhakti
In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
movement, thus bringing ritualistic Hinduism to especially the lower castes and women. They had been denied that privilege for centuries. Historically speaking, this might have been a master-stroke devised by the liberal-minded religious leaders of the Hindu society to prevent the exodus of their flock to the Jaina
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
and Buddhist folds, which were singularly free from the labyrinth of rituals and offered a simple religion of ethical conduct for the common public.
Rules of vratas
Though the rules concerning the vratas had been very much liberalized to embrace as large a segment of the society as possible, there had to be some rules guiding the whole process in order to protect and preserve the sanctity of the ritual system itself. These may be summarized as follows:- During the period of the observance of a vrata, one should keep one’s person clean and pure, observe celibacy, speak the truth, practise forbearance, avoid non-vegetarian foods and scrupulously perform all the rituals connected with it.
- Once a vrata is undertaken, it should never be left unfinished nor a new one started before completing it. But, one should never start the observance while in ashaucha ceremonial impurity brought about by birth or death in one’s family.
- Persons too old or too sick can get the vrata performed for them by the close relatives if they are willing.
- Once the decision is taken to perform a vrata, the actual commencement should be made only as per the auspicious time, place and mode laid down by the books.
Further reading
- Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dallapiccola
- Vrata: Sacred Vows and Traditional Fasts, by M.N. Dutt. Cosmo Publication, 2003. ISBN 81-292-0018-X