Chapter 65 - Cāturmāsya Vow to be Concluded Properly

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Nārada said:

1. O lord, tell me about bringing to the conclusion the vows in the Cāturmāsya. (For) when the vows are (properly) concluded, everything certainly becomes complete.

Mahādeva said:

2-20. If, O magnanimous one, he who observes a vow, does not bring it to the (proper) conclusion, then he would not get the proper fruit. He, having had a deficiency in the vow becomes a leper or blind. For this reason, (a man) should bring the vow to (proper) conclusion. Having accepted these vows and observed them duly, he should go to a brāhmaṇa after Viṣṇu who had slept, gets up. He should, duly and in detail, apologise to the god of gods. If he had avoided (the use of) oil during the Cāturmāsya, he should give ghee (to a brāhmaṇa); and if he had avoided (using) ghee (during the Cāturmāsya) he should offer milk (to a brāhmaṇa). After observing silence he should give sesamum-seeds to a brāhmaṇa. If (he had avoided) meal (in the Cāturmāsya) he should offer a meal rich in curd and rice to a brāhmaṇa. He should especially give food along with gold. O best sage, by giving food (to a brāhmaṇa) he is honoured in the world of Viṣṇu. The man who eats from the pot (i.e. plate) made from palāśa(-leaves) for the four months, should give (to a brāhmaṇa) a pot full of ghee, O brāhmaṇa. When he has eaten only at night (during the four months), he should give a meal with the six flavours to a brāhmaṇa. He should give a bull with gold to a brāhmaṇa who does not ask for it. He who had abandoned beans should give (a brāhmaṇa) a cow with her calf, O best sage. On having bathed (with water mixed) with dhātrī, he should give gold of the weight of a māṣa. If he had observed the vow of (not eating) fruits, he should give fruits. For the vow of (not eating) grains, he should give grains. Or rice is said (to be given). Similarly for (his vow of) sleeping on the ground, he should give a cotton-bed with a pillow. O best brāhmaṇa, he who had observed celibacy during the Cāturmāsya, should devoutly give food to a brāhmaṇa couple with objects of pleasure, dakṣiṇā, with vegetables and salt. If a man has bathed every day without (having applied) oil (to his body), he should give ghee and barley. If he had observed the vow of (growing) his nails and hair, he should give a place. If he had avoided (the use of) sandals, he should give sandals. On having avoided flesh, a cow with a calf is said to be given. He who has offered a lamp every day, should offer a golden lamp. And he should give that lamp with ghee to a brāhmaṇa. For the vow of (avoiding) vegetables, and for that of (avoiding) beans, he should (respectively) give vegetables and gold weighing a māṣa to a brāhmaṇa, Viṣṇu’s devotee, if he desires fulfilment of his vow. For the vow of (avoiding) sexual unions he should give silver to a brāhmaṇa; and for that of nāgavallī (i.e. a tāmbūla), (he should give) camphor along with gold. O best brāhmaṇa, that which is from time to time done for the vow should especially be given with a desire to go to heaven to a brāhmaṇa. Having first bathed, he should observe the vows before Viṣṇu. The god, holding a conch, a disc and a mace is without a beginning and an end. Who do not observe (a vow) before him, since Viṣṇu destroys sins?