Chapter 25 - The Conclusion

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Śrutadeva said:

1-4. The three meritorious Tithis, toward the end of the bright half, ending with the full-moon day, in the month of Vaiśākha,^[1] are very auspicious.

The last Tithis are called Puṣkariṇī. They are destructive of all sins. If one is incompetent to take holy bath throughout the month of Vaiśākha, he should take bath in these Tithis. He will get the full benefit. All the Devas come on the Trayodaśī day and sanctify creatures.

On the full-moon day they appear here along with Viṣṇu and all the Tīrṃas. On the Caturdaśī day Devas sanctify these along with Yajñas.

5-8. They sanctify everyone whether (he be) a murderer of a Brāhmaṇa or a drink-addict. It was on the Ekādaśī day in the month of Vaiśākha that the splendid nectar appeared formerly. On the Dvādaśi day it was guarded by Viṣṇu, the powerful one. On the Trayodaśī day Had made the Devas drink the nectar. On the Caturdaśī the Lord killed the Daityas who were antagonistic to Devas. On the full-moon day the Devas regained their sovereignty. Thereupon, the exceedingly delighted Devas granted boons to these three Tithis. Out of delight their eyes beamed like full blown (lotuses).

9. These three Tithis of the month of Vaiśākha are very auspicious. They bestow sons, grandsons and other benefits on men. They are conducive to the destruction of sins.

10. A base man who does not take bath throughout this month, shall obtain the full benefit by taking the holy bath on these three Tithis.

11. A man who does not take the holy bath or does not perform the holy rites or make charitable gifts etc. during these three Tithis too, is reborn in the womb of a Cāṇḍāla woman and then falls into Raurava hell.

12. He who takes hot-water bath on the three days of Vaiśākha falls into Raurava hell and stays there as long as fourteen Indras rule.

13. He who does not offer cooked rice mixed with curds with Pitṛs in view, is reborn in Piśāca species and remains there till the annihilation of all living beings.

14. If a restraint is made on desires actively pursuing their objects in the month of Vaiśākha, he will certainly attain Sāyujya with Viṣṇu. There is no doubt about it.

15. If a person who is incompetent to observe restraints throughout the month does it on these three days, he attains the entire benefit and rejoices in the abode of Viṣṇu.

16-17. “If a man does not manifestly perform holy bath and other rites with Devas, Pitṛs, preceptor and Viṣṇu in view, we (i.e. the Devas) will curse him that he will be devoid of progeny, long life and welfare.”

The Devas granted these boons formerly and went to their respective abodes.

18. Hence the three Tithis are meritorious and destructive of all masses of sins. The group of the three last ones is called Puṣkariṇī and is conducive to the increase of sons and grandsons.

19. A woman endowed with good fortune who gives at least once sweet pie and milk pudding to a Brāhmaṇa on the full-moon day, shall obtain a renowned son.

20. If a person reads the Bhagavad-Gītā^[2] during the last three days, he will obtain the benefits of (many) horse-sacrifices for each day. There is no doubt about this.

21. Who in heaven or on the earth is competent to recount the merit of that person who reads ‘The Thousand Names’ (Viṣṇu-sahasranāma) during the (last) three days?

22. By bathing Lord Madhusūdana with milk, (repeating) the thousand names (Viṣṇu-sahasranāma), one goes to the sinless world of Viṣṇu.

23. If a person worships Madhusūdana by means of all his riches, his worlds do not perish even during the annihilation at the close of the Yugas, Kalpas etc.

24. If the month of Vaiśākha passes by and a person does not take the holy bath or make charitable gifts, he is a slayer of a Brāhmaṇa, a murderer of his preceptor and slaughterer of the Pitṛs.

25. One who reads half of a verse or even one-fourth of a verse from Bhāgavata everyday during the month of Vaiśākha, attains the state of Brahman (i.e. salvation).

26. He who listens to the sacred text of Bhāgavata during these three days is not contaminated by sins like a leaf of lotus that is not affected by water.

27. By resorting to (i.e. observing Vaiśākha Vrata on) these three days the state of Devas has been attained by some men, the state of Siddhas by some and salvation by some.

28-30. Salvation is attained through knowledge of Brahman or through death at Prayāga or by taking the holy bath invariably throughout the month of Vaiśākha.

By letting loose a black bull and by taking the holy bath, a man is liberated from all bondages and attains the greatest region.

By giving a cow along with her calf to an eminent Brāhmaṇa who suffers on account of a large family, one will be rid of the danger of premature or accidental death here, and shall attain the greatest region hereafter.

31. One who is devoid of holy bath and charitable gifts on the full-moon day of the month of Vaiśākha takes rebirth as a dog hundred times. Thereafter, he is born as a worm in faeces.

32. All the thirty-five million Tīrthas in the three worlds gathered together for mutual discussion as they were afraid of masses of sins.^[3]

33. “Sinful persons come and shed off their dirt in us. How can this accumulated dirt be got rid of?” This was their worry.

34-38a. They went to Lord Hari and sought refuge in him because he is worthy of being sought refuge in and because his very foot is the source of a Tīrtha. After eulogizing him with many hymns, they promptly requested him:

“O Lord of Devas, O Lord of the universe, O destroyer of all masses of sins, sinful persons take bath in us and cast off all their sins in us. They go to your region. They had been carrying out your behest on the earth. O Janārdana, how will our sin perish? We are desirous of your feet as our refuge and resort to them. Tell us the means thereof.”

On being entreated thus, Lord Hari, the sanctifier of all living beings, laughingly spoke to those Tīrthas, in a voice resembling thunder in sonority.

Śrī Bhagavān said:

38b-43. During the three days towards the close of the bright half of the month of Vaiśākha when the Sun is in Aries, which is as dear to me as my vital airs, all of you do flood over the water that is present in the open air. It is meritorious and full of all the Tīrthas(?) Thereby you will be rid of those sins. You will have meritorious forms free from impurities. May the sins dropped into you all by people and then discharged by you all stay in those persons who do not take the holy baṃ during all those three days.

Thus Viṣṇu whose foot is the source of origin of Tīrthas, granted boons unto the Tīrthas.

After permitting them (to go), the Lord vanished there itself by means of his Yogic power. They went to their respective abodes. Every year during those last three days in Vaiśākha all those Tīrthas discharge the mass of their sins and become free from impurities.

44-50. “May those who do not take the holy bath during the last three days in Vaiśākha become the recipients of the sins of all the people.” This is the curse that the Tīrthas give to those who do not take bath.

There is no other sinner on a par with one who does not take the holy bath in the course of the three days. Even after poring over all the scriptural texts, such a one is not seen or heard. Hence the rites of holy bath, charitable gifts, worship etc. must be performed on all the three days. Otherwise one falls into Naraka and stays there as long as fourteen Indras reign.

Thus everything has been recounted to you, O highly intelligent Śrutakīrti.

Everything that you had asked about the greatness of Vaiśākha has been recounted to you in accordance with what was seen and heard (by me). This treatise on the glory of Vaiśākha has been explained by Mādhava (himself).

Even Brahmā is not competent to recount it entirely even in hundreds of years.

Formerly on the top of Kailāsa Śaṅkara himself recounted the greatness of Vaiśākha to Pārvatī who asked him (about it). He recounted it for a period of a hundred years. Still the topic could not be exhausted. He stopped because he was not capable of proceeding further.

51. Excepting Viṣṇu, the Lord of the worlds, Nārāyaṇa who is free from ailments, who indeed can describe the excellent glory (of the month) in its entirety?

52-55a. Formerly with a desire for the welfare of all the people, all the sages wished to explain a small bit of the sin-destroying greatness. But no one reached the limit of explanation, as he was incapable, O king.

You also do perform charitable gifts and other holy rites in the month of Vaiśākha. Thereby you will obtain worldly pleasures and salvation. There is no doubt about it.

After enlightening thus the king of Mithilā named Janaka, Śrutadeva thought of taking leave of him and go.

55b-59. That saintly king shed tears of joy and his eyes became bedimmed thereby. For the sake of his own prosperity, he celebrated a grand festival of great charm.

He made the sage sit in a palanquin and circumambulate the entire village. He himself followed him accompanied by the army consisting of four divisions. They then returned to the inner apartments. The king placed before him all sorts of riches, garments, ornaments, cows, plots of land, gingelly seeds and gold. He circumambulated the sage, bowed down to him and stood in front of him with palms joined in reverence. Thereafter Śrutadeva of great refulgence and reputation, became exceedingly delighted and contented. The sage then went back to his abode.

60-61. Holy bath, charitable gift, worship and listening to the story on the thirteenth and fourteenth as well as on the full-moon day—these are the holy rites. One who is devoted to holy rites of Vaiśākha shall attain salvation as in the case of Dhanaśarmā,^[4] the Brāhmaṇa, and the Pretas before.^[5]

Nārada said:

62-64. Thus, O Aṃbarīṣa, the great narrative has been recounted to you. By listening to it one can destroy all the sins. It brings about all riches. Thereby one obtains worldly pleasures and salvation and perfect knowledge.

On hearing his words Aṃbarīṣa of great renown became very pleased within. All his external activities ceased. He bowed down his head and fell on the ground like a log of wood.

65-67a. He adored him by means of all his riches. After being adored, Nārada, the sage, took leave of him and went to another world. The intelligent sage cannot stay in one place due to a curse.

Aṃbarīṣa, the saintly king, performed these splendid holy rites mentioned by Nārada. Thereby he got merged into the Supreme Brahman devoid of attributes.

Sūta said:

67b-69. He who listens to or reads this great story that destroys sins and increases merit attains the greatest goal. Salvation is within the reach of those persons in whose house a manuscript of this book exists, O bestowers of honour. What to speak of those who listen to it themselves!

:: End of Vaiśākhamāsa-Māhātmya ::

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The author follows Pūrṇimānta māsa—the calendar in which the month ends with Pūrṇimā, full-moon day. Hence the importance of the last three ‘Puṣkariṇī’ Tithis, viz. 13th, 14th and 15th (full moon) of Vaiśākha. If one observes Vaiśākha Vratas on these Tithis, he gets full result of complete observance of this Vrata. Though verse 2 calls these collectively ‘Puṣkariṇī’, the name really designates only the full-moon day (v 18).

[2]:

VV 20-26 show that the three Vaiṣṇavite Texts—Bhagavad Gītā, Viṣṇu-sahasranāma and Śrīmad Bhāgavata had a special place in Vaiṣṇavas life. Hence the special prescription of the reading etc. of these texts.

[3]:

VV 32-47 exhort the need and importance of early bath in Tīrthas.

[4]:

The story is given in Vaiśākha Māhātmya in PdP.

[5]:

This is a reference to PdP, Pātāla Khaṇḍa 98.45-111. Dhanaśarmā, a Brāhmaṇa from Madhyadeśa, met three Piśācas. Being afraid and uttering Viṣṇu’s name he asked them who they were. Being pleased to hear the name of the god they told him their names Kṛtaghna (‘ungrateful one’), Vidaivata (‘God-less’), Avaiśākha (non-observer of Vaiśākha-Vrata). The last one who happened to be the father of Dhanaśarmā told him (Dhanaśarmā) to convey his message to his son (Dhanaśarmā) to observe holy bath, make religious gifts, worship and listen to Viṣṇu’s tales on these last three days of Vaiśākha and give the merit thereof to them. Dhanaśarmā did it and the Piśācas were redeemed.

The last three days of Vaiśākha are associated with the following important episodes:

13th day: (i) Viṣṇu made Devas drink Amṛta. Devas regained their kingdom (v 7)
(ii) Viṣṇu killed Hiraṇyākṣa.

14th day: (i) Viṣṇu killed Devas’ opponents.
(ii) Viṣṇu killed demon Madhu.

15th Day: (i) Devas re-established in their kingdom.
(ii) Viṣṇu uplifted the earth from the ocean.