Chapter X. Vijayādashāmī and Divālī

Volume V: Part I pp. 188–210

Chapter X. Vijayādashāmī and Divālī

Vijayādaśamī and Divālī

The 10th tithi of Aśvina-śukla is called Vijayā-daśamī. It is elaborately described in Hemādri (on vrata, vol. 1 pp. 970-973), Nirṇayasindhu (pp 69-70), Puruṣārtha-cintāmaṇi (pp. 145-148), Vratarāja (pp 359-361) and Kalātattva-vivecana (pp. 309-312), Dharmasindhu (p 96). As Daśamī (10th tithi) is not mentioned in the Yugmarākya the Kalanirnaya relies on a verse that in the bright half that tithi which exists at sunrise should be accepted for performance of rites and in the dark half the one that exists at sunset ¹ Hemādri proposed (on vrata vol. I p 973) two simple rules (when 10th is viddhā) that that tithi on which Śravaṇa-nakṣatra exists should be accepted and in all other cases 10th mixed with 9th be accepteḍ But the other digests introduce many other considerations and complicated rules follow. A few of them are given below If the 10th tithi is mixed up with 9th and 11th, the day on which it is mixed with 9th should be accepted provided there is no Śravaṇa-nakṣatra on the next. The Skanda says: Aparājita-devī should be worshipped by men on the 10th towards the north-east and in the afternoon, when the 10th is mixed with 9th. Aparājita should be worshipped on that day for welfare and victory. Another verse ¹ is 'A person should offer worship on the 10th tithi in Aśvina bright half and should not perform the worship of Aparājita on Ekādaśī' It must be remembered that the proper time for Vijayā-daśamī rites is aparāhṇa (afternoon) and pradosa ¹ is gaunakalā (secondary time). If 10th extends over aparāhṇa on two days, the first (i. e 10th mixed with 9th) should be accepteḍ If the 10th exists at pradosa time (but not at aparāhṇa) on two days, then the later (viz. 10th mixed with 11th) should be accepted; Śravaṇa is not decisive just as Rohiṇī in Janmāṣṭami is not. If on both days the tenth tithi does not exist at the time of aparāhṇa then the first (10th mixed with 9th) is to be accepted; but in this case if on the 2nd day Śrāvaṇa-nakṣatra exists at the time of aparāhṇa then the latter (10th mixed with 11th) is to be accepteḍ These are the conclusions of N. S. The P. C. (p. 148) disputes the last propositioṇ Hemādri and follow-ing him Nirṇayasindhu (p. 189) quote Kaśyapa² to the follow-ing effect: 'if daśamī exists for some time at sunrise and if there is then ekādaśī for the rest of that day and there is Śrāvaṇa-nakṣatra at aparāhṇa on that day, that tithi is called Vijayā; since Rāma started on his invasion (against Rāvaṇa) on Śrāvaṇa-nakṣatra, men should celebrate the crossing of the limits of their village on that day and nakṣatra'. The Nirṇaya-sindhu and other works quote a verse³ 'That time (on 10th tithi in Aśvina) which is slightly later than evening twilight and when the stars have just begun to appear is to be known as Vijaya (success of all undertakings).' Bhṛgu says 'the⁴ 11th muhūrta (on a day of 15 muhūrtas) is called Vijaya; all desirous of victory should march out at that time.' These verses explain why this tithi is called Vijayā-daśamī. These two verses show that the time called Vijaya is of two kindṣ

The Vijayādaśamī is one of the three most auspicious days In the year (the other two being Caitra-śukla first tithi and Kārtika-śukla 1st). Therefore in India children begin to learn the alphabet on this day (i. e. perform Sarasvatīpūjana), people start new undertakings on this day, even when the moon and the like are not astrologically favourable⁵ and if the king marches against his foes on this tithi when there is Śravana-nakṣatra it is very auspicious and brings to him victory and peace.

On this day the principal acts are the worship of Aparājita, the worship of Śamī, Sīmollanghana (crossing the boundary of one's village), returning home and having a lamp waved before oneself by the women in the house, wearing new clothes and ornaments and in the case of a king, nirājana of the horses, elephants, soldiers and marching out.

Dasaṛā or Vijayādaśamī is a great day for people of all castes, but it is specially a day for the kṣatriyas, the nobles and kingṣ

The procedure of the worship of Aparājita (invincible) Devī is briefly as follows (from Dharmasindhu p 96) In the after-noon one should go to the north-east of one's village, smear the earth (with cowdung) on a pure spot, should draw with sandal-wood paste or the like a figure with eight segments, should make a saṅkalpa as in the note and should invoke Aparājita in the midst of that figure with the words 'salutations to Aparājita' and also invoke Jayā and Vijayā to the right and left of Aparājita respectively with the words 'salutation to Kriyāśakti' and 'salutation to Umā' respectively. He should then offer worship with sixteen upacāras to Aparājita, Jayā and Vijayā with the mantras 'Aparājitāyai namaḥ, Jayāyai namaḥ, Vijayāyai namaḥ' and offer the prayer 'O Devī! accepting this pūjā which I have offered to you according to my ability, for my protection may you go to your own place'. In the case of the king he should pray for victory in the words 'May Aparājita wearing a striking necklace and resplendent golden girdle and fond of doing good bestow victory on me' and then he should take leave of her in the words 'O Devī! &co'. Then all people should go out of the village to Śamī (Mimosa Suma) tree grow-ing in the north-east, offer worship to it People may perform the crossing of the boundary of the village before or after the worship of Śamī. Some provide that the images of Rāma and Sītā should be worshipped on Vijayādaśamī, since Rāma con-quered Laṅkā on this day (A. K. folio 218)⁶. In the case of the king the procedure described by Hemādri (on vrata vol. I. pp. 970-71) is as follows: the king coming out of his palace should be preceded by his purohita and after performing the rites on starting for a journey should march towards the east; after reaching the end of the capital he should perform Vāstupūjā (worship of a site) and worship the guardians of the quarters and the devatās (in temples) he may meet on the roaḍ He should then offer worship to Śami tree with Paurāṇika mantra ⁷ 'I take refuge with the blessed and auspicious Śami tree, that removes all inauspicious things and evil acts and the effects of bad dreams'; then he (the king) should take first towards the east and towards other directions the Viṣṇu stepṣ After making an effigy of his enemy or merely bringing him before his mind he (the king) should pierce him in the heart with an arrow ⁸ with a golden shaft The purohita recites verses about the victory of the king in the quarters; the king should honour worthy brāhmaṇas, the astrologer and purohita and should arrange sports of elephants, horses and foot-soldierṣ He should then enter his palace to the accompaniment of auspicious shouts like 'Jaya' and lights should be waved before him by courtezanṣ The king who performs every year this auspicious ceremony secures long life, health, prosperity and defeat and obtains unblemished wealth and victory in the worlḍ If a king ⁹ starts on an invasion without celebrating Vijayādaśamī he would secure no victory for a year in his kingdoṃ The Tithi-tattva quotes Rājamārtaṇḍa ¹⁰ to the effect that if for any reason the king cannot march out in person on Vijayādaśamī he should send out his umbrella or favourite weapon for a victorious march. The Nirnayasindhu, Dharmasindhu and other late medieval works add some verses about Śāmi and other details ¹¹ 'Śāmi destroys sin, Śāmi has reddish thorns, it held (concealed) the arrows of Arjuna and it appealed lovingly to Rāma, O Śāmi worshipped by Rāma! May you remove obstacles on the march that I am to undertake according to my convenience and ease'. If a Śāmi tree is not available, then the aśmantaka tree ¹² should be worshipped with a mantra (given in note below). Taking up a little wet clay from the root of the Śāmi tree together with akṣatas one should bring it to one's house to the accompaniment of songs and loud instrumental music; then the person should wear new apparel and ornaments along with his relatives and lights should be waved before him as an auspicious rite by chaste young womeṇ ¹³

In modern times on Vijayadaśamī there is śamīpūjā in many parts of India. But śāmi is a rare tree. In Mahārāṣṭra and Konkaṇa, twigs of a tree called Āptā are brought from the forest and arranged in the form of a bush near a temple and in the afternoon the people of a town or village engage in a sort of mock scramble for taking away twigs of Āptā and distribute the leaves among their neighbours, friends and relatives saying 'take this gold'. In Saurāṣṭra and in several other places there is no such distribution of leaveṣ The Dharmasindhu notes that common people (in Mahārāṣṭra) cut off twigs of śāmi and take them to their houses but that this has no śāstra basiṣ ¹⁴ In some places a he-buffalo or a goat was formerly sacrificed on this day In the former princely States of India such as Baroda and Mysore durbars were held on Vijayādaśamī (or Dasară, as it is called) and grand processions with richly caparisoned elephants and prancing horses were taken out on the streets of the capital. The kings in ancient and medieval times performed the Nīrājana ceremony of horses and elephants, soldiers and the king himself. Kālidāsa mentions that when śarad came Raghu performed the śānti rite called vājinirājana (Raghuvamśa IV. 24-25). In his Bṛhatsamhitā (chap. 44. eḍ by Kern) Varāha describes at length lustration rites for horses, elephants and men The Nirṇaya- sindhu sets out the mantras at the time of nīrājana of the army 'O goddess, ruling over gods! may my army divided into four sections (elephants, chariots, horsemen and foot-soldiers) attain to the position of having no enemy left in this world and may victory come to me everywhere through your favour.' The Tithi- tattva provides that the king after performing nīrājana for vigour to his army should see the fine khañjana bird in the vicinity of water or cowpens and address it with the mantra ¹⁵ 'O khañja- ritabird! you have come to the earth, you have a blue and auspi- cious neck and you bestow all desires; salutation to you!' The Tithitattva then (p. 103) descants upon the conclusions about the future to be drawn from the several places where the khañjarita (wagtail) is seen and from the directions in which it is seeṇ The Bṛhatsamhitā has a chapter (45) on the auguries to be drawn from the sight of the khañjana bird, almost the whole of which is quoted by the Kṛtyaratnākara (pp 366-373) and a few verses of which are quoted by Varṣakriyākaumudī pp 450-51. In Manu V. 14 and Yāj I. 174 among the birds whose flesh is for- bidden for eating is khañjarita (probably because it was such a valuable bird for prognostications).

In some parts of Northern India Rāmalīlā celebrations go on for ten days and culminate on the 10th of Aśvina in the burning of a tall hollow paper and wickerwork structure conceal- ing crackers representing Rāvaṇa and his hostṣ

There are several other local customs and usages such as worship of weapons of war and implements of one's trade or avocation associated with Dasarā or Vijayādaśamī which are passed over here for reasons of space. There are many conjectures about the origin of the Dasarā festival. Some, relying on the usages of some parts of India to offer to gods ears of new corn, of hanging on the doors of the house the ears of green or unripe paddy and of putting in the turban young sprouts of wheat and the like, hold that it is more or less an agricultural festival. Others hold that as, about Dasarā monsoon rains stop, swollen rivers abate and crops are near being garnered, it is the most suitable time for marching on an expedition and that therefore the origin is due to military exigencieṣ I incline to the latter view. In ancient countries other than India, there was a fixed season when kings went to battle. For example, we read in II Samuel chap. 11 1: 'And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that, David sent Joab'. The cult of Śami is very ancient. Two logs of wood (araniis) from an Aśvatthā tree growing inside a Śami were employed in producing fire by attrition for Vedic sacrificeṣ Fire symbolizes vigour and valour and logs of Śami are helpful in producing fire and śami wood is very harḍ In the Atharva-veda (VII. 11. 1) we have the words 'the Aśvatthā tree rides Śami'. The Tai. Br. I. 2. 1. 16 refers to Agni being produced from Aśvatthā that is 'Śamīgarbha' and Tai. Br. I. 2. 1. 7 connects Śami with śanti (the removal of adverse signs). In the Tai. Ā. (VI. 9. 2.) we read 'O Śami! remove from us (destroy) sins and enmities' (śamī śamayāsmad-aghā dveśamsi). It had some affinity with Navarātra also, as the latter celebrates the military exploit of Devi against Mahiśāsura, and was therefore celebrated immediately after Navarātra. The word 'Dasarā' is derived from 'daśa' meaning 10 and 'ahan' (a day).

Dipālī: This festival of lights, illuminations and fireworks is the most joyful of all festivals and is most widely observed throughout India. Observances, however, differ in detail and number from age to age and from province to province. It is not a single festival in honour of a single god or goddess as the Krșnajanmāṣtami or the Navarātra iṣ It is spread over four or five days and contains several independent itemṣ The days of Dīpāvalī properly so called are three. It is called Dipāvalī (row of lamps) in many works, but also Dīpālikā (in colophon to chap. 140 of Bhavișyottarā). When emphasis is laid only on one item in this festival of several days it is also designated Sukharātri in Rājamārtanda (verses 1346-1348, vide ABORI vol.36. p 329) and in Kālāviveka (pp. 232, 403-4), Yaksarātri¹⁶ in Vatsyā- yana's Kāmasūtra, Sukhasuptikā (in Vrataprakāśa, folio 204 and vol. II. pp. 348-349). In a scholarly paper contributed to the Journal of the Ganganath Jha Institute (vol.III. pp. 205-216) Prof. P. K. Gode traces the antiquity of this festival. The Bhaviṣyottara contains a charming verse with a double entendre ¹⁷ ‘May this auspicious day of lights remove your sins which the thunder of clouds is stopped (or in which Meghanāda i. e. Indrajit, son of Rāvaṇa, is described as killed), in which the tips of wicks are burning (or in which Rāvaṇa became infuriated) and in which young women find delight (or with which Rāma is pleased). Some works like the N. S. and Kālatattvavivecana (p. 315) hold that the three days viz. 14th, amāvasyā and Kārtika first, constitute the Kaumudī festival¹⁸.

Taken all in all Dīpāvalī spreads over about five dayṣ The whole festival comprises five principal items spread over five days, viz. worship of wealth, the celebration of Viṣṇu's victory over Narakāsura, worship of Lakṣmī, victory of Viṣṇu over Bali and dice-play and the exchange of brotherly and sisterly affectioṇ There are illuminations and the discharge of crackers on almost all the five days from the 13th of the dark half of Āśvina This last is called in Gujarat and Saurāṣṭra ‘Dhanteras’. Before and on this day houses are painted and decorated, the courtyards of houses are cleaned, and metal vessels are polished and illuminations begiṇ The Padmapurāṇa VI. 124. 4 refers to illuminations on the 13th of the dark half of Kārtika (by the pūrṇimānta reckoning). Skanda quoted by Nirṇayāmṛta provides for lighting lamps at the advent of night on Kārtika dark 13th outside the house in honour of Yama in order to avoid accidental death¹⁹

The Bhaviṣyottara contains a lengthy description of the four days of the Divālī festival from the 14th. I shall take that chapter as basis and add, where necessary, other passages from other textṣ

On the 14th of the dark half of Āśvina²⁰ (or of Kārtika in the pūrṇimānta reckoning) persons afraid of Hell should take an oil bath at the time of daybreak, should whirl over their heads the twigs of Apāmārga tree together with clods of ploughed land and the thorns (of the twigs). The mantra to be repeated is noted below²¹ Then the purāṇa provides for tarpana (satiation with anjaliṣ of water &c mixed with sesame) to Yama and mentions seven names of Yama.²² Then the purāṇa provides that a lamp should be lit for Naraka (i. e. for the avoidance of Naraka) and that in the evening illumination with charming lamps should be provided in the temples of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva and others, in mathas (monasteries), in rooms for implements, on caityas (mounds on which sacred trees grow), in assembly halls, on rivers, and ramparts, in parks, wells, principal roads and in the women's apartments, in shrines of siddhas, Arhats (Jaina saints), Buddha, Cāmuṇḍā, Bhairava, in isolated stables for horses and elephants (verses 15–17). Other texts provide that on this day in the midst of the bath one should whirl over one's body twigs and leaves of apāmārga or of gourd or of prapunnāta (called Tāklā in Marathi) for the removal of hell and that one should light a lamp with four wicks in memory of Narakāsura. It was believed²³ that Lakṣmī came to dwell in oil and the Ganges came to all waters on the 14th in Dīpāvalī and he who would take an oil bath on this morning would not see the world of Yama. In modern times, people in the Deccan after their bath on 14th crush under their foot a bitter fruit called Kārit, which probably represents Narakāsura. The oil bath was to be taken about the time of arunodaya, but if for some reason it could not be done then it may be taken even after sunrise.²⁴ The Dharmasindhu says that even yatis (ascetics) should undergo the oil bath on this day. It appears probable that originally the 14th was called Narakacaturdaśī because Yama was to be propitiated for fear of Hell. Later on the legend about the killing by Kṛṣṇa of Narakāsura, king of Prāgjyotiṣa city (Kāmarūpa), said to have been born of the Earth when it came in contact with the Varāha incarnation of Viṣṇu, was pressed into service. People nowadays remember only Narakāsura on this day and hardly any one performs Yamatarpaṇa.²⁵ The depreda tions of Narakāsura are narrated in the Viṣṇupurāṇa V. 29 and in the Bhāgavata X. (uttarārdha) chap. 59. He deprived Aditi, the mother of gods, of her ear ornaments, Varuṇa of his umbrella, Mandara of a peak called Maniparvata and kidnapped 16100 girls of gods, siddhas and kings and imprisoned them in his palace.²⁶ Kṛṣṇa killed him and if Purāṇa descriptions are to be treated as historical Kṛṣṇa’s actions were prompted by great pity and he raised the status of these unfortunate women by marry- ing them all.

The Tithitattva notes that there is a usage of eating fourteen kinds of vegetables on this day in order to correspond with the 14th tithi, enumerates them from Nirṇayāmṛta and recommends that this should be followeḍ²⁷

Several works such as the Varṣakriyā-kaumudī and the Dharmasindhu prescribe that²⁸ on the evenings of the 14th of the dark half and amāvasyā of Āśvina men with firebrands in their hands should show the way to their pitṛs (deceased ancestors) with the mantra ‘May those men in my family who were cremated and those who had no cremation performed for them and those that were burnt only by resplendent fire (without religious rites?), reach the highest state (or goal); may those śrāddhas (in the dark half of Bhādrapada or Āśvina acc to pūrṇimānta reckoning) find their way by the brilliant light (of the firebrands) and reach (their own worlds)

The mediæval texts prescribe on 14th of Āśvina²⁹ dark half the performance of the following acts, viz oil bath, tarpaṇa of Yama, lighting lamp for Naraka, illuminations at night, holding firebrands, worship of Śiva, worship of Mahārātri, taking food at night only Out of these only three (viz oil bath, lighting a lamp for Naraka and night illumination) are now-a-days generally performed and the rest are omitteḍ After the bath people put on new clothes and ornaments and take a repast of sweets and the like and in the noon there is a sumptuous feast There is a good deal of discussion in the Nirṇayasindhu (p. 197), P. C (p. 241), Dharmasindhu (p 104) about the time when oil bath is to be taken, if the 14th is mixed up with the 13th and amāvasyā That is passed over here Narakacaturdaśī is also called Bhūtācaturdaśī in Kṛtyatattava (p. 450).

On all the three days, viz. 14th of dark half of Āśvina, amāvāsyā, and the first of Kārtika-śukla an oil bath in the morning is prescribed for him who desires wealth and prosperity.

Āśvina amāvāsyā is a very important day. One should take an oil bath in the morning³⁰ and perform the worship of Lakṣmī for the removal of alakṣmī (bad luck, penury) Some texts add that the barks of five trees³¹ should be boiled in water for the bath and the person should have lights waved before him by womeṇ The Bhaviṣyottara (in chap 140, verses 14-29) describes the celebrations on amāvāsyā at some length. Briefly it comes to thiṣ 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 edibleṣ 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 court-yards of their houseṣ 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, caveṣ 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 ornamentṣ The Nīlamata-purāṇa calls this amāvāsyā night 'Sukh-suptikā' and describes it (verses 505-510) in the same way as Hemādri's quotation does ³². 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 traderṣ On this day they worship their books of account, invite friends, customers and other traders and give them tāmbūla and some sweetṣ Old accounts are closed and new ones openeḍ There is a popular legend that Brahmā gave to brāhmaṇas rakṣābandhana (Śrāvana Full Moon day) as their festival, Dasarā to kṣatriyas, Dīvālī to traders and Holikā to Śūdraṣ The night of the worship of Lakṣmī³³ is called Sukharātri, since Lakṣmī gives up her sleep on the amāvāsyā when the sun is in Libra (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, sandal-wood paste, curds, yellow pigment and fruitṣ 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 Sukharātrika" and then gives an elaborate procedure of the worship of Lakṣmī. Some works such as the Varṣakriyā-Kaumudi, Kṛtyatattva (p 452) and Dharmasindhu (p 107). provides that on this Sukharātri not only Laksmi but also Kubera³⁴ is to be worshippeḍ

The first of Kārtika-śukla is regarded as one of the three most auspicious days of the year. The Dharmasindhu³⁵ remarks that though the three days from the 14th tithi are designated Dipāvali yet that day which has Svāti-naksatra is most commendeḍ It may be stated that Balipratipada is often conjoined to Svāti-naksatra. On this day also an oil bath is obligatory. The most important item on this tithi is the worship of Bali. The Bhavisyottara (140. 47-73) describes this worship of Bali as follows: The king should at night draw the figure of Bali having two arms on a circle made on the ground with five coloured powders; the image should have all ornaments and should have Vindhyāvali (Bali's queen) near him, should be surrounded by asuras like Kūsmaṇda, Bāna, Mura and others, should wear a crown and ear ornaments; the king should himself offer worship in the midst of his palace together with his brothers and ministers with several kinds of lotuses and offer sandalwood paste, incense and navedya of food including wine and meat and employ the following mantra³⁶ 'salutation to you, O king Bali, son of Virocana, enemy of gods and the future Indra, accept this worship.' Having thus worshipped he should keep awake at night by arranging for dramatic spectacles presented by actors based on stories about kṣatriyaṣ Ordinary people also should establish inside their houses on a couch the image of king Bali made with white rice grains and worship it with flowers and fruitṣ Whatever gifts,³⁷ large or small, are made on this day become inexhaustible and bring delight to Viṣṇu. The Kṛtyatattva (p 453) provides that three anjalis of flowers should be offered to Bali The Bhaviṣyottara adds ‘this tithi increases the dominion of Bali; baths and gifts made on this tithi in Kārtika yield a hundredfold reward’

If the pratipad is mixed with amāvasyā or dvitiya, the worship of Bali, the proper time of which is night, should be performed on pratipad mixed with amāvasyā, since Hemādri quotes from Padma ‘Śivarātri and Bali's day should be observed on the day when the tithi is mixed with the preceding tithi’ and on account of the yugma-vākya Mādhava also is of the same ³⁸ opinion

Bali was the son of Virocana and grandson of Prahlāda, a great devotee of Viṣṇu. In the Vanaparva (28 2) Bali asks his grandfather Prahlāda the question ‘which is better, kṣamā (for- bearance) or tejas’ (vigorous action) In the Śāntiparva 225 13 it is said that Bali felt jealous of brāhmaṇas The story of Bali who had become very powerful and made gods lose their tejas is narrated in Brahmapurāṇa 73, Kūrma 1, 17, Vāmana chap 77 and 92, Matsya chap 245-246 and Bhaviṣyottara 140 Bali began an Aśvamedha Viṣṇu assumed the form of a dwarf brāhmaṇa student and begged for land that would be measured by his three steps Though warned by Śukra that the dwarf was really Viṣṇu, Bali promised to give land equal to three steps Then the dwarf grew larger and larger and covered heaven and earth in two steps When Vāmana asked Bali where to plant the third step Bali told him to plant it on his back and thus Bali was thrust into the nether regionṣ Viṣṇu being ³⁹ pleased with Bali's adherence to his plighted word conferred on Bali the overlordship of pātāla and the position of the future Indra. This story is an ancient one. The Mahābhāṣya⁴⁰ on Pāṇini III I. 26 states that when a person recites the story of Bali's imprisonment (in pātāla by Viṣṇu) or represents it on the stage people use such phraseology as 'Balim bandhayati' (he imprisons Bali), though Bali was imprisoned a long time ago. This makes it certain that the story was embodied in dramas and poems more than two thousand years ago.

The Balipratipadā appears to be called Virapratipadā⁴¹ in the Vāmana-purāṇa. It is also called Dyūtāpratipadā (Kṛtyatattva p. 452). The purāṇas⁴² say that on that day Śiva was defeated in dice-play by Pārvatī, that Śaṅkara became sad, while Gaurī remained happy. Therefore, on this day in the morning men should resort to gambling. Whoever succeeded on this day in gambling would find that the whole year thereafter was beneficial to him but if he suffered defeat in gambling that day he would lose his wealth that year. In Ellora cave No. 21 Śaṅkara and Pārvatī are shown as playing with dice; vide plate 38 in 'Ellora' by Balasaheb Pant-Pratinidhi of Aundh. In many parts of India people engage on this day in gambling and fortunes are often lost or made on this day. Even in a comparatively small country like Nepal gambling stakes soared up to three million rupees in 1955 on the Balipratipadā day. On this day also there should be illuminationṣ It is said 'by lighting⁴⁰ lamps during (the day of) Bali's domination Lakṣmī becomes stable; this is called Dīpāvalī because there is waving of lights in this festival. Having reached (the day of) Bali's domination how will lamps be burning in the houses of those who do not observe the festival of the rows of lamps?' The Dharmasindhu furnishes⁴⁴ a long list of the observances on this pratipad day according to the several purāṇas and digests, viz. worship of Bali, illuminations, holiday for and worship of cows and bulls, worship of Govardhana, the tying of Mārgapālī (lit protectress of the road), wearing new clothes, dice-play, waving of lights before men by women (whose husbands are alive), and tying up an auspicious garlanḍ In modern times only three out of these, viz worship of Bali, illuminations and gambling are observed and the rest are hardly observed anywhere. Therefore only brief references will be made to the rest. Cows, calves and bulls are to be worshipped with two mantras (quoted in note) and decorated and cows are not to be milked and bulls are not to be made to carry burdens this day. This is to be done in the morning of Kārtika pratipaḍ If it be mixed up with ⁴⁵ the 2nd it should not be done on that day as that would lead to the death of one's sons, wife and loss of wealth, but this should be observed when pratipad is mixed with amāvāsyā. Devala prescribes this and remarks that by the wor- ship of cows three prosper, viz people, cows and the king. As regards Govardhana-pūjā, those who are in the vicinity of Govar- dhana (a hill near Mathurā) should go to it and worship in the morning, while others not near it should prepare a Govardhana with cowdung or with heaps of cooked food or draw it in a picture and worship it along with Gopāla (Kṛṣṇa) and offer all the 16 upacāras to Govardhana and Gopāla (Kṛṣṇa) with mantras which pointedly refer to Kṛṣṇa's giving protection to the settlement of cowherds (Gokula) against the heavy downpour of rain to the discomfiture of Indra. The sankalpa is given in the note.⁴⁶ The naivedya is to be on a grand scale. Therefore, the Smṛtikaustubha (p. 174) states that Govardhana-pūjā⁴⁷ is called Annakūṭa (heap or hill of food) in Padma-purāṇa. Vide Var. 164 for Govardhana and Annakūṭaparikrama. The Dharmasindhu provides that a homa should be performed with the two verses 'ā gāvo agman' (Ṛg. VI. 28. 1) and 'prāite vadantu' (Ṛg. X. 94. 1). Mukerji (pp 150–152) describes how Govardhana-pūjā is carried on in some out-of-the way rural tracts in United Provinces, though it has become altogether defunct elsewhere. Vide I. A. vol. 60 pp. 187-190 and vol. 61 pp. 1 ff and pp. 231 ff for description of the Gāyādānr festival observed in Bihar, Orissa and some other parts on Kārtika first of bright half in the afternoon in which cows gaily stamped with circular stains of red and blue on their skin and horns glistening with oil and red ochre chased a puny pig with their pointed horns and killed it.

In the afternoon of the pratipad (Kārtika-śukla) the tying of Mārgapālī takes place.⁴⁸ A rope of kuśas or kāśas (Saccharum spontaneum) should be made according to the usage of one's family and tied to a tall pole and a tree in the east; one should bow to it and offer a prayer to it with the mantra (quoted in the note 529 ) and all including the king and brāhmaṇas accompanied by cows, elephants and the like should pass by the way underneath the rope. In the same way a strong rope of kāsas or the like should be made and a tug of war should ensue, the rope being frequently pulled on one side by the princes and on the other by persons of lower caste The pulling of the rope should be done in front of a temple or the palace or where four roads meet and an equal number of strong men should be selected for each side. A line should be drawn behind each side. If the persons of lower castes succeed in drawing the other side towards them then it should be held that the king will be victorious thereafter for one year⁴⁹ The Nirajana ceremony by women should be performed in the morning (if the pratipad is mixed with dvitīyā) and the Mangalamālikā (a series of auspicious rites or auspicious garlands) should be performed in the evening on the 2nd tithi (if pratipad exists only for a short time and is followed by dvitīyā).⁵⁰

As shown above, the three days from Aśvina-kṛṣṇa 14th are spoken of as days of Kaumudīmahotasava.⁵¹ The Bhaviṣyottara and Padma derive the word Kaumudī from 'ku' (earth) and the root 'mud' to be delighted, the meaning being ‘in which people find delight on the earth among themselves’ and then another etymology is suggested, viz. kumudas (white water lilies) are offered to Ball in this festival.

In the Vedic period and for some centuries thereafter certain rites were performed in the month of Aśvina or in Śarad such as the Aśvayujī and Āgrayaṇa or Navasasyestī. The first is one of the seven pākāyajñas mentioned by Gautama-dharmasūtra (VIII, 19). The first was performed on the Full Moon day of Aśvina. Vide H of Dh vol. II. p 827 for a description of Aśvayujī and pp 827-29 for Āgrayaṇa. But it is not possible to trace the Dīvālī festival to these riteṣ How the Dīvālī rites first arose cannot be stated with any approach to plausibility. In the Anušāsana parva it is said that the donor of lamps shines in the heavens like a row of lights (dīpapradah svarga-loke dīpamāleva rājate, 98 51). Some writers regard these as a reference to the Divālī. But it is not so clear as to place the matter beyond doubt In I. A. vol. 32 pp. 237-239 Mr. B. A. Gupte contributed a paper on ‘Divali folklore’. He refers to the several legends and characteristics connected with the Divālī, viz. the killing of Narakāsura, depriving Bali of his empire, the crowning of Rāma and Vikrama in these days of Divālī and illuminations and says that the origin must be sought in the movement of the earth round the sun, the change of season, the end of the rice crop and the manuring of soil for the second crop. The connection he traces is rather remote and somewhat fantastic and I am afraid that his theory of origins will appeal to very few in these dayṣ

On the 2nd of the bright half of Kārtika occurs a very fine festival called Bhrātradvitīyā or Yamadvitīyā. The Bhavisya states: ⁵² 'on the 2nd tithi of Kārtika bright half Yama was treated by Yamunā to a dinner in her house; therefore this tithi became declared in the world as Yamadvitīyā; wise men should not take mid-day meal in their own houses but they should take food from the hands of the sister through affection, as doing so increases one's welfare or prosperity. Gifts should be made to sisters; all sisters should be honoured with golden ornaments, clothes, reception and meals; but if there be no sister, one should honour a woman whom he regards as sister (uncle's or aunt's daughter or a friend's sister).' The digests add further detailṣ One should ⁵³ do worship to Yama and Yamunā and to Citragupta, and brothers and sisters should offer arghya (water in token of respectful reception ) to Yama. The procedure is briefly thiṣ take at mid-day a bath with scented water and unguents rubbed on his body; she along with the brother should worship Yama and Yamunā with arghya and offer handfuls of flowerṣ The arghya mantra is⁵⁴ ‘Come, come, O Yama, son of the Sun; you that carry in your hand a noose; accept this worship offered on Bhrātṛdvitīyā and also arghya; salutation to you!’ Then two more mantras may be addresseḍ⁵⁵ ‘O Dharmarāja, salutation to you, the elder brother of Yamunā; O son of the Sun, protect me along with your servants; salutation to you! O Yamunā, sister of Yama and honoured by people, always confer on me favours, O daughter of the Sun, salutation to you!’ After this she serves food to her brother with the verse ‘Brother ! I was born after you; partake of this pure food for’ pleasing Yama, particularly Yamunā’. If the sister be older than the brother she should say ‘I was born before you’. Then after the brother finishes his meal she should deck him with sandalwood paste and then herself partake of the fooḍ Some works like the Vratarāja (pp. 78-91) present a far more elaborate procedure, which is passed over here but two matters provided for by it may be mentioneḍ The first is that a person before going to his sister’s house should mutter ten names of Yama (quoted in note⁵⁶). The second is that the sister is to worship images of Yama and of eight mythological personages (Mārkaṇḍeya, Bali and others) supposed to be immortal for the increase of her brother’s life.⁵⁷ In modern times hardly any religious cere-mony is performed except that residents of places near or on the banks of the Yamunā river (Jumna) bathe in the Jumna and there is a mela on the river on this day. The only thing generally done is the brother’s visiting his sister, dining at her house, light being waved before him and his making some presents to the sister. This festival of Bhrātrdvitīyā is really an independent one, but it was probably tacked on to the three festive days of Divālī in order to lengthen out the days of fun and joy. Sisters, when after their marriage they leave their brother’s home, may not meet for years and further the sister may have become rich and the brother a poor man or vice versa. Our ancient writers evinced a keen appreciation of the bonds of disinterested affection between brothers and sisters and set apart a day in the year for their meeting to enable them to go over their sweet memories of childhood and to re-live for a day at least their early life which had gone forever. A religious tinge was added to the festival by recalling the two mythical personalities of Yama and Yamī, that figure in the famous Yama–Yamī hymn (Rg. X. 10). I should like to digress a little and strongly protest against the conclusion drawn by certain Western Sanskrit scholars that the marriage of a brother and a sister among ancient Aryanṣ The hymn is a purely imaginative effort ‘which bodies forth the forms of things unknown’, as in the case of Rg. X. 119 where the poet imagines what Indra must have felt when treated to huge portions of Soma beverage. In Rg. X. 10⁵⁸ the sage makes it clear that in future ages something like what was delineated in his fantasy might occur ( namely, sisters might do unsisterly acts). Macdonell in his ‘Vedic Mythology’ (pp. 172– 173) indulges in some facile assumptionṣ Yama may be an Indo-Iranian divinity, but Yamī does not occur in the Avesta at all, as he himself admits, but only in later Parsi writingṣ Therefore, what is stated in these later writings should not be foisted upon the sages of the Ṛgveda. He supposes that the sage in Rg. X. 10 indulges in propaganda for exonerating Yama from incest. Propaganda is well-known to Western countries in the 19th and 20th centuries A D The Ṛgveda nowhere states that the human race was produced from Yama and Yamī. There is no warrant for saying that Yamī is Indo-Iranian and consequently the myth of the human race being born from a brother and sister is not Indo-Iranian Pargiter in AIHT (p. 70) follows the ball set rolling by Macdonell and others and boldly asserts that, when the Vayu (in 93. 12) says that Nahusa had six sons born of pitṛkanyā, Virajā, the word pitṛkanyā means ‘sister’ and Nahusa married his ‘sister or half sister’. and that union between brother and sister was not unknown as Ṛgveda X. 10 about Yama and Yamī showṣ One suspects the motives of a writer like Pargiter who held high judicial office in India, when he does not explain why ‘pitṛkanyā’ was used and not ‘svasr’, when he pays no heed to the fact that in many places in Vāyu ( 72. 5, 73. 1–2, 26, 36, 40, 45, 77 74 ) Menā, Acchodā, Pivari, Gauh, Yaśodā, Virajā herself, Narmadā and Gandhakālī are spoken of as ‘pitṛnāṁ mānasi kanyā’, that Vāyu (72), Matsya (13. 2–9) and other Purāṇas speak of seven groups of pitṛs and set out how from the mind-born daughters of pitṛs several scions were born Virajā (described as pitṛkanyā in Vāyu 93. 12 which Pargiter naively renders as father's daughter i. e. sister ) is spoken of in the same Purāṇa ( Vāyu 73. 45 ) as the ‘mind-born daughter’. of these ( i. e. of Pitṛs ) in the plural and not as ‘of the father’. Writers like Pargiter sometimes create more riddles by their so-called research than they can be said to have solveḍ

The Padma asserts that those who please their married sisters with presents of clothes and the like are not subject to any quarrel for a year, nor to danger from enemieṣ Both Bhāviṣyottara and Padma state ‘He who eats a meal prepared by his sister's hand on the day on which king Yama was served in this world a meal by Yamunā through affection secures wealth and the best of foods’.

In Vedic times and in early smṛtis like those of Manu (II. 11) and Yāj. (I 53) it was difficult for a brotherless maiden to get married (vide H of Dh vol II p 435 ). But from this it is a far cry to say that the Bhrātṛdvitīyā owes its origin to this idea or practice.