Chapter XI. Makarasankrānti and Mahāshivarātri

Volume V: Part I pp. 211–236

Chapter XI. Makarasankrānti and Mahāshivarātri

Makara-Sankrānti. This is a very important religious observance and festival. About 70 years ago (in the author's boyhood) it occurred on the 12th or 13th January according to the several Indian almanacs then current, but now it falls, owing to the procession of the equinoxes, on the 13th or the 14th of January in the month of Pausa. Sankrānti means 'the (apparent) passage of the sun from one rāśi (sign of the Zodiac) to the next following' and hence the rāśi in which the Sun enters is designated as the Sankrānti of that name.¹ When the Sun leaves the rāśi called Dhanus and enters the Makara-rāśi that is called Makarasankrānti. The rāśis are twelve and the Sankrānti names with their western equivalents are given in the note.² There are only twelve sankrāntis even if there be an intercalary month in some year. Everyone of the twelve sankrāntis was regarded as a holy day. The Matsya-purāṇa (chap 98) deals with the completion of Sankrānti-vrata. Briefly, it provides that on the day previous a person, whether male or female, should take food only once in the noon and on the Sankrānti day should brush his teeth and then take a bath with water mixed with sesame.³ The person should offer to a self-restrained brāhmaṇa householder three vessels containing edibles together with a cow intending them to be for Yama, Rudra and Dharma and repeat four verses one of which is as follows: "As I do not make any difference between Śiva, Viṣṇu, the Sun and Brahmā, may Śankara (Śiva) who pervades The Universe be always a bestower of welfare on me!⁵¹³ The person should make, if able, further gifts of ornaments, a bedstead and golden jars (two) to the brāhmaṇa. Then he should offer only fruits to the brāhmaṇa. The man should take his meal but without oil and should feed others according to his ability. Women also should perform this vrata. Great merit was attached to a bath in the Ganges on a sankrānti, on an eclipse and on New and Full moon, as such a man reached the world of Brahmā.⁵¹⁴ A bath with ordinary water (not heated) was obligatory ( nitya ) on every saṅkrānti, since the Devī-purāṇa declared:⁵¹⁵ "the man who would not take a bath on the holy day of Saṅkrānti would be for seven lives diseased and poor; whatever offerings are made to gods and pitṛs by men on saṅkrānti are returned to them by the Sun again in several future lives".

It may be stated that in ancient texts the entrance of the Sun alone in a rāśi is not regarded as holy time, but the entrance of all planets in a nakṣatra or rāśi was deemed to be a holy time.⁷ Hemādri ( on Kāla p. 437 ) and the Kālanirṇaya (p. 345) quote three verses⁸ specifying the holy times ( puṇya-kāla ) of the passage of the Sun and planets as follows: in the case of the Sun the puṇya-kāla is 16 ghaṭikās before and after the moment of the Saṅkrānti; for the moon it is one ghaṭi and thirteen palas on both sides, for Mars four ghaṭikās and one pala, for Mercury three ghaṭikās and 14 palas, for Jupiter⁹ four ghatikās and 37 palas, for Venus four ghatikās and one pala, for Saturn 82 ghatikās and 7 palaṣ

Though the planets also have sańkrāntis, later writers hold that the word sańkrānti by itself means only Ravi-sańkrānti, as stated by the Smṛti-kaustubha p. 531.¹⁰

The twelve Sańkrāntis in the year are grouped into four classes, viz. there are two ayana sańkrāntis (that is Makara- sańkrānti from which udagayana starts and Karkaṭa-sańkrānti from which Dakṣiṇāyana starts ), two Visuva sańkrāntis (that is, Mesa and Tulā sańkrāntis when the day and night are equal in length ), the four sańkrāntis called Saḍaśīti or Saḍaśīti-mukha ( i. e. Mithuna, Kanyā, Dhanus and Mīna ) and Viṣṇupadī or Viṣṇupada ( that is, Vṛṣabha, Simha, Vṛścika and Kumbha )¹¹

Sańkrānti gradually came to be deified and the Devipurāṇa identified it with Durgā herself. The Devipurāṇa says ‘Devi is

( Continued from last page ) made on the Sun's sańkrāntiṣ For example, vide E. I vol. VII. p. 85 (Kahlā plate of Kalacuri Sodhadeva, grant being made on 24th December 1077 A. D.), E. I. XII p. 142 (Nilgunda plates of western Cālukya king Vikramāditya VI in 1087 A. D.), both on उत्तररायणसंक्रान्ति (grant of village in honour of Buddha on Visuva sańkrānti to a brāhmaṇa by Mahipāla I king of Bengal). all-pervading on account of the division into very small and large parts in the form of year, ayana, season, month, fortnight, day and the like Devi bestows rewards in accordance with the divisions into meritorious and sinful (actions)¹² Even one act done at that time (of Saṅkrānti) yields results multiplied crores of timeṣ From dharma (righteous acts) increase life, kingdom, progeny, happiness and the like, from adharma (unrighteous conduct) spring diseases, sorrows and the like; whatever is donated and whatever japa is performed near (i. e. at the time of) Visuva (Mesa and Tulā) saṅkrāntis and at the ayana (Makara and Karkata saṅkrāntis) becomes inexhaustible; the same holds good about Visṇupada and Saḍaśiti-mukha’.

The exact moment of time when the sun leaves one rāśi and enters the next following rāśi is impossible of being marked by the eyes of flesh (ordinary human eyes). Therefore thirty ghațikās before and after the moment of Saṅkrānti are said to be the time.¹³

In order to convey how infinitesimally small is the time of the Sun’s entrance into a rāśi after leaving another the Devi-purāṇa has¹⁴ the following: "thirtieth part of the time taken by the throb of the eye of a man sitting happily at ease is called ‘tatpara’; one hundredth part of ‘tatpara’ is called ‘truṭi’; one hundredth part of ‘truṭi’ is the (duration of) time of the sun’s passage (from one rāśi into another). As it is not possible to perform on such an infinitesimally small point of time the rites prescribed for performance on saṅkrānti, one has to accept periods of time near this moment as the proper time. The first rule is that the nearer¹⁵ the ghaṭikās are to the time of actual entrance the holier they are. Therefore it is laid down that in saṅkrāntis the puṇyatama-kāla (holiest time) is sevenfold¹⁶ viz. three, four, five, seven, eight, nine or twelve ghaṭikās; during those periods real merit is accumulateḍ If one cannot perform the prescribed rites within these limits thirty ghaṭikās are permitted as the highest limit in the texts for the puṇyakāla (holy time) for all saṅkrāntis except Sadaśīti (in which the maximum puṇyakāla is 60 ghaṭikās) and Viṣṇupadī (where it is 16 ghaṭikās before and after ).¹⁷

Each of these twelve saṅkrāntis in the year is seven-fold (i. e. has seven different names) according as it occurs on a particular week day or in conjunction with certain classes of nakṣatraṣ The seven names¹⁸ are : Mandā, Mandākinī, Dhvānkṣī, Ghorā, Mahodarī, Rākṣasī, and Miśrita. A saṅkrānti (such as Mesa or Karka or Makara) is called Ghorā if it occurs on Sunday, Dhvānkṣī on Monday, Mahodarī on Tuesday, Mandākinī on Wednesday, Mandā on Thursday, Miśritā on Friday and Rākṣasī on Saturday. Again, a saṅkrānti (like Mesa or Karka and so on) is called respectively Mandā, Mandākinī, Dhvānkṣī Ghorā, Mahodarī, Rākṣasī, Miśritā according as it commences respectively on nakṣatras called dhruva, mṛdu, kṣipra, ugra, cara, krūra, miśrita Vido note below ¹⁹ for the nakṣatras falling under those 7 groupṣ It is further provided that the ghaṭikās from two (or three) to twelve said to be the holiest times (in note 555 above) are to be taken as respectively referring to the seven kinds of saṅkrānti i.e. two or three ghaṭikās is the holiest time in Maṇḍa saṅkrānti, four ghaṭikās in Maṇḍākinī saṅkrānti and so oṇ It is laid down that Maṇḍa saṅkrānti is beneficial to brāhmaṇas, Maṇḍākinī to kṣatriyas, Dhvāṅkṣī to vaiśyas, Ghorā to śūdras, Mahodarī to thieves, Rākṣasī brings success to vendors of liquor and Miśritā increases the (profit of the) avocations of Caṇḍālas, Pukkaśas, of those whose business is of a terrible nature and of all craftsmen (vide Homādri on Kāla pp 409-410 and Varsakriyā-kaumudī p 210 quoting Devīpurāṇa).

There is some conflict on the question of the general rule about the extent of puṇyakāla on a saṅkrānti. Śātātapa, ²⁰ Jābila and Marīci prescribe the sixteen ghaṭikās before and after the moment of Saṅkrānti as the puṇyakāla for the performance of the religious acts prescribed on Saṅkrānti. On the other hand, the Devīpurāṇa ²¹ and Vasiṣṭha lay down fifteen ghaṭikās each before and after saṅkrānti as the puṇyakāla. This conflict is removed in various wayṣ One is to hold that the Devīpurāṇa is not restrictive but what it means is only this that lesser limits are meant to indicate that greater merit results by their observance. Another explanation was to hold that the limit of 16 ghaṭikās applied to saṅkrāntis called Viṣṇupadi.

A saṅkrānti may take place by day or at night. If Saṅkrānti occurs by day that whole day is puṇyakāla. If Saṅkrānti occurs by night, lengthy and complicated discussions occur in Hemādri, Mādhava and otherṣ One rule evolved is that in ten saṅkrāntis excluding Makara and Karkaṭa saṅkrāntis the puṇyakāla is by day when those saṅkrāntis occur by night.

Several exceptions are engrafted on the general rule about 15 or 16 ghaṭikās before and after a saṅkrānti being the puṇyakāla. Therefore, several works like the Tithitattva (pp. 144–145) and Dharmasindhu (pp. 2–3) give brief final conclusions on this topic. I summarize²¹ the conclusions of the latter work. On the Sun's passage in Meṣa and Tulā the puṇyakāla is fifteen ghaṭikās before and after S (some say ten ghaṭikās); in Vṛṣabha, Siṁha, Vṛścika, Kumbha S, P is sixteen gh. before S; in Mithuna S, Kanyā, Dhanus and Mīna S, P is 16 gh. after S; in Karkaṭa S, P is thirty gh. after S; in Makara S, P is forty gh. after S. If Saṅkrānti occurs by day when a period of two ghaṭikās or less only remains before the close of the day then in the case of Mithuna, Kanyā, Dhanus, Mīna and also Makara saṅkrāntis P is before S for the gh. specified above against each; if S occurs in the morning at a period of two gh. or less from sunrise then in Vṛṣabha, Siṁha, Vṛścika, Kumbha and also Karkaṭa S, P is after S for the period specified above. If S occurs at night but before midnight, P is latter half of the day-time before the S; if S occurs at midnight or later than midnight but in the night, P is on two days viz. the latter half of the daytime before S and the first half of the day after S; this applies to all S except Makara and Karkaṭa. When Uttarāyaṇa begins in Makara in the night P is the day after S and if S begins in Karkaṭa at night P is the day prior; if Makara S occurs at evening twilight (i. e. during three ghaṭikās after sunset) then P is on the previous day; if Karkaṭa S occurs in morning twilight (i. e. during three gh. before sunrise) then P is on the day following the S.

This discussion about the puṇyakāla is necessary because a bath is to be taken and gifts are to be made during that time in order to secure the full merit thereof. The general rule is that a bath is not to be taken and a gift is not to be made at night. Parāśara²² says 'a bath by day purified by the rays of the Sun is commended; bathing at night is not commended except on seeing an eclipse'. The Viṣṇudharmasūtra says the same. But several exceptions were recognizeḍ The Bhaviṣyapurāṇa²³ provides 'one should not take a bath at night and particularly should not make a gift at night, but a bath and a gift may be made at night on proper occasionṣ A gift at night is commended in an eclipse, marriage, saṅkrānti, pilgrimage, on death, on the birth of a child and at (before sitting down for) hearing śrāddha (Mahābhārata)'. Gobhila²⁴ provides 'people may bathe and make gifts at night in eclipses, saṅkrāntis, marriage, in distress (or death) and on the birth of a child and in vratas undertaken for a desired object'. A bath is therefore obligatory on every saṅkrānti and particularly in Makara-saṅkrānti. There are special recommendations about gifts in Hemādri on Kāla (pp. 414-419) which are taken by him from Viśvāmitra and which are borrowed by Nīrnayasindhu (pp. 4-5), Samaya-mayūkha (pp 143-144) and others and which are as followṣ gift of ram on Meṣa, of cows on Vṛṣabha, of clothes, food and drinks on Mithuna, of ghṛtadhēnu²⁵ on Karkaṭa, of a conveyance with some gold on Simha, of clothes and cows on Kanyā, of different kinds of grains and seeds on Tulā, on Vṛścika of clothes and houses, on Dhanus of clothes and conveyances, on Makara of wood and fire, on Kumbha of cows, water and grass, on Mina of fresh flowerṣ Special gifts are required to be made on Makarasankranti. The Skanda²⁶ says ‘He who donates tila- dhenu on Uttarayana (i. e. Makarasankranti) secures all objects and obtains the highest happinesṣ’ The Visnudharmottara provides ‘the gift of garments on Uttarayana yields great reward (merit). A man becomes free from diseases by donating sesame and a draught bull’. The Sivarahasya declares that Siva after he performed the Gosava sacrifice created sesame on Makara-sankranti for the gratification of all men and provides ‘men should bathe in water in which sesame are mixed and one should rub one’s body with sesame; tarpana of gods and pitrs should be made with water in which sesame have been put; sesame should be given to brāhmaṇas on Uttarayana sankranti; one should eat sesame and perform homa with them; those who perform homa with sesame and honour brāhmaṇas shine in the heaven (as stars) like those who donate a thousand cows; auspicious lamps fed with oil of sesame should be lighted in Siva temples and a brāhmaṇa should worship God (Siva) with grains of rice and sesame’. The Kalika-purāṇa (q. by Hemādri on kāla p. 413 and Krtyakalpao, Naiyata, pp. 366-67) provides: ‘one should place on the top of (the linga emblem of) God (Siva) the five jewels viz gold, diamond, sapphire, ruby and pearl; but if a man has none of these he may place in Uttarayana on the top of the linga gold one²⁷ karma or half karma in weight; he should worship with plenty of ghee prepared from cow’s milk and should donate ghee and a blanket after washing and pressing it; he should give condiments and a dinner to brāhmaṇas and ascetics and honour them with daksina'. greet each other by giving articles from simple sesame and jaggery to artistic sugared preparations of sesame coloured with saffron and go about saying 'take these sesame and jaggery and speak sweet words' (in Marathi)

The importance of tilas (sesame) is brought out in the following : A person²⁸ who uses sesame in six ways does not sink (is not unsuccessful or unlucky) i. e. who rubs his body with sesame, who bathes with sesame, who is pure and always offers water mixed with sesame (to his deceased ancestors), and who offers sesame into fire, who makes a gift of sesame and who eats sesame.

Gifts are made in these days on Makarasankrānti, but mostly by womeṇ They honour priests by donating vessels (of clay, copper or brass) containing several things such as betelnuts and coins and also invite their women friends and distribute among them earthen vessels containing red powder, pieces of turmeric, betelnut and also separately several other things such as sugarcane stalks In south India there is a festival called Pongal²⁹ which corresponds with the Makara- saṅkrānti observed in Northern and Western India, Pongal being the first day of the Tamil year. This South Indian festival lasts for three dayṣ

According to the modern astronomical calculations, the winter solstice occurs on 21st December and on that day commences the Sun's apparent march towards the north. But in India people who follow the almanacs based on the ancient methods and data think that the Sun's march towards the north takes place on the 14th of January. They are thus about twenty three days behind the correct Makarasankrānti owing to the precession of the equinoxeṣ This fact was recognized even in the medieval Dharmaśāstra works For example, Hemādri³⁰ says that twelve days before the (popular) day of a saṅkrānti, the real puṇyakāla occurs and therefore gifts and the like prescribed on the occasion of saṅkrānti should also be performed on the day twelve days prior to the popular saṅkrānti day.

The origin of the observances of Makarasankrānti cannot be very ancient. The Sun’s apparent northward march for six months has been mentioned in Brāhmaṇa and upaniṣad texts at least a thousand years before Christ For example, the Śata- patha⁵⁷⁵ Br. states ‘That half moon which increases represents the gods and that which decreases represents the fatherṣ The day represents the gods and the night represents the fatherṣ And further, the forenoon represents the gods and the afternoon the fathers ...Now when he (the sun) moves northwards then he is among the gods, then he guards the gods; and when he moves southwards then he is among the fathers, then he guards the fatherṣ’ The Chāndogya-upaniṣad⁵⁷⁶ contains a reference to the Sun’s passage to the north during six months in the words ‘from light to day, from day to the bright half of the month, from the bright half of the month to the six months during which the sun goes towards the north, from the months to the year, from the year to the Sun &c.’ But here the word udag-ayana is not expressly employed The word ‘ayana’ occurs in the Ṛgveda III 33. 7 (ayannāpo ayanam-icchāmānāḥ) ‘the waters seeking a pass- age went rushing.’ Here ‘ayana’ has the etymological sense of ‘passage’ or ‘place ’ But in the gṛhyasūtras the word ‘udaga- yana’ in the sense of the sun’s northward passage occurṣ The Āśvalāyana-gṛhya³⁵ prescribes the auspicious times for certain domestic rites as follows: ‘in the northward passage of the sun, in the bright half of a month and on an auspicious nakṣatra, caula (child’s tonsure), upanayana, godāna and marriage may be celebrated; according to some teachers a marriage may be celebrated at all times (not necessarily in nor the sun &c.).’. But here no rāśi name appearṣ In Jaimini VI. 8. 23 it is provided that rites for gods are to be performed in the northward passage of the Sun, some day in the bright half of the month and on an auspicious day. As a matter of fact, none of the ancient Śrauta, Gṛhya or Dharmasūtras mentions any rāśis or prescribes any auspicious or inauspicious times concerned with rāśis but only times in relation to nakṣatraṣ Some people try to interpret the words ‘susthe induu’ (when the moon is well placed i. e. auspicious) in Yaj. I 80 as referring to rāśis, but they forget or ignore the fact that the earliest extant commentator of Yājñavalkya, Viśvarūpa, explains those words as referring to nakṣatras and not to rāśiṣ The subject about the introduction of rāśis will be briefly discussed in the next section on Kāla and Muhūrta. As udagayana had already been regarded for many centuries as an auspicious period, naturally Makarasankrānti from which the northward passage of the Sun starts became a very sacred day, when the rāśi system was introduceḍ Why so much importance was attached to sesame on this Makarasankrānti day it is difficult to say. Probably in view of the cold prevailing at the time of the beginning of uttarāyaṇa an oily substance like sesame easily available and of great food value was selecteḍ In any case the observances and festival of Makarasankrānti do not appear to be much older than the beginning of the Christian era.

In modern pañcāngas, Makarasankrānti, being deemed to be a deity, several curious matters are added, viz. sankrānti rides on some vāhana (principal vehicle or draught animal such as an elephant) and an upavāhana (as ancillary vehicle), she wears a garment either dark, white or red or of some other colour, she is supposed to carry a weapon (such as a bow or javelin). she applies a tilaka of some substance (like lac, gorocanā), she is either young, middle-aged or old, her posture (sitting, standing &c.) is mentioned, the flower she holds, the food she eats, the ornament she wears—these are mentioned, two names (out of the seven mentioned above on p. 215 note 557 based on the week day and the nakṣatra on which saṅkrānti takes place) are specified, she is supposed to come from one direction (east or the like), to proceed to another (such as the west &c.) and to cast a glance at a third direction; then her bodily form is described such as drooping lips, long nose, with nine arms (or the like). And the prognostications are as follows: whatever things Saṅkrānti accepts, their prices rise or are destroyed and whatever she glances at is ruined; happy are the people in the direction from which she comes and un-happy are those in the direction she goeṣ

Mahāśivarātri: The 14th tithi of the dark half of a month is called Śivarātri, but the 14th of the dark half in Magha (or in Phālguna according to the pūrṇimānta reckoning) is the Śiva-rātri par excellence and is often designated Mahāśivarātri.

The Garuḍapurāṇa I. 124, Skanda I. 1. 33, Padma VI. 240; Agni 193 contain the Māhātmya of the Śivarātri on the 14th of the dark half of Māgha. Though some details differ, in all these the main outlines are the same.

All these praise Śivarātri-vrata highly. When after ³⁶ observing a fast on that day, Śiva is worshipped with bilva leaves and jāgara for the whole night is observed, Śiva saves the man from hell and bestows enjoyment of happiness and mokṣa and the man becomes like Śiva himself. Gifts, sacrifices, austerities, pilgrimages and observances of vratas are not equal to even one ten-millionth part of Śivarātri.

The story that illustrates this extremely exaggerated praise of Śivarātri in the Garuḍapurāṇa seems to be the older of the three and therefore it is briefly set out here. There was a king of niṣādas named Sundarasenaka on Mount Abu, who went out to a forest for hunting with his dog. He bagged no animal and being oppressed by hunger and thirst he remained awake the whole night on the bank of a tank in a thicket of treeṣ Under- neath a bilva tree there was a Śivalinga and in an effort to keep his body at ease he threw down leaves of the bilva tree which fell on the top of the linga without his knowing it. In order to put down dust he (took water from the tank and) splashed it so that it fell on the linga and one of his arrows fell down from his hands on the linga through inadvertence which he took from the linga by falling on his knees before the linga. In this way he unconsciously bathed the linga, touched it, worshipped it (with bilva leaves) and kept awake the whole night. In the morning he came back to his house and partook of food given by his wife. When he died in course of time he was seized by the myrmidons of Yama, when Śiva’s attendants fought with them and liberated him and he became a sinless attendant of Śiva together with his dog. In this way he collected merit without knowing it; if a person does with ³⁷ full knowledge (what the niṣāda did without knowing) the merit is inexhaus- title. The Agnipurāṇa expressly mentions the hunter Sundara- senaka ³⁸. The whole chapter of Garuda is quoted in the Varṣakriyā-kaumudī pp. 512–513. The story in the Skanda is more elaborate. There it is a wicked Kirāta named Canda who killed fish by catching them in his nets and killed also many animals and birdṣ He had a wife who matched him in his cruelty. Thus passed many yearṣ One day he ascended a bilva tree taking water in a quiver desirous of killing a wild boar and passed the whole night without sleep keeping a watch and cast down many bilva leaves which fell on a linga at the bottom of the bilva tree. He also rinsed his mouth with water from the quiver, that fell on the linga. In this way he worshipped Śiva in all ways, viz. he bathed ( snapana ) the linga with water, he worshipped linga with numberless bilva leaves and he kept awake the whole night and was without food that day. He alighted from the tree and began, after reaching the tank, to catch fish. Because he did not return home that night, his wife went without food and water and passed that night in anxiety. In the morning she came to that forest with some food for her husband and seeing her husband on the other side of a river, she placed the food on the river bank and began to cross the river. They both bathed in the river, but before the kirāta could reach the food a dog came there and ate all the fooḍ When the wife wanted to kill the dog the kirāta whose heart was softened persuaded his wife to desist from killing the dog. By that time it was noon ( on amāvāsyā ) and Śiva’s attendants came there to take both the husband and wife as he had worshipped ( though unknowingly ) the linga and as both had fasted on 14th. The kirāta and his wife reached Śivaloka. The Padmapurāṇa ( VI. 240. 32 ff ) weaves, as the Skanda does, its story round a niṣāda.

There is a conflict of views about what the chief thing is in Śivarātri iṣ The Tithitattva holds that a fast is the principal thing in Śivarātri and relies on the words of Śaṅkara. ‘On that tithi ( Śivarātri ) I am not so pleased with bath (of the linga) nor with clothes (offered to the linga) nor with incense nor by worship nor with the offering of flowers as I am pleased by a fast’.⁵⁸¹ On the other hand, Hemādri and Mādhava hold that Śivarātri means fast, worship and jāgaraṇa⁵⁸² and all the three are apprehended as principal and quote passages from the Skandapurāṇa and Nāgarakhaṇḍa in support.⁵⁸³ ‘That man who observes a fast on Śivarātri for twelve years and who keeps awake ( in dance and music ) before me the whole night would reach heaveṇ That man, who worships Śiva and performs jāgaraṇa on the 14th, would not thereafter taste milk at mother’s breast ( i. e. would not be born again ); the niṣāda, unknowingly worshipping a self-existent liṅga, observing a fast and jāgara, became free from sin and attained the position of the attendant of Śiva’. In the Kālanirṇaya⁴² there is a lengthy discussion on the question whether the word ‘Śivarātri’ is used in a conventional sense (viz. a particular tithi) or in an etymological sense (every night on which some observance relating to Śiva is performed), or a metaphorical sense (viz a vrata, though the word expresses a tithi) or a yogaṛūḍha sense i. e. etymological cum conventional like the word paṅkaja (a lotus) The conclusion established is that the word Śivarātri is yogarūḍha like the word paṅkaja (lotus), which does spring from mud (so far the sense is etymological) but which is confined to only one thing viz lotus (so far there is rūḍhi or convention) and does not apply to a frog.

Śivarātrivrata is both nitya (obligatory) and kāmya (optional). It is nitya because there are passages which lay down that sin follows if a man does not perform it⁴³; ‘the being that does not worship with devotion Rudra who is the lord of three worlds wanders through thousands of future lives’. Besides, there are verses which lay down that the vrata should be performed every⁴⁴ year: ‘O great goddess! a man and a chaste woman should every year worship Mahādeva with devotion on Śivarātri’. This vrata is optional because the texts provide the rewards of performing this vrata. For example, vide p 85 above and p. 86 above for the maxim of saṁyoga-pṛthaktva.

This vrata according to the Īśānasaṁhitā⁴⁵ can be performed by all human beings ‘The Śivarātrivrata destroys all sins and confers enjoyment of happiness and mokṣa (final liberation) on all human beings including cāṇḍālas'.

The Īśānasaṁhitā provides: a devotee of Viṣṇu or Śiva or of another god, if he gives up Śivarātri, destroys all the fruits of his worship (of the deity to whom he is devoted). Everyone⁴⁶ who performs this vrata has to observe certain restrictions, viz. non-injury, truthfulness, freedom from anger, celibacy, compassion, forbearance and he has to be calm in mind, devoid of fits of passion and has to perform austerities and he should be free from malice; knowledge of this vrata should be imparted to such a one provided he follows his preceptor; if one imparts it other- wise, one goes to hell.

The proper time for this vrata is night, since, as stated in the Skanda,⁴⁷ ‘goblins, the Śaktis and Śiva (who wields the trident) move about at night and therefore these are to be worshipped at that time on caturdaśī.’ The Skanda⁴⁸ provides ‘A fast should be observed on that caturdaśī of the dark half that is joined to niśītha (i. e. that exists at that time) ; that tithi is the best and leads to companionship with Śiva’. Hemādri quotes Nāgarakhaṇḍa⁴⁹ as follows: on the 14th of the dark half of Māgha I shall go in the Kaliyuga on the surface of the earth at night and not by day. I shall undoubtedly transfer myself to all lingas, whether movable or permanently fixed, for the removal of the sins committed in the (preceding) year; therefore the man who offers worship to me at night with these mantras will be free from sin’. In the Īśānasaṁhitā it is said ‘The first God (Śiva) appeared in the form of Śivalinga, whose refulgence was equal to that of a crore of suns, on the 14th of Māgha dark half. The tithi to be accepted for the Śivarātri vrata should be one that covers that time. A man should perform this vrata on that tithi when the 14th covers the time before and after midnight.⁵⁰ Hemādri also quotes a verse like this ‘The 14th tithi called Śivarātri that covers pradoṣa should be accepted (for vrata); one should observe a fast on that tithi since there has to be a jāgara (in that vrata) at night’.⁵¹

Owing to the above somewhat conflicting dicta there is a great deal of discussion on the proper day and time for the vrata in Hemādri on Kāla (pp. 298-308), Kalanirṇaya (pp. 297 ff), Tithitattva (pp 125-126), Nirnayasindhu (pp. 222-224), Puruṣārthacintāmaṇi (pp 248-253) and other workṣ Some works like the Nirṇayāmṛta⁵² put emphasis on the word pradoṣa (in note 593) above, while others emphasize the word niśītha and ardharātra. The conclusions drawn by Mādhava (the prince of nirṇayakāras) are stated here. If caturdaśī covers both pradoṣa and niśītha, then the vrata should be observed on that day. If caturdaśī spreads over two days (i. e. it is mixed also with amāvāsyā) and 14th exists at the time of niśītha on both days, or if it does not so exist on any of the two days, then covering pradoṣa is the determining factor; where 14th covers pradoṣa on two days or does not cover pradoṣa on any of the two days, then existing at niśītha is the determin- ing factor; if caturdaśī having extended over two days covers only one out of the two (pradoṣa and niśītha) on each day then conjunction with Jayā (i. e. 13th tithi) is the decisive factor.⁵³

A brief description of how Śivarātrivrata was performed in ancient times may be gathered from Garuḍapurāṇa I 124 11-23. After honouring Śiva on the 13th tithi the man who is to under- take the vrata should resolve to observe certain restrictionṣ He should declare ‘O God I shall keep awake the whole night on the 14th tithi. I shall make according to my ability worship, gifts, austerities and homa. O Śambhu! on 14th I shall take no food and shall take food on the next day. Oh Lord! be thou my refuge for securing enjoyment of happiness and mokṣa. The person observing the vrata should approach a teacher and should bathe (the linga) with pañcagavya and with pañcāmṛta. He should repeat the mantra ‘Om namaḥ Śivāya’ He should worship Śiva with the upacāras beginning with sandalwood paste and he should offer into fire sesame, grains of rice and boiled rice mixed with ghee. After this homa he should offer pūrṇāhuti (an offering made with a full ladle) and listen to music and good stories (about Śiva). He should again offer offerings at midnight, in the 3rd quarter of the night and in the 4th quarter. Having inaudibly repeated the mūlamantra (om namaḥ Śivāya) he should pray to Śiva about daybreak to forgive his sins with the words ‘O God! I have worshipped in this vrata without obstacles through your favour; O Lord of the worlds! O Śiva! pardon me. Whatever merit I have won this day and whatever has been offered by me to Śiva I have finished this vrata to-day through your favour; O bountiful one! be pleased with me, and go to your abode; there is no doubt that I have become pure by merely seeing you.’ He should feed persons who are devoted to contemplating (on Śiva) and should give to them garments, umbrellas and the like; ‘O Lord of Gods! lord of all things! that bestoweth favour on people; may my lord be gratified by what I have given with faith.’ Having thus prayed for forgiveness, the person undertaking this vrata may carry it on for twelve yearṣ After obtaining fame, wealth, sons and kingdom he may repair to the city of Śiva; he should perform jāgara (on 14th) in all the 12 months of the year; the man undertaking the vrata after feeding twelve brāhmaṇas and donating lamps may secure heaveṇ

The Tithitattva (p. 127) adds some details which are interesting. The linga is to be bathed with milk in the first watch of the night, with curds in the 2nd, with ghee in the 3rd and with honey in the 4th. The mantras in the four watches are respectively ‘hrīm, Īśānāya namaḥ,’ ‘hrīm Aghorāya namaḥ,’ ‘hrīm Vāmadevāya namaḥ’ and ‘hrīm Sadyojātāya namaḥ.’ The mantra at the time of offering arghya is also different in each of the four watcheṣ It is further provided that there should be songs and dances in the first watch of the night. The Varsakriyākaumudi (p. 513) provides that in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th watches also the person undergoing vrata has to perform worship, arghya, japa and listening to stories (about Śiva), to offer hymns of praise and make prostrations and at day-break he should pray for forgiveness with arghya water. If Māgha-kṛṣṇa 14th falls on a Sunday or Tuesday, that is most commendable for this vrata⁵⁴.

Later medieval digests such as the Tithitattva (pp. 126 ff), the Kalatattvavivecana (pp 197–203), Puruṣārthacintāmaṇi (pp. 255–258), Dharmasindhu (p 127) provide an elaborate description of the procedure of Śivarātri vrata. The K T V, remarks⁵⁵ that the procedure of Śivarātri-vrata is different in the several purāṇaṣ For comparison with the one in the Garuda quoted above a summary of it from the Dharmasindhu is given here. On the 13th tithi the performer should take only one meal in the noon, on the 14th after finishing his usual morning duties and rites, he should make a saṅkalpa in the morning with a mantra 'I shall perform this Śivarātrivrata that yields great rewards; O Lord of the world! may it be without obstacles through your favour. On the 14th I shall be without food and shall take my meal on the next day for enjoyment of pleasures and mokṣa, O Lord! be you my refuge.' If the per-former be a brāhmaṇa, he should recite the two ṛk verses⁵⁶ 'rātrim prapadye' and cast water In the evening (of 14th) he should take a bath with black sesame, should apply the tripuṇḍra mark⁵⁷ with ashes to his forehead and also hold a rosary of rudrākṣa (berry of Elaeocarpus Gaṇitrus), should go to a temple of Śiva at the beginning of night, should wash his feet, should take ācamana (should sip water) and should make a saṅkalpa 'I shall perform the pūjā of the first watch on Śivarātri'; if he intends to perform separate pūjās on all the four watches or if he wants to perform a pūjā only once he should say 'I shall perform the worship of Śiva on Śivarātri for securing the favour of Śiva' Then he should repeat the sage (Vāmadeva) of the Śiva mantra of five letters ( _Śivāya namaḥ_ ), the metre (Anustup), the Devatā (Sadāśiva) and it is to be employed for nyāsa, pūjā and japa. Then he should bow to the sage, metre and Sadāśiva and perform nyāsa on the several parts of the body from the heart with appropriate mystic letters and mantras (such as 'om namas-tat-puruṣāya namah hṛdaye' to the last 'om yam aștrāya phaṭ'); then he should worship the jar ( _kalaśa_ ) and contemplate on Śiva as portrayed⁵⁸ in the verse quoted below. He should then establish a linga by performing the prāṇa-pratisthā and touch it and should invoke⁵⁹ Śiva with four mantras and pray Śiva to be present in the linga till the end of the pūjā. Then he should offer an _añjali_ of flowerṣ If the linga is already permanently fixed or if the linga, though not fixed, has already been established with the necessary saṁskāras, he should omit the details from prāṇapratiṣṭhā to āvāhana. Then he should perform the remaining upacāras (out of 16) from āsana to the last. As regards snāna it is provided that the linga is to be bathed with pañcāmṛta (vide note 218), with the mūlamantra ( _Śivāya namaḥ_ ) and the mantras 'āpyāyasva' (Ṛg I. 91. 16 ff) and should wash it with pure water with the three verses 'āpo hi ṣṭhā' (Ṛg. X. 9. 1-3). Then he should perform _abhiṣeka_ (bathing of the deity) with water made fragrant with sandalwood, saffron and camphor to the accompaniment of the Rudra mantras⁶⁰ recited once or repeated eleven times and of the Puruṣasūkta (Ṛg. X. 90). At the end of snāna (of the linga) the performer should give _ācamana_ water (to the linga) and perform tarpana with water mixed with akṣatas for Śiva with eight names (Bhava⁶¹ &c.) and the wives of these eight. After flowers the performer should offer 1008 or 108 who and the family of the buck ultimately became transformed into the Mṛgaśīrṣa nakṣatra with the star of the hunter (Sirius) behinḍ⁶² For detailed treatment of Śivaratrivrata in the medieval digests, H. V. II. 71–122, V. R. 72–77, T. T. 124–133, SmK. 481–512, P. C. 248–281, G. K. 158–167 may be consulteḍ There are other Śivaratrivratas as in H. V. II 71–87 (which are different from the one described in Skanda I. 33), or in H. V. II 114–122, or in H. V. II 122–130 (from Bhav. U.). These are all passed over for want of space.