Friday, 31st July, 2015 is the starting of Chaturmasya in India.
The CHATURMASYA VRATA is for FOUR MONTHS. The dates to be followed for these months, with some details regarding the importance of these months are as below.
31st July to 28th August - First month of Chaturmasya. (Fast from Shak, green leafy vegetables, for one month)
29th August to 27th September - Second Month of Chaturmasya. (Fasting from yogurt for one month)
28th September to 26th October - Third month of Chaturmasya. (Fasting from milk for one month)
27th October to 25th November - Fourth month of Chaturmasya - KARTIKA MONTH. (fasting from Urad dahl for one month)
25th November - Chaturmasya ends KARTIKA MONTH ENDS.
Chaturmasya - Vrat' is observed by all - Karmis, Gyanis, Yogis and Bhaktas for the attainment of their respective ends. It is a kind of penance. But there is a difference in the mode of sadhan, as the ends of Karmis, Gyanis, Yogis and Bhaktas are different. The ultimate goal of Bhaktas is the get love for Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna (Krishna-prem).
Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya, and our Acharyas observed Chaturmasya vrat only to teach us that we should also observe this Vrat.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu observed Chaturmasya Vrat at Purushottam Dham by spending the whole time with Sri Krishna-katha.
Listening and chanting of the Holy Name, Form, Attributes and Pastimes of Sri Krishna should be mainly performed. Alongwith this we should also observe exoteric rules an enjoined in the scriptures as far as practicable.
Srila Prabhupada states in the Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya lila 4.169 purport:
"The Chaturmasya period begins in the month of Asadha (June-July) from the day of Ekadasi called Sayana-ekadasi, in the fortnight of the waxing moon. The period ends in the month of Kartika (October-November) on the Ekadasi day known as Utthana-ekadasi, in the fortnight of the waxing moon.
This four-month period is known as Chaturmasya. Some Vaisnavas also observe it from the full-moon day of Asadha until the full-moon day of Kartika. That is also a period of four months. This period, calculated by the lunar months, is called Chaturmasya, but others also observe Caturmasya according to the solar month from Sravana to Kartika."
"Chaturmasya should be observed by all sections of the population. It does not matter whether one is a grhastha or a sannyasi. The observance is obligatory for all asramas. The real purpose behind the vow taken during these four months is to minimize the quantity of sense gratification. This is not very difficult.
In the month of Sravana one should not eat spinach, in the month of Bhadra one should not eat yogurt, and in the month of Asvina one should not drink milk. One should not eat fish or other nonvegetarian food during the month of Kartika. ... On the whole, during the four-month period of Chaturmasya one should practice giving up all food intended for sense enjoyment."
Various vows and austerities during Chaturmasya and Their respective results.
"O King, one who is My devotee and is fixed in vow, whether man or woman, for the purpose of Dharma, should accept these various austerities and observances. I shall now describe to you all of them along with their respective results.
01) No salt -- One's voice becomes sweet.
02) No oil -- One's life is prolonged and gets progeny.
03) No oil massages -- One's body becomes beautiful.
04) No cooking with oil -- One's enemies are vanished.
05) No licorice and oil -- One becomes wealthy.
06) Give up wearing unoffered flowers -- One becomes a Vidyadhara in Devapura.
07) Give up six kinds of tastes (spice, sour, bitter, sweet, salty and harsh)-- One never becomes ugly, smelly, or obtains a bad birth.
08) Practice of yoga -- One goes to Brahmaloka.
09) No betal nuts -- One becomes happy.
10) No cooked food (raw fruits & Vegetables) -- One obtains purity.
11) No honey -- One becomes lustrous.
12) No yogurt or milk -- One attains Goloka.
13) No cooking with earthen pots -- One gets . (?)
14) No hot food -- One gets offspring with a long life.
15) Take rest on the ground or on stone -- One becomes an associate of Vishnu.
16) One who gives up meat & honey is a yogi and muni.
17) No intoxicating liquors -- One becomes powerful and free from disease.
18) Fast for one day -- One is honored in Brahmaloka.
19) No cutting of hair and nails -- One gets the benefit of taking bath daily in Ganges.
20) No speaking of grama katha (nonsense) -- One's order will never be disobeyed.
21) Eat food on the ground without dish or plate -- One obtains a kingdom on Earth.
22) Chant the mantra Namo Narayana -- One obtains the result of giving in charity 100 times.
23) Offer prayers to the Lord -- One gets the result of giving cows in charity.
24) Touch the lotus feet of the Deity -- One becomes a successful person.
25) Clean the temple of the Lord -- If one is king he remains so for a Kalpa.
26) Circumambulating the temple three times offering prayers -- At the time of death one will mount a swan airplane and go to Vaikuntha.
27) Singing or playing musical instruments in the temple of the Lord -- One goes to Gardharvaloka.
28) Take pleasure in studying the sastras -- One goes to Vishnuloka.
29) Sprinkle water in the temple -- One goes to apsaraloka.
30) Take bath in a holy place -- One's body becomes pure.
31) Worship Lord Vishnu with flowers -- One goes to Vaikuntha.
32) Eat panchagavya -- One gets the result of observing candrayana fasting.
33) Eat one meal a day -- One gets the results of performing an Agnihotra.
34) Eat at night only -- One gets the result of going to all the places of pilgrimage.
35) Eat at noon only -- One attains Devaloka.
36) Take food not obtained by begging or any extraneous endeavor -- One gets the results of opening water stands and digging wells.
37) Take bath daily -- One will never see hell.
38) No eating on a plate -- One gets the result of bathing at Pushkara.
39) Eat on a leaf -- One obtains the result of living at Kurukshetra.
40) Eat on a stone -- One obtains the result of bathing at Prayag.
41) Giving up drinking to six hours -- One will not be attacked by diseases.
42) During the Chaturmasya, garlands, caranamrta, candana and water from the conshell of the Lord, mahaprasadam, Deity garlands must be accepted.
In this way one who performs this vrata for the satisfaction of Lord Kesava and Lord Gauranga becomes satisfied himself. O best of the Pandavas, among My devotees, he whoaccepts these vows and austerities during the Chaturmasya goes to my abode at the time of death, of this there is no doubt.
Vishnu Rahasya - Lord Brahma to Narada Muni.
If one accepts all these Vaisnava austerities and observances with devotion, one attains the supreme destination O Narada. One who desires within himself to execute all these Vaisnava austerities and vows, his sins obtained within one hundred births is destroyed. If one is exclusively devoted, peaceful, takes daily bath, is fixed in vow and worships the Lord during these four months, he goes to the abode of the Lord. He who accepts the austerity of sleeping on the ground this time when the Vishnu Deity is sleeping in yoga nidra underwater, he goes to the abode of Laxmi.
Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita. Madhya-lila 4.169. purport
"One should carefully give up attachment for material assets. People in general have spontaneous attachment for house, household paraphernalia, clothes, ornaments, wealth, wife and children's health, their own health, eatables, trees, and animals. Some people are so addicted to smoking, chewing pan, eating fish and meat, and drinking alcohol that their practice of spiritual life is obstructed.
The procedure for giving up grief is explained in the Padma Purama:
sokamarsadibhir bhavair akrantam yasya manasam
katham tasya mukundasya sphurttih sambhavana bhavet(8)
Within the heart of one who is full of anger or pride, or lamentation on the state of his wife or sons, there is no possibility of Krsna and Gauranga being manifest.
One should accept only those things necessary for his devotional life, as stated in the Naradiya Purama:
As one progresses in this way he offers prayers similar to Prahlada Maharaja's in the Srimad Bhagavatam (7.9.39):
naitan manas tava kathasu vikuntha-natha
sampriyate durita-dustam asadhu tivram
kamaturam harsa-soka-bhayaisanartam
tasmin katham tava gatim vimrsami dinah (11)
My dear Lord of the Vaikuntha planets, where there is no anxiety, my mind is extremely sinful and lusty, being sometimes so-called happy and sometimes so-called distressed. My mind is full of lamentation and fear, and it always seeks more and more money.
Thus it has become most polluted and is never satisfied in topics concerning You. I am therefore most fallen and poor. In such a status of life, how shall I be able to discuss Your activities? O Krsna! How will I get attachment for topics concerning You? And how will I meditate on Your pastimes?
The Srimad Bhagavatam (7.9.40) explains how a living entity attracted to sense objects such as form and taste is completely vanquished:
jihvaikato 'cyuta vikarsati mavitrpta
sisno 'nyatas tvag-udaram sravanam kutascit
ghrano 'nyatas capala-drk kva ca karma-saktir
bahvyah sapatnya iva geha-patim lunanti (12)
My dear Lord, O infallible one, my position is like that of a person who has many wives, all trying to attract him in their own way. For example, the tongue is attracted to palatable dishes, the genitals to have sex with an attractive woman, and the sense of touch to contact with soft things. The belly, although filled, still wants to eat more, the ear, not attempting to hear about You, is generally attracted to useless talks. The sense of smell is attracted to yet another side, the restless eyes are attracted to scenes of sense gratification, and the active senses are attracted elsewhere. In this way I am certainly embarrassed.
By taking shelter of the holy name, attachment develops. The symptoms of this attachment are described in the Srimad Bhagavatam (10.29.34):
Prabhupada mentions it to be done (in cc Madhya as an austerity offered to the lord)
Another deep meaning that is that like Ekadasi vrata, it is meant to reduce the bodily conception of life. As per BG 16.1-3, sattva samshuddhi, (for..Jnana yoga vyavasthiti.. sense gratification is opposite of those goals, so to promote it during the heavy rainy season where sadhus can't go out and preach freely in India it was done.
Eating green boiled papaya mixed with mung dhal rice kitchri with whole black pepper and only cumin seeds with ginger root once a day was very sattvic and very healthy.
The papaya ginger root and black peppercorns boiled inside helped digestion which is weak during the rain. No doubt it also protects health too.
It was so sattvic it really mellows out the passion in us. These are side benefits to be realized.
Of course it's tough (but not impossible) to follow it while you travel around the world during Chaturmasya instead of staying at one place. It's also a test on your resolve to stick to your vows. Especially if you remain strict with it even on the festival days like Janmastami, SP Tirobhava, Radhastami, when all the other devotees feast like anything.
Text 398
tatra caturmasya-mahatmye
catur-varam bhramibhis tu
jagat sarvam caracaram
krantam bhavati vipragrya
tat tirtha-gamanadhikam
In the Skanda Purana, Caturmasya-mahatmya, it is said:
"O best of brahmanas, a person who four times circumambulates the Lord attains the result of circumambulating the entire universe filled with moving and unmoving beings. He attains a result better than going on all pilgrimages."
Text 399
tatraivanyatra
pradaksinam tu yah kuryat
harim bhaktya samanvitah
hamsa-yukta-vimanena
visnulokam sa gacchati
In the Caturmasya-mahatmya it is also said:
"A person who with devotion circumambulates Lord Hari flies on a swan to Lord Visnu's world."
Hari bhakti vilasa eighth vilasa
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