CHATURMAASYA VRATAM AND VYAASA POOJA

[Guest guest]

CHATURMAASYA VRATAM AND VYAASA POOJA - THEIR

SIGNIFICANCE

 

On the Sukla Ekadasi day of the month Ashada, Lord

Vishnu starts His Yoga-nidra lying over Adisesha on

the ocean of milk. He awakes from yoga nidra on the

Sukla Dwadasi day of the month Karthika. This period

of yoga-nidra is therefore for four months. This

period is to be observed as Chaaturmaasya Vratam. This

vrata has to be observed by brahmacharis, grahastas,

vanaprastas and sanyasins. Since sanyasins are

considered as the Swarupa of Lord Narayana himself,

they are not supposed to move when Lord Narayana is

asleep.

 

The Vedas refer to a paksha (15 days) as a masa

itself. Hence the vrata is generally observed for 4

(four) pakshas considering each paksha as a masa.

Thus, sanyasins observe the vrata for two months. The

following Devatas are invoked on the poornima day of

the month Ashada (Vyasa poornima day) by the

Sanyasins.

1. Sri Krishna Panchakam: Sri Krishna, Sri Vasudeva,

Sri Sankarshana, Sri Praduyumna and Sri Aniruddha

2. Vyasa Panchakam: Sri Vyasa, Paila, Vaisampayana,

Jaimini and Sumantu

3. Acharya Panchakam: Sri Sankara Bhagavadpada, Sri

Padma Pada, Sri Sureswara, Sri Hasthamalalaka, and Sri

Thotakacharya

4. Sanaka Panchakam: Sanaka, Sanantana, Sanaatana,

Sanatkumara and Sanatsujata,

5. Sukha and Narada

6. Dravidacharya Panchakam: Sri Dravidacharya, Sri

Gaudapada, Sri Govinda Bhagavad Pada, Sri

Samkshepadacharya and Vivaranacharya

7. Guru Panchakam: Sri Guru, Sri Parama Guru, Sri

Parameshthi Guru, Sri Parathpara Guru and Sri Anye,

Brahmavidyaguravaha

8. Sri Ganapati, Sri Durga, Kshetra Palaka, Sri

Saraswati, Indra and other Dik-palakas, Brahma, Sesha

and Sudha Chaitanya.

 

 

ON VYASA POOJA

Veda Vyasa laid the foundation for the growth of

Sanatana Dharma. It was Vyasa who gave us our wealth,

the Vedas and classified them into four groups, Rig,

Yejur, Sama and Atharvana. The essence of the Vedas is

elaborated in the 18 Puranas compiled by Veda Vyasa.

The quintessence of the order was reduced in

aphoristic form, called Brahma Sutra. Adi Sankara

later gave the Bhashya for the above.The importance of

the Vyasa puja on the Guru Poornima day is due to the

fact that he handed over the suceeding generation the

heritage of Vedas and Brahama Sutras. In this puja,

the immediate Guru and the entire Guru Paramparas from

Veda Vyasa are being worshipped.

 

It is not Veda Vyasa alone who is worshipped on Vyasa

Pooja day. Six groups of preceptors (moola purushas)

of jnana each group consisting of five preceptors are

worshipped. The first group is called Krishna Panchaka

and consists of Sri Krishna, Vaasudeva, Pradyumna,

Anirudha and Sankarshana. The five groups besides the

Sri Krishnapanchaka mentioned above, are: (1) The

Vyasa Panchaka, consisting of Sri Vyasa, Sri Paila,

Sri Vaisampayana, Sri Jaimini, and Sri Sumantu;

(2) The Bhagavatpada Panchaka, consisting of Sri

Sankara Bhagavatpada, Sri Padmapaadaacharya, Sri

Sureswaracharya, Sri Hastaamalakaacharya, and Sri

Totakaachaarya;

(3) The Sanaka Panchaka, consisting of Sri Sanaka, Sri

Sanandana, Sri Sanaatana, Sri Sanat Kumara, and Sri

Sanatsujaata;

(4) The Dravida Panchaka, consisting of Sri

Dravidaacharya, Sri Gaudaapadaacharya, Sri Govinda

Bhagavatpaadaacharya, Sri Sankshepakaacharya, and Sri

Vivaranaacharys; and

(5) The Guru Panchaka, consisting of the Guru, the

Parama Guru, the Parameshti Guru, and the Paraapara

Guru of the sanyasin, and other prmulgators of the

sampradaya ("anye brahmavidyaa sampradaaaya kartaarah

guravah").

 

Worship is also offered to Sri Suka, Sri Narada, Sri

Durga, Sri Ganapati, the Kshetrapaalas, Sri Saraswati,

and the ten guardians of the directions, beginning

with Indra. Finally pooja is offered to Sudha

Chaitanya, whose aavaaahana is made in the Saaligramah

and omnibus worship (samashti pooja) is performed at

the end.The seniority of a synapse is determined, not

by his age, but by the number of Vyasa Poojas he

performed. It may happen that a young sanyaasi has

performed more Vyasa Poojas than an aged one. In that

case, the aged sanyasi will have to do obesance to the

young one. This practice is similar to the practice

among householders of a person prostrating before a

lady younger than himself should the husband of that

lady be senior to him.What is known as Vyasa Poornima

in the South is known as Guru Poornima in the North.

On that day, every person makes it a point to make

offerings to all those who occupy the position of

teacher to him. For the Smartha sanyasins, the

chaaaturmaasyaa begins with Vyasa Pooja and ends with

Viswaroopa Yatra. The Vaishnavas commence

chaaturmaasya with sankalpam and end with utthaanam.

Jaya Jaya Shankara Hara Hara Shankara

 

 

 

Vyasa Pooja and other important dates- July to

September 2002

 

* 24-07-2002 : Vyasa Pooja Commences

* 21-09-2002 : Vyasa Pooja Ends

 

 

Date Day Nakshatram Festival

26-07-02 Friday Avitam H.H. Sri Jagadguru Jayendra

Saraswathi Swamiji Jayanthi Mahosthavam

02-08-02 Friday Barani Adi Kirthigai

03-08-02 Saturday Krithigai Adi Perukku

13-08-02 Tuesday Chitra Naga Panchami

21-08-02 Wednesday Sravanam Rig Veda Upakarma

22-08-02 Thursday Avitam Yajur veda Upakarma

23-08-02 Friday Sathayam Gayathri Japam

31-08-02 Saturday Rohini Sri Krishna Jayanthi

10-09-02 Tuesday Chitra Sri Vinayaka Chaturti

18-09-02 Wednesday Sravanam Vamana Jayanthi

 

----

----------

 

Other special days:

Ekadasi :- 05-08-02, 18-08-02, 03-09-02, 17-09-02

 

Pournami(Full Moon):- 24-07-02, 22-08-02

 

Amavasya(New Moon) :- 08-08-02, 07-09-02

 

Pradosham :- 06-08-02, 20-08-02, 04-09-02, 18-09-02

 

Shivratri :- 07-07-02, 05-09-02