SravaNa DvAdasi

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Jaganathan :

 

SravaNa DvAdasi comes once a year and this

Isvara Year , it falls on Sunday , 14th of September

( Sukla Paksha DvAdasi ) . The ruling by the saasthrAs is

that the upavAsam on Sukla Paksha SravaNa DvAdasi

is equal to the accumulated merits of fasting on 10,000

Ekadasis . Thus , Sukla Paksha SravaNa DvAdasi is

even more sacred than KrishNa paksha SravaNa

DvAdasi .

 

The source for the NirNayam of Tithi and UpavAsam

come from many PurANAs and SamhitAs as well as

Sroutha SutrAs .

 

These nirNaya granthAs rule that the upavAsam should

be done on SravaNa DvAdasi and the paaraNai

( breaking of the fast ) on TrayOdasi .

 

These aadhAra granthAs point out also that one can safely

skip the fasting on the Ekadasi day prior to SravaNa dvAdasi

and should fast on the SravaNa dvAdasi day , if one is unable to

fast on both the days . VishNu purANam has also ruled that

one , who is unable to fast on SravaNa dvAdasi day should limit

oneself to fruits, milk and roots and stay away from salt

( lavaNa Varjitham and no rice as you pointed out ) .Such a person

will still get the fruits of this special upavAsam , which is

suggested to remove mahA paathakams such as

Brahma hatthi dhosham .

 

The sacredness of the SravaNa dvAdasi upavAsam is

pointed out in another way . SruthisAra Samucchayam states

that the puNyam accumulated over five previous years

are destroyed by nonobservance of this fast by a

Sri VaishNavA .

 

To be at Oppiliappan Sannadhi on SravaNa DvAdasi day

and have the darsanam of SravaNa dheepam is one of the

gretest of blessings that one can have . I guess the acceptable

alternative for us " locked up " here is the recitation of

Sri VishNu Sahasra Naamam in front of a dheepam .

 

Thanks very much for reminding us all about this important day .

 

V.Sadagopan