best activity and best vrata for Kartik

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Hari-bhakti-vilasa, Sanatana Gosvami

 

Moreover, for those who hear Visnu-katha in this month, each half verse or

quarter of verse yields the fruits of donating one hundred cows; indeed, O

great sage, all other duties should be given up in favor of hearing

scriptures from holy men. Be it for spiritual benefit or with other

expectations, by engaging in Hari-katha one uplifts hundreds of his family’s

generations. A person will burn all sinful reactions and gain the fruit of

ten thousand sacrifices for each day of Kartika spent in the delight of the

scriptures. In fact, Madhusudana is not as pleased by sacrifices or by

charity of cows and elephants as He is pleased by discourses from the

scriptures during Kartika. O eminent sage, by hearing Hari-katha one can

transcend the distress accumulated in millions of births. By regularly

trying to read Srimad Bhagavatam during this month one gains the benefit of

reading all eighteen Puranas. (75-81)

Furthermore, during Kartika a man should cultivate supreme devotion by

living among Vaisnavas, at the cost of giving up acts of piety and other

prescribed duties. (82)

(Skanda Purana, dialogue between Brahma and Narada)