Anant Chaturdashi Vrat

This is one of the most sanctimonious forms of our vrats and festivals. It has been a boon for people like a spotless river flowing ceaselessly, since time immemorial, where every parched person quenches his thirst and attains equanimity. Such is the experience of peace that has been in description of Vedas and Puranas. This is the most important part of many forms that helps human get on their feet. It is a gateway to emancipation of many sufferings. In this context, Anant Chaturdashi is considered one of the most important vrat festivals, which is followed by every devotee with great devotions and faith, and which takes place every year on Chaturthi in Shukla Paksha of Bhadrapada. This time, the celebration of this festival is slated on 01.09.2020, on Tuesday, Chaturdashi in Shukla Paksha of Bhadrapada. This vrat is the giver of good luck and prosperity to devotees, male and female. This time, worship of eternal Lord Shri Hari Vishnu is organized. Because lord Vishnu is the controller rearing the entire universe. Because of his kindness, people are being nurtured. He is the supreme Lord, not fathomable by the conscience of mere humans. Being the lord of the universe, lord Vishnu is known as eternal deity. Goswami Tulsidas writes about this in Ramcharitmanas – “हरि अन्नत हरि कथा अन्नता। कहहिं सुनहिं बहुविधि सब संता।“.  Meaning – A lord with unfathomable power and forms. He is the lord assimilating the entire world. Therefore, everyone should pay tribute to this lord in order to gain his blessings.

Anant Chaturdashi Vrat And Methods Related To Its Puja

This vrat festival involves certain rituals and their compliances. Devotees must maintain self-denial and celibacy before observing the fast. Absolute avoidance of anger-inducing foods is also must. The reason behind this is that the more you follow self-denial tactic for this vrat, the more benefits you will get out of it. During the day of vrat, first of all, finish your daily routines like attending washroom etc. Wear clean cloth, be seated on a sacred carpet (blanket) facing eastward, and then take Sankalp while invoking the name of lord Vishnu. Pray to lord, “O lord! Bless me the strength to continue your vrat with devotions and I attain prosperity and wellbeing.” This is known as mental Sankalp/invocation of the lord. After collecting all necessary ingredients for puja, either perform the worship on your own or have a priest done the same. Also, make sure you are consecrated by sprinkling holy water on your body.  Do Achamana and ensconce a beautiful Kalash in front of the image of the lord Vishnu. Make Ashtadal Pushp (flower) and in it, place the lord Anant’s statue.  Or you can invoke the lord Anant in the image of lord Vishnu to start a worship. Ensconce the idol, lit up Diya and incense sticks. Take a very pure thread to make Anant sutra. Dip the thread in Gangajal (Ganga water) to purify it, dye it with the colors, like saffron, Kumkum and turmeric. The quantity of turmeric should be more on the thread. Now, make Anant sutra. Certain cautions to be maintained in this course include; don’t talk to anyone, remain seated unperturbed, and invoke lord Vishnu while making a total number of 14 knots in certain distant on the thread. To make sure it is energized/consecrated, place the thread in front of the lord Vishnu. Keep worshiping the lord and Anant. Puja must be done with shodashopchar method or get it done by a priest. Now offer your worship in the name of lord, recite the mantra, and offer all your puja and Japa to the lord. Pray to Anant thread in the name of the lord, male to wear it on left hand, while female to wear the thread on right hand. Offer your prayer to lord religiously after wearing the Anant thread. Give feast and dakshina to brahman, pray them, and treat them with respects. Now you can also have foods along with your family, as per rituals mandated. Meditate the lord’s virtues and do his bhajans. This will ensure fulfillment of all the wishes you had placed in front of the lord while doing his vrat.

Importance of Anant Chaturdashi

Anant Chaturdashi is socially and religiously believed to be of highly important vrat festival dedicated to Lord Vishnu to attain His divine favor. Because, lord Vishnu is the protector rearing the universe. In this context, mention has been given in Agni purana that fasting in the name of lord Vishnu, the giver of desired results, during Anant Chaturdashi should be observed, religiously. Lord Vishnu is known with various synonyms including Anant. The deity Vishnu is the lord of all divine realms, temporal and heavenly both. He is known and worshipped by Narayan, Satyanarayana, and Vasudeva etc. In this vrat, lord Vishnu is worshipped as a lord of fourteen realms, who is protector and controller of these realms, known as Tal, Atal, Vital, Sutal, TalaTal, Rasatal, Patal, Bhu: Bhuva: Svaha: Mah, Jana: Tapa: Satyam. One who worships lord Vishnu, according to His lordship in each realm for the duration of fourteen years unabated, becomes successful in the pursuit of abundant prosperity.  And he attains salvation in the abode of Lord himself after his death. Therefore, Anant Chaturdashi vrat is very important for us in various counts. Because it helps in the development of many virtues like peace and harmony in devotees.  In other words, attraction toward good deeds develops by this vrat. It is a symbol of allegiance and goodwill.

Story of Anant Chaturdashi

Stories regarding this vrat and festival are many in the narratives of various religious books. According to them, Anant Chaturdashi vrat can eliminate devotee’s sufferings and pains, and brings the devotees to the nearness of the lord Vishnu. According to an ancient legend, a learned Brahman, along with his dutiful wife, was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Later, his pious wife gave birth to a baby girl, which was named Diksha. During the course of upbringing of the child, there happened a sudden death of Brahman’s wife, who then married to another woman, believing that remarriage would ensure better upbringing of his daughter. However, the new wife was virago and built a grudge towards her step-daughter.  But the girl’s behavior was sweet and gentle. When the girl became marriageable, her father married her to a saint named Kaundinya. Though the newly wedded couple lived with the step-mother of the bride, the mounting cruelty of her step-mother made the couple to leave that residence. As a result, they were forced to live a painful life wandering here and there. Roaming like that finally led the couple to a river where a group of women was performing a certain ritual and were also binding a sacred thread to one another. Seeing this, Sushila asked about the vrat and its importance. The women answered that they were following Lord Anant vrat, which eliminates all sufferings of the devotees. Attainment of desired wishes happens. Sushila decided to follow that vrat religiously and prayed by heart to lord Anant, “Lord! Bless me and my husband eternal prosperity, rid us of poverty!” This way the couple experienced prosperous life by the divine favor of lord Vishnu. However, the following year when she was observing Anant Chaturdashi vrat and was about to bind the Anant thread to her husband, he asked about it. The wife replied that all the prosperity they were enjoying was the result of that vrat. Hearing this made her husband enraged, saying the prosperity was the result of his hard labor, not the vrat. And he broke the Anant thread in rage. This blasphemy made lord Vishnu angry, and the couple’s prosperity vanished. Now they were again living like a vagabond. Later, when they asked for the reason of their plight to a saint, the reality made the couple remorseful. Then they followed the vrat continuously for fourteen years, which made their life prosperous. Another legend of Anant Chaturdashi refers to the exile of Pandava, and another one relates to Rajsuya Yagya performed by Yudhishthira.

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