The Importance of Bathing in Kartika

Suta said:

1. Hearing all these words of Shri Krishna, that noble Satya, daughter of Satrajit, then said: Satya said:

2. Olord, I have not heard the greatness of Kartika in detail. How is Kartika (said to be) the best of all months?

Shri Krishna said:

3. You have well asked with respect about the vow of Kartika. It was formerly told to Shaunaka by very noble Suta. Suta said:

4. Listen, I shall give the auspicious answer to this question. Formerly the lord told it to Kartikeya who had asked about it. Kartikeya said:

5-15. O lord, I, a devotee of Vishnu, have heard many secrets of Vishnu told by you. Men have come to the ocean of mundane existence, covered with large waves of unhappiness. Carefully tell (some story) for their emancipation. So also, O you best among speakers, tell about the rite of Kartika and the bath (in it), by which men will cross over the ocean of unhappiness, O father. Tell me about the greatness of illumination, of offering mango-sprouts, O you of a good vow, and the greatness of goplcandana and TulasI, O lord. Tell me also about the greatness of jasmine flowers; so also of lotuses; so also tell about the greatness of dhatri-fruits and damanaka. 0 lord, tell about the greatness of ketakl-flowers; so also of the offering of eatables, the greatness of a holy place, and the fruit of the bath in Magha. O best god, tell about the fruit of eating from palasa-leaves, the fruit of waving the light by setting right the wick of another's lamp, O Shiva. (Tell me about) the greatness of the holy place (called) Puskara, so also of Sukara, O lord; so also the greatnecs of Salagrama, and the arrangement of the Svastika (symbol). Tell me also about the fruit of gifts, avoiding others' food, the fruit of the fast for a month, and of giving away a couch. O you of a good vow, (tell me) about the greatness of DIpavall, and of the Prabodhini (Ekadashi); so also tell me in detail the importance of the five days from the eleventh to the fifteenth of the bright half of the month of Kartika. The lord said:

16-21. O child, you have asked well for emancipating the people.

1 shall undoubtedly tell it. There is no other Vishnu devotee like you. O child, there is no doubt that I am emancipated by a good son (like) you. You always have a firm devotion to Vishnu. The best brahmana who gives (i.e. tells) the Vaisnava practice to people gets the religious merit obtained by giving the earth with the ocean. That is not equal even to a croreth part of (the merit got from the vow of) Kartika. On one side are all gifts, gifts of cows, all sacrifices with presents, the residence at Puskara, Kuruksetra, Himalaya, the residence at the holy place of Mathura, at Varanasi, at Sukara, and on the other side is Kartika always dear to Vishnu, O child. Suta said:

22. Speaking like this, O best sage, Shiva again spoke these words: " I shall tell you in great detail the importance of bathing (daily) in (the month of) Kartika". The lordsaid:

23-32. The Krta age is said to be of brahmanas, the Treta age is said to be that of ksatriyas, Dvapara is said to be of vaisyas and Kali is said to be of Shudras. O child, people show slackness in taking a bath in the Kali age. Yet I shall tell you about the bath in Kartika and Magha. A man whose hands, feet, speech, mind are controlled, and who has knowledge, penance and fame (to his credit) enjoys the fruit of (the visits to) a holy place. These five — one having no faith, a sinful person, an atheist, one with a split mind, and a disputant — do not enjoy the fruit of (the visit to) a holy place. That brahmana who, getting up in the morning, would always bathe in a holy place, is free from all sins, and obtains (i. e. goes to) the highest Brahman. O Kartikeya, those who know about a bath, have said that a bath is of four kinds: Vayavya, Varuna, Divya and Brahmya. A bath in the evening is Vayavya; a bath in a sea etc. is Varuna; a bath with hymns recited by brahmanas is Brahmya; and a divine bath is the one bright with the water (directly falling) from the clouds. Of all the baths Varuna is the best. A brahmana, a ksatriya, a vaisya should take a bath with the (recital of) hymns. O Kartikeya, a shudra, so also women, should bathe silently. A girl, a young women, an old woman, a man, a woman, a eunuch are free from all sins due to a bath (everyday) in Kartika and Magha. Having bathed in Kartika, they obtain the desired fruit.

 

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