PRADOSHA VRATA

ALL THINGS in this vast creation function upon definite laws. There is always a beautiful
system and sound rationale governing every phenomenon and process, mundane or mystical. Just
as the gross elements and physical forces operate differently under different states and conditions,
so also the subtler and higher forces respond and react in the inner mystic planes, and in the purely
spiritual processes like meditation, prayer, worship, etc. Therefore, you will find definite
injunctions for performing certain types of worship in the morning, certain other injunctions for the
midday prayers, and still others for the evening worship. Again, some observances are meant to be
performed during certain phases of the moon, some when a particular star is in the ascendant, or at
the time of a particular conjunction of planets.
The Pradosha worship is to be done in the evening twilight on the 13th day of each lunar
fortnight. It is the worship of Lord Shiva for victory and success in all undertakings, and the
fulfilment of all your heart’s cherished desires. When you desire to obtain a favour from a superior
person, don’t you naturally approach him at a moment when he is likely to be in a very pleasant
frame of mind? You will perhaps see him after he has had a good dinner and is happily chatting with
a friend in a hearty, expansive mood. Even so, the Hindu, especially the Hindu who is engaged in
the motivated type of worship, usually selects the most pleasant aspect of God for his worship. He
performs it at a time which the ancient Rishis experienced as being the most helpful and efficacious
in propitiating the Deity. The Pradosha worship is based on such mystic psychology.
Pradosha is the worship of Lord Shiva and Parvati when they both are in an extremely
propitious mood. Repeatedly worsted in war by the demons, the gods approached Lord Shiva to
bless them with a leader for their celestial hosts. They came to the Lord at twilight on the thirteenth
day of the lunar fortnight and found Him in the blissful company of His consort, Parvati. Hymned
and glorified by them, Siva immediately granted their prayerful request. Hence, the extreme
auspiciousness of the period.
The Skanda Purana relates how Sandilya Muni prescribed this Vrata to a certain Brahmin
lady. She came to the sage with two boys, her son, Suchivrata, and an orphan prince, Dharmagupta,
whose father was slain in battle and the kingdom overrun by enemies.
Acting upon the advice of the sage, the woman and the boys performed the Vrata with great
devotion. After four months, that is, in the eighth Pradosha, Suchivrata obtained a pot of nectar and
drank the divine ambrosia. Prince Dharmagupta won the hand of a celestial princess and, as ordered
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RAMNAVMI
by Lord Siva, with the help of the celestial king himself, his enemies were slain and his kingdom
restored to him. Then Dharmagupta attained the Lord’s supreme abode. So easily, and yet so greatly
is the Lord of Kailas pleased by this Vrata.
One who takes this Vrata fasts on that day, and keeps vigil at night after the fast is over.
Bathing an hour before sunset, the worshipper first performs a preliminary worship of Lord Shiva,
together with all the others of His divine family, namely, Parvati, Ganesha, Skanda and Nandi.
After the worship of Ganesha, Lord Shiva is invoked in the special kalasha placed on a square
mandala with a lotus drawn in it and spread over with darbha grass. After the formal worship has
been completed, a Pradosha story is read and heard by the devotees. This is followed by the
recitation of the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra 108 times. In the end the sacred kalasha water is
partaken of, the sacred ash is applied to the forehead, and the water which was used to bathe the
Lord, is drunk.Agift of a pot, a cloth and an image of the Lord is given to a Brahmin to conclude the
worship.
A very important point to be remembered in this connection is that during this auspicious
period all the hosts of celestial beings and gods come down from the heavens and attend the worship
in their subtle forms. This adds immensely to the sanctity of the worship.
This Vrata is highly lauded by the scriptures and is of very great sanctity and importance to
worshippers of Lord Shiva. The mere sight of the Deity in a temple during this period will destroy
all sins and bestow bountiful blessings and Grace upon the fortunate beholder. Even a single bael
leaf (leaf taken from the wood-apple tree) offered to the Lord at this unique, auspicious moment
equals a hundred Mahapujas. It is usual to have special additional lights in the shrine during the
Pradosha. To light even a single wick at this juncture is highly meritorious and productive of untold
benefits, spiritual as well as material. Most fortunate and blessed is the person who performs the
Pradosha Vrata, for upon him Lord Shiva showers His choicest Grace and blessings in a very short
time.
Here is the Yogic interpretation of the Pradosha:
According to the Shiva-Raja Yoga, concentration is directed towards the central point in the
middle of the eyebrows, where the spiritual light can be perceived by the Yogi who turns the vision
inwards. The Yogi passes through various stages, all of which are subdivisions of the four states of
waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and the Superconscious State or Samadhi. Each one of these states is
further sub-divided into four states, for example, the waking-dreaming, waking-sleep,
waking-fourth, and waking-waking. It will be seen that when the states are sub-divided in this way,
the first three states comprise a total of twelve sub-states. The thirteenth is the fourth-waking. There
is correspondence between this and the 13th day of the lunar fortnight, either bright or dark.
Those who worship Mother Shakti have certain beliefs of their own, one of which is that the
Goddess that is worshipped acquires one ray on each of the days of the bright fortnight, starting
from the first day. Thus, on the full moon night, the Goddess would have received fifteen rays and
would be ready for the final form of worship intended to benefit the devout worshipper in all ways.
That is why the Navavarana worship is always conducted on the full moon day.
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The moon is believed to have a direct influence on the mind. Incidentally, the word mati
means both the moon and the mind.
According to Shiva-Raja Yoga there are two channels through which the Prana flows.
These are the Ida and the Pingala, ruled respectively by the moon and the sun. Midway between
these two there is a third, known as Sushumna. The Yogi is asked to start the practice of Yoga when
the breath is passing through the lunar channel. This coincides with the flow of the breath through
the left nostril. If, however, at the time of practice the flow is through the right nostril, the Yogi is
asked to perform a special exercise by which to change the flow to the left. When the Yogi
concentrates on the point between the eyebrows, he transcends, stage by stage, the first twelve
sub-states. The current of breath continues flowing through the lunar channel. The “moon” is
gaining more and more strength. When the 13th day is reached, the spiritual power of the Yogi has
correspondingly increased, and he is in a condition to see the lights which appear in the nerve centre
in between the eyebrows. In inverse proportion to the increase in concentration is the duration of the
Yogi’s breath. At the start of the practice, the breath will occupy a space of 16 fingers (inches
approximately). The moment the concentration has led him from the waking to the dream state, the
length of the breath becomes only 12 fingers. In this way, when he reaches the thirteenth stage, only
4 fingers of breath would remain. As this breath now circulates only within the nostril, no breath is
noticeable at the tip of the nose. From that moment the light is fixed permanently at the centre
between the eyebrows, and the Yogi would have realised the object of his practice.
Let me now describe the actual process of Shiva-Raja Yoga:
The Yogi sits in utter darkness, with the head and body erect, eyes open, and the gaze
directed to the centre of the eyebrows. He utters the Mantra in his mind and, without restraining his
breath, concentrates his gaze at the middle of the eyebrows, ever on the thought of the appearance of
the lights. The deep concentration resulting thereby yields the following fruits, in order.
First, he overcomes the distractions of his mind. He reaches a stage wherein he seems to
hear somebody talking somewhere in the distance. The words are not distinct, but a sort of murmur
is heard. Nevertheless, since his mind is elsewhere, he pays no attention to it. In fact, the sound
comes from nowhere outside. It is his own mind that produces these sounds. The mind is actually
functioning in its form as sound. Soon afterwards, this sound ceases, and he begins to see all sorts of
visions, in the same manner as we see pictures in a movie. It appears (as if in a dream) that he is
passing through hills of varying degrees of beauty, through seas and lakes of all sorts of colours and
shapes, and through clouds of different hues. The clouds appear dark and thick at first and thin out
gradually. These are scenes which are very pleasant to witness. But they are only thought-forms, an
imagery created by the mind as it is functioning as a form. It is in this stage that the Yogi may hear
musical notes as well—of the flute, violin, cymbals or any other instrument.
The Yogi then passes through an entirely different experience. He suddenly awakens from a
deep sleep. He does not remember when he got into the sleep state, but he is conscious of the sudden
awakening. The truth is that he had not slept at all. His mind became a complete blank, he lost
consciousness of the workings of the mind, which was nonetheless still active all the time. When he
regained consciousness, he suddenly felt his awareness once again. He is now tempted to examine
himself to ascertain if his posture is still erect and if his eyes are still fixed between his eyebrows.
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PRADOSHA VRATA
Finding no change in these he realises that the temporary loss of consciousness was only a stage
which he passed through in his Yoga.
Next comes the stage when he feels as if something of the nature of a hot nail is pricking him
at the centre of his eyebrows. In the earlier period of his practice there will only be this sensation,
but as he advances, this is followed by the appearance of the lights. Even then there are various
stages which have to be passed before the lights get their proper shape.
At first a yellow and a red light appear, the red being in the centre and two yellow flame-like
lights on either side. After a few days, all these colours pass away and he begins to see a steady light
of the shape and colour of the moon. As his practice advances, this grows brighter and brighter, and
the whole room in which the Yogi sits is gradually illumined, starting with the intensity of twilight
until it becomes a flood of bright light. Yet in this state nothing that is in the room is seen; other
things which are not there, begin to appear. They come and go with amazing rapidity, and reveal
many things to him.
Thus far, we have dwelt upon only the first four stages of the entire series of sixteen stages
which have to be passed through by the Shiva-Raja Yogi before he finally attains union with Lord
Shiva. The details of the experiences at each stage vary from man to man, as also from day to day.
But, in the main, these are the stages:
At first, the Yogi is aware of what transpires about him. He is in the waking part of the
waking state. Then the pictures come in the dream part of his waking state. The feeling of
overpowering sleep occurs in the deep sleep part of the waking state. The appearance of the light
occurs in the fourth part of the waking stage.
The dream and the deep sleep states also have their four sub-divisions which have to be
passed. When the Yogi comes to the thirteenth stage, he is in the waking part of the fourth state. The
vision of Lord Shiva in the form of Self-Consciousness now begins. The form of the Lord appears
before him as though coming out of the lights, which began at stage four of the sixteen stages. From
this stage onwards the mind loses its sense of separate activity. It becomes deeply absorbed in the
Self within.
On the 13th lunar day Nature assists the worshipper in waking up from his mental deep
sleep and in becoming aware of the fourth state. The Yogi who practises his Yoga on the Pradosha
day gets these experiences of Lord Shiva quite readily.
Similar to the above is the significance of the worship of Lord Ganesha on the 4th day of the
lunar fortnight. This corresponds to the Fourth part of the waking state, when the lights are first
seen. On the 8th day or the Ashtami, Mother Durga is adored. This corresponds to the fourth part of
the dream state. Ekadashi or the 11th day corresponds to the deep sleep part of the deep sleep state.
In this state there is complete unawareness of the mind. This is the most favourable moment for a
direct contact with God, the indweller. If we fast and pray on this day, we can reduce our bodily
activities to the minimum and can have the vision of the Lord who resides in our heart.
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If we thus analyse the rationale of our holy days, we discover that our ancients took
particular care to effect a synthesis of Yoga—Karma, Jnana and Bhakti.
At the Sivananda Ashram in India, a special havan and an elaborate worship are conducted
for the long life, health, success and prosperity of all. The Lord’s sacred prasad is sent to devotees
all over the world.