The fourth of the dark fortnight, Gaṇeśa’s monthly vow: saṅkaṣṭa-hara, “the remover of hardships”. The fast is kept until the moon rises. When it falls on a Tuesday it is Aṅgārakī, the most prized of all.
📜శాస్త్ర కథ
Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā-khaṇḍa; Mudgala Purāṇa
The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells that Aṅgāraka (Mars), son of the Earth and the sage Bharadvāja, worshipped Gaṇeśa with long austerity; the Lord appeared to him on a dark fourth that fell on a Tuesday and granted that the day bear his name, and that whoever keeps the vow on it have every obstacle removed. Each month’s Caturthī has its own form of Gaṇeśa and its own story, told at moonrise.
🌙వ్రతం
A day-long fast, fruit and roots permitted; at moonrise Gaṇeśa is worshipped, arghya is given to the Moon, the kathā is heard and the fast is broken.
🔥పూజ, హోమం
Twenty-one dūrvā blades, red flowers, modaka or sesame laḍḍū; the Saṅkaṣṭa-nāśana Gaṇeśa-stotra from the Nārada Purāṇa and the Atharvaśīrṣa are recited.
ॐమంత్రాలు, జపం 1
ॐ गं गणपतये नमः ॥
oṃ gaṃ gaṇapataye namaḥ ||
అర్థం: Salutation to Gaṇapati, lord of the hosts.
ఫలం: Recited before every beginning — removes obstacles and grants success, learning and a steady intellect.
Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa Upaniṣad 7
📖శాస్త్ర ప్రమాణాలు 2
Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā-khaṇḍa
Nārada Purāṇa (Saṅkaṣṭa-nāśana-stotra)
5శుక్ర
5, జూన్ 2026, శుక్రవారం
జ్యేష్ఠం · అధిక (పురుషోత్తమ) మాసం · కృష్ణ పక్షం పంచమి · శ్రవణం
The eleventh tithi of each fortnight, dearest of all days to Viṣṇu. Eleven stands for the ten senses and the mind; on this day they are turned from food toward the Lord. The Padma Purāṇa gives each of the year’s Ekādaśīs its own name, story and fruit.
📜శాస్త్ర కథ
Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa 38 — the birth of Ekādaśī
In the Kṛta age the asura Mura drove the gods from heaven. Viṣṇu fought him for a thousand divine years and then withdrew to rest in the cave Hemavatī at Badarikāśrama. Mura followed, meaning to slay the sleeping Lord — when from Viṣṇu’s own body sprang a radiant maiden, armed, who met the asura in battle and reduced him to ashes with a sound. Waking, the Lord asked who had done this; she answered that she was born of him, on the eleventh day. Pleased, he named her Ekādaśī and granted her wish: that whoever fasts on her day be freed from wrong and come to his abode.
🌙వ్రతం
A light single meal on Daśamī; on Ekādaśī a full fast, or fruit and milk, with all grains and beans set aside; a night vigil with the names of Hari; and pāraṇa on Dvādaśī morning after sunrise, within the Dvādaśī, after feeding another.
🔥పూజ, హోమం
Viṣṇu is worshipped with tulasī leaves, sandal, flowers, lamp and fruit; the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma, the Gītā and the Ekādaśī-māhātmya of the day are read; lamps are lit before the tulasī at dusk.
ॐమంత్రాలు, జపం 2
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya ||
అర్థం: Salutation to the blessed Lord Vāsudeva.
ఫలం: The dvādaśākṣara — by this mantra the child Dhruva saw the Lord within six months; recited for devotion, protection and liberation.
Bhāgavata Purāṇa 4.8.54 — the twelve-syllable mantra Nārada gives to Dhruva
ॐ नमो नारायणाय ॥
oṃ namo nārāyaṇāya ||
అర్థం: Salutation to Nārāyaṇa, the refuge of all beings.
ఫలం: The eight-syllable mantra — the Upaniṣad says one who recites it attains full life, prosperity and the abode of Viṣṇu.
Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad (Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda)
📖శాస్త్ర ప్రమాణాలు 1
Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa 36–63
12శుక్ర
12, జూన్ 2026, శుక్రవారం
జ్యేష్ఠం · అధిక (పురుషోత్తమ) మాసం · కృష్ణ పక్షం ద్వాదశి · అశ్విని
The thirteenth tithi at twilight — the hour and a half around sunset when Śiva, having drunk the poison of the churned ocean, danced between the horns of Nandī for the joy of the gods. Worship in this window is held to please him swiftly; a Monday (Soma) or Saturday (Śani) Pradoṣa is prized most.
When the hālāhala poison rose from the churned ocean and scorched the worlds, the gods fled to Kailāsa. Śiva, in compassion, gathered the poison in his palm and drank it; Pārvatī pressed his throat, and it stayed there, turning it blue — Nīlakaṇṭha. The Skanda Purāṇa tells that on the thirteenth, at dusk, he danced in gladness while the gods stood round in worship, and relates how a destitute widow’s son and an orphaned prince, taught the Pradoṣa vow by the sage Śāṇḍilya, regained a kingdom by it.
🌙వ్రతం
A fast from sunrise, broken after the twilight worship; kept on both thirteenths of the month.
🔥పూజ, హోమం
In the pradoṣa window: abhiṣeka of the liṅga with milk and water, bilva leaves, lamp and incense; Nandī is worshipped first and the liṅga viewed between his horns; the pradakṣiṇā is done in the half-circle Soma-sūtra manner; the Śiva-pradoṣa-stotra and Rudram are recited.
ॐమంత్రాలు, జపం 2
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॥
oṃ namaḥ śivāya ||
అర్థం: Salutation to Śiva, the auspicious one.
ఫలం: The five-syllable mantra at the heart of the Yajurveda — purifies the five elements of the body and steadies the mind in Śiva.
అర్థం: We worship the three-eyed Lord, fragrant, the nourisher of all; as a ripe gourd is freed from its stalk, may he free us from death, not from immortality.
ఫలం: The great death-conquering mantra — japa of 108 for health, long life, recovery from illness and fearlessness.
Ṛgveda 7.59.12 (Vasiṣṭha); Śukla Yajurveda 3.60
📖శాస్త్ర ప్రమాణాలు 2
Skanda Purāṇa, Brahmottara-khaṇḍa 6–7
Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.7
13శని
13, జూన్ 2026, శనివారం
జ్యేష్ఠం · అధిక (పురుషోత్తమ) మాసం · కృష్ణ పక్షం త్రయోదశి · కృత్తిక
The monthly night of Śiva, the fourteenth of the dark half, when the waning moon — the mind — is almost still. Those who keep all twelve through the year complete the vow on Mahā Śivarātri.
🔥పూజ, హోమం
Evening or midnight worship of the liṅga with water, milk and bilva; a fast through the day; japa of the pañcākṣarī.
ॐమంత్రాలు, జపం 1
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॥
oṃ namaḥ śivāya ||
అర్థం: Salutation to Śiva, the auspicious one.
ఫలం: The five-syllable mantra at the heart of the Yajurveda — purifies the five elements of the body and steadies the mind in Śiva.
The new moon, when Sun and Moon dwell together — the day that belongs to the ancestors. Offerings of water and sesame made today reach them directly, and their blessing is sought for the family’s welfare. A new moon on a Monday (Somavatī) is especially sacred for married women, who circle the pīpal tree 108 times; on a Saturday (Śanaiścarī) Śani is propitiated with sesame oil; on a Tuesday (Bhaumavatī) debts are said to be cleared by ancestral rites.
📜శాస్త్ర కథ
Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana-parva 87–92; Matsya Purāṇa 14 (Acchodā and the Pitṛs)
The Matsya Purāṇa tells of Acchodā, mind-born daughter of the Pitṛs, who through a moment’s wavering fell from heaven. The Pitṛs, in compassion, told her that the day of her fall would be named Amāvasyā, dear to them above all days, and that whatever is offered to the ancestors on it would be imperishable. Bhīṣma teaches Yudhiṣṭhira that of all tithis the new moon is foremost for the śrāddha.
🔥పూజ, హోమం
Tarpaṇa with water and black sesame facing south; feeding of crows, cows and the needy; a lamp of sesame oil under the pīpal at dusk; on Somavatī, circumambulation of the pīpal with thread, and a vow of silence at the bath.
The day Gaṅgā came down from heaven to earth. The Skanda Purāṇa names it Daśaharā — “the remover of ten” — because a bath in the Gaṅgā today dissolves ten kinds of wrong: three of the body, four of speech and three of the mind.
The sixty thousand sons of King Sagara, searching for the sacrificial horse, were burnt to ash by the glance of the sage Kapila, and only the waters of the heavenly Gaṅgā could free them. Aṃśumān and Dilīpa strove in vain; Bhagīratha, the great-great-grandson, left his kingdom and performed austerity for a thousand years. Brahmā granted the boon, but the earth could not bear the river’s fall, so Bhagīratha prayed to Śiva, who caught Gaṅgā in his matted locks and released her in seven streams. She followed Bhagīratha’s chariot across the plains to the ocean and down to the nether world, washed the ashes of his ancestors, and raised them to heaven. The Skanda Purāṇa records that she touched the earth on the tenth of bright Jyeṣṭha, under the star Hasta.
🪔ప్రాంతీయ సంప్రదాయాలు, జానపద కథలు
Haridvāra, Prayāga, Vārāṇasī, Garhmukteśvar and Ṛṣikeśa fill with bathers; at dusk thousands of leaf-boats carrying flame and flowers are set on the current. Where the river is far, a few drops of Gaṅgā water are added to the bath. In Mathurā kites are flown and the Yamunā is honoured likewise.
🔥పూజ, హోమం
Bath with ten dips; ten flowers, ten lamps, ten fruits and ten kinds of offering are made to the river; gifts of water, sherbet, fans and sesame in tens are given. The Gaṅgā-stotra and the Gaṅgā-laharī are sung, and the evening ārati on the ghāṭs closes the day.
The eleventh tithi of each fortnight, dearest of all days to Viṣṇu. Eleven stands for the ten senses and the mind; on this day they are turned from food toward the Lord. The Padma Purāṇa gives each of the year’s Ekādaśīs its own name, story and fruit.
📜శాస్త్ర కథ
Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa 38 — the birth of Ekādaśī
In the Kṛta age the asura Mura drove the gods from heaven. Viṣṇu fought him for a thousand divine years and then withdrew to rest in the cave Hemavatī at Badarikāśrama. Mura followed, meaning to slay the sleeping Lord — when from Viṣṇu’s own body sprang a radiant maiden, armed, who met the asura in battle and reduced him to ashes with a sound. Waking, the Lord asked who had done this; she answered that she was born of him, on the eleventh day. Pleased, he named her Ekādaśī and granted her wish: that whoever fasts on her day be freed from wrong and come to his abode.
🌙వ్రతం
A light single meal on Daśamī; on Ekādaśī a full fast, or fruit and milk, with all grains and beans set aside; a night vigil with the names of Hari; and pāraṇa on Dvādaśī morning after sunrise, within the Dvādaśī, after feeding another.
🔥పూజ, హోమం
Viṣṇu is worshipped with tulasī leaves, sandal, flowers, lamp and fruit; the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma, the Gītā and the Ekādaśī-māhātmya of the day are read; lamps are lit before the tulasī at dusk.
ॐమంత్రాలు, జపం 2
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya ||
అర్థం: Salutation to the blessed Lord Vāsudeva.
ఫలం: The dvādaśākṣara — by this mantra the child Dhruva saw the Lord within six months; recited for devotion, protection and liberation.
Bhāgavata Purāṇa 4.8.54 — the twelve-syllable mantra Nārada gives to Dhruva
ॐ नमो नारायणाय ॥
oṃ namo nārāyaṇāya ||
అర్థం: Salutation to Nārāyaṇa, the refuge of all beings.
ఫలం: The eight-syllable mantra — the Upaniṣad says one who recites it attains full life, prosperity and the abode of Viṣṇu.
The thirteenth tithi at twilight — the hour and a half around sunset when Śiva, having drunk the poison of the churned ocean, danced between the horns of Nandī for the joy of the gods. Worship in this window is held to please him swiftly; a Monday (Soma) or Saturday (Śani) Pradoṣa is prized most.
When the hālāhala poison rose from the churned ocean and scorched the worlds, the gods fled to Kailāsa. Śiva, in compassion, gathered the poison in his palm and drank it; Pārvatī pressed his throat, and it stayed there, turning it blue — Nīlakaṇṭha. The Skanda Purāṇa tells that on the thirteenth, at dusk, he danced in gladness while the gods stood round in worship, and relates how a destitute widow’s son and an orphaned prince, taught the Pradoṣa vow by the sage Śāṇḍilya, regained a kingdom by it.
🌙వ్రతం
A fast from sunrise, broken after the twilight worship; kept on both thirteenths of the month.
🔥పూజ, హోమం
In the pradoṣa window: abhiṣeka of the liṅga with milk and water, bilva leaves, lamp and incense; Nandī is worshipped first and the liṅga viewed between his horns; the pradakṣiṇā is done in the half-circle Soma-sūtra manner; the Śiva-pradoṣa-stotra and Rudram are recited.
ॐమంత్రాలు, జపం 2
ॐ नमः शिवाय ॥
oṃ namaḥ śivāya ||
అర్థం: Salutation to Śiva, the auspicious one.
ఫలం: The five-syllable mantra at the heart of the Yajurveda — purifies the five elements of the body and steadies the mind in Śiva.
అర్థం: We worship the three-eyed Lord, fragrant, the nourisher of all; as a ripe gourd is freed from its stalk, may he free us from death, not from immortality.
ఫలం: The great death-conquering mantra — japa of 108 for health, long life, recovery from illness and fearlessness.
The full moon — the day of fullness, when the mind’s own planet is complete. It is the customary day for the Satyanārāyaṇa vrata, for charity, for honouring the guru and for a bath in sacred waters; each month’s full moon carries its own festival.
Nārada, grieved by the sufferings of people in the Kali age, asked Viṣṇu for a simple remedy, and the Lord taught him the worship of Satya-Nārāyaṇa — Truth itself as God. The kathā’s five chapters tell of a poor brāhmaṇa of Kāśī, a woodcutter, the merchant Sādhu and his daughter Kalāvatī, and King Tuṅgadhvaja: each prospered by keeping the vow and honouring its prasāda, and each stumbled on forgetting a promise made to the Lord — for truthfulness is the vow’s real offering.
🔥పూజ, హోమం
In the evening: a kalaśa and an image or picture of Viṣṇu under a canopy of plantain stems; offerings of tulasī, fruit and the prasāda of roasted wheat flour, sugar, ghee, milk and banana (sapāda-bhakṣya); the five-chapter kathā is read aloud and the prasāda shared with all. Arghya is offered to the risen moon.
ॐమంత్రాలు, జపం 2
ॐ नमो नारायणाय ॥
oṃ namo nārāyaṇāya ||
అర్థం: Salutation to Nārāyaṇa, the refuge of all beings.
ఫలం: The eight-syllable mantra — the Upaniṣad says one who recites it attains full life, prosperity and the abode of Viṣṇu.
Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad (Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda)
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya ||
అర్థం: Salutation to the blessed Lord Vāsudeva.
ఫలం: The dvādaśākṣara — by this mantra the child Dhruva saw the Lord within six months; recited for devotion, protection and liberation.
Bhāgavata Purāṇa 4.8.54 — the twelve-syllable mantra Nārada gives to Dhruva
ఇరవై నాలుగు ఏకాదశుల సంవత్సరం — బయటి వలయం శుక్ల, లోపలి వలయం కృష్ణ; మధ్యలో అధిక మాసపు రెండు
పద్మ పురాణం, ఉత్తర ఖండం, అధ్యాయాలు 38–63, ప్రతి ఏకాదశి మహిమను శ్రీకృష్ణుడు యుధిష్ఠిరునికి చెప్పినట్లే చెబుతుంది. కార్డులు అమాంత మాసాన్ని ఇస్తాయి; పురాణం ఉత్తర భారత పూర్ణిమాంత గణనలో మాట్లాడుతుంది — రోజు ఒక్కటే. ప్రతి కార్డు గ్రంథాలయంలో దాని అధ్యాయాన్ని తెరుస్తుంది.
On the Dvādaśī the pavitrāropaṇa — the offering of the sacred thread — to Vāsudeva is taught, with threads of gold, silver, copper, linen, silk and lotus-fibre.
ఆంగ్ల అనువాదం: హోరా — ఫైలులో ఉన్న ప్రతిలో హిందీ వ్యాఖ్యానం మాత్రమే ఉంది.
అధ్యాయంలో: రాజు మహీజిత్తు, లోమశ ముని; ద్వాదశినాడు పవిత్రారోపణం
देवता निर्जिताः सर्वाः स्वर्गभ्रष्टाः कृताः प्रभो ।
अत्युग्रेण हि दैत्येन मुरनाम्ना महौजसा ।
इंद्रस्य वचनं श्रुत्वा विष्णुर्वचनमब्रवीत् ॥ 65 ॥
All the gods have been defeated and cast out of heaven, O Lord, by the exceedingly fierce and mighty daitya named Mura. Hearing Indra’s words, Viṣṇu spoke.
ఆంగ్ల అనువాదం: హోరా — ఫైలులో ఉన్న ప్రతిలో హిందీ వ్యాఖ్యానం మాత్రమే ఉంది.
… for so many thousand years he is honoured in heaven. Bathing with sesame, rubbing the body with sesame, offering sesame into the fire, sesame in water —
ఆంగ్ల అనువాదం: హోరా — ఫైలులో ఉన్న ప్రతిలో హిందీ వ్యాఖ్యానం మాత్రమే ఉంది.
Nārada asked the lotus-seated Brahmā: “The one in the dark fortnight of Phālguna, Vijayā by name — tell me her merit, O best of the twice-born, by your grace.”
ఆంగ్ల అనువాదం: హోరా — ఫైలులో ఉన్న ప్రతిలో హిందీ వ్యాఖ్యానం మాత్రమే ఉంది.
अमा वा यदि वा पूर्णा संपूर्णा जायते तदा ।
भूत्वा वै नाडिकाषष्ठिर्जायते प्रतिपद्दिने ।
अश्वमेधायुतैस्तुल्या सा भवेत्पक्षवर्द्धिनी ॥ 2 ॥
When the Amāvāsyā or the Pūrṇimā runs complete — a full sixty nāḍikās — and continues into the Pratipad day, that is Pakṣavardhinī, equal to ten thousand horse-sacrifices.
ఆంగ్ల అనువాదం: హోరా — ఫైలులో ఉన్న ప్రతిలో హిందీ వ్యాఖ్యానం మాత్రమే ఉంది.
On the Dvādaśī the pavitrāropaṇa — the offering of the sacred thread — to Vāsudeva is taught, with threads of gold, silver, copper, linen, silk and lotus-fibre.
ఆంగ్ల అనువాదం: హోరా — ఫైలులో ఉన్న ప్రతిలో హిందీ వ్యాఖ్యానం మాత్రమే ఉంది.
గ్రంథం ఆ రోజు కోరేది
అధ్యాయాలన్నీ కలిసి కోరేవి ఇవే: ఏకాదశి ఉపవాసం (నిర్జలనాడు నీరు లేకుండా); అధ్యాయం చెప్పిన నామంతో విష్ణు పూజ — దామోదరుడు, హృషీకేశుడు, పద్మనాభుడు; రోజుకు తగిన నివేదన — సఫలనాడు పండ్లు, షట్తిలనాడు నువ్వులు, కామికనాడు తులసి; భజన, స్తోత్రాలతో రాత్రి జాగరణ; ద్వాదశినాడు పారణకు ముందు మళ్లీ పూజ. ఆ రోజు జపం ద్వాదశాక్షరి — ఓం నమో భగవతే వాసుదేవాయ — మరియు విష్ణు సహస్రనామం.
🌘గ్రహణాలు
వరాహమిహిరుడు రెండింటినీ పక్కపక్కనే ఇస్తాడు. మొదట కథ: అమృతం రుచి చూసిన తెగిన తల గ్రహమైంది. తర్వాత శాస్త్రం: చంద్రుడు భూమి నీడలోకి ప్రవేశిస్తాడు; సూర్యగ్రహణంలో చంద్రుడు సూర్యుని కప్పుతాడు — “రాహువు కారణం కాదు”. ఆచారం ఎందుకు కొనసాగుతుంది: బ్రహ్మ వరం వల్ల గ్రహణ కాల ఆహుతిలో రాహువుకు భాగం ఉంది.
Some say that this head, though severed from the demon (asura) on account of a taste of the nectar of immortality, was not abandoned by the vital breaths, and thus attained the status of a planet (graha).
The truth is: in its own eclipse, the Moon enters the earth’s shadow; in the Sun’s eclipse, the Moon obscures the Sun. Hence the eclipse begins, for the Moon, from the hindward part, and for the Sun, not from the forward part.
Thus has the true cause of an eclipse been stated by the teachers of divine sight (the astronomer-sages); and it has been said that Rahu is not the true, physical cause in this -- such is the real purport of the science.