Adhyaya 207

Continuing the Vrata-khaṇḍa’s orderly catalog of observances, Lord Agni teaches the Kaumuda-vrata as a month-long Vaiṣṇava discipline to be undertaken in the bright fortnight of Āśvina. The practitioner declares the aim of gaining both bhukti and mukti through regulated diet (one meal daily and Ekādaśī fasting), sustained japa of Hari’s name, and a Dvādaśī worship sequence centered on Viṣṇu. The rite stresses sensory purity and reverence for the sacred form by anointing with sandalwood, agaru, and saffron, and by offering lotus and blue-lotus flowers. Unbroken devotion is supported by maintaining an oil lamp with restraint of speech, and by day-and-night food offerings such as pāyasa, āpūpa, and modaka. Submitting with the mantra “Oṃ namo Vāsudevāya,” the votary seeks forgiveness and completes the social-ethical duty of the vrata by feeding a brāhmaṇa until the deity is regarded as ‘awakened’ to the rite. The chapter concludes that a full month of sustained austerity greatly magnifies the resulting merit (phala).