Adhyaya 61

PP.6.61 opens with Yudhiṣṭhira asking about observances in Kārtika’s bright fortnight. Śrī Kṛṣṇa relays a teaching traced through Brahmā to Nārada on Prabodhinī/Haribodhinī Ekādaśī, the day of Viṣṇu’s “awakening,” by which dharma becomes active again. The chapter extols the fast and especially the night vigil (jāgaraṇa) as sin-destroying and merit-multiplying, surpassing even major Vedic sacrifices. It stresses that proper procedure (vidhi) greatly magnifies the result, while negligence diminishes it. It prescribes Hari-centered acts: going to the temple with lamps, bathing, dāna, japa, and pūjā with Janārdana as one’s intent, offering arghya in a conch, honoring the guru, and hearing or reciting Vaiṣṇava narratives, including the Bhāgavata. It culminates in Kārtika Tulasī-upāsanā: offering even a single tulasī leaf yields vast merit, purifies lineages, and supports liberation.