
Kāmavrata (Guha-rūpeṇa Keśava-pūjā) Vidhiḥ
Ritual-Manual (Vrata-vidhi) / Royal-Ethics (Kingship restoration motif)
Dalam bingkai ajaran Varāha–Pṛthivī, adhyaya ini memaparkan suatu vrata yang diajarkan resi Agastya kepada seorang raja untuk meraih kāma-siddhi (terpenuhinya keinginan). Disiplin setahun penuh ditata dengan makan teratur berupa phala-āśana (buah-buahan), pengendalian ucapan/diam (vāg-yata), serta ketaatan pada tithi-tithi paruh terang bulan Pauṣa. Inti ritusnya adalah agni-kārya dan pemujaan Keśava yang dipahami “dalam wujud Guha (Kumāra),” disertai rangkaian nama Ṣaṇmukha/Skanda/Kārttikeya. Penutupnya memerintahkan memberi jamuan kepada brāhmaṇa, menghadiahkan arca Ṣaṇmukha dari emas, lalu berdana dengan mantra. Kisah teladan Nala dan raja-raja yang terusir menegaskan vrata ini sebagai jalan memulihkan kemakmuran, garis keturunan, dan kestabilan kerajaan, selaras dengan tertib sosial Pṛthivī.
Verse 1
अगस्त्य उवाच । कामव्रतं महाराज शृणु मे गदतोऽधुना । येन कामाः समृद्ध्यन्ते मनसा चिन्तिता अपि ॥ ६१.१ ॥
Agastya berkata: “Wahai mahārāja, dengarkanlah kini ketika aku menjelaskan kāma-vrata, yang dengannya keinginan-keinginan, bahkan yang hanya dipikirkan dalam hati, menjadi sempurna terwujud.”
Verse 2
षष्ठ्यां फलाशनो यस्तु वर्षमेकं व्रतं चरेत् । पौषमाससिते पक्षे चतुर्थ्यां कृतभोजनः ॥ ६१.२ ॥
Barang siapa pada tithi keenam hanya makan buah-buahan dan menjalankan vrata ini selama satu tahun penuh, serta pada caturthī di paruh gelap bulan Pauṣa mengambil makanan—demikianlah tata-aturannya.
Verse 3
षष्ठ्यां तु पारयेद् धीमान् प्रथमं तु फलं नृप । ततो भुञ्जीत यत्नेन वाग्यतः शुद्धमोदनम् ॥ ६१.३ ॥
Wahai raja, pada hari keenam orang bijak hendaknya menutup (pāraṇa) vrata itu: mula-mula dengan buah; kemudian dengan hati-hati, menahan ucapan, ia makan nasi rebus yang disucikan.
Verse 4
ब्राह्मणैः सह राजेन्द्र अथवा केवलैः फलैः । तमेेकं दिवसं स्थित्वा सप्तम्यां पारयेन्नृप ॥ ६१.४ ॥
Wahai raja agung, bersama para brahmana atau hanya dengan buah-buahan saja, setelah menjalankan laku itu selama satu hari, hendaklah ditutup pada tithi Saptami, wahai penguasa.
Verse 5
अग्निकार्यं तु कुर्वीत गुहारूपेण केशवम् । पूजयित्वाभिधानॆन वर्षमेकं व्रतं चरेत् ॥ ६१.५ ॥
Hendaknya melakukan upacara api; lalu memuja Keśava dengan nama “Guharūpa”, dan menjalankan vrata ini selama satu tahun.
Verse 6
षड्वक्त्र कार्त्तिक गुह सेनानी कृत्तिकासुत । कुमार स्कन्द इत्येवं पूज्यो विष्णुः स्वनामभिः ॥ ६१.६ ॥
Dengan sebutan: Ṣaḍvaktra, Kārttika, Guha, Senānī, Kṛttikāsuta, Kumāra, dan Skanda—demikianlah Viṣṇu patut dipuja melalui nama-nama-Nya sendiri.
Verse 7
समाप्तौ तु व्रतस्यास्य कुर्याद् ब्राह्मणभोजनम् । षण्मुखं सर्वसौवर्णं ब्राह्मणाय निवेदयेत् ॥ ६१.७ ॥
Pada penutupan vrata ini, hendaknya mengadakan jamuan bagi seorang brahmana; dan mempersembahkan kepada brahmana sebuah arca Ṣaṇmukha yang seluruhnya terbuat dari emas.
Verse 8
सर्वे कामाः समृद्ध्यन्तां मम देव कुमारक । त्वत्प्रसादादिमं भक्त्या गृह्यतां विप्र माचिरम् ॥ ६१.८ ॥
“Semoga segala keinginanku terpenuhi, wahai pemuda ilahi. Wahai brahmana, berkat anugerahmu, terimalah ini dengan bhakti tanpa menunda.”
Verse 9
अनेन दत्त्वा मन्त्रेण ब्राह्मणाय सयुग्मकम् । ततः कामाः समृद्ध्यन्ते सर्वे वै इह जन्मनि ॥ ६१.९ ॥
Dengan mantra ini, setelah memberikan persembahan beserta pasangannya kepada seorang brāhmaṇa, maka semua tujuan yang diinginkan berkembang dalam hidup ini juga.
Verse 10
अपुत्रो लभते पुत्रमधनो लभते धनम् । भ्रष्टराज्यो लभेद्राज्यं नात्र कार्या विचारणा ॥ ६१.१० ॥
Yang tidak memiliki putra memperoleh putra; yang miskin memperoleh harta; dan yang kehilangan kerajaan memperoleh kembali kedaulatan—di sini tidak perlu keraguan.
Verse 11
एतद् व्रतं पुरा चीर्णं नलेन नृपसत्तम । ऋतुपर्णस्य विषये वसता व्रतचर्यया ॥ ६१.११ ॥
Wahai raja terbaik, nazar suci ini dahulu dijalankan oleh Nala ketika tinggal di wilayah Ṛtuparṇa, dengan disiplin pelaksanaan tapa-brata.
Verse 12
तथा राज्यच्युतैरन्यैर्बहुभिर्नृपसत्तमैः । पौराणिकं व्रतं चैव सिद्ध्यर्थं नृपसत्तम ॥ ६१.१२ ॥
Demikian pula, wahai raja terbaik, banyak raja unggul lainnya yang telah jatuh dari kedaulatan menjalankan nazar ‘Paurāṇika’ ini demi memperoleh keberhasilan.
Within the Varāha–Pṛthivī teaching frame, the discourse turns to a pragmatic royal question: how a ruler (or any seeker) may regain stability, prosperity, and desired ends through disciplined observance. Agastya is introduced as the authoritative transmitter of a kāma-siddhi vrata to an unnamed mahārāja/nṛpa.
Agastya lays out a year-long vrata structured by (1) regulated diet (phala-āhāra), (2) restraint of speech (vāg-yama), and (3) tithi-governed observance in the bright fortnight of Pauṣa. The ritual core is an agni-kārya and worship of Keśava identified with Guha/Kumāra, accompanied by a litany of Ṣaṇmukha/Skanda names that function as praise and invocation.
The observance culminates in a formal completion (pāraṇa/pārayet) around the specified tithis (notably ṣaṣṭhī with transitions through caturthī and saptamī), followed by brāhmaṇa-bhojana and dāna. The climactic gift is a golden Ṣaṇmukha icon, sealed by a mantraic donation—marking the transfer of merit and the social reintegration of the vow’s fruits.
The chapter’s stated fruit is kāma-siddhi broadly construed—restoration of rājya, prosperity, lineage-continuity, and political steadiness. Exempla (Nala and other rājya-cyuta kings) serve as an implicit phalaśruti: those who were displaced regain fortune and standing through this vrata.
Cultural-historical setting references include the narrative association with Nala and Ṛtuparṇa (Itihāsa-linked royal milieu).
The chapter frames disciplined self-regulation (dietary restraint, controlled speech, and calendrically ordered practice) as a means to stabilize personal aims and social order; it further presents dāna and feeding brāhmaṇas as completion acts that redistribute resources, supporting communal equilibrium understood as beneficial to Pṛthivī’s sustained order.
The vrata is to be observed for one year (varṣam ekaṃ). Specific tithis are named: ṣaṣṭhī (as a key fasting/fruit regimen day and also as a concluding marker), caturthī in the śukla pakṣa of Pauṣa (Pauṣamāsa-site pakṣe) with kṛta-bhojana, and saptamī as a completion/transition point (pārayet).
Although it does not explicitly discuss landscapes or ecology in the provided verses, the text implicitly links Pṛthivī’s balance to human conduct: regulated consumption (phala-āhāra), restraint (vāg-yama), and structured giving (dāna, brāhmaṇa-bhojana) are presented as practices that reduce excess, formalize resource circulation, and reinforce social stability—an indirect model of terrestrial stewardship within the Purāṇic ethic.
Agastya appears as the instructing sage. The exemplum cites King Nala (nṛpa-sattama) and mentions Ṛtuparṇa (as the ruler in whose domain Nala resided), along with a generalized reference to other kings who had lost their kingdoms (rājya-cyuta) and sought success through the vrata.
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