Adhyaya 63: Procedure for the Son-Obtaining Vow (Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī Observance)
Putraprāptivrata (Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī-vrata) vidhiḥ
Ritual-Manual (Vrata-vidhi)
在伐罗诃与大地女神（Varāha–Pṛthivī）的教诲框架中，本章由阿伽斯提耶（Agastya）宣说，以婆陀罗钵陀月（Bhādrapada）黑半月的黑八日（Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī）为核心，教授简要的求子誓戒（putraprāpti-vrata）法。经文规定：六日（Ṣaṣṭhī）立愿（saṅkalpa），七日（Saptamī）行礼敬，八日（Aṣṭamī）黎明净化后行供养与守斋（upavāsa）；并以大麦（yava）与黑芝麻（kṛṣṇa-tila）配酥油（ghṛta）与酸乳（dadhi）作火供（homa），随后以供施（dakṣiṇā）施食婆罗门（brāhmaṇa）。斋后进食须以毕罗果（bilva）为先。又举舒罗塞那王（Śūrasena）在喜马拉雅修苦行的事例以证其灵验，并引出与婆苏提婆（Vasudeva）的谱系关联。章末教示年终布施（dāna），并宣称可普遍消除罪业（pāpa），含示守持仪轨之纪律为维系家族延续与社会秩序的法（dharma）实践，亦与大地之安宁相系。
Speakers
Key Concepts
Shlokas in Adhyaya 63
Verse 1
अगस्त्य उवाच । अथापरं महाराज पुत्रप्राप्तिव्रतं शुभम् । कथयामि समासेन तन्मे निगदतः शृणु ॥ ६३.१ ॥
阿伽斯提耶说道：“再者，大王，我将简要讲述求得子嗣的吉祥誓戒；我陈说之时，请谛听。”
Verse 2
मासे भाद्रपदे या तु कृष्णपक्षे नरेश्वर । अष्टम्यामुपवासेन पुत्रप्राप्तिव्रतं हि तत् ॥ ६३.२ ॥
人中之主啊，于跋陀罗钵陀月，在黑半月期间，于第八日（阿湿多弥）持斋而行的此誓戒，确为求得男嗣之誓。
Verse 3
षष्ठ्यां चैव तु संकल्प्य सप्तम्यामर्चयेद् हरिम् । देवक्युत्सङ्गगं देवं मातृभिः परिवेष्टितम् ॥ ६३.३ ॥
于第六日先立誓愿（saṅkalpa），第七日当礼拜哈利——安坐于提婆吉膝上的神祇，周围为诸母神（mātṛs）所环绕。
Verse 4
प्रभाते विमलेऽष्टम्यामर्चयेत् प्रयतो हरिम् । प्राग्विधानॆन गोविन्दमर्चयित्वा विधानतः ॥ ६३.४ ॥
在清净的黎明，于月相第八日（阿湿达弥，Aṣṭamī），行者当以持戒之心礼拜哈利（Hari）；既依先前所定仪轨奉祀戈文达（Govinda）之后，当复依正当戒律与法则而行。
Verse 5
ततो यवैः कृष्णतिलैः सघृतैर्होमयेद्दधि । ब्राह्मणान् भोजयेद् भक्त्या यथाशक्त्या सदक्षिणान् ॥ ६३.५ ॥
随后，应以大麦（yava）与黑芝麻（kṛṣṇa-tila）拌以酥油（ghṛta），并配以酸乳（dadhi）而行火供（homa）；又当以虔敬之心供养婆罗门，随己力奉上相称的达克希那（dakṣiṇā，供养金）。
Verse 6
ततः स्वयं तु भुञ्जीत प्रथमं बिल्वमुत्तमम् । पश्चाद् यथेष्टं भुञ्जीत स्नेहैः सर्वरसैर्युतम् ॥ ६३.६ ॥
其后，行者当先自食上等的毕尔瓦果（bilva）；随后方可随意进食，佐以滋润之食，具足诸味。
Verse 7
प्रतिमासमानेनैव विधिनोपोष्य मानवः । कृष्णाष्टमीमपुत्रोऽपि लभेत् पुत्रं न संशयः ॥ ६३.७ ॥
若有人依所规定之仪则持守斋戒，并且每月皆以同一法度奉行；纵使无子，亦能因守持黑月第八日——克里希那阿湿达弥（Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī）而得子，毫无疑义。
Verse 8
श्रूयते च पुरा राजा शूरसेनः प्रतापवान् । स ह्यपुत्रस्तपस्तेपे हिमवत्पर्वतोत्तमे ॥ ६३.८ ॥
又据传闻：往昔有一位英勇威严之王，名为舒罗塞那（Śūrasena）。他因无子，遂于群山之最胜——喜马瓦特（Himavat）之上修行苦行（tapas）。
Verse 9
तस्यैवं कुर्वतो देवो व्रतमेतज्जगाद ह । सोऽप्येतत्कृतवान् राजा पुत्रं चैवोपलभ्धवान् ॥ ६३.९ ॥
当他如此行持之时，神明确实宣说了此一誓戒（vrata）。那位国王也奉行此戒，并同样得到了一个儿子。
Verse 10
वासुदेवं महाभागमनेकक्रतুযाजिनम् । तं लब्ध्वा सोऽपि राजर्षिः परं निर्वाणमापतवान् ॥ ६३.१० ॥
得遇婆苏提婆（Vāsudeva）——大福德者、行多种祭祀者——那位王仙因得至于他，也到达了至上的涅槃解脱。
Verse 11
एवं कृष्णाष्टमी राजन् मया ते परिकीर्तिता । संवत्सरान्ते दातव्यं कृष्णयुग्मं द्विजातये ॥ ६३.११ ॥
如是，国王啊，我已为你宣说克里希那八日斋（Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī）的戒行。至年终，当以与克里希那相应的一对供品施与二次生者（dvija）。
Verse 12
एतत् पुत्रव्रतं नाम मया ते परिकीर्तितम् । एतत् कृत्वा नरः पापैः सर्वैर् एव प्रमुच्यते ॥ ६३.१२ ॥
此一名为“求子誓戒”（putra-vrata）的戒行，我已为你阐明。行持此戒者，得以解脱一切罪业。
Inside Adhyaya 63
How it unfolds
- Where it opens
Within the Varāha–Pṛthivī teaching frame, the observance is introduced through Agastya’s authoritative voice as a concise, repeatable vrata-vidhi aimed at putra-prāpti and household stability, anchored to Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī in Bhādrapada kṛṣṇapakṣa.
- Central event
Stepwise vrata procedure is laid out across Ṣaṣṭhī (saṅkalpa and readiness), Saptamī (preparatory worship), and Aṣṭamī (purified dawn-pūjā with strict upavāsa), culminating in homa offerings using yava and kṛṣṇa-tila with ghṛta and dadhi, followed by brāhmaṇa-bhojana with dakṣiṇā and a regulated fast-breaking beginning with bilva.
- Climax resolution
A legitimizing exemplum narrates King Śūrasena’s heirless distress and tapas in Himavat; the rite’s efficacy is confirmed through the resulting lineage-fruition culminating in the celebrated connection to Vasudeva, presenting the vrata as a proven dharmic ‘technology’ for progeny and continuity.
- Closing phalashruti
The chapter closes by prescribing a concluding dāna at the end of a year of observance and asserts broad pāpa-kṣaya (sin-remission) alongside the primary fruit of putra-prāpti, framing disciplined ritual, charity, and restraint as socially stabilizing dharma.
Geographical context
Himavat (Himālaya) is explicitly mentioned as the site of Śūrasena’s tapas; the narrative implies a royal North Indian milieu via the name Śūrasena (a historically attested region/lineage association), though no city or river is directly named in these verses.
Tirtha focus
- Associated RegionHimavat (Himalaya); implied Śūrasena-region milieu (North India)
- Pilgrimage MeritNo discrete tīrtha-māhātmya is foregrounded; merit is framed primarily as vrata-phala (putra-prāpti and pāpa-kṣaya), with Himavat functioning as an ascetic validation landscape rather than a pilgrimage itinerary.
Ritual instructions
- Primary RitualPutraprāpti-vrata centered on Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī (Bhādrapada kṛṣṇapakṣa), repeated monthly with a year-end concluding gift
- BenefitPrimary: putra-prāpti (obtaining a son/offspring, i.e., lineage continuity). Secondary: pāpa-kṣaya (general remission of sins) through disciplined fasting, worship, homa, and charitable redistribution.
The narrative frame
- Agastya (within the broader Varāha–Pṛthivī instructional frame)Pṛthivī (as the principal recipient in the Varāha–Pṛthivī discourse frame) · Didactic and procedural (vrata-manual style), reinforced by exemplary narrative authority
The emotional journey
- Dominant RasaŚānta (devotional discipline and composure) with a strong undercurrent of Karuṇa (heirless anxiety) resolving into Harṣa (fulfilled hope)
- Emotional ProgressionAnxiety over continuity → resolve through saṅkalpa and restraint → intensified devotion via dawn-pūjā, upavāsa, and homa → communal reciprocity through feeding and gifts → reassurance through exemplum and promised fruits.
Planning a pilgrimage
- Visit FeasibilityModerate: the chapter is vrata-centric rather than site-centric; a modern practitioner can observe the rite at home or in a local Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa temple. If one wishes to echo the exemplum’s ascetic geography, Himalayan pilgrimage is optional and symbolic rather than required by the text.
- Best SeasonBhādrapada (Aug–Sep) for the core observance; for Himalayan travel, post-monsoon (Sep–Nov) is generally safer and clearer.
- Modern Location NameHimalayan region (broadly; no single fixed site specified).
- Related FestivalKṛṣṇāṣṭamī / Janmāṣṭamī season (observance aligned by tithi, though this chapter emphasizes the vrata-vidhi and progeny-oriented intent).
Frequently Asked Questions
The text frames disciplined vrata-practice—fasting, regulated worship, offering, and charitable feeding—as a dharmic technology for household continuity (putra-prāpti) and moral purification (pāpa-kṣaya). In a broader social-ethical sense, it promotes ordered reciprocity (dāna, brāhmaṇa-bhojana) and self-restraint (upavāsa) as stabilizing norms that indirectly support communal well-being and, by extension, Pṛthivī’s sustainable social ecology.
The rite is assigned to Bhādrapada māsa, kṛṣṇapakṣa, specifically Aṣṭamī with upavāsa. Preparations include saṅkalpa on Ṣaṣṭhī, worship on Saptamī, and a dawn (prabhāte) worship on Aṣṭamī. The procedure is to be repeated monthly (pratimāsam), with a concluding gift (dāna) prescribed at the end of a year (saṃvatsara-ante).
Environmental stewardship is not explicit as a doctrinal topic in these verses; however, the vrata’s emphasis on regulated consumption (upavāsa), careful ritual use of agricultural substances (yava, tila, ghṛta, dadhi), and redistribution through feeding and gifting can be read as a Purāṇic model of restraint and circulation of resources—an indirect ethic compatible with Pṛthivī-centered balance in the wider Varāha–Pṛthivī discourse framework.
The chapter references the sage Agastya as the immediate instructor within the narrative layer, King Śūrasena as an exemplum of an heirless ruler performing tapas, and Vasudeva as the resulting celebrated figure connected to the rite’s success. The mention of Himavat situates Śūrasena’s austerities in a recognized North Indian sacred geography.
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