Anant Chaturdashi Vrat: Glory, Story Outline, and Spiritual Secret
Shri Guru Nrisimha Saraswati narrated the glory of the Anant Vrat to Saayandev. While the Pandavas were in exile, Shri Krishna came to meet them. They laid out their wretched condition before him and asked for a remedy. Krishna then told them about the Anant Vrat, to be observed on Anant Chaturdashi, and related an old story.
In the Krita Yuga there was a Brahmin named Sumant. His wife was Diksha, daughter of Bhrigu, and their daughter was Sushila. Sushila was married to Kaundinya. When Diksha died, Sumant remarried. His second wife was shrewish, true to her name. When the son-in-law and daughter set out to live elsewhere, the stepmother sat behind a shut door. Sumant could give his daughter only a vessel full of wheat bran as a parting gift.
Kaundinya was travelling by chariot with his wife. Near the city of Amaravati he stopped on a riverbank for his ritual observances. Sushila saw many women worshipping an auspicious kalasha. It was Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturdashi. When she asked, "What are you doing?", they told her about the Anant Vrat and had her perform it right there. She returned to the chariot with the sacred Anant thread tied on her arm.
When Kaundinya entered the city, the citizens honored him greatly and made him their king. One day, as the couple enjoyed royal splendor, Kaundinya asked Sushila, "What is this thread?" She told him about Anant and said, "We received this prosperity because of the Anant Vrat." He muttered, "The prosperity came from my own austerity. This thread is some sorcery to bring me under control!" He snatched it and threw it into the fire. Sushila quickly pulled it out and soaked it in milk.
The consequence of Kaundinya's insult to Anant was that he lost his kingdom, the citizens turned against him, thieves looted everything, and the two had to go into the forest with only the clothes they wore.
In the forest he longed to meet Anant. He resolved not to eat until he met the Lord of Lakshmi in person, and wandered calling, "O Anant!" He saw:
a mango tree full of fruit that no bird would touch;
a cow with her calf, unable to graze;
two lotus ponds whose waters were mixed together, with not a single swan;
a starving bull.
He asked each whether they had seen Anant. Each said no, and each begged, "If you meet Anant, pray to him to forgive us." Next he saw a donkey and an elephant, but they gave no answer at all.
Helpless, Kaundinya collapsed on the ground, still calling out. An old Brahmin appeared and said, "Rise. I will let you see Anant." He then revealed himself as four-armed Vishnu reclining on Shesha. Kaundinya praised him. Vishnu explained the tree, the cow and the rest: they were in that state because of sins from past lives, and they had now been liberated. He told Kaundinya that after enjoying royal splendor, he would dwell in heaven in the Punarvasu nakshatra, and granted him three boons. Everything happened accordingly.
Having told this story, Krishna instructed the Pandavas to observe the Anant Vrat. Afterward they won victory in war and regained their kingdom.
Nrisimha Saraswati told Saayandev to have his children perform the vrat. Saayandev took his wife and children to his village, then returned to Gangapur to serve Shri Guru. After telling Namdharak this whole background, Siddhamuni said, "Namdharak, you are fortunate, for this treasure in the form of Shri Guru came to you through your ancestors."
The Spiritual Secret
In this chapter, Shri Guru explains the Anant Vrat to Saayandev on the basis of ancient tales and has him perform it. Krishna had prescribed the same vrat to the Pandavas. Though Krishna was their own kin, they had to endure 12 years of exile and 1 year of incognito living. Once someone is born on the karma-bhoomi (the land of action), whether ignorant, wise, ascetic, devotee or divine incarnation, they must follow its strict laws.
When Shri Ram was in exile, Lakshman once asked him: "Ram, it pains me greatly to see you walking barefoot through thorns and brambles. How tender your feet and Sita Devi's are, and the pebbles hurt as you walk! Why should this be? You could overturn creation with the knitting of your brow. Why must you suffer such hardship?"
Ram replied: "Lakshman, once born on the karma-bhoomi, one must act according to its law. In my previous birth I killed my mother on my father's command, and this is the atonement for it [the Parashurama incarnation]. No one can give another happiness or sorrow; it is the fruit of one's own karma.
Sukhasya duhkhasya na ko'pi data para dadatiti kubuddhiresha. Aham karomiti vrithabhimanah svakarmasutragrathito hi lokah. [Adhyatma Ramayana]
[No one else is the giver of happiness or sorrow. The belief that another gives it is a wrong understanding, and the pride of "I am the doer" is vain. Each person is bound by the thread of their own karma.]
Such is the law of the karma-bhoomi. Do not think that Kaikeyi or Manthara are the cause of our suffering."
Now this too must be understood. To remove the undesirable and attain the desirable, the shastras prescribe certain austerities and vratas, and when performed as prescribed they yield fruit. But that too is a new karma, and its fruit is inevitable. Different deities are prescribed for worship, but His powers are infinite, and those powers are the infinite deities. He is stern in justice, yet also loving toward his devotees. He incarnates for their sake and fulfils their various desires through various arrangements, even by having them perform various actions.
While living in the forest, the Pandavas suffered much hardship. Together with Draupadi they asked Krishna: "When we have a protector like you over us, why must we suffer such immense hardship? Do you find it fitting that our brothers (the Kauravas) rule while we wander in forests and wilds? Please tell us how we may regain the kingdom with peace of mind." Krishna told them to observe the Anant Vrat. They asked, "Who is this Anant?" Krishna replied, "Anant is my name. Kala, kashtha, paksha, masa, all time is I."
Devotees and seekers should note how constantly Krishna's all-pervading nature shone within him. Though the Lord is all-encompassing, he still has devotees perform vratas like Anant, because each of his forms carries a different power. As Krishna had the Pandavas perform the vrat, so Shri Guru had Saayandev perform it.
Reviewing the earlier chapters, we see that Shri Guru mostly told devotees to observe vratas of Shankar (Shiva). Only to Saayandev did he prescribe the Anant Vrat of Vishnu. Every soul has a close bond with some particular deity. The omniscient Guru recognizes through intuition the deity to whom a person is indebted through past worship, and gives the mantra of that deity. This is the secret of upasana and mantra-initiation. Those who ignorantly take any mantra from anyone, or chant one of their own choosing, do not lose everything, but the benefit is diminished. For a subtle discussion, the seeker may consult the book Namajapache Mahatva (The Importance of Name-Chanting).
Consider the form of the Anant Vrat given to Saayandev a little more closely. The Anant thread has 14 knots, and the offering requires 14 vegetable dishes and 14 sweet dishes. The number 14 has significance: the seven heavens and seven netherworlds together make the fourteen worlds. The devotee's feeling should be that beings in all fourteen worlds may find happiness and peace.
Kaundinya's wife Sushila performed the vrat without asking her husband, which was a slight mistake. But he was not with her then, and the other women forced her to do it, so she had no chance to seek his permission. That is excusable. However, after sitting in the chariot she should have told him, and she did not. Through the merit of her vrat they gained royal splendor. But when Kaundinya saw the Anant thread on his wife's arm, he took a wrong idea of it and tried to burn it. Anant was angered, and Kaundinya lost everything and wandered the forest. His pride ("the kingdom came from my austerity") and his rashness in burning the thread brought him down.
Kaundinya then repented. Repentance is itself a great atonement. It purifies the mind (chitta), and a purified mind receives God's grace. Seekers should remember this secret of grace. The Eknathi Bhagavat says: "Uddhava, where there is no repentance, my grace never comes. This is the secret of grace: repentance that is irrepressible within the body." (Ch. 20, verse 358)
The reason for the tree and the other beings he met in the forest, and for Anant's own appearance as an old Brahmin, is explained by Anant in the original story and is worth reflecting on. It shows how the law of karma operates. Yet through the company of Kaundinya, an ascetic devotee, Anant liberated all of them. Such is the glory of satsang (good company), and however often it is told, it remains little.
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