vows (vratas)
Vows or vratas are a central feature of Hinduism
and JAINISM. They are undertaken for myriad
reasons, but always with the desire of pleasing
the divinity. Vows are often taken to do a par-
ticular thing in exchange for help from God.
For instance, a mother might promise to donate
a sum of money to a certain divinity’s temple,
if her gravely ill child should recover. A person
might carry out a vow to shave his or her head
and make a PILGRIMAGE to a god’s temple in
exchange for success on exams or to get a male
child.
In times past very severe vows were some-
times taken. People were known to starve
themselves to death in exchange for a divinity’s
promise to remove a curse on their family; oth-
ers vowed that if a son were born they would
offer him up to a renunciatory order upon his
coming of age. Indian mythology records innu-
merable severe vows. Ravana the demon king,
for instance, took a vow to stand on one toe for
10,000 years in order to win overlordship of the
universe.
Most vows in modern times involve fast-
ing, celibacy, pilgrimage, study of sacred books,
feeding of BRAHMINS or mendicants, or limited
vows of abstention. Vratas can be classified in
different ways. One classification divides them
into those that are bodily, those that pertain
to speech, and those that pertain to the mind.
Another type of classification is related to dura-
tion and timing of the vow, whether for a day,
several years, until the fortnight is over, or until
a certain star appears. A third classification is
according to the divinity for whom the vow is
performed. Last are vows that are specific to
certain CASTES or communities.
To be valid, vows must almost always begin
in a condition of ceremonial purity. Most vows
begin early in the morning. Festivals, in general,
often entail vows taken by various family mem-
bers; typically they involve fasting, but they may
also involve celibacy, service to the divinity, and
pilgrimage.
There is a long list of special days appropriate
to specific vows, usually entailing particular obli-
gations of worship and observances. A devotee
might vow to worship the Sun and fast on the day
of Acalasaptami; to worship LAKSHMI at the base of
a tree during Navaratri; to abstain from plowing
on AMBUVACHI; to abstain from fish on Bakapan-
caka; or to bathe three times and make special
offerings to the ancestors on Bhismapanchaka.
Certain days of the month are auspicious for par-
ticular vows. The 11th of the month is observed
as a fast day by many Hindus. The Caturvargacin-
tamani of Hemadri (c. 13th century) lists nearly
700 such vows.Further reading: Sudhir Ranjan Das, A Study of Vrata-
Rites. Foreword by Nirmal Kumar Bose (Calcutta: S. C.
Kar, 1953); Swami Harshananda, Hindu Festivals and
Holy Days (Bangalore: Ramakrishna Math, 1994); Anne
Mackenzie Pearson, Because It Gives Me Peace: Ritual
Fasts in the Religious Lives of Hindu Women (Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1996).vratas See VOWS.
Vrindavan See BRINDAVAN.
Vyasa (or Vedavyasa)
Vyasa (arranger or compiler) is the sage or
RISHI who compiled all the VEDAS. He did not
“write”them—they are eternal MANTRAS that are
received by different rishis in different eras, as
the world is re-created. He is identified with
the Vyasa who recited the ancient MAHABHARATA
story to the god GANESHA, who wrote it down.
In the Mahabharata Vyasa is also called Krishna
Dvaipayana. The Vedavyasa who composed the
most commonly consulted Sanskrit commentaryK 496 vows