Vishnu awakens on the eleventh of Ka ̄rtik’s bright fortnight, a date known as
Prabodhanı ̄Eka ̄das ́ı ̄, “waking eleventh.”^6 Tulsi’s wedding takes place on this
very day, not only marking the end of the inauspicious ca ̄turma ̄sa, but also
establishing the opening of the marriage season for Hindus in North India.
From this day forward until the next S ́ayanı ̄Eka ̄das ́ı ̄, auspicious life-cycle
rituals, including marriages, are resumed.
The Ka ̄rtik Ma ̄ha ̄tmyas describe the eleventh of Ka ̄rtik’s light fortnight as the
day of Tulsi’s marriage to Vishnu, and they enjoin devotees to ritually reenact
the marriage. In this regard, Tulsi acts as a double of Lakshmi, Vishnu’s other
auspicious wife. For the women of Benares, however, Tulsi is wed not to Vishnu,
but to Krishna. Such a distinction might at first appear trivial – Krishna and
Vishnu are, after all, different forms of the same deity, and the female devotees
I interacted with often referred to Krishna, Vishnu, and Ram interchangeably as
“Bhagava ̄n” (Lord). While the distinction between Krishna and Vishnu might
not be terribly important theologicallyin this instance, however, it is quite impor-
tantmythologically, for distinctive narrative traditions associated with Krishna
come into play in, and are shaped and transformed by, the particular context of
Benarsi women’s Ka ̄rtik celebrations.
Krishna and Ka ̄rtik
Like Vishnu, Krishna, too, figures prominently in the month of Ka ̄rtik. Not only
is daily pu ̄ja ̄to Krishna advocated in the Ka ̄rtik Ma ̄ha ̄tmyas, but various events
associated with Krishna’s life are also celebrated and commemorated throughout
the month. For example, some popular sources associate the day preceding Diva ̄lı ̄
with Krishna’s victory over the demon Naraka (e.g., Va ̄la ̄: 157; Gautam: 168).
The first day of Ka ̄rtik’s light fortnight marks the celebration of Govardhan pu ̄ja ̄,
worship of the lord of Mount Govardhan (Cow-Dung Wealth), a mountain
located in Braj that is associated with Krishna mythological traditions.^7 And the
eighth of Ka ̄rtik’s light fortnight, Gopa ̄s.t.amı ̄ (Cowherd Eighth), is cited in some
contemporary sources as the day that Krishna began not only to graze cattle in
the forest, but also to slay demons (Bharatı ̄ya ̄ and Ran.vı ̄r: 161; Gautam: 185).
Several informants associated the month of Ka ̄rtik with the sum total of
Krishna’s life as a cowherd in Braj, from his birth until his eventual departure
for Dvaraka, even insisting that all the major events of this period of his life took
place during the month of Ka ̄rtik. This association is reinforced in Benares in a
series of performances occurring during this month that are known as “Krishna
Lı ̄la ̄.” These performances take place every evening on Tulsi Ghat beginning on
the twelfth of Ka ̄rtik’s dark fortnight and ending just after the month concludes.
The term lı ̄la ̄means “play,” and it encompasses a number of meanings: it refers
not only to theatrical performance, but to Krishna’s “play” in Braj, that is, the
sum total of his life from birth until his departure to Dvaraka. Krishna Lı ̄la ̄ reen-
acts all the major events of this period of Krishna’s life.^8
332 tracy pintchman