Kartik Mahatmya Adhyay 7: The Rules of the Kartik Vow

This is chapter 7 of the Kartik Mahatmya. Devarshi Narada tells King Prithu the rules of the Kartik vow: what to eat, what to give up and how to conduct oneself through the month.

Listen in the video: hear this chapter in Hindi on our YouTube channel. The full list is on the Kartik Mahatmya Katha page.

संक्षेप में: नारद जी बताते हैं कार्तिक व्रती के नियम: सात्त्विक जीवन, निंदा का त्याग, भोजन के नियम और देवउठनी एकादशी का जागरण। पूरा लेख हिंदी में पढ़ें →

The story

Narada began with the plain basics. In Kartik the vrati should stay away from meat, liquor and every intoxicant. He should bear no one ill will, and should avoid needless travel, except for pilgrimage.

Then he turned to speech. The vrati should slander no one: not the gods, the Vedas, the cow, the guru or women, and not another vrati. According to Narada, backbiting and harsh words reduce the merit of the vow.

Food came next. The vrati should eat sattvik food he has cooked himself, and milk only from a cow, goat or buffalo. Narada also named a number of foods to leave aside, which are listed below.

He then described the vrati's daily discipline. The vrati keeps brahmacharya, sleeps on the ground and eats once a day, from a leaf plate, in the fourth pahar of the day. Oil goes on the body only on the day of Narak Chaturdashi. Narada also named certain things to give up on certain tithis. He then said to keep vows and fasts according to one's own strength, so that Lord Vishnu is pleased. Do only as much as you can, he said, but do it with steadiness.

On the night of Devuthani Ekadashi the vrati should stay awake, dancing, singing and joining kirtan. Yamdoots, says Narada, run from such a devotee the way elephants run from a lion's roar.

Narada closed with the glory of the vow. He called it the best of all vows and said that even thousands of yajnas cannot equal it. By the Lord's command, he said, Indra and the other gods guard the vrati as bodyguards guard a king. According to him, ghosts and spirits do not stay where a vrati lives, the vrati's good name spreads, his sins are destroyed, wealth and grain increase in the home, and at the end he reaches Vaikuntha.

The teaching of this chapter

The list of rules is long, and the chapter itself says to go by your own strength. So its lesson is modest. Through Kartik, eat sattvik food, speak ill of no one, and keep at least one rule faithfully for the whole month.

The rules this chapter gives

Not to be taken as food:

• Urad and masoor
• Stale food
• Food left by someone else
• Grain given by another person

To be given up in Kartik:

• Onion, carrot and radish
• Lauki and pumpkin
• Watermelon and singhara
• Buttermilk

Examples of what to give up by tithi or day:

• Pratipada: pumpkin
• Dwitiya: jackfruit
• Ashtami: coconut
• Ekadashi: parwal
• Sunday: amla

Frequently asked questions

What should a Kartik vrati stay away from?
Meat, liquor and every intoxicant, along with ill will and needless travel other than pilgrimage.

Whom should a vrati never slander?
Narada names the gods, the Vedas, the cow, the guru, women and other vratis.

When and how does a vrati eat?
Once a day, from a leaf plate, in the fourth pahar of the day, and the food should be sattvik and cooked by the vrati.

What if one cannot keep every rule?
Narada says to keep vows and fasts according to one's own strength, as much as one can, but with steadiness.

What does the chapter say about the night of Devuthani Ekadashi?
Stay awake dancing, singing and joining kirtan. Narada says that Yamdoots run from such a devotee as elephants run from a lion's roar.

Previous chapter: Adhyay 6: The Method and Merit of the Kartik Bath
Next chapter: Adhyay 8: The Udyapan of the Kartik Vow