The month of Bhadrapada is also called Nabha Masa. It begins with vratas associated with the eternal love between shiva and Parvati. Many of the vratas are specifically for women.
The very first vrata that comes in this month is Haritaalika vrata / Gowri vrata on the third day of the shukla paksha.
Haritalika Vrata/ Gowri Pooja - Shukla Tritiya
This is the time when the fields are all green in color and the rains of the varsha ritu makes the soil moist and purifies the earth.
आलिभिर्हरिता यस्मात् तस्मात् सा हरितालिका
Idols of deities are made in most of the vratas in this month. During haritali vrata the image of Shiva and Parvati devi is made using clay, after pooja, visarjana of the idols is done in river / lakes etc, All the water bodies too are full in Bhadrapada masa.
Devi Parvati worshipped shiva on this day and secured her bond with him as his consort. Lord shiva gave this vrata to other women of this world saying Devi Parvati is the mukhya devata of the vrata and women must worship her on this day.
Here is the pooja mantra given by Lord Shiva ( as mentioned in smriti kaustubha)
नमः शिवाय शान्ताय पञ्चवक्त्राय शूलिने
नन्दिभृङ्गिमहाकालगणयुक्ताय शंभवे ।
शिवायै शिवरूपायै मङ्गलायै महेश्वरि
शिवे सर्वार्थदे देवि शिवरूपे नमोस्तु ते ।
नमस्ते सर्वरूपिण्यै जगद्धात्र्यै नमोनमः
संसारभीतिसंत्रस्तं त्राहि मां सिंहवाहिनि ।
मयापि येन कामेन पूजितासि महेश्वरि
राज्यं देहि च सौभाग्यं प्रसन्ना भव पार्वति ।
मन्त्रेणानेन मां देवि पूजयेदुमया सह
Siddhivinayaka chaturthi - Shukla chaturthi
In this vrata Ganesha is worshipped for the removal of all obstacles.
Rishis ask Lord Krishna for a solution to the following problems,
How can tasks be completed without obstacles.
How can one obtain Artha-siddhi - the true fruit of life as health and wealth.
How can one beget good offsprings
How can couples stay out of quarrels, misunderstandings and fights
How can relatives stay united
How can this world move towards peace etc
Then Lord Krishna gives this vrata as a solution.
In the older times this vrata was performed by Ahalya, Damayanti, Lord Rama, Bhagiratha and the devatas did this before samudra manthana.
ChandraDarshana Nishedha - One must not watch the moon on this night. It leads to false accusation.
If by mistake someone sees the moon on this night - the following mantra is for dosha-nivritti
सिंहः प्रसेनमवधीत्सिंहो जाम्बवता हतः। सुकुमारक मारोदीस्तव ह्येष स्यमन्तकः॥
( This is from Vishnu Purana)
ऋषय ऊचुः ।
निर्विघ्नेन तु कार्याणि कथं सिध्यन्ति सूतज ।
अर्थसिद्धिः कथं नृणां पुत्र सौभाग्यसंपदः
दम्पत्योः कलहे चैव बन्धुभेदे तथा नृणाम् ।
उदासीनेषु लोकेषु कथं सुमुखता भवेत्
विद्यारम्भे तथा नृणां वणिज्यायां कृषौ तथा ।
नृपतेः परचक्रस्य जयसिद्धिः कथं भवेत्
कां देवतां नमस्कृत्य कार्यसिद्धिर्भवेन्नृणाम् ।
एतत्सर्वे विशेषेण सुत नो वक्तुमर्हसि
Rishi Panchami - Shukla Panchami
Women worship the sapta rishis + Arundhati on this day to overcome their rnatmaka shakti / paapas
अरुन्धत्यै० सौभाग्यद्रव्याणि । माल्यादीनि सुगन्धीनि । पुष्पाणि ।
कश्यपाय तुलसीपत्रं ० ।
अत्रये अगस्ति ।
भरद्वाजाय अपामार्ग० ।
विश्वामित्राय बिल्व० ।
गोतमाय अर्क० ।
जमदग्नये दूर्वा० ।
वसिष्ठाय शमी० ।
अरुन्धत्यै धत्तूर० ।
नमोस्तु सुरवन्द्येभ्यो देवर्षिभ्यो नमोनमः ।
सर्वपापहराः सन्तु वेदरूपाः सनातनाः । नमस्कारः ।
Champa Shashti - Shukla Shashti
Sun / Aditya is worshipped for paapa kshaya
Amuktabharana vratam / Phala Saptami - Shukla Saptami
Super auspicious day to worship Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati and to beget the boon of having children or asking for their health and longevity.
For phala saptami vrata seven different vegetables are offered to shiva and then a "Dorakam" sacred thread with seven knots are also offered and later tied to the left hand of a women and right of a man. This vrata is performed for seven consecutive years to beget the grace of lord shiva.
भाद्रे तु शुक्लसप्तम्याम् अमुक्ताभरणं व्रतम् ।
चन्द्रो धृतो ललाटे वै शंभुनाऽऽभूषणात्मकः ।। ३२।।
सोमस्य च महेशस्य पूजनं षोडशादिभिः ।
प्रकुर्याद् विसृजेन्नत्वा सर्वकामसमृद्धये ।। ३२ ।।
फलसप्तमी चैवेयं फलसप्तात्मिकी मता ।
नालिकेरं च वृन्ताकं नारंगं बीजपूरकम् ।। ३४।।
कूष्माण्डं ब्रुहतीपूगं फलान्येतानि चार्पयेत् ।
सप्ततन्तुकृतं चात्र सप्तग्रन्थिसुदोरकम् ।। ३५ ।।
समर्प्य शंकरायाथ बध्नीयाद् वामहस्तके ।
नारी वामे नरो दक्षे हस्ते वर्षं सुरक्षयेत् ।। ३६ ।।
व्रतांते बालकान् सप्त भोजयित्वा ततो व्रती ।
स्वयं भुञ्जीत निजयुग् व्रतसम्पूर्तिहेतवे ।। ३ ७।।
फलानि तु द्विजेभ्यो वै दद्यात् सन्तुष्टिहेतवे ।
एवं. सप्त तु वर्षाणि व्रतं कृत्वा यथाविधि ।। ३८।।
सायुज्यं लभते लक्ष्मि! महादेवस्य तद्वती ।
पूजनं तद्व्रते कार्ये यथाविधि यथाधनम् ।। ३९ ।।
Durva-ashtami vratam
Ganesha and Shiva are worshipped with "Durva Grass" on this day. This vrata is recommended for women to beget good progeny and to have good marital life.
On the same day if Jyeshta Nakshatra is present then Mahalakshmi vratam is also performed.
Padma Ekadashi ( Shukla)
Ekadashi of this month is called padma.
पद्मा नामेति विख्याता नभस्यैकादशी सिता ।
हृषीकेशः पूज्यतेऽस्यां कर्त्तव्यं व्रतमुत्तमम् ५।
Shravana Dvadashi - Shukla dvadashi - vamana jayanti ( Onam)
On this day Vishnu is worshipped as "Budha-Shravana". Nadi snaanam in Chandrabhaga and Tapi river is mentioned too.
This day is also celebrated as the incarnation of Lord Vishnu as Vamana ( the story of Bali chakravarthy)
Ananta Padmanabha vratam - Shukla Chaturdashi
It is on this day that Lord Vishnu appeared reclining on shesha naaga. This is an elaborate vratam and some of them perform it for 14 consecutive years.
It is a very beautiful to see the Ananta naaga made out of Darbha grass for this vrata
Mahalaya Paksha - Krishna Paksha
The entire Krishna Paksha of Bhadrapada masa is called mahalaya paksha or pitru paksha. Performing shraddha or worshipping pitru devatas is considered very auspicious during this time.
There are several unique timings that are also mentioned in shastras for performing certain rituals which are so rare that it may not occur in ones life time.
for example,
Kapila Shashti occurs in Bhadrapada masa but it has some astrological criteria to become kapila shashti.
If the shashti of the krishna paksha occurs on a tuesday and it has rohini nakshatra along with vyatipata yoga then it called Kapila shashti and Surya devata, Kapila devi are worshipped on this day.
A Kapila-cow is also worshipped and Godana is performed to the right recipient.
( Mentioning this vrata, just to bring-out the complexity and interaction of energies in such rituals)
