Sharad = 31st October 2020

Sharad Purnima or Kojaagari Purnima is a harvest festival celebrated on the full moon day of the Hindu lunar month of Ashwin (September-October) – the same Vedic month as Pitar Paksha and (its generally 4 days after Vijayadasami. The rainy season is almost over and the brightness of the full moon brings special joy. This is a traditional celebration of the moon and is also called the Kaumudi celebration, Kaumudi meaning moonlight.

At night, Mother is worshipped and night vigil is observed.

How to observe this day:- Prepare sweet rice (Kheer) with raisins after 15h00 and keep it outside as high as possible, have your Lakshmi lamp lit, play religious music and pray, make sure the moon rays hits directly onto the sweet rice, you can cover with a net, leave or a few hours and then bring into your house offer to your favourite deities then have as prashad. This is to please Mother Lakshmi and for wealth and prosperity.

Once a king fell on evil days, and was in great financial straits, but then his queen observed this fast and night vigil, and worshipped the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. Consequently, they were blessed by Mother Lakshmi and they regained their prosperity. Some people believe that on this night Mother Lakshmi moves about from place to place asking, "Who is awake?" ("Kojagarti?") and shows her pleasure on those she finds awake. Hence, the night is spent in festivity and various games of amusement, in honour of the mother. So people sit in the moonlight singing songs, or keep themselves entertained in some other way. They fast from solid food and take only fluids like coconut water or milk. Milk is boiled until it thickens, and milk masala (called kheer, a ready made combination of dry fruits) is added to it and drunk. There is also the tradition to have cool milk and rice flakes on this night. It is a harvest festival and is celebrated throughout the country, particularly by Maharashtrians i.e. by people residing in Maharashtra, India. In Gujarat people celebrate it by doing and Raas.

Currently, this full moon comes during Sharad (season) of the year and hence it is called Sharad Purnima or Sharad Poonam.

There is an Ayurvedic reason behind having cool milk and rice flakes on this night. Sharad ritu (season) consists of those two months season change when summer is ending and winter slowly starts. During Sharad time days are very hot In India and nights are becoming more cooler. This is perfect season for Pitta prakop when pitta vitiates along with other two doshas. Eating milk and rice flakes during night time is good remedy to pacify pitta. Hence, it is eaten as custom during this special night when the full moon looks best of all other full moons. This custom is a reminder to people to have milk and rice flakes during Sharad ritu. In similar way there are other eating practices among Hindu Indians specially observed during that particular day to remind people to eat those stuff during that particular season. This is a prime festival for Bengali's also.

Main Ritual:- In the early morning the girls after their purificatory bath wear new garments and make food-offerings to the Sun. They observe fasting for the day. In the evening when the moon rises they again make food offerings of a special variety and take it after the rituals are over. It is a festival of rejoicing for the girls. All of them sing and dance. The songs are of special nature. They also play a kind of game known as Puchi. They also indulge in other varieties of country-games. The Gajalakshmi Puja:- This day is also observed as the birthday of Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth. Therefore, many people worship Mother Lakshmi at their homes and keep themselves awake by playing Chess, and other indoor games. Significantly it suggests that those who wish to acquire wealth should always be vigilant at night. Mother Lakshmi is worshiped by devotees in different pandals in form deities across the state of Orissa. The pandals are decorated with beautiful decoratives.

The Sanatkumar Samhita cites the katha of 'Kojaagari Punam.' In the Samhita Vaalkhil rishi narrates that in ancient times, a poor Brahmin named Valit lived in Magadhdesh - Bengal. While he was a learned and virtuous man, his wife reveled in quarreling, behaving totally opposite to his wishes. Once on his father's `Shraddh' - day of paying homage to the deceased- she flung the 'pinda' - ball of wheatflour - in a sewage pit, rather than the sacred Ganga, as custom required. This infuriated Valit. Therefore he renounced home to search for wealth. In the forests, he met 'Naagkanyas' - girls of Kaliya Naag's ancestry. These Naagkanyas had performed the 'Kojaagari Vrat' - staying awake on Aso sud Punam. They then sat gambling with Valit. The night happened to be Aso sud Punam. Valit lost everything. At that moment, Lord and consort Lakshmi, happened to pass by. Since Valit had incidentally observed the 'Kojaagari vrat', Mother Lakshmi graced him handsomeness similar to that of 'Kamadeva' - the deity of love. Now attracted to him, the Naagkanyas married Valit and gifted him their riches. He then returned home with the riches, whence his wife received him warmly. After this episode, the Samhita declared that those who remain awake on this Punam will be graced with wealth.

On this night, Lord invited His faithful devotees, the of Vrndavan, to play the Maha Raas (traditional folk-dance) with Him. They had earned His grace by overlooking society's disdain on them (`loklaaj'), to offer Him unalloyed devotion. When they left their homes in Vraj and arrived in Vrndavan, Shree Krishna welcomed them. Yet to further test their love for Him, He said: 'Women of character such as you, should not leave home to meet another man in the middle of the night!' These words seared the Gopis' hearts. In extreme grief, they uttered: 'Our feet will not budge the slightest from Your lotus-feet. So how can we return to Vraj?' Pleased with such immutable love for him, Shree Krishna initiated the Maha Raas, by assuming as many forms as there were Gopis. At this point, they beamed with pride that, 'Nobody's devotion can excel ours, by which the Lord favored us.' Instead of accepting the Maha Raas as the Lord's grace, ego marred their devotion. Therefore He instantly vanished from the Raas mandal!

Now filled with remorse, the Gopis repented. Recalling Shree Krishna's divine episodes - 'lila', they lamented their pangs of separation, and sang kirtans known as 'viraha geet': 'Jayati te-dhikam janmanaa vrajaha ….. (Srimad Bhagavatam 10/31/1) Describing the 'lila' in the Bhagavatam (10/30/25), Shukadev Goswami narrates to king Parikshit:'O Parikshit! Of all nights, that night of Sharad Purnima became the most resplendent. With the Gopis, Shree Krishna roamed the banks of the Yamuna, as if imprisoning everyone in his lila!'

Sentiments The spiritual import of 'Jaagrati' (awake) is to remain vigilant. The vigilance in one's heart is the gateway to the Lord's divine abode. Devotees should not let mundane desires, of wealth, lust and so forth, and enter their hearts. When faced with obstacles such as: success and failure, happiness and misery, honor and insult, the devotees should remain unflinching in their devotion to God. In this manner, they should remain vigilant at the gateway to God, not letting any mundane objects through. Therefore, every moment in our lives requires vigilance and this in itself becomes a subtle form of 'tapas' - austerity. Those who performed severe austerities without vigilance, succumbed to Maya. Vishwamitra performed austerities for 60,000 years, but lost 'Jaagruti' - vigilance - in Menka's company. Similarly, lack of vigilance toppled Saubhari rishi, Ekalshrungi, Parashar and others.

Ritual 'Dudha-Pauva' - parched rice soaked in milk - is offered to God. This prasad is then availed by devotees. The health attribute of this prasad is similar to that of Dashera's; it corrects any disturbance in 'pitta'.

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