Kartik Month Story Chapter 6, Kartik Month Story Chapter 6 in English
Narad ji said: When two hours of night are left, then take Tulsi clay, clothes and urn and go to the reservoir. One should take bath in the water of every reservoir wherever during Kartik. Bathing in cold water is ten times more beneficial than bathing in hot water. One hundred times more virtue is achieved by bathing in the water of an external well. More virtue than that comes from bathing in a stepwell and even more virtue from bathing in a pond. One gets ten times more benefits by taking a bath in the springs and even more by taking a bath in the river during Kartik. There is ten times more virtue where there is a confluence of two rivers and if there is a confluence of three rivers then there is no limit to the virtue.
Before taking bath, one should meditate on God and resolve to take bath, then one should offer Ardhya, Achamaniya etc. to the deities present in the pilgrimage respectively.
The Ardhya Mantra is as follows: O Kamalnath! Salutations to you, O Lord of Water! Salutations to you, O Rishikesh! Greetings to you. Please accept the Arghya given by me. Wherever Lord Vishnu went in Vaikuntha, Prayag and Badrikashram, he placed his feet there in three ways. May all the gods along with the sages, Vedas and Yagyas protect me there. O Janardan, O Damodar, O Devesh! To please you, I am taking bath in Brahmamuhurta as per the rituals in the month of Kartik. May all my sins be destroyed by your grace. Oh, Lord! I offer Arghya to those who fast and take ritual bath in the month of Kartik, you should accept it along with Radhika. Hey Krishna! O God who destroys powerful demons! O destroyer of sins! May I get the results of fasting for Kartik bath through this Arghya given by me every day in the month of Kartik.
After that, after meditating on Vishnu, Shiva and Surya, one should enter the water and stand in water equal to the navel and take bath as per the method. Housewives should take bath by applying sesame and gooseberry powder and widows should take bath by applying the soil of basil root. Bathing with Amla and sesame seeds is prohibited on dates like Saptami, Amavasya, Navami, Trayodashi, Dwitiya, Dashami etc. The following words should be chanted while taking bath..
With the devotion with which the Lord assumed three types of forms for the work of the gods, may Lord Vishnu, the destroyer of sins, purify me with his grace. The human being who observes Kartik fast on the orders of Lord Vishnu, his senses are protected by all the gods, hence Sri Vishnu must purify me. May the mantras of the Vedas along with seeds, secrets and yagyas, sages like Kashyap and Indradi gods purify me. May all the women like Aditi, Yagya, Siddha, snakes and all the medicines and the mountains of the three worlds purify me.
Having said this, after taking bath, a person should hold the sacred thread in his hand and offer it to the gods, sages, human beings and ancestors in a proper manner. The ancestors of the devotee reside in heaven for as many years as there are sesame seeds in the tarpan while offering tarpan. After that the fasting person should come out of the water and wear clean clothes. After retiring from all the works of pilgrimage, one should worship Lord Vishnu again. Remembering all the deities of all the places of pilgrimage, one should again offer ardhya to Lord Vishnu along with sandalwood, flowers and fruits with devotion and caution. The meaning of the mantra of Ardhya is as follows..
I have taken bath in the holy month of Kartik. Hey Vishnu! You along with Radha, accept the Ardhya given by me!
After that, worship the Vedpathi Brahmins with sandalwood, flowers and tambourine etc. with devotion and say namaskar again and again. The shrines reside in the right foot of the Brahmins, the Vedas reside in the mouth and the gods reside in all the body parts. A person who wants his welfare should neither insult them nor oppose them. Then one should concentrate and worship Lord Vishnu's beloved Tulsi , circumambulate around and pay obeisance to Mother Tulsi.
O Goddess! Hey Tulsi! The gods have created you since ancient times and the sages have worshiped you. Hey Vishnupriya Tulsi! Greetings to you. You destroy all my sins.
In this way, the people who observe the Kartik fast with devotion, enjoy the pleasures of the world and ultimately attain salvation.
