Practices
Vrata
Devotional Practices
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Origin 300 to 1200 CE
A vrata is a votive observance, a vow taken for a fixed period toward a particular end, and it characteristically joins a fast, or a restriction of food, to the worship of a chosen deity, the telling of the vrata's story, and often a gift. Vratas are undertaken for the health and long life of a husband or child, for a good marriage, for the birth of a son, for the removal of an affliction or in simple devotion, and a great many are kept especially by women, who are their principal custodians and for whom they are one of the main fields of independent religious action. Each is tied to a day, a deity and a narrative that establishes its power, and the fast within it ranges from a full abstention to the giving up of a single kind of food. The practice shades into the fixed calendrical fasts such as the Ekadashi.
Facts
Practice
Who Performs It Practitioner DetailKept especially by women, who are their principal custodians and for whom vratas are one of the main fields of independent religious action. 2 ObligationOptional and voluntary 1Tradition: Hinduism FrequencyAs the occasion requires 1 Solitary or CommunalPerformed alone or together 1 Attributions
TraditionHinduism, a religious vow that typically pairs fasting with worship on a chosen day tied to a deity or calendar occasion. 2 Scholarship and Forensics
Scholarly NoteVratas are not sharply separated from the fixed calendrical fasts such as Ekadashi: the practice shades into them, so a vow taken for a particular personal end and an obligation tied to the ritual calendar sit on the same continuum of votive fasting rather than in two distinct categories. 1 Origins
Origin Period Place of OriginThe Indian subcontinent 1 A votive observance tied to a day, a deity and a narrative, kept especially by women. Status
Status TodayLiving tradition, practised today 3 Observance
Observance NoteA vrata is tied to a day, a deity and a narrative that establishes its power, and the fast within it ranges from a full abstention to the giving up of a single kind of food. 3 Learn More
The Vow
A vrata is a religious vow undertaken in Hinduism, a self-imposed discipline observed for a set time toward a particular end, most often fasting or dietary restriction combined with special worship, and frequently directed to a chosen deity on a fixed day of the sacred calendar. The word carries the sense of a solemn commitment freely taken on, and the observance binds the one who vows for its duration. Vratas range from the fast kept every fortnight on the eleventh lunar day, to the day-long fasts for the welfare of a husband or children, to elaborate multi-day observances with prescribed rites, stories and offerings.
Vratas are woven especially closely into the religious lives of Hindu women, many of the best-known vows being kept by wives and mothers for the long life, health and prosperity of their families. But the form is general: men and women undertake vratas for the removal of obstacles, the fulfilment of a wish, expiation, or simple devotion, and the keeping of the vow is understood to generate merit and to move the deity to favour.
How a Vow Is Kept
A vrata typically combines several elements: abstention, whether a complete fast, a restriction to a single meal, or the avoidance of particular foods; heightened purity and worship of the deity to whom the vow is directed; and often the hearing or reciting of the vrata katha, the story that explains the vow's origin and power and models its reward. The fast is broken at the prescribed time, sometimes after the sighting of the moon or the completion of the day's worship. Some vratas are one-off undertakings for a specific need; others are kept year after year on the same calendar day.
Well-known examples include the Ekadashi fasts of the eleventh lunar day sacred to Vishnu, the Karva Chauth fast kept by married women in the north for their husbands' longevity, the Monday fasts for Shiva, and the many vows attached to particular festivals and deities. Across this variety the vrata expresses a characteristic feature of Hindu devotion: the voluntary taking-on of discipline as an offering, in confidence that the deity honours the vow faithfully kept.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. Encyclopedia of Hinduism
Denise Cush, Catherine Robinson and Michael York (eds.), Routledge, 2008View the Source 2. History of Dharmasastra, Volume V
P. V. Kane, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1958On vratasView the Source 3. The Hindu Religious Year
Muriel Marion Underhill, Association Press / Oxford University Press, 1921On votive fasts and their storiesView the Source Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the Source Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
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