HINDU FASTS & FESTIVALS : - 24-4.1.

24. Pradosha Vrata - 4.1.

    This Vrata is highly lauded by the scriptures and is of very great sanctity and importance to worshippers of Lord Shiva.

The mere sight of the Deity in a temple during this period will destroy all sins and bestow bountiful blessings and Grace upon the fortunate beholder.

Even a single bael leaf (leaf taken from the wood-apple tree) offered to the Lord at this unique, auspicious moment equals a hundred Mahapujas.

It is usual to have special additional lights in the shrine during the Pradosha.

To light even a single wick at this juncture is highly meritorious and productive of untold benefits, spiritual as well as material.

Most fortunate and blessed is the person who performs the Pradosha Vrata, for upon him Lord Shiva showers His choicest Grace and blessings in a very short time.

  1.  Here is the Yogic interpretation of the Pradosha :

According to the Shiva-Raja Yoga, concentration is directed towards the central point in the middle of the eyebrows, where the spiritual light can be perceived by the Yogi who turns the vision inwards.

The Yogi passes through various stages, all of which are subdivisions of the four states of waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and the Superconscious State or Samadhi.

Each one of these states is further sub-divided into four states, for example, the waking-dreaming, waking-sleep, waking-fourth, and waking-waking.

It will be seen that when the states are sub-divided in this way, the first three states comprise a total of twelve sub-states.

The thirteenth is the fourth-waking.

There is correspondence between this and the 13th day of the lunar fortnight, either bright or dark.

Swami Sivananda
 To be continued  .....