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In Hindu religious scriptures, special importance has been given to listening and reading the story of Adhik Maas i.e. Purushottam month. In this most holy month, the stories of Shri Hari Vishnu and his various incidents are considered to remove all the troubles of the devotees. For the convenience of devotees and readers, the complete story of the ninth (9th) and tenth (10th) chapters of Adhik Maas Mahatmya is being given below:
Ninth Chapter: Durvasa Muni’s auspicious visit to the ashram of the orphan sage girl.
Sut ji started saying – O sages! After this, Narad ji asked Lord Narayan about the story of that beautiful and virtuous daughter of the intelligent sage. Narad ji asked out of curiosity – “O Lord! After the death of her father, what did that helpless sage girl do in the dense forest? Did any other sage or saint marry her or did she remain alone?”
Then Lord Narayana, removing Narad ji’s doubt, said – O Narad! That orphan girl spent some difficult days of her life living in an ashram in the same deserted forest, remembering her late father with great sorrow and pain.
One day, fortunately, in that quiet forest suddenly appeared the very wrathful sage Durvasa Muni. Seeing Tejpunj Muniraj coming in person at the door of her ashram, that girl, drowned in the deep ocean of grief, immediately got up and prostrated herself at his feet. Respectfully brought the sage inside her ashram. He duly worshiped and honored sage Durvasa with forest roots, various types of delicious fruits, ardhya and padya (water for washing feet).
After this, the sage girl folded her hands and said in a very humble manner – “O Muniraj! I salute you again and again. How did your holy feet arrive in this small ashram of an unfortunate and helpless girl like me? With your arrival, my sleeping destiny has actually risen. I have full faith that due to the glory of my father’s previously accumulated virtues, you have come here to explain me and guide me. Because of the great knowledge of great sages like you, By touching the dust of the feet of a pilgrim, my human birth became successful.”
Having said this, she became silent and sat on the ground in front of the distraught Bala Muni. Hearing such respectful words from the girl’s mouth, Sage Durvasa smiled softly and said – “Blessed! Oh Brahmin daughter, you are blessed. You have saved your father’s entire clan by your good behavior.”
The girl again said – “O Mune! After listening to these beneficial words of yours, half of my sorrow has already gone away. O blessed one! Please tell me some easy solution which will end the remaining pain of my life. At this time, I am burning within in the flames of sorrow and extreme grief. There is no one in this whole world to support me – neither my mother is alive, nor my father, nor any brother. I am risking my life in this extreme crisis. How to survive? Whichever direction I look now, I see only darkness of despair.”
Shri Narayan started saying – Hey Narada! Hearing such pitiful words of the orphan and distressed girl, Sage Durvasa’s heart ached and he uttered some very beneficial words for the welfare of the girl.
Tenth Chapter: Disrespect of Purushottam month and anger of Durvasa Muni.
Rishi Durvasa started saying – Hey babe! There is a very good way to get rid of your sorrows. ‘Purushottam month’ (Adhik month) is going to come exactly in the third month from now. In this holy month, by merely taking bath and meditating with devotion, a person immediately becomes free from the sins and faults of all his previous births.
There is no other month in this world like Kartik etc. which gives results like this Purushottam month. All the twelve months of the year, their pakshas and tithis do not have virtue equal to even the sixteenth kala (a small part) of this Purushottam month. The result that a person gets by taking bath in the holy Ganga continuously for twelve thousand years, and the rare result that one gets by taking bath in the Godavari river during Jupiter in Leo; The same great virtue can be easily achieved by taking a ritual bath only once in this Purushottam month.
Since this month is a very favorite month of Lord Krishna himself, bathing in it, donating clothes, food and chanting his name fulfills all the desired results of a person. Therefore, following my advice, you also serve and fast with full devotion in the coming Purushottam month.
Muniraj Durvasa became silent after giving this excellent advice to the girl.
Lord Shri Krishna said- Hey Arjun! Even after listening to these very beneficial words of the sage, due to her misfortune and the change in her mind, the foolish girl became very angry and said angrily – “O Brahmin! These words of yours do not seem logical and right to me at all. On what basis are you describing the holy months like Magh as small and less fruitful? And how can you call a great month like Kartik lesser than them? Can the month of Vaishakh, served with full devotion, give a person the desired results? O Mune, how can you call the month which is completely devoid of Sankranti the best among all the auspicious activities of the world?
In this way, hearing the harsh words of that innocent Brahmin daughter full of anger and arrogance, the ascetic body of Durvasa Muni started burning from within and due to anger, both his eyes became red like embers. But, since the girl was the daughter of his best friend, the brilliant sage, he controlled his fierce anger and did not give her any terrible curse.
The sage started thinking in his mind that – “This girl is completely foolish and innocent, she does not know her good and bad (benefits and harms) at all. How can this girl with little intelligence know the mysterious significance of the month of Purushottam, which even the great scholars and great sages cannot fully understand? Apart from this, this orphan child without parents is already burning in the fire of sorrow, she cannot bear the heat of my fierce curse. Will be able to do it.”
Thinking this, sage Durvasa calmed down the intense anger that had arisen in him and became normal and said to the distraught girl – “Daughter! You are very sad and innocent at this time, hence I do not have any anger (anger) on this crime of yours. Do as you like in this unfortunate mind of yours. But listen carefully to whatever is going to happen in the future. I warn you that whatever you have done in the month of ‘Purushottam month’ in the form of God, You will definitely have to suffer the bitter consequences of disrespect and condemnation in this birth or in your next birth. Since your father was my dear friend, I am not cursing you because you are still an innocent child and do not know good and bad. May you be well, I now depart in the eternal service of Lord Narayana.
Shri Krishna started saying – Hey Arjun! Saying this, the brilliant and ascetic Durvasa Muni left the place in a moment. As soon as the sage left, due to the ill effects of disrespect in Purushottam month, that beautiful girl became lustrous and lustrous (black) at that very moment.
Seeing her form destroyed, she started repenting in her mind and thinking that now I should worship only Lord Shri Shankar (Mahadev), the husband of Parvati, who gives immediate results. With this firm determination, she went inside her ashram and started preparing to perform extremely difficult penance to please Mahadev.
Sut ji started saying – O Shaunakadi sages! That girl, condemning the beneficial words of the most knowledgeable sage Durvasa, and abandoning the worship of Lord Vishnu, the one who gives infinite results, and Brahma ji, husband of Savitri, got absorbed in the rigorous service and penance of Lord Shiva in her forest ashram. (Further story in the next chapter…