Purshottam Maas washes away all sins
   Date :25-Sep-2020

Purshottam Maas_1 &n
 
 
By Rajendra Diwe :
 
 
Adhik Maas is very important for the devotees of Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna. For them it is known as Purshottam Maas. After calculating 12 lunar months, the rishis come out with one extra month, they were in dilemma to name this month. Each month is dedicated to one or other Lord but when Rishis went to Lord Vishnu about the Adhik Maas, he assigned Adhik Maas to Himself and gave the name Purshottam Maas to this month. Lord Vishnu also said that acquisition of merits during other months through good deeds, japa, austerities etc can be acquired by japa, austerities etc. carried out within this one month.
 
Since then it is known as the Purushottama Maas and acquired greater significance than the other months. In North India, Gujarat and in South India, the devotees of Lord Vishnu feel ‘Adhik Maas Vrat’ wash away all sins of people. The devotees also observe the Vrat of Adhik Maas. According to some devotees, “During this month austerities, fasting are undertaken and clothes, charity etc are distributed to the needy.” As mentioned in Devi Bhagavat, “One should carry out charitable and meritorious acts and fasting to get beneficial results. Just as an atomic sized seed contains within it the power to produce a giant and long living Banyan tree, so in the same manner even a little charitable act undertaken during Adhik Maas produces huge results.”
 
The devotees of Lord Vishnu also believe, “Hiranyakashyapu had asked for a boon that no man, animal or sura, asura should cause his death; further he asked that he should not meet his death in any of the 12 months of the year, in the morning or night, not inside the house nor outside, nor by any weapon. He thought he was being very clever. But the Supreme Lord outwitted him and appeared in Narasimha form, in the evening, during Adhik Maas and dragged Hiranyakashyapu to the threshold of the palace (neither inside nor outside) and ripped open his chest with his claws.” Therefore, during Adhik Maas no auspicious festive activity such as marriage, havan, puja anushthan etc., should be performed. Only naam japa, charity and Bhagavat katha yagya is generally done.