Srimad Bhagavatam – day 360
Maharishi Kaśyapa replied, “O Diti, please listen to the rules of this ritual. You should not injure or harm (himsa) any living entity. You cannot abuse them either. Neither should you tell lies nor should you criticize or gossip unnecessarily for hours at stretch. Unnecessarily never hurl false accusations at people.
You should not cut your hair or nails. You cannot bite your nails. You cannot cut your hair to appear fashionable. You cannot touch impure objects. You can pour water over your body but you cannot enter waters to bathe. If you enter the waters you can swim but not dip in it to bathe. If at all you want to dip and bathe enter only the pure sacred rivers and not any water body per your whims.
You should not lose your temper. Do not converse with wicked persons. Never wear unwashed clothing. Under no circumstances should you wear the flower garland that has previously been worn. Flowers removed from the hair should not be worn again.
Never eat leftovers of others. Never eat food that is infested with ants, food mixed with meat, food that is cooked in an impure manner or food that has been cooked or seen by a woman who is in her menstrual period.
Water should never be drunk with cupped palms. Without bathing or without washing your mouth, hands and feet never leave the house. During sandhya times never let your hair loose. Without kumkum on your forehead, without proper ornaments and without covering your body properly do not ever leave the house.
It is inauspicious for a woman to let her hair loose at any time. Wealth (Lakshmi) will desert them. They attract daridra (poverty, lack of mental peace).
Do not talk endlessly. Never go to bed without washing your feet. Your feet should not be impure nor should they be wet when going to bed. One should never sleep with the head facing west or north. You should never be naked when you sleep. You should not sleep with others. Do not sleep during Sandhya times i.e. morning, afternoon or evening sandhya times.
Always wear washed clothes and adorn your body with kumkum and other auspicious ornaments. A woman should always be pure and well-adorned”.
Swamiji adds: She should comb and plait her hair daily. She should not trim her hair.
“Daily morning prior to breakfast worship cows, Vedic Brahmins, Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Srihari”.
Swamiji says: If you do not have a cow at home then worship photo of cows at least.
“Worship other married women by offering them flower garlands, sandal paste, food items and some ornaments. Believing that you are holding your husband’s tejas (semen) within your womb, worship your husband daily and serve him.
If you abide by this vrata called Pumsavana diligently for a period of a year, you will be blessed with a son who will kill Indra”.
Diti determined firmly to strictly follow these disciplines. She held Maharishi Kaśyapa’s radiance in her womb and instantly began to follow these disciplines.
Indra came to know the reason his step-mother had undertaken these severe disciplines. He arrived at her residence and began to serve her while she completed her vrata. Daily at appropriate timings he would fetch the fruits, roots, firewood, grass, leaves, twigs, mud and water for her use. In every possible way, he kept a watch over her.
Just as a hunter disguises himself as a deer in order to kill it, the cunning Indra dutifully offered her services purely with the intent of catching her when she erred in her disciplines. He kept a close vigil upon her. Days passed. Indra could not find any mistakes in her who was faithfully following all the vows. With this he was alarmed. He panicked, “How can auspiciousness ever come to me at this rate?”
One day it so happened that Diti, who was emaciated due to strict adherence to these disciplines, forgot to wash her mouth, hands and feet after dinner and slept during the evening twilight time”.
Before going to bed at night it is mandatory to brush the teeth and wash the mouth. We should also wash our hands and feet. Then we should wipe the feet dry. Offer prayers to the Lord and then go to sleep. It is wrong to go to bed with dirty feet. More importantly during sandhya time (evening twilight) one should never sleep. This is a very important rule to follow.
“When Diti, who had thus broken her vow, was fast asleep, Indra, the accomplished Yoga-siddha, entered her womb using his supernatural powers and then, with his thunderbolt, chopped the divinely illumining fetus into 7 pieces. When the seven divisions began to wail in agony, he pacified them saying “do not cry, do not cry.” Taking his thunderbolt, he further cut each portion into 7 pieces.
These fetuses joined their hands and prayed, “O Indra, why do you want to kill us? We are your younger brothers, the Maruts.” Indra who observed that they were devoted to him and treating him as their elder brother replied, “As you are my brothers, there is no need for you to fear”.
Maharishi Śuka continued, “O Emperor Parikshit! Due to Krishna’s grace the Brahmāstra used by Ashwatthama failed to kill you. Likewise the fetus in Diti’s womb did not die even when it was chopped by the thunderbolt”.
Upendrāya namah