Kartik Month (Damodar Month)

The holy month dedicated to Bhagavan Damodar, marked by offering lamps, singing the Damodarashtakam and, towards its end, Tulsi Vivah.

In the Vaishnava tradition Kartik is regarded as the holiest month of the year and is also called Damodar month. The tenth canto of the Shrimad Bhagavatam tells how one day the child Krishna broke a pot of curd and began feeding butter to the monkeys. Mother Yashoda set out to tie Him to a wooden mortar as a gentle punishment, but every rope she tried fell two fingers short. At last, seeing her effort and her love, the Lord allowed Himself to be bound. Because He was tied with a rope, dama, around His belly, udara, He is called Damodar. Dragging the mortar behind Him, He pulled down the twin Yamalarjuna trees and freed Nalakuvara and Manigriva, the sons of Kubera, who had been confined in them by a curse. The pastime shows that the infinite Lord can be bound only by love.

The month usually falls in October and November. In the purnimanta calendar of North India it begins after Ashvin Purnima and ends on Kartik Purnima, while in the amanta calendar of Gujarat Kartik begins on the day after Diwali. Vaishnava devotees generally keep the Damodar vrat from Sharad Purnima to Kartik Purnima.

Throughout the month, every evening, a ghee lamp is offered to the Lord, a practice called deepdan. Along with it devotees sing the Damodarashtakam, a hymn associated with the Padma Purana that praises the child Krishna bound by Yashoda. Devotees bathe early in a river or lake, serve the Tulsi plant, increase their chanting and kirtan, and many give up certain foods for the month. Vrindavan, Mathura and Jagannath Puri are especially crowded at this time.

Kartik Shukla Ekadashi is known as Prabodhini or Dev Uthani Ekadashi. It is believed that on this day Bhagavan Vishnu awakens from His yoga nidra of the Chaturmas, and auspicious ceremonies such as weddings begin again. Around this time, from the Ekadashi up to Kartik Purnima according to local custom, Tulsi Vivah is performed, in which Tulsi Devi is married to Shaligram or to an image of Bhagavan Vishnu with full rites and auspicious songs.

Tithi

Month of Kartik; Prabodhini (Dev Uthani) Ekadashi on Kartik Shukla Ekadashi

Month

October–November

Places

Vrindavan, Mathura, Puri, Dwarka, Dakor

Source

Shrimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10; Damodarashtakam (Padma Purana)