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Do’s & Don’ts: Your Ultimate Guide to Adhik Maas 2023

Adhik_Maas_2023_Vishnu
The month of Adhik comes once in three years. Adhik maas is also called Londa maas, Malmaas or Purushottam maas.
Lunar month has 29.5 days, while the Solar month has 30 to 31 days. Thus, the entire lunar year comprises 354 days, while the solar year comprises 365 days. The difference between the lunar and the solar years is approximately 11 days.
Over a period of 2-3 years, this difference sums up to a total of 29-30 days. In the end, an extra month is added to compensate for the lost days and align the lunar and solar years.
2023 is a special year for the Hindu devotees. Here, the Purushotam or the Adhik maas comes aligned with the month of Shravan. This is an uncommon occurrence and is happening after a gap of 19 years.
In 2023, the Adhik Maas begins on July 18, Tuesday and ends on August 16, Wednesday. The month of Shravana, too, falls in the month of July and August - from July 4 till Aug 31, 2023.
Shravan month specifically signifies the worship of Bhagwan Shiva, while the Adhik maas is dedicated to Shri Vishnu.
The combined energies of these supernal deities give the Hindu devotees a rare and special chance to wash the sins of their past lives.
Practising austerities (even in minute quantities) will help you to cleanse your body and mind thoroughly. Besides clearing your past karmas, observing certain austerities will spiritually elevate you in this life and give you a chance to build up good karma and a firm inclination towards establishing a sattvic life.
Various legends surround the Adhik month. The most popular is the one where the Adhik maas is personified as a human and goes to seek Shri Vishnu’s help. Each month is dedicated to a deity. So there are 12 deities each for 12 months. But Adhik maas, since added later, was devoid of a deity. Once, he went to Shri Vishnu to seek his help. Shri Vishnu assured him that he would assign himself to the month of Adhik, and people would worship him as the prime deity for the whole month.
Adhik literally means much, more, many, plenty and abundant. Here, these adjectives have a special significance.
Anything that you do during the Adhik maas, be it sin or virtue by quality, is bound to increase in intensity and will return to you a thousand times. This is why Adhik month has a special significance and emphasises doing the punya karma with vigilance, for it will give you results a thousand times more.

Do's of the Adhik Maas ✅

  1. Wake up early, especially in the Brahma Muhurta (between 4 am to 6 am).
  2. Finish your cleansing rituals and worship Shri Hari.
  3. Chant Vishnu Sahasranama. If possible, also visit Vishnu temples or temples dedicated to Lakshmi Narayana.
  4. Keep fasts. During the Adhik maas, there are different types of vrats that you can keep depending upon your ability and personal capacity.
    Various types of vrats can help you through the month. Here we mention a few:
  5. Rasoupvas - Rasoupvas is fasting with the juices of fruits and vegetables.
  6. Faloupvas - Faloupvas is fasting by eating fruits. If fruits do not suit you, then you may also carry your fast by consuming boiled vegetables.
  7. Ekaharupvas - Ekaharupvas is fasting by eating one kind of food. For instance, if you keep Ekaharupvas, then you may consume roti in the morning and vegetables in the evening.
    1. There are other kinds of fasts as well. You may choose the type of fasting as per your tolerance. Whichever fast you choose, especially Ekaharupvas, avoid onions and garlic in your meals. Both these items are highly tamasic in nature and induce laziness.
    2. Perform charity wherever and whenever you can.
    3. Chant mantras. You need not chant complicated mantras. Choose the mantras that are simple and easy to remember. Instead of lying down or sitting in a chair, it's preferable to chant the mantras by sitting in a meditative pose.
    If you find sitting in meditative poses difficult, then you may also sit in a normal cross-leg position. If you have problems sitting on the floor, they may sit using a chair. Do not sit on the floor directly. Make use of a clean blanket or a durry before you start your mantra chanting.
    1. Perform religious activities. Engaging in religious activities will not only cleanse your karma but also enable you to neutralise Pitra Dosha.
    2. Jaap, daan and puja hold special significance during the Adhik Maas. When done during this month, they give you better and higher results compared to the other months.
    3. Besides performing vrat, fasts and charity, doing havana also gives massive results during this month. Havan represents sacred fire and is primarily done for the Bhuta Shuddhi. Performing havana during the Adhik maas brings about tremendous self-purification by uprooting your fears/temptations/insecurities.
    4. If possible, take up pilgrimages during the Adhik month. You may also visit the nearby temples (especially if it's a Vishnu temple) and perform havan/jaap/puja/meditation there.
    5. Recite religious scriptures. As you juggle through your busy schedules, take some time out to read a few paragraphs from Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita or Ramcharitmanas.
    6. Reading these paragraphs during Adhik Month will bring about mental purification, cut down your anxiety and ward off negative/inauspicious energies.
    7. Control your senses. Fasting and other rituals that we follow during Adhik Maas primarily aim at subduing the senses. This month is charged with the divine energies of Shri Vishnu and is chiefly meant for spiritual ascension. So besides these rituals, it is important to cut down on your screen time, phone usage, excessive talk and criticising others.
    8. Feed the cows as much as possible during the entire month.
    9. Respect Brahmins, sages and saints. Donate and feed them regularly (if possible. Do not borrow or go overboard in serving them).
    10. If your health permits, try to eat one meal a day. Eat as much sattvic food as possible.
    11. Offer water to Tulsi and other plants for the whole month. Light a lamp near the Tulsi plant both in the morning and evening.
    12. Try to sleep on the floor. Again this is a personal choice and can be done selectively.

    Don'ts of the Adhik Maas ❌

    1. Do not harm others in thought and action.
    2. Avoid verbal abuse and getting into arguments with anyone.
    3. Avoid starting anything new or auspicious.
    4. Avoid keeping mundan, engagement or naming ceremonies during this month.
    5. Do not make any investments or take any major decisions regarding your finances.
    6. Do not buy a new house or vehicle during this month.
    7. Avoid eating non-vegetarian foods, caffeine, nicotine and smoking (if possible, during the entire month of Adhik Maas.
    8. Refrain from cutting hair and nails if not urgent.
    9. Abstain from sexual pleasure. Complete abstinence is a personal choice, and you may practice it selectively.
    The Adhik maas will charge the divine firmament with the celestial powers of Shri Hari. Shri Hara or Shiva will make his presence known through the onset of Shravan maas.
    With these months pulsating with some humongous energy, it's essential to know that our actions and intentions should be of utmost purity. Together, the Hari and Hara is the divine manifestation of our innate need to elevate ourselves spiritually.
    The alignment between the two prime deities of the Hindu pantheon gives us the idea of cultivating our deeds and then nurturing them in the cycle of karma.
    Shri Hari represents the nurturing side, while Bhagwan Shiva symbolises the dissolution of the ego. Together, they emphasise the prime need to dissolve the ego and cultivate fine sensory control.
    The powerful and diverse forces that will start operating during the Adhik month will give us all a chance to look inward, align with the divine deities and cultivate the karmas that will fuel our growth and liberation. This is the sole reason that worldly affairs are not begun or carried out for the entire Adhik month. It emphasises complete devotion towards the attainment of the spiritual goals that will potentially cultivate the seeds of Moksha.
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