Nakta, naktavrata

By Swami Harshananda

Nakta, naktavrata literally means ‘vow connected with night’.

Scriptures, especially the dharmaśāstras and the purāṇas, insist that able-bodied persons must observe fasting on ekādaśī days.^[1] For the sake of those who cannot fast completely, eating once in a day is permitted. This is of two types:

Ekabhakta - In this one has to take his food in day-time, a little after noon.
Nakta - It is 6 to 3 ghaṭikās^[2] after sunset.

In observing nakta as a vrata,^[3] one should take a small quantity of haviṣyānna^[4] after bath, sleep on the ground and observe moral virtues like truth very strictly.

References[edit]

↑ It falls on the eleventh day after the full-moon and the new-moon.
↑ One ghaṭikā is 24 minutes.
↑ Vrata means religious vow.
↑ Haviṣyānna means plain boiled food without condiments and salt.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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[1] It falls on the eleventh day after the full-moon and the new-moon.

[2] One ghaṭikā is 24 minutes.

[3] Vrata means religious vow.

[4] Haviṣyānna means plain boiled food without condiments and salt.

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