Srimate Ramanujaya namaha
Namaskaram Swami 🙏
On Sri Jayanthi, adiyongal fast from the morning. Later in the evening, we do the puja. All the bakshanams are offered. We usually prepare rice, keerai, paruppu also in the evening and offer those along with butter, fruits, dry fruits, and all the bakshanams that are prepared for Perumal to ‘kandu arula panna’. After that, we break our fast and have food, bakshanams and all.
Recently, adiyen came across a Sri Vaishnava book (Sri Vedanta Desikan on the principles of Vaishnavism by Navalpakkam Sri. U.Ve.Vasudevatatacharyar) in which it is mentioned that the following 5 days, we should observe fasting compulsory and should not consume cooked food at all.
1. Ekadasi
2. Sravana Dwadasi
3. Sri Rama Navami
4. Sri Jayanthi
5. Sri Narasimha Jayanthi
While in our family, we fast on Ekadasi and Sravana Dwadasi, we have been only fasting till puja is over on Sri Jayanthi. For Narasimha Jayanthi, we have been fasting only till dusk (i.e. have dinner, same as what we have been following for Sri Jayanthi.) For Sri Rama Navami, we have not been observing fasting at all.
The book also mentions that eating rice on such days is a wrongful act and will result in hell. It also mentions that there are varied approaches in all these practices and can be learnt from elders. (Refer page numbers 184 and 185).
Elders in our family are not following these either. They have been having food bakshanams in the night after the puja is over.
Should we avoid rice and just have bakshanams as prasadam on Sri Jayanthi after the puja is over?
Kindly clarify 🙏
Adiyen
