Chaturmasa- being mindful

Chaturmasa is a period of four consecutive months in a year when Lord Vishnu is believed to go into yoga nidra. It is also believed that this is a period for self reflection and spiritual progress. It is observed primarily by observing some food restrictions though there are other rituals also. Out of the many types of vrats that are followed, the one I followed is quite commonly followed. 

In the first month starting from ashada Shukla dwadashi, shakha vrata is followed, which means that fruits and vegetables are restricted for one entire month. It may sound easy to avoid vegetables, thinking that you can just do away with dal and roti or rice, it's not so easy. Vegetables include chili, lemon, tomato, tamarind and the like. So basically, you are left to savour only two of the primary tastes- sweet and salt. No spices, no sourness, no bitter. When you actually come to practice it for one month, it gets difficult. 

The second month is dadhi vrata where in you just have to avoid curds. This is easy for me as I don't eat curds. You can eat everything else. 

The third month is Ksheera vrata where you have to avoid milk. This was difficult for me as I am addicted to coffee and tea. I had to shift to black coffee and black tea which is basically equivalent to hot water. 

The fourth month is again tough wherein you have to avoid anything which as two or more seeds or cotyledons. It is same as the first month- no chilli, no vegetables and fruits with seeds, no tamarind, no spices. It gets tougher because there is no dal of any kind. You are left with rice, wheat, green leafy vegetables and tubers- all without spices. 

I am happy that I could follow all of these as much as possible. I didn't follow on the days when there would be guests at home, or when my mom invited me for the festivals or when I was travelling. On all other days, I stuck to the vrat. 

I must say that the vrat changed my personality to a great extent. If I think about the reason behind it, I realise that it's not just about controlling of taste buds; but it is something more. It is - being mindful of what I am eating. 

On regular days, I just used to munch anything edible all throughout the day mindlessly. But during vrat, because of so many restrictions, I became very conscious about what I eat. Once our mind gets getting conscious about something as important as food, it applies the same mindfulness to other aspects as well in the long run. I started becoming conscious about the way I behave, the way I respond to situations, my talks, the trivial reasons for which I would get angry, the way my mind aimlessly wandered into negativity and so on. It's like controlling the rein of one of the many horses pulling the chariot. If the control is strong enough, it will balance the rest of the horses too. The sense of taste is the dominant horse. 

Refraining from tasting the food inspite of cooking regular meal for the whole family, refusing to taste the home-delivered pizzas while serving them to everyone for an entire month gets demanding. 

If you have to appreciete me in this, appreciate my commitment only; not my control of mind. 

There is a verse in Bhagavatgeeta-

कर्मेन्द्रियाणि संयम्य य आस्ते मनसा स्मरन्।

इन्द्रियआर्थान् विमूढात्म मिथाचार सा उच्यते । 

A person who controls his karmendriyas, but still thinks about the pleasures in his mind, is just a show-off. 

I remembered this shloka many times during this vrata. Because, though I controlled my hand and my tongue from savoring the pizzas, I kept dreaming of eating them after the vrat. 

The next shloka of the Geetha says that a person who controls indriyas from the root, that is- if I refrain from thinking about it even in my mind, then you can appreciate me. So, there's a long way to go. For that, I plan to continue the vrat every year. Let's see what his wish is.