Mr.Walker

You’re mixing up a few things, so let’s take them one by one. 1. Kharna. Nahay-Khay, Kharna, Sandhya Arghya and Usha Arghya are regional names for the four stages of one vrata. Nobody said the practice is made up; the names are simply in the local language. Kharna is the Panchami day: a full-day fast, broken once in the evening with gur-kheer and roti offered to the deity, after which the nirjala fast of about 36 hours begins. Eating one pure meal before a major upavasa is a standard rule of Hindu vrata practice. Calling it “Kharna” in Bhojpuri or Magahi doesn’t make it un-Hindu, any more than Pongal, Bihu or Lohri stop being Sankranti because they have regional names. 2. “Why isn’t it in the Rigveda?” The Rigveda is a collection of hymns, not a festival calendar. Diwali, Holi, Navratri, Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi are not laid out as rituals in the Rigveda either. Are they “not Hindu” too? What the Vedas do contain is the core of Chhath: worship of Surya (Rigveda 1.50, 1.115, the Gayatri) and offering arghya to the Sun. Taittiriya Aranyaka 2.2 specifically praises worshipping Aditya as he rises and as he sets, which is exactly Chhath’s evening and morning arghya. The Mahabharata (Vana Parva) promises the Sun’s grace to those who worship him on Shashthi and Saptami, the two days of Chhath. Nobody claimed the Rigveda names the festival; the claim is that it rests on Vedic and Puranic foundations. 3. “Why no idol?” Because Hindu worship has never required one. Vedic worship was largely without idols: Sandhyavandan, Agnihotra and the Gayatri have no murti. The Sun is called the pratyaksha devata, the god you can see with your own eyes, so in Chhath the devotee stands in water and worships him directly. Shashthi Devi is also very much worshipped. Her folk form is a red stone about the size of a human head, usually placed beneath a tree, and scholar David Gordon White notes that she has been worshipped on the sixth day after childbirth by all Hindus, rural and urban, since the Kushan era. That sixth-day “Chhathi” rite for newborns is still done in homes across North India today. Not having a mandir idol doesn’t make a deity less Hindu. If anything, it makes the practice closer to the Vedic way.

wow! this is the proof that your aim is not to be curious about history, but the vile hatred abotu unity of the people of the country under the umbrella of sanatan dharma. NAhay khaye is a local rewording of chaturthi, panchami, shasthi and ssapthmi , and this order of vrat for the sun god is mentioned in the bhavishya puran. for your dumb idea that sun god worship is not a part of hinduism, let me break it down for your dumb head. and dont come on me about chhath since i myself come from a family who celebrates chatth from jharkhand. We know who we remember during the meditative state during the strict fasts. In chhath we offer many things and keep fast , just like yudhisthir was instructed to do by the sage Dhaumya. In fact, sun worship is an integral part of hinduism, from the ramayana, mahabharat, vedas , to every scriputre, its places the sun as a very imp element. the mention of chhath as its name evolved with the diety of chhathi maiyaa which is the 6th daughter of sun god in many places. not only this, the brahma vaivrat puran , prakriti khand chapter 43mentions the " shasthi devi " or chatti maiya , who is the 6th manifestation of prakriti. श्रीमन्मातरमम्बिकां विधिमनोजातां सदाभीष्टदां स्कन्देष्टां च जगत्प्रसूं विजयदां सत्पुत्रसौभाग्यदाम् । सद्रत्नाभरणांन्वितां सकरुणां शुभ्रां शुभां सुप्रभां षष्ठांशां प्रकृतेः परं भगवतीं श्रीदेवासनां भजे ॥ १ ॥ Meaning : I meditate upon and worship the glorious, supreme Goddess Devasena, who is the divine Mother of all (Ambika) and was born directly from the mind of Lord Brahma. She is the eternal fulfiller of all pure desires, the beloved consort of Lord Skanda (Kartikeya), the creator of the universe, and the giver of victory, virtuous children, and good fortune. Adorned with beautiful, precious gem-studded ornaments, she is full of boundless compassion, radiating a pure white light, and glowing with an auspicious, divine brilliance. She is none other than the supreme Bhagavati, manifested from the holy sixth portion (shastha-amsa) of primordial nature (Prakriti). Taittiriya Aranyaka 2.2: describes offering water to the Sun at sandhya and praises worship of both the rising and the setting Sun, which is exactly what Chhath’s evening and morning arghya do: उद्यन्तमस्तं यन्तमादित्यमभिध्यायन् कुर्वन् ब्राह्मणो विद्वान् सकलं भद्रमश्नुते । The Bhavishya Purana (Brahma Parva) has the most detailed Surya worship of any Purana. It describes Sun vratas built on a graded fast: a single meal (एकभक्त) on Panchami, a fast or restricted meal on Shashthi, and worship of the Sun on Saptami. Chhath follows the same pattern. Brahma Parva, Chapter 61, verse 35 (in the Ras Bihari Lal edition) says that one who fasts with faith and devotion while worshipping Surya on this Saptami, which removes the effects of all sins, will gain relief from the threefold miseries. This is your best Bhavishya Purana support for the Saptami (Usha Arghya) day and for fasting as part of Sun worship. Shashthi belongs to Kartikeya, Shashthi Devi’s consort. The same edition places chapters on worshipping Kartikeya (ch. 43–44) right before the vow of Saptami and the stories of Surya (ch. 45), followed by the procedure for worshipping Surya (ch. 47) and Ratha Saptami and other Surya vows (ch. 48). So the Purana itself puts Skanda worship on Shashthi next to Sun worship on Saptami. That connects to the Brahma Vaivarta verse you quoted (स्कन्देष्टां). A “Kamala Shashthi” vrata is also listed among its Sun-related vratas. all of this summed up, gives too many clues on to how the chhath is inspired from earlier vedic rituals, and if its inspired , its not isolated.