Varaha Purana — Chapter 64

VrP 64.64

अगस्त्य उवाच । अथापरं प्रवक्ष्यामि शौर्यव्रतमनुत्तमम् । येन भीरोरपि महच्छौर्यं भवति तत्क्षणात् मासि चाश्वयुजे शुद्धां नवमीं समुपोषयेत् । सप्तम्यां कृतसंकल्पः स्थित्वाऽष्टम्यां निरोदनः नवम्यां पारयेत् पिष्टं प्रथमं भक्तितो नृप । ब्राह्मणान् भोजयेद् भक्त्या देवीं चैव तु पूजयेत् । दुर्गां देवीं महाभागां महामायां महाप्रभाम् एवं संवत्सरं यावदुपोष्येति विधानतः । व्रतान्ते भोजयेद् धीमान् यथाशक्त्या कुमारिकाः हेमवस्त्रादिभिस्तास्तु भूषयित्वा तु शक्तितः । पश्चात् क्षमापयेत् तास्तु देवी मे प्रीयतामिति एवं कृते भ्रष्टराज्यो लभेद् राज्यं न संशयः । अविद्यो लभते विद्यां भीतः शौर्यं च विदन्ति

agastya uvāca | athāparaṃ pravakṣyāmi śauryavratamanuttamam | yena bhīrorapi mahacchauryaṃ bhavati tatkṣaṇāt māsi cāśvayuje śuddhāṃ navamīṃ samupoṣayet | saptamyāṃ kṛtasaṃkalpaḥ sthitvā'ṣṭamyāṃ nirodanaḥ navamyāṃ pārayet piṣṭaṃ prathamaṃ bhaktito nṛpa | brāhmaṇān bhojayed bhaktyā devīṃ caiva tu pūjayet | durgāṃ devīṃ mahābhāgāṃ mahāmāyāṃ mahāprabhām evaṃ saṃvatsaraṃ yāvadupoṣyeti vidhānataḥ | vratānte bhojayed dhīmān yathāśaktyā kumārikāḥ hemavastrādibhistāstu bhūṣayitvā tu śaktitaḥ | paścāt kṣamāpayet tāstu devī me prīyatāmiti evaṃ kṛte bhraṣṭarājyo labhed rājyaṃ na saṃśayaḥ | avidyo labhate vidyāṃ bhītaḥ śauryaṃ ca vidanti

Agastya said: Next I shall proclaim the unsurpassed vow of valour, by which great valour arises that very instant even for a coward. In the month of Āśvayuja one should fast on the bright ninth; having made the resolve on the seventh and remaining without rice-food on the eighth, on the ninth he should break the fast, first with flour-food, with devotion, O king. He should feed brahmins with devotion, and should also worship the Goddess — Durgā, the greatly blessed, Mahāmāyā of great splendour. Thus he should fast for a whole year according to the rule; at the end of the vow the wise man should feed maidens according to his ability. Having adorned them with gold, garments and the like as far as he can, he should afterwards beg their forgiveness, (saying) "may the Goddess be pleased with me." When this is done, one who has lost his kingdom regains his kingdom, no doubt; the unlearned obtains learning, and the frightened obtains valour — so they know.

AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition