Satyanarayan Vrat Katha

Chapter 1: Narad and Lord Vishnu

At the holy pilgrimage of Naimisharanya sat eighty-eight thousand sages, led by Shaunaka. They asked Suta Ji, the knower of the Puranas, "O Suta Ji, in the Kali Yuga people have little time, little capacity and much suffering. Not everyone gets the chance to study the Vedas and scriptures. Is there any vrat or austerity by which all wishes may be fulfilled with little effort? Please tell it to us."

Suta Ji said, "O sages, this very question was once asked of Lord Vishnu by the divine sage Narad. I will tell you that same katha. Once Narad Ji, wandering through the three worlds, reached the mortal world. There he saw living beings suffering all kinds of pain according to their own deeds. In one home there was no grain, in another there was illness, in another's mind there was no peace. Seeing this, his heart filled with compassion.

He reached Vishnuloka. There the Lord was seated, holding the conch, discus, mace and lotus, wearing a garland of forest flowers around his neck. Narad Ji praised him and said, 'O Lord, you are the support of all. People in the mortal world are very unhappy. Please tell me some simple remedy by which their sufferings may be cut away and they may find happiness.'

The Lord said, 'Narad, you have asked for the welfare of the world, so I will tell you a most meritorious vrat. It is rare in both heaven and the mortal world. It is the vrat of my Satyanarayan form. The devotee who performs it with faith and trust enjoys happiness in this world and attains a supreme destination in the end.'

Narad Ji asked, 'Lord, what is its procedure?' The Lord said, 'In the evening, call your relatives and friends and perform the puja. Prepare the prasad of bananas, ghee, milk and wheat flour in sawaya measure. After worshipping, listen to the katha, and in the end distribute the prasad to all. A devotional spirit is the essence of this puja.'"

Chapter 2: The Poor Brahmin and the Woodcutter

Suta Ji said, "O sages, now hear who first performed this vrat. In the city of Kashi lived an extremely poor Brahmin. Tormented by hunger and thirst, he wandered all day begging for alms, but many times he had to return home empty-handed. Seeing his misery, the Lord himself took the form of an old Brahmin, came to him and said, 'O learned one, why do you wander so unhappy? Tell me your sorrow.'

The Brahmin told the whole story of his poverty. Then the old Brahmin said, 'Perform the vrat of Lord Satyanarayan. By its power all your sorrows will vanish.' Having said this, and having explained the method, he disappeared. The Brahmin made a firm resolve in his mind: tomorrow I will certainly perform this vrat. That night he could not sleep.

The next day he went out for alms, and he received so much wealth and grain that he had never received before. With that he worshipped Satyanarayan according to the proper method. All his troubles were removed, and he began to perform this vrat with devotion every month. Having enjoyed happiness in this way, he attained moksha in the end.

Some time later, one day that Brahmin was performing the puja in his house. Just then a woodcutter arrived with a bundle of wood on his head. He was tormented by thirst. He put down his load outside, drank some water, and seeing the Brahmin at his worship, asked, 'What are you doing? What does one get from this?' The Brahmin said, 'This is the puja of Lord Satyanarayan. It is by his grace that wealth and grain have come to me.'

The woodcutter was very pleased. He took the charanamrit and the prasad and resolved in his mind: whatever money I get today by selling wood, I will use it to perform the Satyanarayan puja too. He took his wood to a city where rich people lived. There he received four times the usual price for his wood. Delighted, he bought bananas, sugar, ghee, milk and wheat flour with that money, returned home, and with his relatives performed the puja of Lord Satyanarayan. By the fruit of this puja he was blessed with wealth, sons and more, and in the end he went to Vaikuntha."

Chapter 3: King Ulkamukha and the Merchant Sadhu

Suta Ji said, "O sages, now hear one more story. In ancient times there was a king named Ulkamukha. He was self-controlled, truthful and righteous. Every day he went to the temple to worship and gave charity to the poor. His queen was beautiful, devoted to her husband and full of devotion. One day the two were sitting on the bank of the Bhadrashila river, performing the vrat of Lord Satyanarayan.

At that very moment a Vaishya merchant named Sadhu arrived there, his boat loaded with a great deal of wealth. He moored the boat on the bank, and seeing the king at worship, asked humbly, 'O king, what are you doing? I too wish to know.' The king said, 'O Sadhu, I am performing the vrat of Lord Satyanarayan with my relatives, wishing for children and wealth.'

Sadhu said, 'O king, I have no children. Tell me the method of this vrat too; I will also do it.' The king explained the whole method to him. Sadhu returned home, told his wife Lilavati everything and said, 'When we have a child, we shall perform this vrat.' Some time later Lilavati became pregnant, and in the tenth month she gave birth to a beautiful daughter. She was named Kalavati. She grew day by day like the phases of the moon.

One day Lilavati reminded her husband, 'You had vowed that when we had a child you would perform the Satyanarayan vrat. Now we have a daughter. Do the vrat now.' Sadhu said, 'My dear, I will do it at her wedding.' In this way he kept putting it off. The girl grew up and became ready for marriage.

Sadhu sent a messenger to find a suitable groom and married Kalavati to a handsome young Vaishya of Kanchan Nagar. But even at the wedding he forgot to perform the vrat. At this Lord Satyanarayan became displeased and cursed Sadhu: 'You will suffer great hardship.'

Some time later Sadhu, taking his son-in-law along, reached Ratnasarpur by boat for trade. At that very time a theft took place in the palace of King Chandraketu. The thieves ran off with the king's wealth. When the soldiers chased them, the thieves in fear left the wealth at the very spot where Sadhu and his son-in-law were staying. The soldiers took them for the thieves, arrested them and presented them before the king. Without a full inquiry, the king had both thrown into prison and confiscated all their wealth. This was the first fruit of the Lord's anger."

Chapter 4: Sadhu's Test and Kalavati

"Meanwhile, at Sadhu's home too, thieves stole everything. Lilavati and Kalavati became destitute and began to wander in search of food. One day, tormented by hunger, Kalavati reached a Brahmin's house. There the katha of Lord Satyanarayan was being held. She sat down and listened to the katha, took the prasad, and by the time she returned home it was night.

Her mother asked, 'Daughter, why were you so late?' Kalavati said, 'Mother, I saw the vrat of Lord Satyanarayan at a Brahmin's house.' On hearing this, Lilavati remembered that her husband's vow had been left unfulfilled. She worshipped the Lord with her relatives and prayed with folded hands, 'Lord, forgive the faults of my husband and son-in-law, and bring them home safely.'

Lord Satyanarayan was pleased. He said to King Chandraketu in a dream, 'O king, the two merchants you have imprisoned are innocent. Release them at dawn and return their wealth, or your kingdom and happiness will be destroyed.' In the morning the king told his dream to the court, released both with honour and gave them double the wealth they had before. Delighted, Sadhu and his son-in-law set out for their city.

On the way back, the Lord took the guise of a renunciant to test Sadhu, came up to the boat and asked, 'What is in your boat?' Sadhu feared losing his wealth, and there was pride in his mind as well. He said, 'Dandi Baba, what could there be? It is just full of leaves and creepers.' The renunciant said, 'So be it.' Having said this, he left. As soon as he left, the boat became light and floated high on the water. When Sadhu opened the boat, it truly held nothing but leaves. He fell down in a faint.

His son-in-law supported him and said, 'Father, do not worry. This is the fruit of that renunciant's words. Come, let us take refuge in him.' Sadhu searched for the renunciant, fell at his feet, begged forgiveness and worshipped Satyanarayan according to the proper method. The Lord was pleased, and the boat was again filled with wealth as before.

When they came near their city, Sadhu sent a messenger to the house: 'Go and tell my wife that I have returned with my son-in-law and the wealth.' Lilavati was at that time performing the puja of Satyanarayan. Hearing the news, she said to Kalavati, 'Daughter, I will go ahead to see him; you come after me with the prasad.' Kalavati too was eager to see her husband, and she left the prasad and ran.

Because of this disrespect to the prasad the Lord became displeased, and in that very moment the boat of Kalavati's husband began to sink into the sea along with its wealth. When Kalavati saw this scene, she wailed and fainted. Then a voice from the sky said, 'Kalavati, you have left the prasad behind and come, and that is why this has happened. Go, return home and accept the prasad with devotion; only then will your husband be saved.'

Kalavati ran back home, took the prasad with devotion and then came to her husband. At that very moment the boat rose to the surface again and everyone reached the shore safely. After this, Sadhu performed the vrat of Lord Satyanarayan on every full moon and Sankranti throughout his life, lived happily, and in the end went to the heavenly world."

Chapter 5: King Tungadhwaj

Suta Ji said, "Now hear the last story. There was a king named Tungadhwaj. One day he was returning from the forest after hunting. On the way he saw some cowherds under a large banyan tree, worshipping Lord Satyanarayan with devotion together with their relatives. In the pride of his rank the king did not go there; he did not even bow. The cowherds came to him with the prasad and offered it respectfully, but the king neither accepted the prasad nor stopped to listen to them; he went on.

When the king reached his city, he saw that his wealth, his army and his hundred sons were all gone. The king understood that this was the result of rejecting the Lord's prasad. He at once turned back to the forest, went to the cowherds, worshipped Lord Satyanarayan with faith and accepted the prasad. By the Lord's grace his splendour was restored as before, and he ruled happily for a long time.

Whoever performs this rare vrat of Satyanarayan and listens to the katha with devotion has all his wishes fulfilled. The poor receive wealth, the imprisoned receive freedom, the childless receive children, and the fearful attain fearlessness. Having fulfilled all desires, in the end he goes to the Lord's abode."

Thus ends the complete Shri Satyanarayan Vrat Katha