Satya Narayana Vrat - Katha

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Satya Narayana Vrat - Katha Observed on : The full moon day God worshiped : Lord

Narayana Religion : Hindu No. of stories : 5 stories connected with this vrata

Shri Satyanarayan katha comes from the Skandha purana, Reva kaanda. Suta

Puraanikji narrated these stories, in Neimishaaranya to the Rishis who were

performing a 1000 year yajna for the benefit of mankind lead by Shounakji.

Hence one must accord respect to whoever it may be, who is taking the name of

God. WE should conduct the puja in a proper manner then The Lord will shower us

with all the choicest blessings that He has promised.

INTRODUCTION

Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita (Ch4.9) " Janma Karma cha may divyam yevam yo

veththi tha-thwathah.... One who knows My divine birth and activities will

not be born again". Sri Sathyanarayana katha is one such activity of the Lord,

by studying which we have every chance of being liberated. Sri Sathyanarayana

katha forms a vital and integral part of this pooja. Not listening to the katha

will be a major loss. Repeatedly hearing this story and meditating on its

different aspects will make us more and more interested in the Lord and His

activities. As the Lord Himself says further in Gita (Ch9.14) "Sathatham

keerthayantho maam yathanthascha dradhavrathaah: "The mahaatmaas among

devotees, always speak and sing My glories, and try with determination, to

realize Me"OM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAH

OM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAH

CHAPTER 1OM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHOM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHOM SHRI

SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHShri Sathyanaranayana katha is from Skandha purana, Reva

kaanda. Sutha Puraanikji was the narrator of these stories, in Neimishaaranya

to the rishis lead by Shounakji who were performing a 1000 year yajna for the

benefit of mankind. Shounakaji and others now ask Suta Puranikji an important

question. "When a man has a desire, how can he fulfill that ethically sound

desire? By worshipping whom, by what vrita, or tapas? Please let us know.Sutaji

was pleased to know that this question they asked, was for the benefit of the

mankind and not for their personal benefit, for, they

had abandoned their homes and all desires. Sutaji said " this question was also

asked by Devarshi Naradaji once to Lord Narayana Himself; Let me tell you that

story.Once Naradaji was traveling all over the worlds and finally came to

Bhuloka, where he found almost everyone was suffering one or the other misery

on account of their past Karmas and were not knowing how to extricate

themselves from their untold miseries which were multiplying everyday on

account of their ignorance. Being a Satjana his heart felt their agonies and

immediately he reached Vaikunta, to Lord Narayana to find the right answer for

getting the people out of their miseries. But when he sees the Lord, being a

great devotee of the Lord, he forgets his purpose and starts praising the Lord.

The Lord Narayana smiles at him and asks the purpose of his visit, knowing that

normally Naradaji does not visit Him without a purpose. Naradaji tells Him what

he saw and requests Him a panacea for all such miseries. The Lord is

now happy at this question of Naradaji because of Naradaji’s intention of

benefiting the world by seeking the right answer. The Lord said:Yes, there is a

vrita called Sri Satyanarayana vrita which is not known to the inhabitants of

the Bhuloka. This is a secret and yet since your interest is the benefit of the

mankind, I shall narrate to you this vrita. This can be performed by anyone

(anyone means it does not need an expert or a priest to worship the Lord -

ANYONE of any caste, community, creed can worship the Lord directly) and very

easily. One who does this, will get all the benefits and the pleasures of this

world and will eventually get Moksha too. Now Narada wants to know more details

of this vrita. The Lord says, this can be done any day, in the evening. Gather

friends and relatives and perform this vrita with faith and devotion. The

prasad for this vrita is known as Sapaad which is prepared thus: Take an equal

measure of rava, Milk, Ghee, Banana, Sugar ( the measure should

be 1 1/4 or multiples thereof ) cook it till all mix into a paste. The night

should be spent in Bhajans and praise of the Lord. All those attending Pooja

should be given food and respect. Thus the performer will get all his wishes

fulfilled.End of Chapter 1 OM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHOM SHRI

SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHOM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHCHAPTER 2Sri Lord Narayana

tells Narada the further story: There was an old and poor Brahmin in the city

of Kashi. He was a man of virtue and yet extremely poor and was always begging

for the

next meal. Since the Lord is Viprapriya- (Brahmana priya means Lover of

Brahmana- Brahmana means anyone on the devotional path ) - He came in the guise

of an old Brahmin and accosted him " Tell me my friend, what ails you?". The

brahmin replied "I am an old and very poor man and I shall be grateful if you

can tell me how to get rid of this poverty of mine which does not seem to leave

me". The Lord replied "Why don’t you perform Sri Satyanarayana Vrita", and He

told him how to perform the Vrita.The poor man now desires to do this vrita and

thinking over these thoughts of the Lord he goes to bed. He could not sleep on

account of these thoughts. Again in the morning he had same thoughts and he

says to himself, "whatever I earn today by begging I shall use it to perform

the vrita". Since the Lord likes such feelings, (Bhavena Devam - Lord does not

want our material possessions, he is won by the genuineness of our feelings)

that day, he got plenty of money while begging and thus

pleased, he took the necessary articles and performed the vrita.Very soon he

became rich and had all the things of the world and thereafter he started

performing the vrita every month and thus he enjoyed all the pleasures of the

world and finally reached the Moksha too.Now Shaunakji and other rishis want to

know how this vrita spread in the world. Also those who have heard the story,

what benefits they got. Sutaji replies:Once when this brahmin was performing

the Sri Satyanarayana Pooja there came to his house a woodcutter. He saw the

pooja and wanted to know what it is and what are its fruits. The brahmin said,

"This is Sri Satyanarayana Pooja. Whatever desires you have in your mind will

be fulfilled by performing this vrita. My own poverty and troubles all ended by

my very decision to perform this vrita". On hearing this, the woodcutter

prostrates to the Lord, takes prasad, and decides to perform this pooja next

day. He thought in his mind, "Whatever amount I get from the sale of

the wood tomorrow, I will use it for the performance of the vrita." That day he

sold the wood for twice the price. Happily thinking of the Lord Satyanarayana

he proceeds to do this pooja, inviting his friends and relatives. Thus

performing regularly he became rich and happy and finally reached Satyaloka.End

of Chapter IIOM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHOM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHOM SHRI

SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHCHAPTER IIISuta Puranikji continues the story:Once there

was a good king called Ulkamukha. He was wedded to truth and sense- control.

Everyday he used to go to the temple, worship the Lord, distribute alms to the

needy. Once he was performing Sri Satyanarayana Vrita on the banks of a river.

At that time there came a merchant in a ship loaded with precious goods. He

approached the king and wanted to know the details of the pooja and also its

fruits. The king said, "My friend, what we are doing is a vrita called Sri

Satyanarayana Pooja. This is done with a desire to have progeny, wealth,

property, etc. By this, we are worshipping Lord Narayana or Mahavishnu".The

merchant said, "Please tell me the details as to how to perform this vrita,

because I would like to have children whom I have not been fortunate to have

till now." The king tells him the details of the vrita and the merchant returns

home. He tells the details to his wife and they decide to perform this vrita if

they get a child. Sometime later his wife Lilavathi became pregnant and

delivered a girl who was named Kalavathi. Lilavathi reminded her husband

about the vrita and he kept postponing it, till his daughter grew of age and was

ready to be married. The father finds a suitable groom and marries her off and

again forgot to perform the vrita although he had decided to do so at the time

of marriage of his daughtier. The Lord now wanted to remind him.The merchant

and his son-in-law were in a city called Ratnasara where king Chandrakethu was

ruling. There was a theft at the palace and the burglars were chased by the

police. The running burglar saw these two merchants resting near a tree and

they left the booty with them and ran off. The police caught the two merchants

with the stolen goods and they were straight away sent to the prison. The king

himself overlooked to investigate. It is this time the merchant suddenly

realized that this was all on account of his forgetting the promise to the

Lord. At about this time, back home both Lilavathi and her daughter Kalavathi

lost all their belongings due to thefts at home and were rendered

beggars. During one such wandering trying to find some food Kalavathi sees Sri

Satyanarayana Pooja being performed at one house. She goes in, hears the story

and details and returns to tell her mother what had taken place. Lilavathi now

knows that it is their forgetting to do the Pooja that had created all these

problems. Next day she calls her relatives and friends and performs the Pooja,

begs for forgiveness. Accordingly, the king had a dream that the merchants were

innocent and he releases them on inquiry and gives them lot wealth.End of

Chapter IIIOM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHOM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHOM SHRI

SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHCHAPTER IV Suta Puranik continues the story: Thus

released from the custody the merchants were returning home. They reached the

outskirts of their town in their ship. The Lord in order to test them again

comes in the form of an old Sanyasi and inquires as to what the load in the

ship is. The merchant bluffs and says that it contains dried leaves. The

sanyasi says "Tathasthu". When the merchant returns to the ship he finds that

it does contain now dried leaves only. He swoons and when he regains his

consciousness he realizes that these are doings of the Sanyasi whom he had

cursorily dismissed earlier. He seeks him out and begs for forgiveness. The

ever-merciful Lord again forgives him. Now that the merchant was near the town,

he sends a messenger in advance to Lilavathi to let her know that they are on

their way home. Lilavathi. tells her daughter to complete the

Satyanarayana poola they were performing and goes ahead to meet her husband.

Kalavathi does the pooja, but in a hurry to meet her husband, she neglects to

take the prasad; and when she nears the anchorage, she does not find the ship

nor her husband! It looked to her that they both sank/drowned. She swoons and

now she decides to die.The merchant thinks that this must be on account of some

fault on their part in ignoring the Lord and then and there he decides to do the

pooja as a part of expiation from his side for mistakes of omission or

commission. The Lord now pleased makes him realize that it is the daughter’s

oversight in not accepting the prasad that has created this problem and now if

she goes and takes the prasad, everything would be all right.Kalavathi returned

to the altar and took prasad with all faith and reverence. And her husband

returned and from then onwards, they all performed Sri Sathyanarayana Pooja

regularly till the end of their life and finally after death,

they reached Satyaloka.End of Chapter IVOM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHOM SHRI

SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHOM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHCHAPTER V{ 5th chapter is

important to us as we too tend to behave like the King in this story, in

respect of other peoples’ pooja/worship/religion }In the woods of

Nemisharanya Suta Puranikji continued the story narrating the greatness of this

Vrita to Shounaka and other Rishies:In ancient times, there was a King called

Angadwaja. He was good and righteous king {like all of us, good and righteous};

and yet once

he ignored the prasad of Sri Satyanarayana Pooja and had to suffer very dearly

to that.Once this king was returning from hunting the wild animals in the

forests. He rested under a tree for a while. A few yards away a small group of

cowherd boys had gathered to perform Sri Satyanarayana Pooja. They did not have

anything except their daily bread they were carrying and a talkative among them

became their priest and they played the game of doing a pooja. At the end of

the pooja, they offered the prasad to the king who, out of contempt and pride,

left it untouched. Pretty soon all his wealth was lost; his hundred children

died and he now knew, being a good king that this was all on account of his

contempt for those children’s pooja. Without any delay the king goes to that

very spot where the cowherd boys had done the pooja earlier, gathers them all

around him performs the Satyanarayana Pooja with all shraddha and bhakthi. Thus

the king again got all his wealth and kingdom and kins.Suta

now tells the Rishis that this Vrita is specially effective in Kaliyuga. This

Lord of Lord is called Ishwara, Satyadeva, Sri Satyanarayana and by many other

names. He alone has taken names and forms. One who reads this story and one who

hears it will be rid of all woes and difficulties.OM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA

NAMAHOM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHOM SHRI SATHYANARAYANAYA NAMAHOM SRI

KRISHNARPANAMASTHU

"Gurur Brahma Gurur VishnuGurur Devoh Maheshwar;Gurur Shakshat

ParambramhaTashmai Shri Gurur Veh Namah"May the Merciful Sri Sai Baba always

shower His grace on us and our families and remove our problems and anxieties

by giving us all - strength , goodluck, success and happiness with peace of

mind.Sai bhakt,Deepa Hdebu7366

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