SATYA NARAYAN VRATA

SATYA NARAYAN VRATA

You are all familiar with narada rashi. he is the triloka sanchari.-the one who moves about in three words. when he once visited the earth plane, there was great misery. he was unable to find a way to relieve human suffering. he at once approached lord narayan and related to him the sad state of affairs on earth. lord narayan said to narada, ‘o venerable rishi, let people observe the satya narayan vrata in the evening of shankranti or purnima. let them all hear the story (katha) of satya narayan. all miseries will come to an end. there is no doubt of this”.

Rishi narada thereupon returned to earth and preached the glory of the satya narayana vrata. many observed the vow without taking any food during the course of the day and attained what they desired. all were happy and prosperous.

The observance of the satya narayan vrata does not cost much. you need only give a small gift to the pundit who comes to read the story and then distribute some prasad which also need to be very costly. some wheat flour arest nd sugar will make up the prasad. a little curd and some fruit are required. even the poorest man can observe this vrata.

In north india the vow is observed by the vast majority of people. it takes about three hours to complete the whole observance. it is generally observed on the full moon day, particularly the kartik, vaisakh, sravan and chaitra purnimas and the shankranti day. it can also be done on new moon days.

They speak about the glory of lord narayana and his grace, his prasad, and of the incalculable benefit derived by observing the vrata. he who hears these stories with faith, devotion and one-pointedness of mind derives considerable benefit.