Story #1

Once, Narad Muni while travelling the three worlds, reached Mrityaloka (Planet Earth), he saw human beings suffering immensely. To alleviate this suffering and bring them salvation, he travelled to Vishnu Loka. There he met Lord Vishnu with four arms having Shankha, Chakra, Gadha and Padma wearing Tulsi Mala around his neck. Narad Muni requested the Lord, “Oh Lord, you are the supreme power, you are the savior of the destitute, sufferings and sorrows.” Even though the Lord knew why he (Narad Muni) had come, He asked Narad Muni, “why have you come here?  What do you want so that I can fulfil your wishes?” To which Narad Muni replied, “Oh Lord, I just went to Mrityaloka, where people are suffering due to their previous karma. Please bestow thy grace and reveal to me as to how they can be helped.” The Lord replied “Oh Narada, to free themselves from all the sorrows, man-kind can perform Satyanarayana puja.

This puja when performed with devotion, will bring happiness, peace of mind and salvation. This puja can be performed any month on a full-moon day. One must gather their family and friends to perform this puja. One must offer fruits, ghee, milk, curd, wheat flour, sugar and honey to Lord Satyanarayana. All present should take the prasad so that all their wishes will be fulfilled. In this Kaliyuga, this vratha gives the boon very quickly and brings contentment.”

Story #2

After telling the sages about Satyanarayana puja, Maharishi Sootha continued addressing the rishis who were assembled, “O great ascetics, I will now tell you who all observed this puja in the past.

Once there lived a very poor brahmin in the city of Kasi. Plagued by acute hunger, he wandered about in search of food. Lord Vishnu took the form of an old man, appeared before the poor brahmin and asked, “Friend, why are you wandering aimlessly?” The poor Brahmin replied, “Sir, I am very poor man.mUnable to bear the pangs of hunger, I beg for alms. Sir, if you know a way out of this misery, please let me know.”  The old Brahmin (Lord Vishnu) replied, “O Brahmin, Lord Satyanarayana grants his devotee’s wishes and removes their sorrows. So, you should perform His puja, by which all your sufferings will be removed.” Saying this The Lord explained the details of how to perform the puja and disappeared.

The poor Brahmin resolved immediately to perform the Satyanarayana puja. After having a restless night, he got up early the next morning and went to beg for alms. That day he received a lot of money with which he bought fruits, flowers, milk, curd, and honey to perform Satyanarayana puja. He invited all his relatives and performed the puja.  With the grace of The Lord, he shed his poverty and lived a contented life. Every month on the full moon day he performed Satyanarayana puja and finally attained salvation.

The rishis again addressed Maharishi Sootha, “Oh great one, please tell us who else performed this puja.”

Maharishi Sootha continued: One day when the poor Brahmin was observing the vratha, a woodcutter entered his house seeking a cup of water to drink.  He saw the puja being performed, he stayed and observed the whole puja. He inquired, what the puja was about and what good it would bring. The brahmin, responded, “This is the Satyanarayana vratha, anyone who observes the vratha will have their desires fulfilled. The woodcutter was delighted to hear this, drank water, ate prasad and left for his home.

The woodcutter resolved that he would perform the Satyanarayana vratha with whatever he was going to make by selling firewood that day. He went to the wealthiest part of town and made twice his normal profit selling wood.  Pleased, he bought bananas, sugar, ghee, milk, curd, honey and wheat flour. He invited his relatives and performed Satyanarayana puja. By the grace of Lord Satyanarayana, he acquired enormous wealth and lived comfortably and attained salvation.

Story #3

Maharishi Sootha continued: “I will tell you another story. In the olden days, there lived a wise king named Ulkamukha. He had mastered all his senses and always spoke the truth. He used to go to the temple every day and offered gifts to the brahmins. His wife was a pious and beautiful lady. One day the royal couple were performing Satyanarayana puja on the banks of the river, Bhadrasheela.

At that time, a merchant called Sadhu sailed by. Seeing the King perform the puja, Sadhu stopped his boat, got off and addressed the King humbly; “Oh, King, would you kindly tell me what you are doing with such devotion?” The King replied, “Oh Sadhu, I have no children, in order to be blessed with children, I am worshipping the Almighty Lord Satyanarayana.”

On hearing this Sadhu spoke humbly; “Oh, King, please tell me how to perform the puja. As I do not have any children, I would like to observe the vratha too. The King told him all the details. Sadhu returned home and informed his wife, Leelavati about the Satyanarayana puja, and resolved to do the puja so that their desire to have a child would be fulfilled.

Through divine grace, Leelavati conceived and in due course gave birth to a baby girl, named Kalavathi.  Leelavati reminded her husband about his pledge to perform Satyanarayana puja. Sadhu told his wife that he would do the puja at the time of their daughter’s wedding and got busy with his work.

Kalavati grew up and blossomed into a lovely young lady and Sadhu sent a messenger in search of a suitable groom.  A good natured, handsome young man was identified in a merchant family from Kanchana Nagar. The match was suitable, and the wedding was celebrated with pomp and show. Sadhu forgot about the promise he made to perform Lord Satyanarayana puja, which angered the Lord.

Sadhu went on a business trip with his son-in-law to a seaside town of Ratnapura, that was ruled by King Chandraketu. Lord Satyanarayana placed a curse on Sadhu. That day thieves robbed the Kings treasury, since the royal soldiers were in pursuit of the thieves, they took shelter in the same place where Sadhu and his son-in-law were staying. Because of Lord Satyanarayana’s maya (illusion), the soldiers mistook Sadhu and his son-in-law for criminals, chained them and brought them to the King’s court. The King did not hear what the merchant had to say and put both in prison. King Chandraketu confiscated all their merchandise.

To make matters worse, Leelavati and Kalavati were afflicted with sorrow. Their house was robbed, and both were left with no money. They had to beg for food.  One day Kalavati arrived at a Brahmin’s house to beg for food. She noticed the Brahmin was doing Lord Satyanarayana vratha. She stayed until the puja was finished, ate the prasad that was offered. When she arrived home, her mother asked, why she was late. Kalavati replied, “Mother, I saw the Satyanarayana puja being performed in a Brahmin’s house. I listened to the story and had the prasad.” Hearing this, Leelavati decided to do the puja.

Lord Satyanarayana was pleased with Leelavati’s prayers. He appeared in King Chandraketu’s dream and asked him to release the two merchants. He asked the king to “give back their wealth or you will lose your kingdom and wealth.”

Next morning, the King informed his counselors about his dream and ordered to release the Sadhu and his son-in-law. Both the merchants were brought to the assembly. They bowed to the King and did not say a word, remembering their earlier plight when nobody would listen to them. The King then said, “You two have suffered a great deal because of your fate, but there is nothing to fear.” The King returned all their merchandise and some more and bade them good-bye.

Story #4

Sadhu and his son-in-law loaded their boat with the riches given to them by the King and sailed homeward. Lord Satyanarayana wanted to test the Sadhu further. He took the form of an ascetic and questioned Sadhu, “O merchant, what do you have in your boat?” Hearing this, Sadhu answered with ego and pride, “Oh, old man, we have nothing in our boat except hay and leaves.” On hearing such harsh words from the merchant, the Lord said, “tathastu”, “so be it!.” So saying he walked away and sat on the bank of the river.

When Sadhu went into the boat, he discovered to his horror that the boat was filled with hay and leaves. He swooned and the son-in-law revived him and spoke, “This must be the curse of the ascetic. He must be a mystic. Let’s go to see him, fall at his feet and ask for forgiveness.” They prayed, “O Lord, even Brahma and other Devas drowned in your maya, illusion, cannot comprehend your form completely. How can we? Please forgive us for this grave error and protect us.” The ascetic pacified them and said, “since you did not fulfill your promise to perform my puja, you had to go through these hardships.” The merchant promised to perform the puja and asked for protection and return of the wealth. The Lord, pleased with Sadhu, granted all his wishes and disappeared. Sadhu returned to his boat and noticed all his merchandise was returned. He thanked the Lord and asked his son-in-law to send a messenger ahead to their hometown of Ratnapura to let their wives know they were coming home.

Leelavati and Kalavati had just finished performing Satyanarayana puja. Leelavati told her daughter to finish doing her puja and then come to receive her husband and father. Kalavati finished performing her puja and left to see her husband and father without taking the prasad. The Lord got angry regarding her behavior, so he drowned her husband with the boat. When she came to the shore, she did not see her husband and the boat, she was shocked and fainted.

Seeing the sudden disappearance of the boat and son-in-law the merchant was shocked. He prayed to Lord Satyanarayana, asked for forgiveness. The Lord informed, “Oh merchant, your daughter, in a hurry to meet her husband did not take my prasad; hence he has disappeared.  Now, when she goes back and takes the prasad with due respect and returns, she will be able to see him.  Kalavati ran home, ate the prasad and returned to the shore to meet her husband. The merchant did Lord Satyanarayana puja with his family every month. Finally, he attained salvation.

Story #5

Maharishi Sootha continued with another story: “Once there was a king named Thungadhwaja, who was famous for his generosity to his subjects. One day, after hunting, he was resting under a shady tree, he noticed a few villagers performing Lord Satyanarayana puja. The king saw all this, but because of his pride he ignored the villagers and, without acknowledging Lord Satyanarayana or taking the prasad that was offered to him, the King left the area.  This angered Lord Satyanarayana and cursed the King and his 100 sons, who died. His wealth and belongings were destroyed, and he became extremely poor and was afflicted with various hardships.

The King realized that this had happened all due to his false ego. So, he went back to the villagers, prostrated before Lord Satyanarayana and performed the puja with great devotion. The prasad was given to his sons, who became alright. He got back all his wealth and comforts of life, attained salvation in the end.

Maharishi Sootha said, “Oh holymen, I have narrated to you the Satyanarayana katha which was originally told by Lord Vishnu to Narad Muni. By observing this vratha, mankind can attain salvation.In this Kaliyuga, observance of the vratha can lead to gratification of one’s wishes.”

The end of the kathas!!!