श्री सत्यनारायण व्रत कथा

Satyanarayan means the Narayana who is Truth. The vow asks for no hard fast and no long ritual; the katha itself says it is the simple remedy of the Kali Yuga, which anyone may keep on any day with devotion and faith. At home a seat for the Lord is made on a chowki framed with banana stems or decorated, a kalash is set up, and after the puja the katha in five chapters is heard, then the aarti and the prasad. Family, neighbours and friends sit together, and the more people the prasad reaches, the more auspicious it is held to be.

In the katha Suta tells Shaunaka and the other sages at Naimisharanya the vow that Vishnu taught to Narada. All kinds of people pass through its five chapters: a poor Brahmin, a woodcutter, a righteous king, a rich merchant and his family, and a proud king riding past cowherds in the forest, as if to say that the vow belongs to no one class but to everyone.

Read plainly, this is not a story of a god who frightens people into worship. Every hardship in it comes after a broken promise or a proud refusal, and it lifts as soon as the person turns back and owns the mistake. Its two plain messages are these: keep the word you have given; and do not scorn prasad offered with love, whether it comes from a woodcutter's house or from cowherds in the forest. The name Satyanarayan itself says that standing by one's word, satya, is a form of the Lord.

Once at Naimisharanya, Shaunaka and the other sages asked Suta, 'In the Kali Yuga people have neither the time for long austerities nor the means for great sacrifices. Which vow is there by which they may gain what they wish for?' Suta said, 'Narada, the sage of the gods, once asked Lord Vishnu this very question. I will tell you the answer the Lord gave.'

Wandering through the worlds, Narada came to the world of mortals. There he saw people suffering through many births because of their own karma, some from illness, some from poverty, some from worry. Filled with compassion, Narada wondered by what means their sorrow might end. He went to Vishnu's realm, where the Lord sat holding the conch, the discus, the mace and the lotus, wearing the garland of forest flowers, and he praised him. The Lord asked, 'Sage, what brings you here?' Narada said, 'Lord, people on earth are in great sorrow. Tell me some simple means by which, with a little effort, their sorrow may be taken away.'

The Lord was pleased and said, 'You have asked for the good of others, so listen. There is a vow rare both in heaven and on earth: the vow of Satyanarayan. Whoever keeps it properly finds happiness in this life and liberation at the end.' Narada asked how the vow is kept, when, and with what fruit. The Lord explained: the vow may be kept on any day, with devotion and faith. In the evening, with brahmins and with family and friends, worship Satyanarayan. For the offering take banana, ghee, milk and wheat flour in a measure and a quarter, rice flour if there is no wheat, mix in sugar or jaggery and offer it to the Lord. Then hear the katha, take the prasad with devotion, give dakshina to a brahmin, feed your family and friends, sing and celebrate, and go home remembering the Lord.

The Lord said, 'This vow takes away sorrow and grief, increases wealth and grain, gives good fortune and children, brings success everywhere and surely fulfils the wish. In the Kali Yuga it is the simplest remedy on earth.' Here the first chapter ends.

Suta went on, 'Now hear who first kept this vow.' In the lovely city of Kashi lived a very poor Brahmin. Tormented by hunger and thirst, he wandered every day begging for alms. The Lord saw his sorrow, took the form of an old Brahmin and came to him. He asked kindly, 'Brahmin, why do you wander about in such sorrow?' The Brahmin said, 'I am poor and go about begging. If you know of any remedy, tell me.'

The old Brahmin said, 'Lord Satyanarayan grants what one wishes for. Keep his vow, and your sorrow will end.' He explained the method of the vow and vanished on the spot. The Brahmin resolved in his heart to keep the vow, and lay awake all that night thinking of it. The next day he went out for alms and received a great deal of wealth. With it he kept the vow of Satyanarayan together with his family and friends. His sorrows ended, he prospered, and he went on keeping the vow after that. In the closing part of the katha this Brahmin is named Shatananda.

One day, while the Brahmin was keeping the vow at home, a woodcutter came by with a load of wood on his head. Parched with thirst, he set the load down outside, went in and watched the puja. He bowed and asked, 'What are you doing, and what is its fruit?' The Brahmin said, 'This is the vow of Satyanarayan, which fulfils every wish; it is by its power that wealth and grain have come into my house.' The woodcutter drank water, took the prasad and resolved that with whatever money he got for his wood that day, he would keep this vow.

He carried his wood to the part of the city where the rich lived, and that day he was paid double for it. Delighted, he bought bananas, sugar, ghee, milk and wheat flour, mixed them into prasad in a measure and a quarter, and took it home. There he called his family and friends and kept the vow of Satyanarayan properly. By the power of the vow he was blessed with wealth and sons, lived happily in this world and at the end went to Satyapura, the abode of the Lord. Here the second chapter ends.

Suta said, 'Now hear another story.' Long ago there was a king named Ulkamukha, truthful, master of his senses and generous to brahmins. One day he and his devoted queen were keeping the vow of Satyanarayan on the bank of the river Bhadrashila. Just then a vanik, a merchant, named Sadhu, who was travelling by boat with a great deal of wealth for trade, stopped at that bank. Seeing the king at his vow, he asked humbly, 'King, which vow are you keeping?'

The king said, 'This is the vow of Lord Satyanarayan. I keep it with the wish for children and wealth.' Sadhu had no children. He said, 'Teach me its method too. When a child is born to me, I too will keep this vow.' Having learnt the method, he finished his trade, went home and told his wife Lilavati. Some time later, by the Lord's grace, Lilavati conceived, and in the tenth month a beautiful daughter was born. She was named Kalavati, and she grew day by day like the Moon in the bright fortnight.

Lilavati reminded her husband, 'You promised to keep the vow when a child was born; now fulfil it.' Sadhu said, 'I will do it at Kalavati's wedding.' And the matter was put off again. When Kalavati grew up, Sadhu sent a messenger to the city of Kanchana, called for a merchant's son of good qualities and married Kalavati to him. But in the festivities of the wedding he forgot the vow once more. A promise once given was first postponed and then forgotten altogether, and the katha says that this displeased Satyadev.

Some time later Sadhu took his son-in-law with him to trade in Ratnasarapura, a fine city by the sea where King Chandraketu ruled. One day a thief stole the king's treasure and ran. With the guards close behind, he took fright and dropped the treasure right where the father-in-law and son-in-law were staying. The guards found the treasure beside them, took them for the thieves and bound them both. Without any inquiry the king threw them into prison and seized all their wealth. At home, too, thieves stole everything. Lilavati fell ill, and mother and daughter began to go from house to house for food.

One day the hungry Kalavati came to a Brahmin's house where the vow of Satyanarayan was being kept. She sat and listened to the katha, took the prasad and returned home after nightfall. Her mother asked anxiously where she had been so long. Kalavati said, 'Mother, at a Brahmin's house I saw the vow of Satyanarayan, which grants what one wishes for.' Hearing this, Lilavati resolved to keep the same vow. She kept it with faith together with her family and friends and prayed, 'Lord, forgive the mistake my husband and son-in-law made; let them come home safely.'

Satyadev was pleased. He appeared to King Chandraketu in a dream and said, 'The two merchants you have imprisoned are innocent. Release them in the morning and give back their wealth.' In the morning the king told his court of the dream, had the two brought from prison and said, 'Fate brought you this hardship; now there is nothing to fear.' He had them shaved and groomed, gave them clothes and ornaments, returned their seized wealth doubled and sent them off with honour. Here the third chapter ends.

Suta said: Sadhu gave gifts to the brahmins, set out on his journey and headed for home. When he had gone a little way, Satyadev came in the form of a dandi, a staff-bearing sannyasi, and asked, 'Merchant, what is in your boat?' Proud of his wealth, Sadhu laughed and brushed him off: 'Holy man, why do you ask? My boat is full of creepers and leaves.' The sannyasi said, 'May your word be true.' He walked a little way off and sat down by the sea.

As soon as the sannyasi had gone, Sadhu looked at his boat: it had grown light and risen in the water, and in place of his wealth it was truly full of creepers and leaves. At the sight he fainted and fell. When he came to, he began to lament. Then his son-in-law said, 'Do not grieve. This is that sannyasi's doing. Let us go and take refuge with him; he alone can set it right.'

Sadhu went to the sannyasi, bowed and said in tears, 'I lied to you; forgive me.' The sannyasi reminded him that he had promised the vow of Satyanarayan and then forgotten it. Sadhu owned his mistake, praised the Lord and said that now he would surely keep the vow. Satyadev was pleased, and the boat was full of wealth again. Sadhu worshipped Satyanarayan right there and went on.

Near home Sadhu sent a messenger ahead. The messenger told Lilavati that her husband and son-in-law had reached the outskirts of the city. At that moment Lilavati was doing the puja of Satyanarayan. Finishing it, she said to Kalavati, 'I am going to meet them; come quickly too.' In her hurry to meet her husband, Kalavati ran off without taking the prasad. By the time she reached the shore, her husband's boat had gone under the water and out of sight.

Kalavati fell to the ground there and wept, and Sadhu and Lilavati too were overcome with grief. Sadhu prayed to Satyadev to forgive whatever mistake had been made. Then a voice spoke from the sky: 'In her haste to meet her husband your daughter came away leaving the prasad. Let her go home, take the prasad and return, and she will find her husband.' Kalavati at once went home and took the prasad, and when she returned she found her husband safe, boat and all. They all went home in joy. After that Sadhu kept the vow of Satyanarayan on every Purnima and Sankranti, lived happily in this life and at the end went to the abode of the Lord. Here the fourth chapter ends.

Kalavati's lapse was no sin, only the haste of a young bride, and the story is not told to punish her. Its sense is that prasad set before us is the Lord's gift; we do not leave it behind but touch it to the head and only then move on. That is why, to this day, no one rises after the katha without taking the prasad.

Suta said, 'Now hear one more story.' There was a king named Tungadhwaja, devoted to the care of his people. One day he was returning from hunting in the forest. On the way, under a banyan tree, he saw some cowherds with their families keeping the puja of Satyanarayan. The king saw them, but out of pride he neither went near the puja nor bowed to the Lord.

After the puja the cowherds brought the prasad to the king and set it before him with respect. Taking it for the plain offering of cowherds, the king left it lying there and went on to his city. When he reached it he found that everything he had, his hundred sons and his wealth and grain, had been taken from him. Sunk in grief, the king thought, 'I scorned the cowherds' prasad; this is the fruit of that pride.'

He went back to the banyan tree where the cowherds were. This time he sat with them, worshipped Satyanarayan with faith and humbly took the prasad. By the grace of Satyadev he was again blessed with wealth and sons, lived happily and at the end went to Satyapura. The sense of the story is that before the Lord a king and a cowherd are equal; the prasad the cowherds gave with love was no less than any royal feast. The king's loss is bound up with his pride, and his release comes the moment he bends and sits down among them.

At the close of the katha Suta states the fruit of the vow: whoever keeps this rare vow of truth, or hears this katha with devotion, receives wealth and grain by the grace of Satyadev. The poor gain wealth, the one in bondage is set free, the fearful are freed from fear, their sins are destroyed, they gain what they wish for and at the end go to Satyapura. It is also said that in the Kali Yuga the Lord will be worshipped in the form of this same vow of truth, under many names.

The closing part of the katha tells what these people found in later births: the poor Brahmin Shatananda was born again as Sudama, who received Krishna's grace; the woodcutter became Guha, king of the Bhils, who served Rama; King Ulkamukha became King Dasharatha; the merchant Sadhu became the truthful King Moradhwaja; and Tungadhwaja became Svayambhuva Manu. The meaning is that a vow of truth does not end with one life. Here the fifth chapter, and the Satyanarayan Vrat Katha, ends.

That is why the prasad is held in special honour after the katha. After the aarti the panchamrit, the panjiri or sheera and the bananas are given to everyone present; it is received in the right hand, or in both hands joined, touched to the head and eaten. Prasad is sent to the homes of those who could not come, and no one refuses it, neither in Kalavati's haste nor in Tungadhwaja's pride.

Things needed: four banana stems, or a chowki decorated with banana leaves and flowers; a yellow or red cloth to spread on the chowki; a kalash filled with water, with mango leaves and a coconut on it; a Shaligram or a picture of Lord Satyanarayan; a betel nut or a small image for Ganesha; milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar for the panchamrit; Ganga water, roli, sandal paste, akshat, yellow flowers and a garland, tulsi leaves, a sacred thread, betel leaves and nuts, incense, a ghee lamp, camphor, seasonal fruit and bananas, and the prasad. Some families also make nine small heaps of akshat on the chowki for the navagraha.

The prasad: the offering the katha names is wheat flour, ghee, milk, sugar and banana, in a measure and a quarter. In north India it is made as panjiri: wheat flour roasted golden in ghee over a low flame and, once cool, mixed with powdered sugar. In Maharashtra, Gujarat and south India it is made as sheera: flour or semolina roasted in ghee, cooked with milk and sugar, with ripe banana stirred in. Whatever its form, always put tulsi leaves in it, since an offering to Vishnu is not held complete without tulsi; put tulsi in the panchamrit too. The prasad should be sattvic, with no contact with onion or garlic.

Preparation: bathe during the day and wear clean clothes. Those who can keep the fast stay on fruit through the day and eat after the katha and the prasad; those who cannot fast may still do the puja with full faith, since the katha makes devotion and faith its root rule. Before evening clean the puja place, set the chowki so that the one doing the puja faces east or north, tie the banana stems at its four corners or make a small canopy of leaves and flowers, and spread the cloth to make the Lord's seat.

The order. First, the sankalp: take water, akshat and a flower in your hand, say your name, your gotra and your wish, and declare that you are doing the puja and katha of Lord Satyanarayan. Second, the Ganesh puja: remember Ganesha before anything else and offer roli, akshat, flowers and durva grass, so that the puja goes without obstacle. Third, the kalash puja: put water, a betel nut, a coin and akshat into the kalash, set the mango leaves and the coconut on it, and invoke Varuna and all the sacred waters in it. Fourth, the navagraha: remember the nine grahas and offer them akshat and flowers; those who cannot do it at length may simply bow while naming the nine grahas.

Fifth, the Satyanarayan puja: if there is a Shaligram, bathe it first with panchamrit and then with clean water; if there is a picture, sprinkle it with water. Offer sandal, akshat, yellow flowers, the garland, the sacred thread and tulsi leaves, show the incense and the lamp, and offer the prasad, fruit and panchamrit. Chant 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya' or 'Om Satyanarayanaya Namah'. Sixth, the katha: everyone sits holding a few grains of akshat or a flower and hears all five chapters; in many families the Lord is hailed at the end of each chapter and the akshat and flowers are offered.

Seventh, the aarti: when the katha is complete, sing the aarti 'Om Jai Lakshmi Ramana', whose full text has its own page on this site, wave the aarti with camphor and a ghee lamp, offer it to everyone, and ask forgiveness for any lapse in the puja. Eighth, the prasad: let the panchamrit and the prasad rest a while as the Lord's offering, then share them with everyone present. A priest, if there is one, leads this order with Sanskrit mantras; if there is none, the same order done in your own language with a pure mind is held to be complete. At the end, as the katha says, give dakshina or a meal, as you can, to a brahmin or someone in need.

The katha itself says the vow may be kept on any day with devotion and faith; the feeling matters more than the day. Even so, tradition holds some days special. It is kept most often on Purnima: in the fourth chapter the merchant Sadhu keeps the vow on every Purnima and Sankranti, and many families hold the Satyanarayan katha at home on the Purnima of every month. The next Purnima dates, computed from the panchang, are shown above this text.

Sankranti, the day the Sun enters a new sign, and Ekadashi are also held auspicious for this vow, and many keep the katha on Thursday too, the day of Vishnu and of Jupiter. Beyond these, there is a custom of holding the Satyanarayan katha at the good moments of life: moving into a new home, a wedding, the birth or naming of a child, the start of a new job or business, and as thanks when a wish has come true.

The hour: in the katha the Lord asks for the puja to be done in the evening, so by custom it is held in the evening, when family and neighbours can gather. Many homes hold it during the day as well, especially on the day of a housewarming or a wedding; both are accepted.

Many people take a vow for a set number: the Satyanarayan katha on five or eleven Purnimas in a row, say, or on every Purnima for a year. When the vowed number is complete, the udyapan is done, the formal closing of the vow. The katha gives no fixed number for it; the number is set by the family's tradition and by what one can manage.

On the day of the udyapan the puja is a little fuller than usual: the same sankalp, Ganesh, kalash, navagraha and Satyanarayan puja, all five chapters of the katha, and then a small havan in which ghee and havan samagri are offered into the fire with 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya' or the names of Vishnu. Then comes the aarti, and more prasad than usual is made and shared with more people.

After the havan feed brahmins, family and those in need, and give clothes, grain and dakshina as you can. At the end ask the Lord to forgive whatever fell short in the vow. Anyone who wishes may go on holding the Satyanarayan katha after the udyapan; the udyapan closes the vow, not the devotion.