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Satyanarayana Vratham

Vishnu

Satyanarayana Vratham is a simple prayer to Lord Vishnu as Satyanarayana, the Lord of Truth, done at home with the family. Read the pooja steps and the five chapters of the katha in simple words.

Pooja steps

Language

About

Satyanarayana Vratham is a prayer to Lord Vishnu as Satyanarayana, the Lord of Truth. Families do it to give thanks and to ask for peace, health and prosperity. Anyone can do it at home.

When to do it

Many families do it on Purnima (full moon day), and also on happy occasions like a new home, a wedding, a new job or a safe return from a journey. There is no single fixed day, so choose a day that suits your family and your priest.

What you need

A picture or idol of Satyanarayana, a clean raised seat, a kalasam (pot with water, mango leaves and a coconut), flowers and tulsi leaves, kumkum, turmeric, sandalwood paste, incense, a lamp and camphor. For the prasad: rava (semolina), ghee, milk, sugar or jaggery and banana. Betel leaves, areca nuts and fruits.

Steps

1. Bathe and wear clean clothes. Many people keep a light fast until the pooja is over.

2. Clean the place, draw a kolam, and set the picture and the kalasam on the raised seat.

3. Begin with a prayer to Ganesha and light the lamp.

4. Make the sankalpa: say in your mind (or with your priest) that you are doing this vratham with faith and for the good of your family.

5. Offer flowers, tulsi, kumkum, turmeric, incense and camphor to Satyanarayana and say the mantras you know. On Grivam you can read Vishnu Gayatri (Narayana).

6. Read or listen to the five chapters of the katha. Many families offer flowers and light camphor after each chapter.

7. Offer the prasad made with rava, ghee, milk, sugar and banana (often a sweet called sheera), with fruits and betel leaves.

8. Do the arati and share the prasad with everyone present. End with a prayer of thanks.

Katha

Language

Chapter 1

Sage Narada travels through the worlds and sees people suffering with sorrow and worry. He asks Lord Vishnu for a simple way to help them. The Lord teaches the Satyanarayana Vratham, which anyone can do with faith, and says it brings peace and fulfils wishes.

Chapter 2

A poor brahmin in Kashi lives by begging. The Lord comes to him as an old man and tells him about the vratham. He does it with faith, his life improves, and he keeps doing it every month. A woodcutter sees the change in the brahmin, learns the vratham, does it, and also finds good fortune.

Chapter 3

A merchant promises to do the vratham when his daughter Kalavati is born, but he keeps putting it off. Later, on a trading voyage, he and his son-in-law are put in prison on a false charge of theft. At home the merchant's wife and daughter fall into poverty. They do the vratham with a sincere heart and ask forgiveness, and the two men are set free.

Chapter 4

On the way home, the Lord tests the merchant, and his cargo seems to turn into leaves. In fear, he admits his mistake and asks forgiveness, and the cargo is as it was before. Meanwhile Kalavati, in a hurry to meet her husband, leaves without taking the prasad and hears that the ship has sunk. When she takes the prasad with faith, the family is reunited.

Chapter 5

A king scorns the prasad offered by cowherd boys. He loses his wealth and his children. When he understands his mistake and does the pooja with devotion, everything is returned to him. The katha teaches that this vratham is especially fruitful in Kali Yuga, and that the prasad must be respected.

This katha is retold in simple words. Names and details differ between regions and families. For the full traditional text and the pooja procedure, please ask your elders or priest.
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