Brihaspativar Vrat Katha

Brihaspativar Vrat Katha

In ancient times there lived a mighty and generous king. Every Thursday he fasted, worshipped Brihaspati Dev, and helped the poor and the Brahmins. His queen disliked all of this: she neither fasted nor gave alms, and tried to stop the king from giving too.

One day, while the king was out hunting, Brihaspati Dev came to the palace gate disguised as a holy man asking for alms. The queen said, "I am tired of all this charity. Tell me a way for all this wealth to be destroyed so that I may live in peace." The holy man explained that wealth is meant to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, build rest-houses for travellers and pay for the marriages of poor girls — that is its right use. The queen would not listen. Then he said that if this was truly her wish, on Thursdays she should plaster the house with cow dung, wash her hair with yellow clay, have the king get a shave, and have the clothes washed; her wealth would then be lost. With that he vanished.

The queen did exactly as he said, and within just three Thursdays all the palace's riches were gone; even food became scarce. Ashamed to do labour in his own city, the king went to a distant land, where he cut wood in the forest and sold it in town. Back home, the queen and her maid suffered from hunger.

After seven days without food, the queen sent the maid to her wealthy sister. It was a Thursday and the sister was listening to the Brihaspativar katha, so she did not answer, and the maid returned in despair. When the katha was over, the sister came herself, heard everything, and said, "Brihaspati Dev hears everyone — look, there may be grain in the house." The maid searched and indeed found a pot full of grain. The sister then taught them the vrat: on Thursday, worship Lord Vishnu at the root of a banana tree, offer chana dal and raisins, light a lamp, listen to the katha, and eat only yellow food that day.

The next Thursday the queen and the maid kept the fast with devotion. They had no yellow food, but Brihaspati Dev came in human form and gave them two plates of it. Little by little prosperity returned. When the queen began to grow idle again, the maid reminded her that wealth is best used in charity. The queen began feeding the hungry and building water stalls, rest-houses and temples, and her good name spread far and wide.

Meanwhile, as the king sat grieving in the forest, Brihaspati Dev met him again as a holy man. He told the king that his fall had come from the queen's disrespect to Brihaspati Dev, and showed him how to keep the Thursday katha: with the money from selling wood, buy chana and jaggery (or raisins) as prasad, make "amrit" of water and sugar in a lota, tell the katha, distribute the prasad, and then take some himself. The king did so, and his earnings grew day by day.

One Thursday the king forgot the katha. That very day the ruler of the city had ordered everyone to eat at the palace. The king arrived late, so the ruler took him into the palace himself. As they ate, the ruler's queen glanced at the peg where her necklace hung — and the necklace was gone. She accused the stranger of theft, and he was thrown into prison. In his cell the king remembered Brihaspati Dev with remorse. The god told him this was the fruit of forgetting the katha, and that on Thursday he would find a few coins at the prison door with which to worship. The king did so. That night Brihaspati Dev appeared to the ruler in a dream, saying the man was innocent and the necklace was hanging on its peg. In the morning the necklace was found on the peg. The ruler begged forgiveness and sent the king home with honour, clothes and wealth.

Returning to his own city, the king found gardens, ponds, wells, rest-houses and temples everywhere. He learned that the queen and the maid had built them, and the queen told him it was all the fruit of the Brihaspativar fast. The king vowed to keep it faithfully from then on. Devotees believe that whoever keeps the Thursday fast with faith, and reads, hears and shares this katha, is blessed by Brihaspati Dev with a happy and prosperous home.

How to Observe the Vrat (Vidhi)

1. On Thursday morning, bathe, put on yellow clothes and take the sankalp before Lord Vishnu and Brihaspati Dev.

2. Place an image of Lord Vishnu at your shrine; where possible, pour water at the root of a banana tree and worship there.

3. Offer yellow flowers, turmeric, yellow sandalwood, akshat, chana dal, jaggery and raisins; light a ghee lamp and incense.

4. Read or listen to the Brihaspativar Vrat Katha, then perform the aarti "Om Jai Jagdish Hare". Distribute the chana-and-jaggery prasad and take some yourself.

5. Eat once in the day, choosing yellow food such as chana dal or dishes made with besan or saffron. By tradition, bananas are not eaten that day (the banana tree is worshipped), and salt is avoided.

6. The vrat is kept every Thursday. Tradition considers the first Thursday of the Shukla Paksha of any month auspicious to begin (Pausha is usually avoided), and concludes with an udyapan and charity of yellow items after 16 Thursdays or the vowed number.

7. Following the katha, many families avoid washing hair, shaving or haircuts, and washing clothes on Thursdays.