Bhagwan Vishnu Vrat Katha || भगवान विष्णु व्रत कथा ||

Bhagwan Vishnu Vrat Katha

He used to earn merit by helping the poor and needy, but his queen did not like this. She neither observed fasts nor believed in charity. Not only this, she also used to forbid the king from doing so. Once, the king went to the forest for hunting. The queen and the maid were at home. At that time Guru Brihaspatidev came to the king's door in the guise of a saint to ask for alms. When the saint asked for alms from the queen, she said, O Sadhu Maharaj, I am fed up with this charity and virtue. Please tell me a way so that all the wealth is destroyed and I can live peacefully. Hearing this, Brihaspatidev said, O Goddess, you are very strange, no one is unhappy with children and wealth.

If there is more wealth, then use it in auspicious works, get unmarried girls married, get schools and gardens constructed, so that both your worlds improve. But the queen was not happy with these words of the saint. He said that I do not need such wealth which I can donate and which will waste all my time in handling. Then the saint said, if you have such a desire then you do as I tell you. On Thursdays you should plaster the house with cow dung, wash your hair with yellow clay, ask the king to shave you, use meat and wine in your food, and let the clothes be washed at the washerman's place.

By doing this for seven Thursdays, all your wealth will be destroyed. Saying this, Brihaspatidev disappeared in the guise of a saint. While following the instructions of the saint, only three Thursdays had passed and all her wealth and property was destroyed. The king's family started craving for food. Then one day the king said to the queen, “O queen, you stay here, I am going to another country, because everyone here knows me. That is why I cannot do any small work.” Saying this, the king went to another country. There he would cut wood from the forest and sell it in the city.

This is how he started living his life. Here, as soon as the king went abroad, the queen and the maid started feeling sad. Once when the queen and the maid had to stay without food for seven days, the queen said to her maid, “O maid, my sister lives in a nearby city. She is very rich. You go to her and bring something, so that we can survive a little.” The maid went to the queen's sister. That day was Thursday and the queen's sister was listening to the story of the Thursday fast. The maid gave the queen's message to the queen's sister, but the queen's elder sister did not reply.

When the maid did not get any reply from the queen's sister, she became very sad and also got angry. The maid came back and told the queen everything. Hearing this, the queen cursed her fate. On the other hand, the queen's sister thought that my sister's maid had come, but I did not speak to her, she must have been very sad because of this. After listening to the story and finishing the puja, she came to her sister's house and said, O sister, I was fasting on Thursday. Your maid had come to my house, but till the time the story is being told, neither do we get up nor speak, so I did not speak. Tell me why did the maid come. The queen said, sister, what should I hide from you, we do not even have grains to eat in our house. Saying this, the queen's eyes filled with tears.

She told her sister about her and her maidservant staying hungry for the last seven days. The queen's sister said, look sister, Lord Brihaspatidev fulfills everyone's wishes. Look, maybe there is some grain stored in your house. At first the queen did not believe it but on her sister's insistence she sent her maidservant inside and she really found a pot full of grain. The maidservant was very surprised to see this. The maidservant said to the queen, O queen, when we do not get food, we observe a fast, so why not ask them the method of fasting and story, so that we can also observe the fast. Then the queen asked her sister about the Thursday fast. Her sister told, in the Thursday fast, offer gram dal and raisins at the root of the banana tree and light a lamp, listen to the fast story and eat only yellow food. Brihaspatidev and Lord Vishnu are pleased by this. The queen's sister returned to her home after telling the method of fasting and worship. After seven days, when Thursday came, the queen and the maidserved the fast. She went to the stable and brought gram and jaggery. Then they worshipped the banana root and Lord Vishnu with it . Now both of them were very sad about the worry of yellow food. Since they had kept the fast, Brihaspatidev was pleased with them.

He took the form of an ordinary person and gave yellow food in two plates to the maid. The maid was happy to get the food and then ate the food along with the queen. After that she started fasting and worshipping on every Thursday. With the blessings of Brihaspati Dev, they again got wealth, but the queen again started being lazy like before. Then the maid said, look queen, you used to be lazy like this earlier also, you used to have trouble in keeping the money. Due to this all the wealth was destroyed and now when you have got wealth by the grace of Dev Brihaspati, you have started being lazy again.

Explaining to the queen, the maid says that we have got this wealth after great difficulties. Therefore, we should do charity, feed the hungry and spend the money in auspicious works. This will increase the fame of your clan, you will attain heaven and the ancestors will be happy. Listening to the maid, the queen started spending her money in auspicious works. Due to this her fame started increasing in the whole city. After the Thursday fast story, Aarti should be done with devotion. After this, the Prasad should be distributed and consumed