Santoshi Mata Vrat and Katha

The Santoshi Mata Vrat and Katha are observed with great devotion and faith in India. This fast is mainly observed on Fridays, and it is believed to fulfill wishes.

Rules for Santoshi Mata Vrat – Ruls for Santoshi mata vrat

1. Day of the Fast: This fast is observed every Friday.
2. Food: The observer should not consume sour foods like lemon, tamarind, etc.
3. Observance of the Fast: On this day, take a bath in the morning and worship Mata Santoshi.
4. Puja Material: Offering jaggery and chickpeas is mandatory.
5. Purity of Mind: Keep your mind and thoughts pure during the fast.
6. Listening to the Katha: It is necessary to listen to or read the Santoshi Mata Katha during the fast.
7. Donation: After the puja, donate jaggery-chickpeas and money to the needy.

Santoshi Mata Vrat Katha – Santoshi mata vrat katha

There was an old woman who had seven sons. Six were earners, while one was idle. The old woman cooked and fed the six sons, and whatever leftovers they had, she gave to the seventh. One day he said to his wife, "Look how much my mother loves me."

She said, "Why not? She feeds you everyone's leftovers." He said, "That can't be. I won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes." The daughter-in-law laughed and said, "You'll believe it when you see it."

A few days later, a festival came. Seven types of food and churma ladoos were made in the house. He pretended to have a headache to check, and slept in the kitchen with a thin cloth over his head. He watched everything from under the cloth. The six brothers came to eat. He saw that his mother had spread beautiful seats for them and served various types of dishes, urging them to eat heartily. He kept watching.

When the six finished eating, the mother picked up pieces of ladoos from their leftover plates and made a ladoo. After cleaning up the leftovers, the old mother called him, "Son, the six brothers have eaten, now only you are left, get up, when will you eat?" He started saying, "Mother, I don't want to eat, I am going abroad now."

The mother said, "If you are going tomorrow, go today."

He said, "Yes, I am leaving today." Saying this, he left the house.

While leaving, he remembered his wife. She was making cow dung cakes in the cowshed. Going there, he said, "We are going abroad, we will come after some time, you stay content and follow your dharma." She said, "Go, dear, happily, remove your worries about me, I will stay with faith in Ram, may God help you. Give me a token to keep my courage, don't forget our memory, keep your mind serious."

He said, "I have nothing, take this ring and give me some token of yours." She said, "What do I have? This hand is full of cow dung." Saying this, she slapped his back with a hand full of cow dung. He left, walking and walking, he reached a distant land. There was a moneylender's shop there. Going there, he started saying, "Brother, keep me on the job." The moneylender needed someone, he said, "Stay."

The boy asked, "What salary will you give?"

The moneylender said, "The price will be according to the work." He got a job at the moneylender's, he started working from 7 am to 10 pm. In a few days, he started doing all the transactions, accounts, and selling goods to customers of the shop. The moneylender had seven-eight servants, they all started feeling dizzy, he became very clever.

The Seth also saw the work and made him a partner of half the profit in just three months. He became a famous Seth in a few years and the owner left all the business to him and left.

Here, his wife started getting grief from her in-laws, they made her do all the household work and sent her to the forest to get wood. Meanwhile, the bran that came out of the flour in the house was made into roti and kept for her, and water in a broken coconut shell. One day she was going to get wood, on the way she saw many women observing the Santoshi Mata Vrat.

She stood there listening to the story and asked, "Sisters, which deity's fast are you observing and what fruit does one get by doing it? If you explain the rules of this fast to me, I will be very grateful to you." Then one of the women said, "Listen, this is the Santoshi Mata Vrat. By doing this, poverty and destitution are destroyed, and whatever desire is in the mind, everything is fulfilled by the grace of Santoshi Mata." Then she asked her about the method of the fast.

That devotee woman said, "Take jaggery and chickpeas for one and a quarter anna, if you wish, take it for one and a quarter five annas or even one and a quarter rupees according to your convenience. Without trouble and with faith and love, take as much as you can afford. Listen to the story every Friday while fasting, the sequence should not be broken in between, follow the rules continuously, if there is no one to listen, light a ghee lamp and tell the story in front of it or keep a pot of water in front. Keep following the rules until the work is done and do the Udyapan of the fast when the work is done."

Mata fulfills the fruit in three months. Even if someone has bad planets, Mata still fulfills the work in a year, the Udyapan should be done when the fruit is fulfilled, not in between. In the Udyapan, make khaja of two and a half ser of flour and kheer and chickpea vegetable in the same quantity.

Feed eight boys, if available, they should be from the husband's brothers, if not available, call relatives and neighbors. Feed them and give them Dakshina as per your ability and complete the rules of Mata. Do not eat anything sour in the house that day." Hearing this, the old woman's son's wife left.

On the way, she sold the load of wood and with that money, she bought jaggery-chickpeas and prepared for Mata's fast and went ahead and seeing the temple in front, she started asking - Whose temple is this? Everyone started saying that it is the temple of Santoshi Mata, hearing this, she went to the temple of Mata and started rolling at her feet. She started pleading humbly - Mother, I am completely ignorant, I do not know any rules of the fast, I am sad. O Mother! Mother of the world, remove my sorrow, I am in your refuge.

Mata felt pity - One Friday passed, on the second, her husband's letter came and on the third Friday, the money he sent arrived. Seeing this, the husband's elder brother and his wife started wrinkling their faces. The boys started taunting - Letters have started coming to aunt, money has started coming, now aunt's hospitality will increase. The poor woman innocently says - Brother, if paper comes, money comes, it is good for all of us. Saying this, she filled her eyes with tears and came to the temple of Santoshi Mata and fell at the feet of Mateshwari and started crying. Mother, when did I ask you for money?

What do I need money for? I need my marital bliss. I am asking for the sight of my husband. Then Mata said happily - Go daughter, your husband will come. Hearing this, she became crazy with happiness and went home and started working. Now Santoshi Maa started thinking, I have told this innocent daughter that her husband will come, but how? He doesn't even remember her in his dreams.

I will have to go myself to remind him. In this way, Mata Ji went to the old woman's son and appeared in his dream and started saying - Son of the moneylender, are you sleeping or awake? He started saying - Mother, I am neither sleeping nor awake, tell me what is the order? Maa started saying - Do you have a home or not?

He said - I have everything, mother, parents, daughter-in-law, what is missing? Maa said - O innocent son, your daughter-in-law is suffering a lot, your parents are troubling her. She is longing for you, you take care of her. He said - Yes, Mata Ji, I know this, but how do I go? It is a matter of foreign land, there is no account of transactions, no one knows the way to go, how do I go?

Maa started saying - Listen to me, take a bath in the morning and take the name of Santoshi Mata, light a ghee lamp, bow down and go and sit at the shop.

While watching, all the transactions will be cleared, the deposited goods will be sold, and by evening a heavy pile of wealth will be accumulated. Now, listening to the old man, he took a bath, bowed down to Santoshi Mata, lit a ghee lamp and went and sat at the shop. After a while, those who were giving money started bringing money, those who were taking started taking accounts. Buyers of the goods filled in the warehouse started dealing with cash. By evening, a heavy pile of wealth was accumulated. Taking the name of Mata in his mind, he was pleased to see the miracle and started buying jewelry, clothes and goods to take home. After finishing work here, he immediately left for home.

On the other hand, his wife goes to the forest to get wood, and rests at Mataji's temple while returning. That was the place where she used to stop every day, seeing the dust flying, she asks Mata - O Mother! How is this dust flying?

Mata says - O daughter, your husband is coming. Now you make three loads of wood, keep one on the bank of the river and the other at my temple and the third on your head.

Seeing the bundle of wood, your husband will feel attracted, he will stop here, have breakfast and go to meet his mother, then you pick up the load of wood and go and put the bundle in the courtyard and shout loudly - Take it mother-in-law, take the bundle of wood, give me bran roti, give me water in a coconut shell, who is the guest today?

Saying very good to Mataji, she happily made three bundles of wood. One on the bank of the river and one at Mataji's temple. In the meantime, the traveler arrived. Seeing the dry wood, he felt the desire to rest here and go to the village after making and eating food. In the same way, he stopped, made food, rested and went to the village.

He met everyone with love. At the same time, carrying a bundle of wood on her head, she comes in a hurry. Putting the heavy load of wood in the courtyard, she shouts three times loudly - Take it mother-in-law, take the bundle of wood, give me bran roti. Who is the guest today?

Hearing this, her mother-in-law comes out and says to forget the troubles she has given - Daughter-in-law, why are you saying this? Your master has come. Come sit, eat sweet rice, eat food, wear clothes and jewelry. Hearing her voice, her husband comes out. He becomes restless after seeing the ring.

He asks his mother - Who is this?

Mother said - Son, this is your daughter-in-law. Since you have left, she has been wandering in the whole village. She does not do any household work, she comes and eats for four quarters. He said - Okay mother, I have seen her too and you too, now give the key to another house, I will live in it.

Mother said - Okay, as you wish. Then he opened the room on the third floor of the other house and deposited all the goods. In one day, it became as grand as a king's palace. Now what was it? The daughter-in-law started enjoying happiness. In the meantime, Friday came. She said to her husband - I have to do the Udyapan of Santoshi Mata's fast. The husband said - Do it happily. She started preparing for the Udyapan. She went to tell the sons of her husband's elder brother for food.

They agreed but later the husband's elder brother's wife taught her children, look, ask for sourness at the time of food, so that her Udyapan is not completed. The boys came to eat, ate kheer to their fill, but later as soon as they ate, they started saying - Give us sourness, we don't like eating kheer, we feel disgusted after seeing it.

She started saying - Brother, sourness will not be given to anyone. This is the Prasad of Santoshi Mata. The boys stood up, said - Bring money, the innocent daughter-in-law did not know anything, she gave them money. The boys immediately insisted and started eating tamarind sourness. Seeing this, Mataji became angry with the daughter-in-law. The king's messengers caught her husband and took him away. The husband's elder brother and his wife started saying whatever they wanted.

He has collected wealth by looting, now everything will be known when he gets beaten in jail. The daughter-in-law could not bear this. Crying, she went to Mataji's temple, saying - O Mother! What have you done, after making the devotees laugh, you have started making them cry.

Mata said - Daughter, you have broken my fast by doing Udyapan.

She started saying - Mother, I have committed some crime, I gave money to the boys by mistake, please forgive me. I will do your Udyapan again. Maa said - Don't make a mistake now. She says - There will be no mistake now, now tell me how will they come? Maa said - Go daughter, your husband will meet you on the way. She left, her husband met her on the way.

She asked - Where did you go? He started saying - The king had asked for the tax of so much wealth that he had earned, he had gone to pay it. She said happily - It's good, now let's go home. After a few days, Friday came again. She said - I have to do Mata's Udyapan again. The husband said - Do it, the daughter-in-law again went to tell the husband's elder brother's sons for food. The husband's elder brother's wife told one or two things and started teaching all the boys.

All of you should ask for sourness first. Before the food, the boys started saying - We don't want to eat kheer, our heart is getting bad, give us something sour to eat. She said - Sourness will not be given to anyone, come if you want to, she started feeding the Brahmin's boys, she gave them one fruit each in place of Dakshina as per her ability. Santoshi Mata was pleased.

As soon as Mata's grace happened, in the ninth month she got a son as beautiful as the moon. After getting the son, she started going to Mata Ji's temple every day. Maa thought - She comes every day, why shouldn't I go to her house today. Thinking this, Mata made a terrible form, a face covered with jaggery-chickpeas, lips like a trunk on top, flies were buzzing on it.

As soon as she put her foot on the threshold, her mother-in-law shouted - Look, a witch is coming, boys, drive her away, otherwise she will eat someone. The boys started driving her away, shouting and closing the window.

The daughter-in-law was watching from the skylight, she became crazy with happiness and started shouting - Today my Mata Ji has come to my house. She removes the child from drinking milk. In the meantime, the mother-in-law's anger burst out. She said - What is the hurry? She threw the child down. In the meantime, by the glory of Maa, only boys started appearing.

She said - Maa, the one whose fast I observe is Santoshi Mata.

Everyone caught Mata Ji's feet and started pleading - O Mother! We are fools, we are ignorant, we do not know the method of your fast, we have committed a great crime by breaking the fast, O Mother of the world, please forgive our crime. In this way, Mata was pleased. As Mata gave the daughter-in-law a happy fruit, may she give the same to everyone.

May the one who reads it have his wish fulfilled. Say Santoshi Mata ki Jai.

Conclusion of the Fast

• After observing the fast for 16 Fridays, organize a big puja event.
• Feed 8 children and give them Dakshina as per your ability.
• Distribute jaggery and chickpeas to everyone.

By observing this fast with faith and devotion, every kind of wish is fulfilled. Santoshi Mata removes every problem of her devotees and brings happiness and peace in life.