Brihaspati Vrat Katha in Englishबृहस्पति व्रत कथा अंग्रेज़ी में

The sagas of Brihaspati are of great significance for those who regularly perform the Brihaspati puja. Brihaspati Vrat Katha is a legend that reveals the value of Brihaspati Vrat and Brihaspati puja in one's life. Following is the Brihaspati Vrat Katha translated into English for easy access:

Once upon a time, there was a mighty, influential, and generous king. He visited the temple every day for darshan of the Lord and served the Brahmins and his guru. No one who came to his door asking for help ever went away disappointed. He used to fast every Thursday and offer his prayers, and he helped the poor every day. But the queen disliked all this. She neither observed fasts nor gave even a single paisa in charity, and she discouraged the king from doing so. One day, the king went hunting in the forest, and only the queen and her maid were at home. Lord Brihaspati, disguised as a sadhu, came to the palace door to ask for alms. When the sadhu asked the queen for alms, she said, "O Sadhu Maharaj! I am tired of all this charity and giving. My husband is enough for such things. Please bless me so that all this wealth is destroyed and I can live in peace."

Brihaspati Dev, in the form of the sadhu, said, "O Devi, you are very unusual. No one is made unhappy by children and wealth; everyone wants them. Even a sinner wishes for sons and wealth. If you have a lot of money, feed the hungry, set up water stalls for the thirsty, give to the Brahmins, build rest houses, wells, ponds, step-wells and gardens, arrange the marriages of the unmarried daughters of the poor, and perform yajnas. Such deeds will bring honour to your family and your name in the next world as well, and you will attain heaven." But the sadhu's words did not please the queen. She said, "O Sadhu Maharaj, I do not want wealth that I have to keep giving away to others and that takes all my time to keep and look after."

The sadhu said, "O Devi, if this is what you want, do exactly as I tell you. On Thursdays, plaster your house and courtyard with cow dung, wash your hair with yellow clay and bathe while washing it, ask the king to get a shave, eat meat and drink wine with your meals, and give your clothes to the washerman for washing. If you do these things for seven Thursdays, all your wealth will be destroyed." With this, Lord Brihaspati, in the guise of a sadhu, disappeared. The queen decided to do as the sadhu had said for seven Thursdays.

The queen had followed the sadhu's advice for only three Thursdays when all her wealth was destroyed. The family went hungry for both meals of the day and lived in misery. Then the king said to the queen, "O Queen, stay here and let me go to another country. Everyone here knows me, so I cannot do any work here. I shall go abroad and find some work there; perhaps our fortune will change." Saying this, the king departed for another country. He began earning his livelihood by cutting firewood in the forest and selling it in the town.

Back home, without the king, the queen and her maids lived in misery. Some days they got one meal, and some days they had only water. Once, when the queen and her maids had gone without food for seven days, the queen said to her maid, "O maid! My sister lives in the town nearby. She is very wealthy. Go to her and ask for five ser of mixed grain (bejhar), so that we can manage for some time."

The maid went to the queen's sister's house. The queen's sister was doing her puja at that time. It was Thursday. The maid said to her, "O Rani! Your sister has sent me. Please give me five ser of bejhar." The maid said this many times, but the queen's sister gave no reply, because she was listening to the Brihaspativar katha at that time. The maid was hurt and angry at getting no answer. She returned and said to the queen, "O Queen! Your sister is very proud. She does not even speak to humble people. I asked her, but she gave no reply, so I came back." The queen said, "O maid! It is not her fault. When bad days come, no one offers support. One learns who is good and who is bad only in times of trouble. Whatever God wills will happen. All this is the fault of our fate."

Meanwhile, the queen's sister thought, "My sister's maid came and got no reply from me; this must have upset her." Therefore, after listening to the katha and finishing her worship of Lord Vishnu, she went to her sister's palace and said, "O sister! I was fasting for Lord Brihaspati, and your maid happened to come at that time. While the katha is being told, we neither get up nor speak, so I had to stay quiet. Now, please tell me why you sent your maid to my house."

The queen said, "Sister! There was no grain in our house. Nothing is hidden from you. That is why I sent my maid to you for five ser of bejhar."

The queen's sister said, "Look, sister! Lord Brihaspati fulfils everyone's wishes. Go and look; perhaps there is some grain in your own house."

Hearing this, the maid went inside the house and found a pot full of bejhar. The maid was astonished, as she had already checked every vessel and found them empty. She came out and told the queen, saying, "O Queen! In a way, we are already fasting whenever we have nothing to eat, so why not ask your sister how to observe the Brihaspativar fast? Then we shall follow it."

On her maid's advice, the queen asked her sister about the Brihaspativar fast. Her sister said, "O Queen! On Brihaspativar, that is, Thursday, one should rise before sunrise, bathe, and keep the Brihaspativar fast. But one should not wash one's hair that day. During the fast, worship Lord Vishnu at the root of a banana tree with chana dal (split gram) and munakka (large raisins), and light a lamp. Eat only one meal that day; the food should be yellow. Listen to the katha. Doing this pleases Guru Bhagwan, and he gives grain, sons and wealth."

After providing all the details about the Brihaspati fast and the worship, the queen's sister returned home.

The queen and her housemaid decided to observe the fast and worship Lord Brihaspati, so seven days later, they kept the fast on Thursday. They gathered gram and jaggery from the stable and, with the dal of that gram, worshipped Lord Vishnu at the root of the banana tree.

But where would their meal come from? Both of them were very sad. But since they had kept the fast, Lord Brihaspati was pleased with them and came in the form of an ordinary man, carrying two platters of fine yellow food. He handed them to the maid and said, "O maid! This food is for you and the queen; you should both eat it."

The maid was delighted to receive the food and said to the queen, "Rani ji, please eat." The queen knew nothing about the food, so she said to the maid, "Go, you eat it yourself, since you only make fun of us for nothing." The maid said, "A man has just brought us food." The queen said, "He must have brought it for you alone, so you eat it." The maid said, "He has brought food in two platters for both of us, so you and I shall eat together." Then both of them bowed to Guru Bhagwan and began their meal.

From then on, both of them observed the fast and offered prayers to Lord Brihaspati every Brihaspativar. With the generosity and blessings of Lord Brihaspati, they began to flourish again and regained their wealth. But the queen became as lazy as she had been before. Then her housemaid warned her, saying, "Look, Queen! Earlier, too, you were lazy, and it was difficult for you to manage your money and wealth; as a result, you lost all your riches and prosperity. Now that we are flourishing again with the blessings of Lord Brihaspati, you are repeating the same mistake of being lazy. After a lot of struggle, we have regained our wealth, so we should try to do some charity. You should feed the hungry and starving, provide water for thirsty travellers, give alms to the Brahmins, and donate money to construct wells, ponds, water tanks, temples, and schools that educate children. You should also help arrange the marriages of unmarried girls. I think you should start spending on good and worthy causes; this will bring name and fame to your family, earn you a place in heaven, and please your ancestors (pitar)."

The queen acted on her maid's advice and began doing such good deeds, and her fame spread far and wide.

One day, the queen and the maid began to wonder how the king was and in what conditions he was living. So they both worshipped Lord Brihaspati sincerely and prayed, "Wherever the king may be, may he return soon."

Meanwhile, the king, living in a foreign country, led a very miserable life. Every day, he would bring firewood from the forest and, with great effort, earn his livelihood by selling it in the town market. Then, one day, recalling his good old days, he became sad and began to weep.

Lord Brihaspati appeared as a saint and said to the king, "O woodcutter, why are you sitting alone in this desolate forest? What is troubling you? Tell me."

The king's eyes filled with tears as he described his situation and recounted his troubled life. Saints are very kind and compassionate, and the saint said to the king, "O king, your wife sinned against Lord Brihaspati. Because of that sin, you are facing hardship and a sorrowful life. But you need not worry now, as God will give you more than you had before. Look, your wife has already begun fasting on Thursdays. You must also fast on those days: put gram pulses and jaggery in a lota (pot) of water and offer it to a banana tree. After this, listen to or narrate the sagas of Lord Brihaspati, and he will fulfil all your wishes."

Hearing this, the king said, "O Saint, I earn my livelihood by selling firewood with great difficulty; after buying food, I cannot save a single paisa. Last night, I saw my queen suffering in a dream, and I have no way of knowing whether she is well. Apart from this, I do not know any legend of Lord Brihaspati. How would I narrate the story?"

The saint said, "O king, resolve in your mind to keep the fast and worship Lord Brihaspati. He himself will show you a way. On Thursday, take your firewood to the town as you do every day; you will earn twice the usual amount, which will be enough for a good meal and for the things needed to worship Lord Brihaspati. As for the story of Brihaspativar that you asked about, it is as follows."

Once upon a time, there lived a very poor Brahmin who had no children. His wife lived in great uncleanliness: she neither bathed nor worshipped any deity. This made the Brahmin very unhappy. The poor man told her many times, but it had no effect.

With the grace of God, a girl child was born in the house. As the girl grew up, she used to bathe early in the morning and worship Lord Vishnu. She also fasted on Thursdays. After offering prayers, she used to carry barley in her fist as she went to school and scatter the grain along the way. On her way back from school, she would find that the barley grains had turned into gold, and she would collect them and bring them home. One day, while she was winnowing the golden barley with an ordinary winnowing basket, her mother saw her and said, "Dear daughter, to winnow golden barley, one must have a winnowing basket made of gold."

The next day was Thursday. The girl observed the fast and prayed to Lord Brihaspati for a golden winnowing basket. Lord Brihaspati decided to answer her prayer. As on other days, while going to school, the girl scattered the grains of barley on the way. When she returned, she found the barley grains turned into gold and a golden winnowing basket on the road. She brought everything home and began winnowing the barley with the golden basket. But her mother's ways remained unchanged.

One fine day, while the girl was winnowing barley with the golden winnowing basket, a prince passed by and fell in love with her beauty. He returned to the palace, and lay down in his room without eating or drinking.

When the king learned that his son had refused food and water, he came to him and asked for the reason. The prince told him everything and also gave him the girl's address. After that, the king's minister went to the girl's house and gave the king's message to the Brahmin. Within a few days, the girl got married to the prince.

As soon as the girl left home for her in-laws' house, the Brahmin became penniless. One day, troubled by his poverty, the Brahmin went to see his daughter. Seeing her father, the girl asked about her mother. The Brahmin told her about his sad state. His daughter gave him a lot of money and bade him goodbye. But after a few days, the Brahmin was again poverty-stricken. He went back to his daughter and narrated his troubled life. His daughter said, "O father, bring my mother here; I shall tell her the way by which all your poverty will be removed." The Brahmin returned home and came back to his daughter with his wife. The daughter said to her mother, "O mother, take a bath early in the morning and worship Lord Vishnu; then all the poverty and suffering of the house will go away."

But the Brahmin's wife did not listen to her; instead, she used to eat her daughter's leftovers in the morning.

One day, the daughter became furious with her mother and locked her in a room. The next morning, she let her mother out, made her bathe and do her puja, and her mother's mind was set right.

After this, her mother began worshipping daily as a rule and keeping the fast every Thursday. Because of her devotion and dedication to the Lord, she went to heaven after her demise. Likewise, the Brahmin enjoyed every abundance in this mortal world and went to heaven after his death. The saint vanished after narrating this story.

A few days later, on Thursday, the king went to the town to sell firewood. He earned more than he usually made. The king bought gram and jaggery from the market and kept the fast. From that day, his troubles were over. But when the next Thursday came, the woodcutter king forgot to observe the fast, and this displeased Lord Brihaspati.

On the same day, the town's king had arranged a grand yajna. He had invited all the people of the town to his palace for a meal. He had also declared that no one was to light a stove at home to cook, and anyone who disobeyed this order would be hanged.

Following the king's order, all the townspeople came to the palace for the feast. The woodcutter arrived a little late, so the king took him along with him into the palace. While the king was serving the woodcutter his meal, the queen noticed that her necklace, which had been hanging on a hook on the wall, was missing. The queen thought the woodcutter had stolen it, so she called the soldiers and had him imprisoned.

The woodcutter, in prison, began thinking about the sins he might have committed in his previous life to reach this point, and he also began remembering the saint he had met in the forest.

Lord Brihaspati appeared as a saint in front of the woodcutter and said, "O fool, you did not keep the fast and worship of Lord Brihaspati and forgot him in your happy days; that is why you are suffering. You need not be anxious now; you will find four paise lying near the prison door on Thursday. Take that money and worship Lord Brihaspati, and all your problems will be solved."

The next Thursday, the woodcutter king found four paise lying at the prison door. He had the things for the puja brought with that money, narrated the katha and distributed the prasad.

The same night, Lord Brihaspati appeared in a dream to the king of the town and said, "O king, the man you have punished is innocent; free him tomorrow." The king woke up early the next morning and saw the necklace hanging on the hook. He released the woodcutter and asked his forgiveness. He gave the woodcutter fine clothes and jewels worthy of a king and bade him goodbye.

As the saint had advised, the king set out for his own town, and he was astonished when he reached it. He saw many new gardens, ponds, wells, rest houses for pilgrims, and temples. The king enquired about them and learned that the queen and her housemaid had built them all. The king was surprised and enraged, thinking, "Where did the queen get so much money in my absence to have all these buildings built?"

When the queen learned that the king was returning to the kingdom, she said to her maid, "O maid, the king left us in a miserable state. He may be confused to see us living so differently and turn back, so stand by the entrance of the palace."

Following the queen's orders, the maid went and stood by the palace's entrance. She brought the king inside when he came. The king pulled out his sword in rage and asked where all this money came from. The queen then told him everything that had happened in his absence.

The king decided to observe a fast every day and narrate the legend of Lord Brihaspati three times a day. From then on, the king kept gram pulses tied in a corner of his scarf and narrated the stories of Lord Brihaspati three times a day.

One fine day, the king decided to visit his sister's house. He set out on horseback, and on the way, he saw some people carrying a dead body. The king stopped and said, "O brothers! Listen to the story of Lord Brihaspati before you go."

They said, "We are already grieving the death of our relative, and he wants to tell us a story." But some of them said, "All right, tell us the story; we shall listen to it."

The king took out the gram pulses and began narrating the story. He had barely told half of the saga when the dead man began showing signs of life. By the time the tale was completed, the dead man was alive. He stood up, uttering the name of Lord Rama.

The king continued his journey, and in the evening, he saw a farmer ploughing in his field. The king offered to tell him the legend of Lord Brihaspati, but the farmer refused to listen.

As soon as the king moved on, the farmer's oxen suddenly collapsed and the farmer was seized by a severe stomachache. Just then, the farmer's old mother came with food (roti) for him. When she saw this, she asked her son what had happened, and he told her everything. The old woman ran to the horseman and said, "I shall listen to your saga; please come to my field and tell it there."

The king turned back, went to the old woman's field and narrated the saga. As a result, the oxen regained consciousness, and the farmer became healthy and pain-free.

After some time, the king reached his sister's house. His sister did everything she could to give her brother a warm welcome. When the king woke up the next day, he saw everyone eating. So the king asked his sister, "Is there anyone who has not eaten yet, so that I can narrate the saga of Lord Brihaspati to them?" The sister said, "Brother, this country is unusual; people here eat their meals before going to work."

The sister then went to the house of a potter whose son was sick, and found that no one in the house had eaten for three days. She asked the potter, "Would you like to hear some holy legends from my brother?" The potter agreed.

The king went to the house and narrated the holy legends of Lord Brihaspati, and on hearing them, the potter's son recovered. Everyone began admiring the king for his kind gesture. After a few days, the king said to his sister, "O sister! I want to return to my palace; you, too, get ready." The king's sister went to her mother-in-law to ask permission. The mother-in-law said, "All right, you may go, but do not take your sons along, as your brother does not have a child." The king's sister said to the king, "O brother, I shall come with you, but my sons will not." The king became upset and returned to his palace alone without his sister.

The king told the queen what had happened at his sister's place and lay down on his bed without eating. The queen told the king that Lord Brihaspati had blessed them with so much, and he would also bless them with a child. The same night, Lord Brihaspati appeared in the king's dream and said, "Wake up, O king, and forget all your worries; the queen is going to be a mother." The king was overjoyed by the dream.

In the ninth month, the queen gave birth to a beautiful son. Then the king said, "O Queen! A woman can stay without food, but she cannot stay without speaking her mind. When my sister comes, do not say anything to her." The queen agreed.

When the king's sister heard the good news, she was overjoyed and came to her brother's house with her congratulations. The queen then chided her, saying, "When your brother wanted to bring you with him, you avoided it and did not come with him. And today you have come running on your own, without being invited." The king's sister replied, "If I had not spoken as I did, how would a child have been born in your house?"

Brihaspati Dev fulfils all wishes. According to the katha, whoever keeps the Brihaspativar fast with a good heart, reads or listens to the katha and tells it to others, has all their wishes fulfilled by Brihaspati Dev, and he always protects them. Those who worship Gurudev and keep his fast with a sincere heart have their wishes fulfilled in the same way that Brihaspati Dev fulfilled all the wishes of the king and queen when they sang the praises of his katha with true devotion. One should never neglect Brihaspati Dev, even unknowingly, for doing so is said to destroy happiness and peace. Therefore, everyone should take the prasad before leaving after listening to the katha, and should remember him in their heart and call out his jaikara (victory cry).