Surya Sunday Vrat Katha

In ancient times, in a certain kingdom, there lived an old woman. That old woman regularly woke up in the morning every Sunday, completed her bathing etc. duties, and coated the entire house with cow dung. Thereafter, after preparing food etc., she would first offer the "Bhog" (sanctified food) to Lord Surya and worship him ritually. Only after worshipping the Sun would she herself consume food. By the effect of this fast and rule, that old woman's house was full of all types of wealth, grains, and happiness-property. She was always cheerful and was spending her life joyfully.

That old woman had a neighbor whose cow's dung she used to bring to coat her house. After some days passed, that neighbor began to think - "This old woman always takes away my cow's dung, so surely there is some secret in it." Thinking this, out of jealousy, that neighbor began to tie her cow inside the house from that day. As a result, the old woman did not get the dung and could not coat her house on the following Sunday. Therefore, she neither cooked food nor offered any Bhog to the Lord. That entire Sunday, that old woman remained on a fast without food and went to sleep at night without having food.

At night, Lord Surya appeared in the old woman's dream and said - "O Mother! What is the reason that this Sunday you did not offer our Bhog and did not consume food yourself?" The old woman said - "O Lord! The cow that is in my neighborhood, its owner has started tying it inside the house, so this Sunday, due to the unavailability of dung, I could not coat the house. Therefore, food for the Prasad could also not be prepared."

Hearing the old woman's words, Lord Surya said - "Mother! You remain worry-free, you always make pure Bhog yourself for us after coating the house with dung every Sunday, so we are extremely pleased with you. We grant wealth to the poor, a son to the childless, and salvation at the final time to those who observe the Sunday fast. We are granting you as a boon a divine cow, which fulfills all desires. This cow will make your entire life wealthy and prosperous." Saying this, Lord Surya vanished from there, and the old woman's sleep was broken, and she saw that an extremely beautiful cow along with her little calf was standing in her courtyard. That cow and her calf were very beautiful. The old woman was very happy to receive them and, after tying that cow outside the house, began to put fodder etc. for her. After making proper arrangements for the cow's water and food, the old woman went to rest.

After some time, the neighbor's sight fell on that cow; she was staring at that very beautiful cow without blinking, her heart was burning with the fire of jealousy. Just then, her eyes suddenly filled with wonder; she saw that the cow had given golden dung. That neighbor immediately ran there and brought that golden dung into her house and hid it. Similarly, that neighbor would always keep her eyes on that cow and whenever she gave dung, she would steal it. Even after many days passed, when that innocent old woman did not get to know about the truth, Lord Surya Narayan thought - "In this way, this clever neighbor will always deceive the old woman, due to which that old woman is being cheated." Thinking this, the Lord manifested a fierce cyclone through his illusion. Fearful of that cyclone, the old woman tied her cow inside the house. In the morning, she saw that the cow had given golden dung. Seeing this, the old woman was extremely astonished and from that day she began to tie the cow inside.

Due to the cow being inside, the neighbor could not obtain the golden dung. For this reason, she began to burn with anger and jealousy and went to the King's assembly and said - "Maharaj! An old woman lives in my neighborhood, her cow gives golden dung. Such a wonderful cow would be suitable only near a glorious king like you. You can use that gold for the development of the kingdom and subjects, what will that old woman do with so much gold?" Hearing this, the King was extremely amazed and he ordered his soldiers - "Immediately that miraculous cow should be brought to the royal palace."

The old woman, after completing her morning duties as usual and offering Bhog to God, was about to start consuming food herself when the state's soldiers arrived at the door and, despite the old woman's various protests, they untied her cow and began to take her away. That old woman had become emotionally attached to that cow and she was no ordinary cow but the form of Sun God's grace itself. Therefore, the old woman began to try to protect her cow from those soldiers with her full strength.

The old woman made many efforts, lamented in various ways, and asked for help, but due to the fear of royal punishment, no person present there had the courage to oppose those soldiers. Finally, being disappointed, the old woman began to cry while meditating on the Lord near the temple in her house. In separation from her dear cow, the old woman also gave up food and water and began to pray continuously before God with a distressed heart for her protection.

On the other hand, when the soldiers reached the royal palace with that cow, the greedy King was very happy to see that miraculous cow and began to wait for her dung in greed for gold. At night, when the King woke up out of curiosity to see the golden dung, he saw that in all directions of his palace, there was common dung and more dung, due to which there was not even a place to keep a sesame seed left in his palace, all around was just dung and more dung. The King was extremely terrified by this sight and began to pray for forgiveness and ask for help from God in his heart. Due to fear, the King fainted.

At that same time, Lord Surya Narayan gave darshan to the King in his dream and said - "O King! You have done a very reprehensible and despicable act by abducting that old mother's cow; we ourselves had granted that cow as a boon being pleased with her Sunday fast. Return that cow respectfully to that old woman again, this alone is beneficial for you, otherwise, you will have to suffer very severe punishment." As soon as it was morning, the King again provided that divine cow to that old woman with respect and provided appropriate punishment to her neighbor according to her actions.

As soon as the King did this, the dung disappeared from the entire royal palace and everything became as before. The King, after seeing this divine miracle directly, ordered the entire subjects to observe the Sunday fast to fulfill their desires. According to the King's command, by observing the Sunday fast with faith, all the residents of the kingdom became happy and prosperous. The atmosphere of joy and celebration was everywhere. That kingdom became safe from all types of diseases and natural disasters and the entire subjects began to spend a joyful life.

॥ Thus ends the Ravivara Vrat Katha ॥