I believe most Brahmin households (in fact, I could probably also say - most Hindu households) would have convened/organized a
Satyanarayana Katha at some or the other point in their house. Our family/house too, has been fortunate enough to have been part of this experience.
I just felt like sharing/posting some of my observations from whatever I have tried to gather from the Katha.
Let me begin by first thinking aloud about a query that always strikes me, whenever I listen in to the Katha:
In the
Katha, we all get to know about anecdotes on what happened to whoever did or did not perform this puja/Katha.
That's generally what the Katha is about - a compilation of four stories/accounts of four different people/families, all preceded by how and why Maharishi Sooth ji recounted these anecdotes, and followed in the end by all the good things that happened to the people who conducted those Kathas - not only in that life of theirs, but also how they became pious/renowned people in their afterlife too, eventually attaining Moksha.
All very well, I say, but amidst all this, I could somehow never find any mention about what exactly was the Puja/Katha of Bhagwan Shri Satyanarayana that was said to have been done (or not done, at certain times) in any of the stories that make this Katha!
Till the last time, that is..
Lesson # 1 - What the Katha is About:
..Thanks to a Panditji's input in the last Katha that I attended, I have now come to know that the actual Satyanarayana Katha/puja that forms the crux, the basis for all these 4 stories, is that it's just a humble renunciation of the Almighty Lord (Bhagwan Shri Satyanarayana) and remembering that He is Infinite, Supreme, Eternal, and Always Our Well-Wisher. And of course, we must also always remember to sincerely, genuinely and most humbly, bow to His Grace, Love, and Constant Care.
Right, so let me now enumerate what I have learned from the actual 3 stories/anecdotes that make the Katha:
Lesson # 2 - From Stories 1 & 2:
The first story is about a poor Brahmin, who barely manages to eke out a living. Lord Vishnu (aka Bhagwan Satyanarayana), in the guise of another fellow, poor Brahmin, tells him about conducting the Katha, in order to lead a better life.
This shows the Lord's selfless love towards His children, whereupon once He is filled with mercy and compassion towards us, He voluntarily comes and helps us.
No wonder then, that the Brahmin, on having resolved to seriously conduct the Puja, gets to lead a better life, thanks to His blessings.
The next story is about the woodcutter, who gets to know of the Katha through the not-anymore-poor Brahmin. He too, genuinely decides to organize the Puja, and reaps quadruple rewards from his daily wage on the day, enabling him to easily translate his intent into action and results.
This shows that the Lord surely rewards any and every one who has genuine will and puts sincere efforts for a pious, noble and good cause with all the success it deserves.
Lesson # 3 - From Story # 3:
If the first two stories were about people with genuine intent, this next story is about a childless man, who vows to perform the Puja alright, but puts in a condition of doing so only after his wish of having a child is fulfilled. When God fulfills his wish, he is happy to enjoy the same, but conveniently forgets his part of the promise.
Even on being reminded of his vow by his wife, he keeps deferring the Puja repeatedly, and again puts in another wish + condition to the Lord - of conducting a Puja when his daughter would get married.
Even after all this, Bhagwan Vishnu/Satyanarayana remains merciful, giving chances upon chance to him. By His blessings, the girl becomes a lady in due course of time and gets married too.
However, the man still fails to perform the the Puja.
At this point, the Lord does decide to make him understand the hard way, and circumstances ensue in such a way that he and his son-in-law gets falsely implicated for stealing and are imprisoned.
Even then, the Lord makes his wife realize their folly by having her daughter narrate about a Satyanarayana Puja that she witnessed.
This shows that the Lord, even when we think is being harsh on us, is still concerned and caring towards us. Even when He is ostensibly (and rightly) angry with us, He still keeps giving us one chance after another, in order to rectify our mistakes.
As better sense dwells, the Lord Himself ensures that everything turns right once again and the imprisoned duo is set free along with lots of wealth and valuables. While returning back, the Lord again puts them to test, by asking them about the contents of the containers where they had kept all their wealth. When they lied to the Lord, they were truly left with only the Lies they had spoken.
Through this, I think we could probably learn that we must never lie to the Lord and also be ready to share a part of our wealth with others/the needy and those who are less fortunate than us.
Later, when news that the father-in-law and son-in-law duo are about to come, reaches the mother and daughter who are conducting the Puja at their place, the mother hurriedly leaves the Puja right there, giving preference to meeting them instead of expressing her gratitude and obeisance to the One who had ensured their arrival in the first place. She tells her daughter to complete the Puja and come back after having the prasad, but she too, in her excitement, fails to take the prasad.
All these events only show how we, in our lives, are prone towards temptation and easily led by enjoying fruitful results, instead of first properly thanking the Lord who has ensured all this.
When the Lord displays His disapproval of such incorrect preferences by drowning both the men just before their arrival.
However, another thing to learn and remember is that as stated earlier, even in his anger, the Lord is still caring enough towards us, and the anger too must be the result of our misdeeds only.
Even when angry, the Lord makes an Aakashvaani, guiding everyone about why this happened and what must be done to correct that.
Can we ever come even remotely close to understanding just how much we are Loved by the Almighty, even if/when He gets angry at our misdemeanors?!
Needless to say, on taking the prasad and conducting the puja with genuine devotion and sincerity, the Lord blesses everyone and of course, if the Lord gives His blessings, it's again needless to say, that everything is set right again!
Lesson # 4 - From Story # 4:
The previous story referenced an incident about having forgotten to conduct the Puja and even on conducting it the first time, having ignored the prasad's value completely. This one teaches about not ignoring the prasad at all, from any where.
This is about a very renowned, fair, and wealthy king who though being an ardent bhakt of Bhagwan Satyanarayana, having conducted many Pujas at his place, succumbed to his ego and did not find enough merit in accepting prasad from a puja conducted by some cowherds. As a result, he suddenly found hacing lost all his kingdom, family, and wealth. His rejecting the prasad led to the Lord ensuring he understood the message behind the mayhem.
Did you see - though angry at the king's gesture of rejecting his prasad, the Lord was still kind enough to instill and bless the king with good sense again. Having understood his mistake, the King immediately apologised profusely to the Lord and went back to cowherds, had the Prasad, and voila, everything had to be fine again!
Jai Bhagwan Satyanarayana!!
Again, it's ONLY thanks to His Grace, that I have been able to write whatever He allowed me to, and whatever I could understand about the Katha, thanks to His blessings.
