श्री करवा चौथ व्रत कथा
Shri Karva Chauth Vrat Katha
Puja Samagri
The following items are gathered for the Karva Chauth puja, which is performed in the evening before moonrise. This list covers what is needed especially for the vrat — the karwa, the worship of Gaur Mata, the recitation of the Katha, and the offering of argha to the moon — and not the items of everyday worship.
- Karwa — a small earthen or metal pot with a lidकरवा
- Water and milk to fill the karwa
- A sieve (channi), for sighting the moon and the husband through itछलनी
- An image or small idol of Gaur Mata — Goddess Parvati (traditionally a figure shaped from earth and cow dung)गौर माता
- Images of Lord Shiva, Kartikeya, and Ganesha, worshipped alongside Parvati
- Earthen lamps (diya), ghee, and cotton wicks
- A puja thali for the feri — the passing of the thali around the circle of women
- Roli, kumkum, and sindoorरोली, कुमकुम, सिंदूर
- Akshat (unbroken rice)अक्षत
- Mehndi (henna)मेहंदी
- Flowers and a garland
- Incense (dhoop or agarbatti) and camphor
- Fruit, sweets, and dry fruit to offer as Naivedya
- The Sargi — the pre-dawn meal sent by the mother-in-law (commonly fenia, milk, fruit, sweets, and dry fruit)
- The Baya (bayana) — a gift of food such as halwa, puri, and mathri for the mother-in-law or sister-in-law
- A karwa to be given in daan (donation) to a Brahmin or a married woman
- A lota of water for offering argha to the moon
- Dakshina
- A copy of the Shri Karva Chauth Vrat Katha
- The Solah Shringar — the sixteen adornments worn by the fasting woman
Puja Vidhi
On the morning of Karva Chauth the fasting woman rises before sunrise and bathes. Before dawn she eats the Sargi — a meal traditionally sent by her mother-in-law, which may include fenia (fine vermicelli), milk, fruit, sweets, and dry fruit — for this is the last food she will take until the moon rises. She then takes a Sankalpa, a resolve to keep the vrat for the well-being, long life, and prosperity of her husband and family. From sunrise the fast is kept without food, and in the strict observance without water (nirjala), until the moon is sighted at night.
Through the day the fasting women set aside heavy work. They dress in festive colours — red, gold, pink, and orange are favoured — adorn themselves with the Solah Shringar, and apply mehndi. Married women visit one another and exchange decorated karwas.
The puja is performed in the evening, in the Sandhya hour after sunset and before moonrise. An image of Gaur Mata — the goddess Parvati, also called Chauth Mata — is established for worship; in older practice the figure was shaped from earth and cow dung. Parvati is worshipped first, and with her Lord Shiva, Lord Kartikeya, and Lord Ganesha. Offerings of roli, akshat, flowers, incense, a lamp, fruit, and sweets are made, and the karwa is filled with water or milk.
The fasting women then gather together in a circle for the recitation of the Karva Chauth Vrat Katha. An elder woman, or a priest, narrates the story while the others listen, each holding her puja thali. As the Katha is told the women pass their thalis around the circle — the feri — and sing the traditional songs of the vrat. One karwa is set aside to be given afterward in daan to a Brahmin or to a married woman, and the Baya — a gift of food such as halwa, puri, and mathri — is offered to the mother-in-law or sister-in-law, whose blessing is sought.
When the moon rises, the fasting woman comes out with her puja thali, the karwa, and a sieve. She looks at the moon through the sieve and offers it argha — water poured from the karwa or a lota — with a prayer for her husband’s long life. She then looks at her husband’s face through the same sieve. The husband gives his wife the first sip of water and the first morsel of food from his own hand, and with this the fast is broken and the vrat is complete.
The Katha
Chapter 1
वीरावती एवं उसके सात भाइयों की कथा
The Story of Veervati and Her Seven Brothers
Long ago, in the city of Indraprasthapur, there lived a Brahmin named Vedsharma with his wife Leelavati. They were blessed with seven sons and a single daughter, who was named Veervati. Being the only sister of seven brothers, she was the darling of the household, cherished by her parents and indulged by her brothers above all else.
In time Veervati was married, and after her wedding she came to stay for a while at her parents' home. When the day of Karva Chauth arrived, she resolved — together with the wives of her brothers — to keep the fast for the long life and well-being of her husband. From sunrise she took neither food nor water, as the vrat requires.
As the day wore on, Veervati, who was young and keeping the fast for the first time, grew faint with hunger and thirst. By evening she could bear it no longer, and weak and trembling she sank to the ground. Her seven brothers, who loved her dearly, could not endure the sight of their sister suffering and longed for her to eat — but the fast could not be broken until the moon had risen and the wife had offered it argha.
So the brothers devised a scheme. One of them went off a little distance and climbed a tall tree, carrying with him a lamp and a sieve. Through the sieve he let the lamplight shine, so that from afar it glowed like the disc of the rising moon. The brothers then came to Veervati and told her that the moon was up, and that she might now complete her worship and break her fast.
Trusting her brothers, Veervati looked toward the distant glow, took it for the moon, and broke her fast — but she had not truly sighted the moon, and to it she had offered no argha. The very first morsel brought ill omens, and grievous news followed close behind: word came that her husband had died.
Veervati was overcome with grief and wept without ceasing, certain that some fault in her keeping of the vrat had brought this calamity upon her. As she grieved, the goddess Indrani — the consort of Indra — appeared before her to console her. Indrani told her that her husband had died because she had broken her fast upon a false moon, without ever offering argha to the true moon in the sky.
Indrani instructed Veervati to keep the Chauth fast faithfully on the fourth day of every month through the whole year, and above all to observe the Karva Chauth vrat itself with complete devotion and according to its proper rites. Veervati did exactly as she was told. By the merit gathered through that year of faithful fasting, and by the strength of her devotion as a wife, her husband was restored to life, and the two of them lived long together in happiness.
॥ Iti Shri Karva Chauth Vrat Katha Pratham Adhyay Sampurna ॥
Chapter 2
करवा की कथा
The Story of Karva
Among the legends honoured at Karva Chauth is the story of a devoted wife named Karva. Her devotion to her husband was so complete and so pure that it gave her great spiritual power. She lived with her husband on the bank of a river.
One day her husband went down to the river to bathe. As he stood in the water, a crocodile seized hold of him and began to drag him under. In his distress he called aloud to Karva for help.
Karva ran to the water's edge. Having nothing else at hand, she took a length of raw cotton thread and with it bound the crocodile fast, so that it could neither move nor carry her husband away. By the power of her devotion as a faithful wife, the slender thread held the great beast as though it were an iron chain.
Then Karva called upon Yama, the god of death, and asked him to cast the crocodile into the realm of death and to grant her husband a long life. Yama answered that the crocodile's allotted span was not yet ended, and that he could not do as she asked.
Karva warned Yama that if he would not grant her justice, she would curse him by the merit of her devotion and reduce him to ashes. Yama knew well the power of a faithful and devoted wife, and he was unwilling to bear her curse. He relented: he sent the crocodile to Yamaloka and blessed Karva's husband with a long and healthy life.
Karva and her husband lived on together for many long years in happiness. Her story is remembered at Karva Chauth as a token of the very truth for which the vrat is kept — that the steadfast devotion of a wife is a shield about her husband’s life.
॥ Iti Shri Karva Chauth Vrat Katha Dwitiya Adhyay Sampurna ॥