श्री वैभव लक्ष्मी व्रत कथा

In a great city there lived a woman named Sheela with her husband. The city had its share of vice and wrongdoing, but Sheela and her husband kept to a virtuous and devout life, content with what they had and given to the worship of God. Sheela in particular was gentle, patient, and deeply devoted to Maa Lakshmi.

In time, the husband fell into the company of bad companions. Listening to them, he grew restless to become rich quickly and dreamed of amassing a great fortune. But the path they led him to was not the path of honest effort: he took to gambling, to drinking liquor, and to wagering his money on speculation and races.

One by one his vices swallowed all that the household had. He gambled away the family's savings, and when those were gone he took Sheela's ornaments and pledged them away too. The home that had known modest comfort fell into deep poverty, until there were days the two of them could not get enough food to eat.

Worse than the want of food was the change in her husband. Bitter and ashamed in his ruin, he turned his temper upon Sheela and spoke to her with harsh and abusive words. Yet Sheela bore it all without complaint. She did not lose her faith; through every hardship she kept her devotion to Maa Lakshmi and her gentle, patient heart.

One Friday, an elderly woman came to Sheela’s door. Her face was calm and there was a quiet radiance about her. She said that she knew Sheela from the gatherings of devotees at the temple. Sheela, though she had little to offer, welcomed her with warmth and respect and seated her with honour.

In the old woman’s kind presence Sheela’s sorrow overflowed, and she told her all that had befallen the household — the bad company, the vices, the lost wealth and ornaments, the poverty, and her husband’s harsh words. The old woman listened, and consoled her, and said that for sorrow such as hers there was a sure remedy.

The old woman told Sheela of the vrat of Maa Lakshmi — the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat. It is very simple to keep, she said, and kept with true faith it fulfils every sincere wish and brings happiness, wealth, and honour to the home. She taught Sheela the manner of the vrat: that it is kept on Fridays, the day of Maa Lakshmi, for eleven or twenty-one Fridays, and concluded with an udyapan.

As the old woman spoke, a deep peace filled Sheela’s heart. She closed her eyes a moment in devotion — and when she opened them, the old woman was nowhere to be seen. Then Sheela understood that it was Maa Lakshmi herself who had come to her, in the guise of an old woman, to set her feet on the path of happiness.

From the very next Friday Sheela began the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat, and she kept it each week with complete faith and devotion, exactly as she had been taught. Each Friday she offered the worship and shared the consecrated prasad, giving of it to her husband as well.

By the grace of Maa Lakshmi a change came over the household. Her husband's heart softened, and the harsh words ceased. He saw the ruin his vices had brought, turned away from his bad company, and gave up gambling and drink. He set himself to honest work and laboured with a will; and as he did, prosperity returned. He earned again, and redeemed the very ornaments of Sheela that he had pledged away. Peace and happiness came back to the home as in former days.

When the vowed Fridays were complete, Sheela performed the udyapan of the vrat with devotion, honouring married women with gifts and giving copies of the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat Katha so that other women too might learn of it. Whoever keeps the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat with a pure heart and sincere devotion receives in the same way the grace of Maa Lakshmi, and happiness and prosperity in the home — for the Goddess looks to the devotion of the heart, and not to the mere desire for riches.