Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat Katha in Englishवैभव लक्ष्मी व्रत कथा अंग्रेज़ी में

Sheela and her happy home

In a big city there lived a woman named Sheela with her husband. Sheela was religious, calm and content by nature. She remembered God morning and evening, kept her home clean and tidy, and was happy with whatever she had. Her husband, too, was once sensible and good-hearted. He worked honestly, spoke ill of no one and treated Sheela with full respect. Their life was full of love, and the neighbours looked on their home as a model household.

But, as people say, time does not always stay the same.

Bad company and a ruined home

After some time Sheela's husband fell into the company of bad people. With these friends he began to gamble, to drink and to bet on horse races. In his greed to get rich quickly he lost all his earnings and the family's savings. When the money ran out he took Sheela's ornaments one by one, sold them, and wasted that money too on gambling and drink.

The home that had once been full of happiness and peace was now gripped by poverty and quarrels. On many days the kitchen fire was hardly lit. Her husband came home drunk late at night, shouted at the slightest thing and humiliated Sheela. Even the neighbours began to keep away from them.

Still Sheela did not lose patience. She bore it all quietly and kept praying in her heart: "O Lord, give my husband good sense and bring happiness and peace back to our home." She believed that just as sorrow follows happiness, happiness would surely follow sorrow too.

An old mother at the door

One afternoon someone knocked at Sheela's door. Sheela wondered who could have come to her house in such poverty. When she opened the door, she saw an old mother standing there. Her face shone with a wonderful radiance, her eyes seemed to shower affection, and her whole face was full of compassion. The moment Sheela saw her, her mind grew calm.

There was nothing left in the house to spread out for a guest, yet Sheela respectfully invited her in and seated her on an old, torn sheet. The old mother said, "Sheela, my daughter, don't you recognise me?" Sheela hesitated, unable to remember. The old mother smiled and said, "Every Friday there are bhajans and kirtan at the Lakshmi temple. You used to come there, and so do I. I have not seen you for many days, so I came to ask how you are."

Hearing her loving voice, Sheela's heart overflowed and she burst into tears. The old mother stroked her head tenderly and said, "Daughter, happiness and sorrow come and go like sunshine and shade. Tell me your trouble and your heart will feel lighter." Then Sheela told her everything: her husband's bad company, the ruin of their home and all her pain.

The old mother tells of the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat

Having heard it all, the old mother said, "Daughter, the ways of karma are hard to understand, but keep patience. You are a devotee of Maa Lakshmi. Maa Lakshmi is the very form of love and compassion and always cares for her devotees. Keep the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat in the proper way. By the Mother's grace all your sorrows will go."

Sheela folded her hands and asked how the vrat should be kept. The old mother lovingly explained:

"This vrat is kept on Fridays. Make a resolve in your heart that you will keep it with faith for a set number of Fridays, eleven or twenty-one. On that day bathe in the morning, wear clean clothes and keep remembering 'Jai Maa Lakshmi' in your mind all day. Do not speak ill of anyone or gossip, and do not let bad thoughts into your mind."

"In the evening sit on a seat facing east. On a chowki in front of you spread a red cloth and place a picture of Maa Lakshmi. Make a small heap of rice and set a copper kalash filled with water on it. Place a small bowl on the kalash and put a gold or silver ornament in it. If you have no ornament, put a coin. Then light a ghee lamp and incense, and offer flowers and kumkum. Bow with devotion to the Shri Yantra and to the eight forms of Maa Lakshmi. Then read the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat Katha, praise the Mother and offer kheer or some other sweet prasad. After the aarti, pour the water of the kalash into the tulsi plant, share the prasad with everyone and take some yourself."

"When the Fridays you resolved are complete, do the udyapan properly on the last Friday. That day make kheer as prasad, offer a coconut and, as far as you are able, put a kumkum tilak on seven, eleven, twenty-one or more women and give each of them a book of the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat Katha, so that the Mother's glory and this vrat reach every home. Then pray to the Mother: as you have fulfilled my wish, so fulfil the wishes of all."

Saying this, the old mother blessed Sheela and went away. In her heart Sheela resolved to keep the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat for twenty-one Fridays.

Fortune begins to turn from the first Friday

The next day was a Friday. Sheela bathed in the morning, put on clean clothes and repeated "Jai Maa Lakshmi" all day. No ornament was left in the house, so in the evening, as the old mother had said, she put a coin in the bowl and did the puja with full faith. She read the katha, offered sugar as prasad, did the aarti, poured the kalash water into the tulsi and gave the prasad first of all to her husband.

As soon as he ate the prasad, it was as if a veil had lifted from his mind. That night he neither scolded nor humiliated Sheela. Sheela silently thanked Maa Lakshmi, and her faith grew even firmer.

Sheela kept the vrat every Friday with the same devotion. Slowly her husband's nature began to change. He left his bad friends, turned away from gambling and drink, and began to regret what he had done. Then he set his mind to honest, hard work. By Maa Lakshmi's grace his work began to prosper. With his earnings he had new ornaments made for Sheela. Food and wealth filled the house once more, and the old happiness and love returned.

The udyapan and the old mother's secret

When the twenty-one Fridays were complete, Sheela did the udyapan properly on the last Friday. She made kheer as prasad, offered a coconut to the Mother and, as the old mother had told her, put a kumkum tilak on seven women and gave each of them a book of the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat Katha. Then, with folded hands before the picture of Maa Lakshmi, she said, "O Mother, as you have fulfilled my wish, so fulfil the wishes of all your devotees."

After the puja, as Sheela gazed at the picture of the Mother, she saw in it the same compassionate smile she had seen on the old mother's face that day. Then she understood that the old mother who had come to her door was no ordinary woman but Maa Lakshmi herself, who had come to show the way to her suffering devotee. Sheela's heart filled with devotion and she bowed at the Mother's feet again and again.

From that day Sheela and her husband lived with happiness, respect and love. Both decided to keep the vrat with faith in the future too, and whenever Sheela met a woman in distress, she told her about the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat.

O Maa Vaibhav Lakshmi, as you showed grace to Sheela, gave her husband good sense and brought happiness and prosperity back to her home, so may you keep your grace on all devotees who read and hear this katha. May there be happiness, peace and harmony in every home.

Say it together: Jai Maa Vaibhav Lakshmi!

How to read the katha during the puja

The katha is the heart of the Friday puja. It is read after the altar has been set up and the goddess has been worshipped, and before the aarti. The full sequence of the puja is explained on the Vaibhav Lakshmi vrat vidhi page; the points below cover the katha itself. Customs vary between families, so follow your own tradition where it differs.

1. Light the ghee lamp and incense, offer flowers, kumkum and haldi, and bow to the Shri Yantra and the eight forms of Maa Lakshmi before you begin.
2. Many devotees hold a few grains of akshat (unbroken rice) and a flower in their folded hands while reading or listening, and offer them before the goddess at the end.
3. Read slowly and clearly, aloud if family members are listening, or softly in a calm voice if you are alone.
4. Try not to get up or talk in between; keep your mind on the story and on the goddess.
5. Read in the language you understand best. The same story is available as the Vaibhav Lakshmi Vrat Katha in Hindi.
6. After the katha, recite the vrat mantra given below, or a simple mantra such as ॐ श्रीं श्रियै नमः, then sing the aarti "Om Jai Lakshmi Mata".
7. Offer the prasad, pour the water of the kalash into the tulsi plant and share the prasad with everyone present.

The vrat mantra used in the booklet tradition is:

Meaning: May the lovely Goddess Lakshmi, Padmavati, protect me: she who dwells on the red lotus, who is full of grace and shines like the blazing sun, who is dressed in red, the beloved companion of Hari, who gladdens the heart, and who arose from the churning of the ocean to become the consort of Vishnu.

On the last Friday of your sankalp the katha is read in the same way, and copies of the katha book are then gifted as part of the udyapan vidhi.

Closing prayer

After the aarti, many devotees end the puja with a short prayer in their own words, thanking the goddess and asking forgiveness for any mistake made during the worship. A simple prayer in Hindi could be:

Meaning: O Maa Vaibhav Lakshmi, I have worshipped you as far as my faith and means allow. Please forgive any mistake made in this puja, knowingly or unknowingly. Keep happiness, peace, good sense and harmony in my home and family. As you showed grace to Sheela, show grace to all your devotees. Jai Maa Vaibhav Lakshmi.

You may say it in English or in any language you are comfortable with; the feeling behind the words matters more than the exact wording.