MONDAY VRAT

सोमवार  का व्रत

* Fasting is done till evening *
* One can take meals only once at night *
* Worship Lord Shiva and Parvati *

Story related to this vrat:

Once there was a rich trader who was a god fearing devoted man, inspite of having all luxuries he used to remain depressed as he had no son. He used to pray to Lord Shiva and Parvati every Monday and fasted on these days with the hope that God would bless him one day.

Seeing his devotion , Parvati inquired with Shiva why he had not blessed his disciple with a son. Shiva replied that this world is a Karmabhoomi - sow shall you reap. Just like the farmer gets his crop depending on the seeds he has sown, the trader too would get what he deserved. On repeated requests of goddess Parvati he relented and agreed to bless the trader with a son, but cautioned that the boy would live for 12 years only.

The trader was listening to the conversation, he was neither happy nor sad and continued with his routine worship of God. After sometime his wife gave birth to boy. Everyone was happy except the trader for he knew what lay in store for the child. He hid the truth from everyone. The child grew up and when he was 11 years old his mother wanted to initiate his marriage proceedings, but the trader refused. Instead he sent the boy to Kashi with the boys maternal uncle and a large sum of money to regularly perform yagya and worships God.

On the way, a King's daughter was getting married. The bridegroom could see from only one eye and the boys parents had hidden this fact from the King. When they saw the good looking boy, the bridegrooms father thought that if he could let this boy conduct the marriage ceremonies instead of his own son, no one would know about the defect in his eye. The trader's son and his uncle agreed to this proposal . Once the marriage was over while leaving he quietly wrote on the bride's clothes that it was he who was the real husband and the one left behind in the palace was having a defective eye.

When the bride came to know about the facts she refused to go with the other boy and the marriage party had to return back.
Meanwhile time passed by, and the boy grew up to be 12 years old. One day when the boy was in the middle of a Yagya, he fell sick and died. Seeing this , his maternal uncle started weeping loudly. Incidentally Lord Shiva and Parvati were passing that way and recognised the trader's son. Parvati pleaded with Shiva to give him life otherwise his parents would die in grief. The trader was his disciple and Shiva agreed to revive him back to recovery.

While returning back to his native town , the boy passed the town where he had got married to the King's daughter. He was recognised and brought to the palace, following which the King bade his daughter and the traders son farewell and gave them expensive gifts.

Around the same time , the trader and his wife were sitting on their rooftop praying to Lord Shiva to protect their son. He vowed that if the boy did not return, they too will jump from the rooftop and die. On seeing their son hale and hearty, the trader was very pleased and they all lived a life full of prosperity.

It is therefore believed that those who worship Lord Shiva and Parvati, keep fast on Mondays and recite this story to others - their sorrows will end and all their desires would be fulfilled.