Somvar Vrat Katha

Traditionally the Monday fast is kept for Lord Shiv and Mata Parvati. Devotees bathe in the morning, offer water, milk and bel leaves on the Shivling, fast through the day, and eat one meal in the evening after puja. This katha is heard after the puja. Now, the story.

In a city lived a rich moneylender. He had everything except a child. Every Monday he fasted and lit a lamp in the Shiv temple. Seeing his devotion, Mata Parvati asked Shiv to fulfil his wish. Shiv replied that everyone receives the fruit of their own karma. Still, at Parvati's request, Shiv granted him a son, but said the boy would live only twelve years.

The moneylender had heard this, yet he did not give up his fast or his puja. A son was born. When the boy was eleven, his father sent him to Kashi with his maternal uncle to study, telling them to hold yagyas and feed Brahmins along the way. In one city on the road, a princess was being married. The groom was blind in one eye, so his father had the moneylender's handsome son stand in as groom.

The boy was honest. On the princess's chunari he wrote: 'You have been married to me, but the prince you will be sent away with is blind in one eye. I am going to Kashi to study.' The princess read the truth and refused to leave with the one-eyed prince. Meanwhile the boy studied in Kashi. On the day he turned twelve, during a yagya, his life left him. His uncle began to weep.

Just then Shiv and Parvati were passing that way. Hearing the cries, Parvati's heart melted, and she begged Shiv to give the boy life. Shiv brought him back to life. His studies complete, he returned with his uncle, took the princess with him from that city, and reached home. His parents had resolved to give up their own lives if their son did not return. Seeing him, they were filled with joy.