Surya Ravivara Vrat Katha

Ravivara Vrat Katha

In ancient times, in a certain kingdom, an old woman lived. She would, every Sunday, after completing her morning ablutions, regularly smear the entire house with cow dung. Thereafter, she would prepare food and first offer it to Lord Surya, performing His proper worship. Only after completing the worship of Surya would she partake of food herself. Due to the effect of this Vrat and discipline, the old woman's house was filled with all kinds of wealth, grains, and prosperity. She always remained cheerful and lived her life happily.

The old woman had a Padosan, i.e., neighboring lady, from whose cow's dung she used to smear her house. After a few days, that neighbor began to think - "This old woman always takes dung from my cow, so there must certainly be some secret behind it." Thinking this, out of jealousy, the neighbor began tying her cow inside the house from that day onward. As a result, the old woman did not get cow dung, and on the following Sunday, she could not plaster her house. Therefore, she neither cooked food nor offered any Bhoga to God. That Sunday, the old woman observed a fast throughout the day and even went to sleep at night without eating anything.

At night, Lord Surya appeared in the old woman's dream and said - "O Mata! What is the reason that this Sunday you neither offered Bhoga to Me nor ate food yourself?" The old woman replied - "O Lord! The cow in my neighborhood has now been kept tied inside by its owner. Therefore, due to the unavailability of cow dung this Sunday, I could not smear my house. Hence, I was also unable to prepare food for offering."

Hearing the words of the old woman, Lord Surya said - "Mata! Don't worry. You always smear your house with cow dung every Sunday and prepare pure food for Me; therefore, I am very pleased with you. I grant wealth to the poor, sons to the childless, and liberation at the end of life to those who observe the Ravivara Vrat. I am granting you, as a boon, a divine cow that fulfills all desires. This cow will make your entire life prosperous." Saying this, Lord Surya disappeared, and the old woman woke up. She saw that a very beautiful cow, along with her young calf, was standing in her courtyard. The cow and her calf were extremely beautiful. The old woman was very happy to receive them and tied the cow outside her house, feeding it fodder. After arranging proper water for the cow, the old woman went to rest.

After some time, the neighbor noticed the cow. She kept staring at that extremely beautiful cow without blinking, and her heart burned with jealousy. Suddenly, her eyes filled with amazement when she saw that the cow had produced gold in the form of dung. The neighbor immediately ran there, took that golden dung, and hid it in her house. In this way, the neighbor always kept an eye on the cow and would steal the dung whenever it was produced. Even after many days had passed, when the innocent old woman did not come to know the truth, Lord Surya Narayana thought - "In this way, this clever neighbor will continue deceiving the old woman, and she is being cheated." Thinking this, the Lord created a fierce storm through His divine power. Out of fear of the storm, the old woman tied her cow inside the house. In the morning, she saw that the cow had produced golden dung. Seeing this, the old woman was astonished and from that day onward kept the cow inside.

Since the cow was kept inside, the neighbor could no longer obtain the golden dung. Because of this, she burned with anger and jealousy and went to the king's court and said - "O King! An old woman lives in my neighborhood, and her cow produces golden dung. Such a miraculous cow befits only a powerful king like you. You can use that gold for the development of the kingdom and its subjects. What will that old woman do with so much gold?" Hearing this, the king was greatly astonished and ordered his soldiers - "Bring that miraculous cow to the royal palace immediately."

As usual, the old woman had completed her morning rituals and offered Bhoga to God and had just begun to eat when the king's soldiers arrived. Despite her repeated protests, they untied her cow and began taking it away. The old woman had become emotionally attached to that cow, and it was not an ordinary cow but a manifestation of Lord Surya's grace. Therefore, she tried with all her strength to protect her cow from the soldiers.

The old woman made many efforts, cried in various ways, and sought help, but out of fear of royal punishment, no one present there had the courage to oppose the soldiers. Finally, in despair, the old woman sat near the temple in her house, remembering God and weeping. In separation from her beloved cow, she even gave up food and water and continuously prayed with a distressed heart to God for its protection.

Meanwhile, when the soldiers brought the cow to the royal palace, the greedy king became very happy upon seeing the miraculous cow and eagerly waited for its golden dung. At night, when the king got up out of curiosity to see the golden dung, he saw that all directions of his palace were filled only with ordinary dung, so much so that there was not even space to place a sesame seed. Everywhere there was only dung. Seeing this, the king became extremely frightened and mentally prayed to God for forgiveness and sought help. Due to fear, the king fainted.

At that very moment, Lord Surya Narayana appeared in the king's dream and said - "O King! By seizing that old mother's cow, you have committed a highly condemnable and disgraceful act. That cow was given by Me to her as a boon, being pleased with her Ravivara Vrat. Return that cow respectfully to the old woman; this is beneficial for you, otherwise you will have to suffer severe punishment." As soon as morning came, the king respectfully returned that divine cow to the old woman and punished the neighbor according to her deeds.

As soon as the king did this, all the dung in the palace disappeared, and everything returned to normal. Witnessing this divine miracle, the king ordered all his subjects to observe the Ravivara Vrat to fulfill their desires. By faithfully observing the Ravivara Vrat according to the king's command, all the residents of the kingdom became happy and prosperous. An atmosphere of joy and celebration spread everywhere. The kingdom became free from all kinds of diseases and natural calamities, and all the subjects began to live a blissful life.