King Yuvanashva, a pious king looks after his subjects well. He performs yagnas regularly and donates generously to Brahmins too. Vishnu Sharma, a scholar well versed in the Vedas lives a content life with his seven sons in Yuvanashva’s kingdom. He is rich beyond measure and takes good care of his family. But when his sons grow up they start bickering with one another. So they decide to live separately.
Vishnu Sharma uses all his wealth to meet their endless requirements. Six of his sons lead a lavish lifestyle. But Vishnu Sharma’s youngest son and daughter-in-law Kalyani are barely able to make ends meet. And Vishnu Sharma has nothing left to give them.
Over time, Vishnu Sharma realizes his folly. He has become old and weak and does not even have a home of his own now. Left with no other option, he spends one night in each of his seven sons homes. Vishnu Sharma knows that he can overcome his challenges only by observing the vrat of Sankashti. So he decides to perform all the rituals meticulously and fast on all Sankashtis from then on.
Vishnu Sharma goes to his eldest daughter-in-law’s house and requests her to prepare for the rituals and pooja. But his eldest daughter-in-law snaps at him and says, “Can’t you see I am busy? And I don’t understand why you have to observe all these fasts and perform all these poojas. Where is your lord Ganesha anyway? I am yet to witness his miracles in my life. I am totally fed up with your endless demands. You want me to prepare for some fast or the other every other day. I’m sorry I cannot fulfil your expectations anymore.”
Vishnusharma feels very hurt when he hears all this. He blinks back his tears and goes to his second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth daughter in law’s house too. But all of them berate him for adding to their chores and woes.
Vishnusharma ended up fasting for half the day in this manner. He goes to his seventh son’s house. His daughter-in-law Kalyani welcomes him with a warm smile and says, “You look tired father. Please rest a while till I prepare a meal for you.” Vishnusharma nods his head and says, “Yes, I am tired dear. And I will rest here for a while. But don’t prepare a meal for me. I am observing the vrat of Sankashti today.”
Kalyani gives him a mattress and a pillow to sleep on, closes the door quietly and wonders how she can help Vishnusharma perform the rituals and the pooja in the evening. She senses intuitively that none of her other co-sisters had agreed to help him perform the evening pooja and knows that Vishnusharma had not made any demands on her because he was aware of their sorry plight. Kalyani looks at the empty pots and pans on her kitchen shelf. She did not have even a single incense stick or ingredient to perform the pooja.
So Kalyani goes to all her neighbours’ houses and tells them about Vishnusharma’s vrat. Her neighbours willingly give her whatever they can spare. She prepares a handful of laddoos with the few ingredients that she gets. And feels grateful when she sees the chaval, chandan, phal, phool, dhoop, deep and naivedya that her neighbours had given her. They had taken care of all her pooja requirements.
When Vishnusharma wakes up an hour later, he is touched to see Kalyani preparing for the evening pooja. Together they seat the swaroop of Balachandra Ganapati on a Agama Peetha and perform all the rituals of Sankashti properly. Kalyani prepares a simple meal for Vishnusharma and helps him break his fast after sighting the moon.
She has nothing left to feed herself so she sleeps on a hungry stomach. But she wakes up with a start in the middle of the night when she hears Vishnusharma vomiting. She cleans up the room and wonders if they had made some mistake while performing the Sankashti rituals. Vishnu Sharma and Kalyani unknowingly end up staying awake all through the night because they didn’t want to disturb anyone in the middle of the night.
Fortunately, Vishnusharma feels better as the night progresses. The next morning both of them are taken aback by surprise when they find diamonds, pearls and gemstones scattered all around the house. And strangely enough, Vishnusharma feels as if he has been gifted with a new body. His weakness and illness had disappeared. Completely.
But Kalyani is sceptical and says, “O father, I’m sure a thief has dumped his stolen goods in our house to save his life. We will end up getting punished for no fault of ours.” Vishnusharma looks at her naïve face and says, “No Kalyani. Balachandra Maha Ganapati has blessed you with all this because he is pleased with your shraddha and bhakti.
I felt it was futile to fast at my age with my weak body. But faith should be a constant all through our lives. Let’s fast on all Sankashtis and perform the rituals with utmost devotion in our hearts. For that is what matters the most.” Kalyani nods her head understandingly and shares Balachandra Maha Ganapati’s blessings with her neighbours because they were the ones who helped her unquestioningly in her hour of need.
The news spreads like wildfire. Vishnusharma’s other six daughters-in-law question his actions because they assume he had stashed away his remaining wealth and had given it all to Kalyani. They demand their rightful share from him now.
Vishnusharma in a quiet yet firm tone says, “I came to your houses too with the same request. But all of you insulted me and scoffed at the concept of Sankashtis. You said you had no time to perform the pooja every month. Kalyani had nothing in her home. Yet she begged for all the material from her neighbours and performed the Sankashti pooja with devotion. So Balachandra Maha Ganapati has blessed her in his special way.”
Vishnusharma’s daughters-in-law realized that their fortunes had taken a turn for the worse and they had suffered from some ailment or the other lately because they had incurred the wrath of Balachandra Maha Ganapati. All six of them perform all the Sankashtis after that and with Balachandra Maha Ganapati’s blessings they too were able to overcome all their health issues and financial setbacks.”
Krishna sees the devotion on Yudhishtra’s face and says, “Wake up early in the morning. Clean your home, have your bath and wear clean clothes. Seat Balachandra Maha Ganapati on the Agama Peetha, face the north and offer him some water mixed with a few sesame seeds first. Lord Ganesha has 32 swaroops in all. Balachandra Maha Ganapati is his sixth swaroop and has eight arms and four heads. Balachandra Maha Ganapati blesses his devotees with health and wealth and removes the obstacles from their lives. Krishna smiles to himself because He knows that Yudhishtra too will fast on all Sankashtis and regain his kingdom in the near future.
Click here to read the other Sankashti Vrat Kathas.
Click here to read stories on Krishna.