Who does not know about the glory of Lord Satyanarayan ? In Skanda Purana, Lord Vishnu himself has told about the result of listening to this story from Devarshi Narad. Nowadays, from the lips of many people who take sarcasm on Sanatan Dharma, one gets to hear that the story in Satyanarayan Vrat Katha, has only been repeated again and again that the one who did not listen to it is at a loss. And whoever heard it got benefited.
What is the fact ?
It is often said jokingly to many people that they were listening to a certain story but even after listening to everything in it, they did not understand what the story was about. The same thing is repeated throughout the story whoever heard it benefited, and whoever disrespected or heard the incomplete story suffered loss. It sounds logical. After all, the listener is not able to understand what is the real purpose of composing the story.
What is a Katha ?
The first thing we should know is that Katha is a story or anecdote. In religious stories, an attempt is made to explain the importance of a particular idol to the common people through a story. The praise of God’s glory, the deep contemplation of God, and the philosophy of Tatva cannot be easily understood by everyone. That is why scholars developed many methods. One of them is to prepare the religious mind through stories. Religious here means a mindset that is kind-hearted, compassionate, charitable, and understanding of suffering. The development of good habits and reduction of bad habits in a human being means becoming religious. Those deeds are classified as sinful deeds, when a person becomes religious-minded, he avoids doing such sinful deeds.
Why to hear this Katha ?
Our mind is more attracted towards wrong actions, this is the nature of the living being. The senses, with their desire for happiness, motivate the living being in that direction, which gives them satisfaction. Man is more advanced than other living beings, hence man can be expected to rise above sensual desires and follow the rules and regulations. But this is not possible for a common man because sensual desires are strong and their power does not allow our conscience to awaken. So by remembering Bhagwan naam, we automatically start understanding the difference between true and false. Every common man can understand the stories very easily. At least he knows to know what is wrong and what is right. Discussing God awakens restraint and discipline within us. We become afraid of sinful deeds and engage in auspicious and beneficial deeds.
Importance of Satyanarayan Katha
In the very famous and heard Satyanarayan story in every home, Satyanarayan is the form of Shri Hari Vishnu. Lord Satyanarayan has been discussed in Skanda Purana. Shri Vishnu himself had told Narad ji the importance of listening to this story. Listening to this story leads to the destruction of demonic tendencies and the development of divine qualities within man. Even though it is repeated again and again during the story, bad things happen to the one who did not listen to it or disrespected it, and whoever listened to the story sincerely got welfare. So what we are talking about here is the devotion that you have in the divine qualities. One who has faith in God becomes godly.