Karwa Chauth 2103

The traditional katha

This is the katha traditionally told by those who keep this vrata; no Purana source was found for it.

The name comes from the karwa, the small clay pot used in the worship, and chauth, the fourth day of the waning moon.

Long ago there lived a girl named Veeravati. She was the only sister of seven brothers, and they loved her dearly. After her wedding she came to stay at her parents' home, and there she kept her first Karwa Chauth fast for her husband's long life. She took no food and no water from morning, and she meant to eat only after she had seen the moon rise.

As the day wore on, hunger and thirst made her weak. By evening she could hardly stand, and at last she fainted. Her brothers could not bear to see their little sister suffer. They knew she would not touch a morsel until the moon appeared, so they made a false moon for her. One brother went off a little way and set a light shining through the branches of a tree. The others came to Veeravati and told her that the moon had risen.

Veeravati looked out, saw the glow, and believed it was the moon. She made her offering to it and sat down to break her fast.

At the very first morsel she sneezed. In the next morsel she found a hair. Then came the terrible news: her husband had died.

Veeravati wept and wept, and would not be comforted. Then a goddess appeared before her and asked why she cried. The goddess told her the truth: her brothers had tricked her, and she had broken her fast before the real moon had risen. The goddess told her to keep the fast again, this time with full faith and devotion.

Veeravati did just as she was told. She kept the vrata with her whole heart, and by the power of that faithful fast her husband was given back his life.

This is the story that families recite each year when they keep the Karwa Chauth fast.