Karva Chauth is related to Shiva and Parvati. The word Karva Chauth is made up of two words – Karva and Chauth. Karva means earthen pot and Chauth means Chaturthi. On this festival, special significance of earthen pot i.e. Karve has been considered. Sweet relation between husband and wife, strong relationships, All married women wait for the whole year for the Karva Chauth festival, a symbol of love and trust, and fulfill all its methods with great devotion and wish for the desired results.
There is a mythological tradition of fasting Karva Chauth on the Chaturthi Tithi of Krishna Paksha of Kartik month by fortunate women for the long life, good health and well-being of their husbands. In this fast, there is a law to worship Shiva-Parvati, Ganesha and Moon. On this festival, married women observe a fast for the whole day for the long life of their husbands, after seeing the moon in the evening, drink water from the hands of their husbands. Unmarried girls wish for a husband who loves them like Shiva and for this they observe all the fasts from Monday to Jaya-Parvati with full faith.
Karva Chauth is related to Shiva and Parvati. The word Karva Chauth is made up of two words – Karva and Chauth. Karva means earthen pot and Chauth means Chaturthi. On this festival, special significance of earthen pot i.e. Karve has been considered. All married women wait for the whole year for Karva Chauth festival, a symbol of sweet relationship, strong relationship, love and trust between husband and wife, and fulfill all its methods with great devotion and wish for the desired results.
In most of India, including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, many mythological stories are prevalent in relation to Karva Chauth, the most beloved for women. The description of Karva Chauth fasting is mentioned in the Mahabharata, Vamana Purana etc. According to the popular story regarding Karva Chauth, which has been going on since time immemorial, once a war started between the gods and the demons and the gods were defeated in that war. Seeing this, the deity went to Brahma and started praying for protection. Brahma said that to avoid this crisis, the wives of all the gods should observe a fast for their husbands and pray sincerely for their victory. By doing this, the gods will surely win in this war. This suggestion of Brahma was gladly accepted by all the gods and their wives, and according to the statement of Brahma, on the fourth day of Kartik month, the wives of all the gods kept a fast and prayed to God for the victory of their god husbands. His prayer was accepted and the gods won the battle. Hearing this good news, all the God wives broke their fast and took food and water. At that time the moon had also appeared in the sky. It is believed that the tradition of fasting Karva Chauth started from this day.
In the Mahabharata also, there is a mention of a story on the greatness of Karva Chauth. According to the legend, once when Arjuna went to the Nilgiris to do penance, Draupadi thought that many kinds of obstacles keep coming here all the time. Arjun is not here for their mitigation, so some remedy should be taken. Thinking this, he meditated on Lord Krishna. When Shri Krishna appeared there, Draupadi asked to tell some remedy to get rid of her sufferings. On this, Shri Krishna said – Once Parvati asked the same question to Lord Shiva, while telling about Karva Chauth, Shiva said that the fast of Karva Chauth is going to remove the obstacles coming in the household. It also removes bile effusion. Then Shri Krishna told Draupadi the story narrated by Shiva to Parvati and said that in ancient times Shakprasthapur Vedadharma devout Brahmin had seven sons and a daughter Veeravati. When she grew up, the daughter Veervati was married. The dear sister of seven brothers started feeling hungry before moonrise, due to which her face like a flower withered.
For the brothers, this pain of the sister was unbearable. So they started thinking of some solutions. He asked the sister to have food before moonrise, but the sister did not agree. Then the brothers, out of affection, lighted under the guise of a peepal tree, showing the moonrise to their sister with the help of a sieve made of innumerable holes, and said sister, get up. The sister got up and ate food after offering Ardhya to the moon. Her husband died as soon as she had food. She started crying. By luck, Indrani (Shachi) was going from there with the devadasis. Hearing the sound of crying, she went there and asked him the reason for crying. On narrating the whole situation by the Brahmin girl, Indrani said – You have consumed food and water before moonrise during the fast of Karva Chauth, due to which your husband has died. Now if you worship the moon along with Gauri, Shiva, Ganesh, Kartikeya on Karva Chauth, while serving the deceased husband for twelve months, worshiping the moon along with Gauri, Shiva, Ganesha, Kartikeya and after moonrise, take food and water, then your husband must surely Will come alive
The next year, the Brahmin girl observed the fast of Karva Chauth, including the fourth of twelve months. Due to the effect of the fast, her dead husband became alive. Lord Shri Krishna while narrating this story of Karva Chauth to Draupadi had said that by observing this fast with full devotion and method, all the sorrows are removed and happiness, good luck and wealth are attained in life. Draupadi also kept the fast of Karva Chauth by following the orders of Lord Krishna. Due to the effect of this fast, the five Pandavas including Arjuna won the battle of Mahabharata by defeating the army of Kauravas. It is believed that only after this the fast of Karva Chauth started. In some places this story is told with some alterations, but the basic story remains the same.
In this story, at some places, instead of seven, only four brothers are said and the sister’s name is missing. Somewhere the father is said to be a moneylender instead of a brahmin. Some stories do not mention the only sister of seven brothers and the place of residence of her father, while in some the father’s name is also missing. In some places, the story of the wives of the seven brothers, that is, the brothers-in-law of Vedavati, that is, the sister-in-law, and the story related to them have also been added. But in all the tales there is talk of brothers lighting a peepal tree under the cover of a sieve and showing light to the sister.
According to another legend related to the beginning of Karva Chauth, in ancient times a virtuous woman named Karva lived with her aged husband in a village on the banks of the river. One day the old man went to take a bath in the river, when a crocodile caught him while taking a bath in the river. On this the old man started calling his wife for help by shouting to get his wife done. Karva was a virtuous woman. Hearing the voice, Karva ran to her husband and ran and tied the crocodile with a raw thread. After tying the crocodile with a raw thread of cotton, Karva reached Yamraj. He was looking at the account written by Chitragupta at that time. Karva took seven sinks and started sweeping them, due to which the accounts of Yamraj started flying in the sky. Yamraj got scared and said – what do you want?
Karva said- A crocodile has caught my husband’s foot in the water of the river. Bring that crocodile with your power to your world i.e. hell and make my husband viva. Hearing about Karva, Yamraj said that Magar is still alive. Therefore, I cannot kill an untimely crocodile while I am alive. On this Karva said- If you do not protect my husband by killing the crocodile, then I will destroy you by cursing. Frightened by the threat of Karva, Yamraj in fear came with Karva to the place where Magar had held her husband. Yamraj killed the crocodile and reached Yamlok and by saving the life of Karva’s husband, granted him long life. While leaving, he went on giving happiness and prosperity to Karva and also gave this boon – I will protect the good fortune of the woman who fasts on this day. Karva had saved her husband’s life with the power of her husband. From the day of this incident, the fast of Karva Chauth became popular as Karva. The day when Karva saved her husband’s life, it was the fourth day of Krishna Paksha of Kartik month. There are many stories related to this festival, out of which the story of Satyavan and Savitri is also very famous. It is a popular belief that by listening to the story of Karva Chauth, married women remain happy, they get happiness, peace, prosperity and children happiness in their house.
