संतोषी माता व्रत कथा (प्रत्येक शुक्रवार) · Santoshi Maa Vrat Katha (Every Friday)

The vow of Santoshi Maa can begin on any Friday, and its method is simple and calm. A ghee lamp is lit, and a water-filled kalash is placed before it, with a small bowl set atop the kalash holding jaggery and roasted chana. Sitting with devotion, one hears or narrates the katha of Santoshi Maa, then performs aarti, and distributes the jaggery-chana as prasad to everyone present, according to one's means. Nothing is eaten until the katha has been heard. This method is repeated every Friday, and by the Mother's grace the wish is fulfilled — if not within three weeks, then within three months, and at the very most, even under unfavorable stars, within three years.

In the village of Shri Rangpur lived an old woman with her seven sons and daughters-in-law. She showered great affection on her six elder sons, but treated her youngest son, Gordhan, and his wife, Ganga, like unwanted stepchildren. At mealtimes she would feed the six sons first, then mix their leftovers onto a single plate and serve it to Gordhan. Gordhan had no idea; he ate happily whatever his mother handed him. Ganga noticed this discrimination and eventually told her husband about it.

Gordhan did not believe her at first, but the next day, watching secretly, he saw the truth for himself. Hurt within, he kept his composure, made an excuse of a stomach ache, and did not eat. He told Ganga she had been right, and that he would now leave home to seek his fortune elsewhere. Taking leave through the back door, he gave Ganga a gold ring as a keepsake, and Ganga marked her kurta with a cow-dung handprint so he would recognize her token in return. Gordhan then set off toward the town of Madhavpur.

In Madhavpur, Gordhan found work at a merchant's shop. Through his diligence and skill he soon became the shop's manager, and when the merchant left on pilgrimage, he entrusted the entire business to him. Gordhan began earning great wealth, but sent no word home. Meanwhile, all the household work was piled onto Ganga, who was given nothing but coarse bread and water from a broken coconut shell. One day at the well, she saw some women holding plates, keeping a vow. Asking about it, she learned it was the vow of Santoshi Maa, which even the poor could easily observe, and which brought wealth to the needy, work to the jobless, health to the sick, reunion to the separated, and relief from every kind of hardship. Anxious over her husband's silence, and learning that this vow could even bring news of him, Ganga resolved to begin it.

Six days later, on the following Friday, Ganga began the vow with full ritual, praying to Santoshi Maa for relief from her sorrow. On the third Friday, as the vow was completed, a messenger arrived from Madhavpur bringing two hundred rupees and word that Gordhan would soon return. Ganga rejoiced and devoted herself even more to bhajan and kirtan. Seeing this, her sisters-in-law burned with jealousy and began looking for ways to harm her.

That very night, Santoshi Maa appeared to Gordhan in a dream and told him his wife was suffering and that he should return home at once. Gordhan quickly settled his affairs and set out for Rangpur with two loaded bullock carts. As he neared the village, Ganga, who was cutting firewood near the temple, sensed his arrival and prayed for confirmation. A divine voice confirmed it, instructing her to carry the bundle of wood home on her head and tell her mother-in-law, in her husband's hearing, that she had been given nothing but coarse bread and coconut-shell water — so that the truth would reach him. Reaching home, Gordhan refused to eat despite his mother's false assurances, and waited for Ganga. When she arrived, weary, and repeated the words as instructed, his mother's deceit was exposed before him. Alone with her, Ganga told him everything, including her vow to Santoshi Maa. Remembering his own dream, Gordhan became fully convinced of the vow's power. He announced that he would keep a separate household from his mother's, and for the first time in years the couple ate a meal together in happiness. Soon his six brothers also returned, and the whole family was joyfully reunited.

That night Ganga performed her puja, and Gordhan watched her with newfound respect. The next Friday, Ganga planned her udyapan and asked her sisters-in-law to send their eight children to be fed. The jealous sisters-in-law secretly instructed their sons to demand sour food, or to take money and buy something sour themselves. The boys refused the meal and demanded sour food; Ganga refused, as the rule required, but under pressure and by mistake, gave them money instead. The boys bought tamarind and ate it secretly in Ganga's own room, and the sisters-in-law rejoiced, believing the vow was broken. The next morning, the king sent for Gordhan; the sisters-in-law spread a rumor that he was in trouble for unpaid taxes, frightening Ganga. She prayed for forgiveness for her unwitting mistake, and a divine voice told her that although she had not served the sour food herself, giving the money had still compromised the vow. Weeping, Ganga admitted her error, promised never to repeat it, and prayed for her husband's safety. The voice assured her that true devotees never come to harm. Within the hour, Gordhan returned safely — the king, delighted by his cleverness, had gifted him a diamond ring, not punished him at all. Seeing this, the sisters-in-law burned with envy.

The following Friday, Ganga performed the udyapan correctly, this time inviting the Brahmin neighbors' children and giving them food and dakshina in the proper manner. Pleased by Ganga's unwavering devotion, Santoshi Maa granted her remaining wish, and nine months later she was blessed with a son. In his joy, Gordhan distributed more than five maunds of sweets throughout the village, but out of spite, the sisters-in-law refused to accept any sweets for themselves or their children.

When the baby was a month and a quarter old, Ganga took him to the temple to offer thanks and ask for a blessing. A divine voice told her the blessing would come in person later, but warned her not to fail to recognize the goddess when she came, or there would be grave consequences. Some time later, a filthy, foul-smelling beggar woman of about eighty, covered in flies, appeared moaning at Ganga's door, asking for jaggery and chana. The household drove her away in disgust. Sensing this might be Santoshi Maa herself, Ganga rushed down, but her mother-in-law had already shut the door. Trusting the goddess, Ganga dropped her baby from the upstairs window, and the old woman caught him safely. At that instant the shut door flew open on its own, and Ganga saw the beggar woman surrounded by divine light, the baby happy in her arms. The beggar revealed her true form as Santoshi Maa, blessed Ganga to live always in happiness and prosperity, and vanished. The whole family was struck with deep remorse for having driven the goddess away. From then on, Ganga was honored throughout the village, and her sisters-in-law and mother-in-law gave up their ill will and took up the vow themselves, so that happiness and prosperity returned to the family forever. Whoever hears or tells this katha with devotion on a Friday will have their wishes fulfilled by Santoshi Maa, just as Ganga's were. Here the katha concludes.