Beginning on the thirteenth lunar day in shuklapaksha, when the nakshatra Bhadrapada is in the sky, one fasts for three days and recounts the story of Savitri and Satyavana. (This story can be found in other Puranas and in the Mahabharata. Savitri's husband Satyavana had died. Savitri convinced Yama of her devotion and persuaded the god of death to bring her dead husband back to life) .
Newly married women visit a nearby Vat tree and worship it by tying red threads of love around it. They offer flowers and sweets to the tree. When the moon rises full and resplendent on the horizon, special feasts are shared by families.
Vat Savitri Vrat (Bad Mavas): Sat, 4 June 2016
Vat Savitri Vrat (Purnima) : Sun, 19 June 2016
वट की परिक्रमा करते समय एक सौ आठ बार या यथा शक्ति सुत लपेटा जाता है। ‘नमो वैवस्वताय’ इस मन्त्रसे वटवृक्षकी प्रदक्षिणा करनी चाहिये। सावित्रीको अर्घ्य देना चाहिये और वटवृक्षका सिंचन करते हुए अपने सौभाग्य की प्रार्थना करनी चाहिये। चने पर रुपया रखकर बायनेके रुपमें अपनी सासको देकर आशीर्वाद लिया जाता है। सौभाग्य-पिटारी और पुजा सामग्री किसी योग्य ब्राह्मणको दी जाती है।
वट सावित्री व्रत कथा एवं विधान हिंदी में
Vat Savitri Vrat Katha : The story of Savitri & King SatyawanSavitri, one of the most venerated women of Indian mythology. Savitri was a princess, born by the blessing of the sun god to King Ashwapati. A lustrous woman of great beauty, she was sent to the forest ashrams of sages to look for a suitable bridegroom for herself. Eventually, she met Satyawan, a prince living in the forest because his blind father had been banished from his empire. When Savitri revealed to her parents her determination to marry Satyawan, the court astrologers tried to stop her. They said that the prince's lifeline clearly showed that he would die within a year. Savitri had however, accepted him as her husband and would not be deterred from her resolve. She married him and went to the forest ashram to live with him and his parents.
On the full moon night of jyeshtha, the couple went into the jungle to collect firewood. As Satyawan rested under a Vat tree, Yama, the god of death came to snatch away his life. Savitri, seeing Yama take away her husband's breath, followed, pleading with him to return her husband's life. At each milestone, going from earth to heaven, Yama tried to persuade the determined princess to return home and accept the destiny of her husband as unchangeable. In the face of her resolve to conquer what appeared to be insurmountable obstacles, all his efforts were in vain. Then, to persuade her more effectively, he offered her three boons, excluding the life of her dead husband. Savitri, a woman of great intelligence, couched her requests in such a manner that she got back everything that her family had lost.
First, she asked for the lost sight of her blind father-in-law. Next, she asked for their lost empire and prosperity. And finally she asked for worthy progeny. When Yama had granted her the boon of progeny, she reminded him that his boon could not be fulfilled without Satyawan. Yama, defeated by her strength and faith, had to surrender the life force of Satyawan to her, and bless her with an immortal place in the hearts of her people.
Today, Savitri's power and her tenacity to overcome insurmountable problems remains an inspiration for every woman. She is venerated on the jyeshtha full moon day which is named after her and the tree under which this legend unfolded.
The observance of this vrata guarantees marital harmony.