Satyanarayana Fast is celebrated on the day of Purnima every month. However, this fast is also celebrated on Chaturthi Tithi sometimes. Chandra Udaya and Pradosh Vyapini Purnima should be used for fasts. Donations, charities and baths in holy rivers are considered to be very important on this day. Lord Satyanarayana or Vishnu is worshipped on this day. A fast should be kept for the whole day. In the evening, Lord Vishnu should be worshipped and Satyanarayana Katha should be organized. Food can be consumed once you have worshipped Lord Vishnu.
Satyanarayana Katha explains that a person should be completely devoted towards Lord Vishnu.Worshipping Lord Vishnu helps a person understand the ultimate truth. ‘Yasmen Kasmen Dine Matryo Bhakti Shraddha Samanvit’. This means if a person is devoted towards Lord Vishnu, he receives numerous blessings. Shastras explain the magnificence of Lord Satyanarayana. Lord Sri Narayana is the ultimate truth. In Bhagavad Gita, it has been explained that Lord Krishna or Vishnu is the reason for existence of earth, water, air, sky and fire.
In other words, Lord Narayana and truth are one and the same thing. A person cannot be very far away from the truth. This is because the truth is life. Truth is also the foundation of life. However, a person is distracted due to material desires. This is the reason why most people are unable to realize the truth. A person who keeps this fast possesses good qualities and character.
Lord Satyanarayana is another form of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu incarnated as Lord Satyanarayana to shatter Lord Indra’s pride. Lord Satyanarayana offered austerities in Badrinath to enlighten himself with the truth (Satya). Thus, he came to be known as Lord Satyanarayana. This has been clearly explained in Skanda Purana A person worshipping Lord Satyanarayana should keep a fast for the whole day.
Lord Satyanarayana’s idol should be placed at the place of worship. First of all, you should worship Lord Ganesha. After this, Lord Krishna and Lord Satyanarayana should be worshipped. After worshipping Lord Satyanarayana, Goddess Laxmi should be worshipped, followed by Lord Mahadev and Lord Brahma. Aarti of all Devas should be performed. Charnamrit and Prasad should be offered among devotees. Donations should be offered to Brahmanas. Clothes and food should be offered. After this, you can consume food.
|Date||Day||Hindu Lunar Month|
|20 January||Sunday||Paush month|
|19 February||Tuesday||Magh month|
|20 March||Wednesday||Falgun month|
|18 April||Thursday||Chaitra month|
|18 May||Saturday||Vaishakh month|
|16 June||Sunday||Jyeshta month|
|16 July||Tuesday||Ashad month|
|14 August||Wednesday||Shravan Maah|
|13 September||Friday||Bhadrapad month|
|13 October||Sunday||Ashwin month|
|12 November||Tuesday||Kartik month|
|11 December||Thursday||Kartik month|