Karva Chauth Vrat Katha
The story of Queen Veeravati and the fast for a husband's long life
Karva Chauth falls on the Chaturthi of Krishna Paksha in the month of Kartik, four days after the full moon. Married women keep a strict nirjala fast (without food or water) from sunrise, worship Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha and the Moon, and break the fast only after sighting the moon at night and seeing their husband's face through a sieve — praying for his long life and well-being. This is the katha recited at the evening puja.
The Brothers' Trick
Long ago there was a beautiful queen named Veeravati, the only and beloved sister of seven brothers. On her first Karva Chauth after marriage she kept the strict nirjala fast at her parents' home. As the day wore on she grew faint with hunger and thirst, and her seven brothers, unable to bear the sight of their dear sister's suffering, devised a plan.
They lit a great fire behind a pipal tree at a distance and, holding up a sieve before it, made it appear that the moon had risen. The brothers told Veeravati, 'Sister, the moon is up — break your fast.' Trusting them, she offered water to the false moon, broke her fast, and ate — before the true moon had risen and before her vow was complete.
Devotion Restores What Was Lost
The moment Veeravati broke her vow falsely, ill news arrived: her husband had fallen gravely ill and died. Heartbroken, she understood that her fast had been broken before its time, and she wept in grief and repentance. It is said that the goddess Parvati (in some tellings, a passing divine power) appeared to her and revealed the deception of the brothers, telling her that only by keeping the Karva Chauth vrat with full faith and in the proper manner could her husband be restored.
Veeravati resolved to keep the fast again with complete devotion, enduring without complaint and breaking it only upon truly sighting the moon. By the power of her sincere vrat and unwavering love, her husband's life was restored to her, and the two lived long and happily. Since then married women keep the Karva Chauth fast exactly as prescribed — never breaking it until the real moon is seen — praying for the long life of their husbands. 'Karva Maa ki Jai.'
The Fruit of the Vrat
The Karva Chauth vrat is kept by married women for the long life, health and prosperity of their husbands and for akhand saubhagya (an unbroken, happy marriage); unmarried women also keep it praying for a good husband. Its lesson is the power of sincere, properly-kept devotion — the fast must be observed in full faith and broken only after the moon is truly seen.
Mantras & Aarti for this Puja
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Karva Chauth celebrated?
On the Chaturthi (fourth day) of the Krishna Paksha in the month of Kartik, usually in October or early November — four days after Sharad Purnima and nine days before Diwali.
Why is the husband's face seen through a sieve?
After sighting the moon, the wife views the moon and then her husband's face through a chalni (sieve) by the light of a lamp, before he gives her the first sip of water to break her fast. It is a gesture of love and of praying for his long life.
Can the fast be broken before the moon rises?
No — the heart of the katha is that the fast must not be broken until the true moon is seen. Queen Veeravati's sorrow came precisely from breaking it early before a false moon; the vrat is completed only after genuine moon-sighting and the evening puja.