Mangala Gauri Vrat Katha

Dadi**: "Guddu, do you know what a vrat is?"

Guddu**: "When Mummy doesn't eat and prays all day?"

Dadi**: "Yes! It's a sacred promise to God, usually with fasting and special prayers. Tonight I'll tell you a beautiful story about the Mangala Gauri Vrat - and how a young bride saved her husband from death."

Guddu**: "She saved him? How?"

Dadi**: "Long ago, King Jayapala and his queen had no children. They tried every prayer, every vrat - nothing worked. One day, a sage came to their door asking for an offering."

Guddu**: "Did they give him food?"

Dadi**: "The queen tried! But before she could bring the offering, the sage would leave. This happened for three days. On the fourth day, she was ready and waiting!"

Guddu**: "Smart queen!"

Dadi**: "When she gave the offering, the sage revealed himself as Lord Shiva! He blessed them with a son. But there was a catch - the child would die at sixteen."

Guddu**: "Oh no! That's terrible!"

Dadi**: "They named the boy Shiva and raised him with love. As his sixteenth birthday approached, his mother told him the sad truth. But the brave boy wasn't afraid."

Guddu**: "What did he do?"

Dadi**: "He said he would go to Kashi to pray at Lord Vishweshwara's temple. Before leaving, he planted a Tulasi plant and told his mother: 'If this plant stays green, I am safe. If it dries, I am in danger.'"

Guddu**: "That's like a life monitor!"

Dadi**: "Exactly! On his journey, young Shiva passed through a kingdom. Some ladies were picking flowers, and one cursed another girl named Susheela, saying she would become a widow."

Guddu**: "That's mean!"

Dadi**: "Susheela wasn't scared! She said, 'My mother performs the Mangala Gauri Vrat with devotion. No one in our family will become a widow!' Right then, Susheela's parents came out of a temple and saw young Shiva."

Guddu**: "Did they know about his curse?"

Dadi**: "No! They thought he was an answer to their prayers - a perfect groom sent by Lord Shiva. That very night, Susheela and Shiva were married."

Guddu**: "But he was supposed to die!"

Dadi**: "That night, Goddess Mangala Gauri appeared to Susheela in a dream. 'Your husband will die tonight,' the goddess warned. 'But I will tell you how to save him.'"

Guddu**: "What did she have to do?"

Dadi**: "The goddess said, 'A black snake will come to bite your husband. Place a pot of milk before it. When it enters the pot, tie it tight and give it to your mother as a ritual gift.'"

Guddu**: "A snake in a milk pot!"

Dadi**: "Susheela stayed awake all night. When the deadly snake appeared, she did exactly as instructed. She trapped the snake and gave it away. Death was cheated!"

Guddu**: "The vrat worked!"

Dadi**: "When they traveled to his parents' home, they found them blind from crying - they thought their son had died as prophesied! But Susheela applied sacred kajal from the vrat, and their sight was restored!"

Guddu**: "Everything was healed!"

Dadi**: "The family lived happily ever after. Lord Krishna himself told this story to Draupadi, teaching that the Mangala Gauri Vrat performed with pure heart can protect a husband's life."

Guddu**: "So faith and devotion can change destiny?"

Dadi**: "When combined with action, yes! Susheela didn't just pray - she stayed awake, trapped the snake, did what needed to be done. Faith gives us courage; action makes change possible."

Guddu**: "I like Susheela. She was brave and smart!"

Dadi**: "And devoted. That combination, beta, can move even the goddess. Now sleep, and may your dreams be blessed by Mangala Gauri."