Mahalaxmi Vrat Today: Know Puja Rituals & Auspicious Muhurat

Appease Maa Laxmi by observing the Mahalaxmi Vrat today! Attain prosperity and happiness in life by following the Puja rituals for Mahalaxmi Vrat!

Goddess Lakshmi is signified as the goddess of prosperity and wealth by the followers of Hinduism. Maa Lakshmi is known to be the divine consort of Lord Vishnu and eliminates the sorrows and miseries from her devotees’ lives. Natives fast and venerate the Goddess to seek her blessings. Mahalakshmi Vrat, falling during Bhadrapada in Shukla Ashtami, holds great importance in Hinduism. In the year 2019, Bhadrapada of Shukla Ashtami will fall on 6th September, and from this day itself, the Mahalaxmi Vrat will begin. Read this article to get important information related to this fast.

Know the Dates of Sharad Navratri in 2019

हिन्दी में पढ़ने के लिए यहाँ क्लिक करें

According to the religious scriptures, observing Mahalaxmi Vrat is said to fulfil all desires and eliminate the sufferings. This fast is observed for 16 days. However, if you are unable to fast for 16 days, then you can fast on the first, eighth and sixteenth day. However, no matter the duration of this fast, you must maintain pure thoughts throughout this period. Additionally, observing Brahmacharya during Mahalaxmi fast can be beneficial.

Mahalaxmi Vrat in 2019

Mahalaxmi Vrat Begins	Shukla Ashtami, Bhadrapada	6 Sept. 2019
Mahalaxmi Vrat Ends	Krishna Ashtami, Ashwin Month	22 Sept. 2019

Mahalakshmi Vrat: Puja Rituals To Follow

• After waking up on the day of fast, meditate peacefully while remembering the name of Maa Laxmi. After this, take a bath and clean the temple altar.
• After this, take a vow to observe the fast and pray to the Goddess for successful completion of this fast without any disruption.
• If you are observing the fast for 16 or even three days, then you must worship the Goddess in the morning as well as evening as well.
• Thoroughly clean your house for these 16 days.
• After the completion of the fast on the sixteenth day, prepare a Mandap or Pavillion with a red cloth and place the idol of Maa Laxmi in it.
• Keep fruits, flowers, sweets, nuts, kumkum etc. at the place of worship.
• Offer yarn during the worship sixteen times to the Goddess, and chant the mantra given below while doing it. The meaning of this mantra is, “O Mother Lakshmi, I hope that you are satisfied with this fast observed by me.”

क्षीरोदार्णवसम्भूता लक्ष्मीश्चन्द्र सहोदरा। 

व्रतोनानेत सन्तुष्टा भवताद्विष्णुबल्लभा।।

kṣīrodārṇavasambhūtā lakṣmīścandra sahodarā। 

vratonāneta santuṣṭā bhavatādviṣṇuballabhā।।

• After this, bathe the idol of Mata Lakshmi with Panchamrit and perform the Shodashopachar puja ritual. If you are capable, then you can invite four Brahmins on this day and feed them. 
• On the day of Mahalakshmi Vrat, do not consume any food items other than fruits, milk and sweets.

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Mahalaxmi Vrat & Mythological Legend

Ione can find a mythological legend associated with the Mahalaxmi Vrat in the Puranas. According to this legend, there lived a poor Brahmin in a village who was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. Once pleased with his devotion, Lord Vishnu appeared in front of him and offered him a boon. The Brahmin wished for Maa Goddess to reside at his place. After listening to to the Brahmin, Lord Vishnu told him about a woman who prepares the cow dung or Gobar at the temple near his village, who is the incarnation of Maa Laxmi. He asked him to invite her at home. 

The Brahmin followed the idea given by Lord Vishnu, and invited her to his place. Hearing his words, Goddess Lakshmi understood that this ides belong to Lord Vishnu. With this, she advised the Brahmin to observe the Mahalaxmi fast for 16 days, and offer Arghya to the Moon at midnight on the 16th day. The Brahmin followed her advice, observed Mahalakshmi fast, and on the 16th day, Maa Laxmi kept her promise. Since then, Mahalakshmi Vrat is observed by the people of India.

Blessings With Mahalaxmi Vrat

Maa Mahalakshmi is also considered to be the goddess of joy and happiness. If you observe this fast as per rituals with a clean mind, the blessings of Maa Mahalaxmi get bestowed upon you. If your fast bears fruitful results, then money-related troubles get eliminated, and you attain profitable outcomes at a social level. You just need to keep in mind that no inappropriate act must be carried out throughout this duration of Mahalakshmi fast. You should keep your body and mind pure during the fast.

Teacher’s Day Special: Give a New Direction to your Career

This Teacher’s Day, pay regards to your mentors and know how to set foot on the right career path. Our Teacher’s Day special blog will provide you with interesting insights about your future and major astrological predictions!!

हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें

Also known as Guru, teacher is one such person in your life who enlightens us and removes despair from our lives. The two words that the Guru is made up of, signifies the one who eradicates the dark clouds of ignorance from our lives. Thus, a teacher is such an individual who illuminates life with radiance by providing us with rays of knowledge and wisdom. The glory of Guru has also been given place in the religious scriptures, as the verse which is mentioned below is quite popular around the globe. 

gururbrahmā gururviṣṇu gururdevo maheśvaraḥ,

guru sākṣāta paraṃ brahma tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ।

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णु गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः, 

गुरु साक्षात परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः। 

It means that all the three Lords, Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva are incarnations of Guru only. Since, Guru is our primary religion, we should bow down in front of them. This is the reason that Guru is given a much higher status than God. Kabir Das ji has also described the glory and said, 

gurū govinda doū khaḍa़e, kāke lāgūṃ pāṃya।

balihārī gurū apane govinda diyo batāya।।

गुरू गोविन्द दोऊ खड़े, काके लागूं पांय।

बलिहारी गुरू अपने गोविन्द दियो बताय।।

Thus, the importance of Guru in life is considered to be the most crucial because he helps us to set foot on the right path and also makes us worthy so that our character develops in such a manner that all the desired goals are achieved by us. Ideally, there is no special day to show our gratitude towards the Guru, but in India, 5th September is celebrated every year as Teachers Day. Let us now move on to know the reason behind this celebration. 

Why Teacher’s Day is Celebrated on 5 September? 

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the first Vice President and second President of our country India, was born on 5 September 1888. He gave great importance to education and kept it above everything, while placing it in the supreme pedestal. Before embellishing these honorary posts, he was a teacher and also gave superlative recognition to this post, since, a teacher's job is to the upcoming generation of a particular society. According to him, the navigation qualities of a teacher must be excellent as the person adorns the responsibility to construct the future of a country’s youth . He was also a renowned philosopher and writer.

Dr. Krishnan served as the Vice Chancellor of Andhra University and professor in the most prestigious Oxford University. After that he became a professor of George V College under the University of Calcutta and then Chancellor of Kashi Hindu University. After this he was also the Chancellor of the University of Delhi. Even before the independence of India, he was conferred the title of "Sir" by the British Empire due to his supreme intellect and knowledge. In 1954, the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, presented the Bharat Ratna, India's highest Civilian award, for his great philosophical prowess, educational abilities and achievements.

When he took oath as President of our country in 1962, his students wanted to celebrate his birthday as Radhakrishnan Day to honor him but Dr. Krishnan refused to do so and said that the celebration of his birthday as Teacher’s Day and offering tribute to the teachers would overwhelm him. Since then till today, the trend to celebrate Teachers' Day on 5 September, has been followed. On this day, students in all schools and colleges celebrate Teacher's Day so as to pay homage to their mentors.

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Significance of Teacher’s Day in India

Our country's culture and heritage is quite ancient and the institution(Parampara) of Gurukul also finds an important place in it. 5th of September is a day dedicated to Gurus(teachers) and they are especially honored on the same day. Students collectively offer their gratitude to their teachers. It can also be said that Teacher’s Day is celebrated as a festival in our country. An advanced form of harmony is seen between the mentors and their disciples on this day and various competitions are organized in all the academic institutions. The reality is that Teacher's Day reflects the Indian culture and highlights the need for teachers in one’s life.

Also Read : Benefits of Reading Shiv Tandav Stotram 

This Teacher’s Day, Know the Best Career Prospects 

The various planets and Nakshatras listed down under Vedic Astrology can procreate different kinds of influences. The possibility of getting a good academic life can also be determined from the positions taken by these planets and Nakshatras. The different houses of one’s Kundli also enlightens us about teachers and education. At the same time, the fourth and fifth house, tells a lot about the education and its enhancement. If these houses are under the positive affliction of auspicious planets and their ruling lords are in an exalted state, then the concerned native receives a good education. 

The ninth house of the Kundli signifies about our Guru or Teacher and also clarifies prospects about pursuing higher education. The planet Jupiter the descriptor of knowledge, while Mercury is the governor of intellect and one’s creative abilities are demonstrated by the planet Venus . The second house of the birth chart indicates the mastering qualities of a person. If the fifth house is related to the ninth house and the central or Trikon houses are being occupied by auspicious Yogas, then one obtains a good education and gets counted among the scholars. Thus Vedic astrology also tells us about the state of education.

Read this to Give a New Direction to your Career 

Each and every student and his/her parents dream of getting the best possible education to secure their future in a better manner by getting enrolled in a respectable job. Many a times, it happens that we get the right and appropriate education but fail to give a right direction to our career. After analyzing your academic from an astrological point of view, it can be deferred if the field you are pursuing will be able to build the right career for you or not. It can also provide information about the path of career you will be setting your foot on. Therefore it becomes very important to know in which domain we should pursue our education so that it helps us in uplifting our careers. The right education, received at the right time, strengthens our career and it can be determined with the help of astrology. 

Keeping the needs of students in mind, AstroSage has created one of the most unique reports of the world which carries the objective to provide the right guidance to each and every student whose career needs are different from one another. This report, based on astrology and psychology, the student's personality development and his/her future career has been kept in mind and highlights has been mentioned on what type of profession he/she should settle for. It the perfect report for students who are struggling with their careers as many have received the right guidance with the help of it. It has attained wide popularity and known as CogniAstro Report.

This report is very helpful and effective for every parent and their children as it sheds light on the grey areas of your life that bother you the most. That is, it provides information the right direction in which you should pursue your studies so that you are successful in achieving great heights of professional success. If your child is a Class 10 student you are confused about which subjects to select in the next phase of academics, then you should select the Cogniestro Career Counseling Report (up to Grade 10). It attempts to give riddance all your problems and tells you which subjects you should choose after class 10 while taking your child's planetary position, his/her interest, his/her thinking and other things into account.

Additionally, students who have completed their graduation and are looking for a job or those who wish to change your existing jobs, can choose our Career Counselling Report because it will guide you by listing out all the possible career prospects for you. 

We hope for your better future and wish that the light of knowledge keeps shining your life forever. Wisdom is the greatest achievement of life and may you keep receiving it always. AstroSage wishes you all the very best and a prosperous Teacher’s Day!!!

Skanda Sashti in 2019: Mantras To Appease Lord Kartikeya

Appease Lord Kartikeya with Skanda Sashti fast, attain happiness & success! Know the importance of the fast, mythological legend and entire worshipping rituals.

हिन्दी में पढ़ने के लिए यहाँ क्लिक करें…

Skand Shashti, also known as Skanda Shashti, is a festival celebrated every year in South India, especially in the state of Tamil Nadu. Like other Indian festivals, this festival also symbolizes the victory of good over evil. The natives worship Lord Murugan, Subramanya and Kartikeya, sons of Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati, on this day. According to the Skanda Purana, fasting on Skanda Sashti holds special significance and this fast is dedicated to Lord Kartikeya.

Skanda Sashti in 2019

As we have told you that the fast of Skanda Sashti is dedicated to Lord Kartikeya, the son of Shiva-Parvati, which is celebrated for six days. In the year 2019, this festival begins on Wednesday, 4 September. In North India, Lord Kartikeya is called the son of Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati, whereas in South India, natives worship Lord Murugan as their son. Especially in the provincial states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala etc. in South India, there is a provision to worship Lord Kartikeya, which is also known as Skanda Shashti Puja.

The festival of Skanda Sashti celebrates the birth of Lord Murugan and destruction of the Asuras. Hence, anyone who worships the Lord with true devotion gets rid of his/her sufferings and attains happiness and prosperity. Every year on this six-day festival, all the devotees gather in large numbers in the temples of Lord Kartikeya. On this occasion, grand processions are also organized at many places. Apart from this, the famous temples of South India like Thirupparamkunram Temple, a temple dedicated to Lord Subramaniam and located at the Udupi and Palani Hills, organize special poojas for six days on this festival. A huge fair is also organized in many places.

Get Details About Festivals, Rituals and Mantras

Skanda Sashti & Its Religious Significance

Skanda Purana is a sacred scripture like all other eighteen Puranas. According to Skanda Purana, in the mythological time, Tarakasura, Surpadma, and Simhamukha defeated the Devtas with their divine powers and chased them away from Heaven to Earth. By conquering the Heaven, those demons started terrorizing the Earth by torturing the Devtas and humans. 

Of the three demons Tarakasura, Surapadma, Simhamukha, Esurpadma had attained a boon from Lord Mahadeva that no god or man could kill him except the son of Lord Shiva. The terror of the Demons was increasing day by day. On the other hand, Lord Shiva was extremely upset due to Goddess Sati getting engulfed in fire, and as a result, immersed in severe austerity. The demons took full advantage of this situation, as they were aware of the fact that none other than Lord Shiva can stop their deeds.

Troubled by the increasing terror, all the Gods and Goddesses went to Lord Brahma for his help. At their request, Lord Brahma requested Lord Kama Dev to awaken Lord Shiva from his tenacity. However, everyone knew very well that it is not an easy task to wake up Mahadev. There were a lot of risks, as it was difficult for anyone to escape the wrath of Lord Shiva. But to control the worsening situation, Lord Kama decided to go ahead and attained success in his efforts. However, due to the disturbance caused in his tenacity, Lord Shiva's Third Eye got opened wide due to his anger, which consumed Lord Kamdev with its fierce fire.

It is believed that at that time, Lord Shiva's body was dismembered into six parts, which fell into the Ganges River. Then, Goddess Ganga kept those six fractions of Lord Shiva in the jungle. Many years later, Goddess Parvati created six sons of Lord Mahadev, one of them being Lord Murugan.

The Skanda Purana depicts Lord Murugan in many forms. According to it:-

• Lord Murugan has one face, and two hands.
• According to the second form, he has four hands and one face.
• According to the third form, he has six faces and twelve hands.

Read Onam 2019 Auspicious Muhurat & Puja Rituals

When Goddess Parvati was creating Lord Murugan, the terror of Demons was increasing day by day. Adding to it, they had held several Devtas and Devis captive. Observing this, Lord Murugan decided to put an end to all of it, and challenged the Demons for a battle, which lasted for days. On the last day, Lord Murugan finally killed the demon Surpadma and saved the world and Gods.

The day the Asuras were terminated was the day of Skanda Sashti, which established the fact about the Good triumphing over Evil. Since then, it is believed that the people of South India celebrate this festival with great reverence every year to celebrate this victory.

Since Lord Murugan is known by many names in many different states like Kartikeya, Murugan Swami and Skanda. Hence, this day is known as Skanda Shashti

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Things To Remember During Skanda Sashti

Do not consume meat or alcohol during these six days.

During this time, many people avoid using onion, garlic etc.

Those who fast on Skanda Sashti must recite Lord Murugan, Kanta Shashthi Kavasam and Subramanya Bhujangam Path.

During this time, visit the Lord Murugan's temple in the morning and worship him.

Throughout the fast, nothing should be eaten. However, if this is not possible, then you can have one meal or fruit diet throughout the day.

Fasting for all six days of Skanda Sashti is considered to be auspicious.

Several natives who are fasting drink coconut water for six days.

During this time, the native should avoid lying, fighting and quarreling.

Appease Lord Murugan With These Mantras On Skanda Sashti

According to the scriptures, worshiping Lord Murugan with these mantras during Skanda Sashti is very auspicious. Chanting these mantras brings happiness in married life.

• ॐ तत्पुरुषाय विधमहे: महा सैन्या धीमहि तन्नो स्कंदा प्रचोदयात। / oṃ tatpuruṣāya vidhamahe: mahā sainyā dhīmahi tanno skaṃdā pracodayāta।
• ॐ शारवाना-भावाया नम: ज्ञानशक्तिधरा स्कंदा वल्लीईकल्याणा सुंदरा, देवसेना मन: कांता कार्तिकेया नामोस्तुते। / oṃ śāravānā-bhāvāyā nama: jñānaśaktidharā skaṃdā vallīīkalyāṇā suṃdarā, devasenā mana: kāṃtā kārtikeyā nāmostute।

We hope that Lord Murugan gives you immense happiness and prosperity on Skanda Sashti 2019 festival. We wish you a happy future.