We have already discussed about the Bengali Laksmi puja that is done after the Navratri festivals also known as the Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat katha. This is a very important puja that is done in West Bengal. The day when the Kojagari Laksmi puja is done is called the Kojagari purnima. Apart from the puja on the Kojagari Laksmi puja the Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat katha is read out. Unless the paath or prayer is done the puja is considered incomplete.
Kojagari Laksmi Puja Date
The Kojagari Laksmi puja in 2013 is on 18th October 2013. The people say that if you can listen to the Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat katha on the day of the puja you will be immensely blessed by the Goddess. The Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat katha is about the story of the Kojagari Laksmi Goddess. It tells how worshipping the Kojagari Laksmi can be very helpful to the devotees and their families.
Kojagari Lakshmi Puja
The Story
There lived a very generous king once. He was very honest and was loved by the people of his country. He lived for the welfare of the artisans in his country. The king used to ensure that all the goods that are not sold in the weekly markets were purchased back by him. Once the king bought the iron statue of ALaksmi Goddess (Goddess of poverty) and got it to his palace. The king placed the statue in the Puja room.
That same night the king heard the noise of a woman crying. The noise was coming from the puja room where he had kept the idol. The king got up and he rushed to the puja room. The king was surprised to see that a beautiful woman was actually sitting and crying in the puja room. The king asked the lady why she was crying. The Goddess said that she was Goddess Laksmi (the Goddess of wealth). She was upset as she could not stay beside the Goddess of poverty. The king heard what the lady had to say. He then lifted the idol of the Goddess of poverty and decided to throw it out of the palace. The Laksmi Goddess was pleased by this as she wanted the king to do this.
As the king was taking the idol out of the palace he felt that doing so would be an insult to the artisan who made the idol. This is why he decided to keep the idol in the palace but in some other room. As the king did this the Laksmi Goddess would cry every night and disturb the king. All the deities and Goddesses were leaving him as he had brought the Goddess of poverty.
Slowly the fortune, success, knowledge and luck all these Goddesses left the king. The kingdom started to lose its glory and became a poor kingdom. Each night one of these Goddesses would cry and leave the king. The king was definitely very disturbed and he did not know what to do. One similar night the Goddess of Dharma started crying and she too said that he will leave the kingdom. The king got very worried. The king thought that he had to stop the God of Dharma from leaving him. If Dharma too left him there would be no way to get back the lost glory. He explained that he bought the Goddess of poverty from the artisan. He also said that if he threw the Goddess it would be an insult to the creative skills of the artisan. This is exactly why he did not throw it.
The Lord of Dharma was pleased by the explanation of the king and he decided that he will have to help the king. This is exactly why he told that the queen should do the Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat. The king told about this to the queen and the queen decided to do the puja. She would perform the Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat on purnima.
The queen performed the Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat on the full moon night of the Ashwin month. She meditated the whole night and did not sleep even for a second. The whole night she was sitting in front of the Kojagari Laksmi Goddess. The puja done by the queen was so powerful and she did it with whole heartedly as this was the only way to save the kingdom. The iron idol of the Goddess of poverty melted away on seeing the devotion of the queen.
This saved the king from the problem that was bothering him. He was conscious that throwing the idol would be an insult to the artisan. The melting away of the Alaksmi Goddess ensued that the king did not have to throw away the idol and feel bad. As soon as the idol melted slowly the kingdom started to gain the glory that it had lost.
The king became lucky again and the Goddess of wealth started to bless him. The king was very pleased with the puja done by his wife and was very thankful to her. On hearing the story of how the queen saved the kingdom by doing the Kojagari Laksmi puja the people of the country also decided that they would do the same puja.
This is how the Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat puja became popular. It became a tradition in all the households. Even today people perform the Kojagari Laksmi puja and the puja is considered incomplete unless the Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat katha is read out. This is the story of the Kojagari Laksmi puja that has been read out for generations. You can get the Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat katha in Bengali in any puja store in West Bengal.
Modern Day Significance
As is our practice at Metaphysics-Knowledge we try to bring out both side of such concepts. Basically this story symbolizes the fact that dharma or righteousness should be the guiding light in our lives despite any inconveniences we might face. It might bring us some difficulties and our good friends and people we consider as our own might start to leave us, but if we remain on the path of righteousness, our lost glory will be gained and it would be much more stable and long lasting than anything which is achieved by compromising righteousness and truthfulness.
We hope that you were able to understand the essence of the Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat katha. We hope that the readers will be able to understand the Kojagari Laksmi’s worth and why she is given so much of importance. The Kojagari Laksmi puja is very useful for all family. It is said to please the Goddess and ensures that there is prosperity in the house.
So please do read the Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat katha on 18th October 2013 and get blessed by the Goddess. Have a very happy Lakshmi Puja. The Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat katha can be read out on any Thursday as Thursday is the day of Goddess Laksmi. If you cannot read the Kojagari Laksmi puja vrat katha just listening to it can also be very helpful.