The festival to herald prosperity and healthy life- Dhana Throyadasi or Dhantheras or Dhanvanthari Jayanthi (27-10-2016)

The festival  to herald prosperity   and healthy life- Dhana Throyadasi  or Dhantheras or Dhanvanthari Jayanthi (27-10-2016)

By

P.R.Ramachander

Tomorrow is   the festival of Dhantheras  ..It is also called  Dhana Throyadasi and Dhanvanthari Tryodasi(Jayanthi)  .People make it a point to buy  gold or  silver or vessels on this day . Some people worship God Dhanvanthari for health, some people   worship Dhanadha lakshmi  and some others Goddess   Lakshmi   with Khubera,

Stories about  Dhantheras

   1,Story of Goddess  Lakshmi   and the farmer

      Once Lord Vishnu along with Goddess  Lakshmi went to the world of dead   for doing good   to their devotees.Lord Vishnu   went to southern portion forbidding  Goddess  Lakshmi   to follow him  but in spite of that she did. She saw very rich farms all over the way. In one place she    saw a sugarcane garden and  plucked a cane and ate it .God Vishnu came back and cursed her that   she should work  with that owner of the farm foe 12 years. He then went to churn the milky ocean. Twelve years later Dhanvanthari   arose from the ocean carrying  Nectar(Amruth) .It was a Tryodasi day   and that day is celebrated  as DHanvanthari Jayanthi  .When Vishnu returned back to the form where  Goddess Lakshmi was working , that owner refused to send her back . He was asked to bathe in Ganges river   and when he did that   Goddess  Ganges rose up and told the farmer to let Goddess Lakshmi  go. When he returned   and agreed to   sent back the Goddess , She asked him to buy, gold etc and worship her on that day so that  he would always be prosperous..Not only he did it but later  he advised others to do it   and all people became prosperous.

2. Story  of son of king Hima(from Wikipedia)

.King Hima had  a  16 year  old son  His horoscope predicted his death by snake-bite on the fourth day of his marriage. On that particular day, his newly-wed wife did not allow him to sleep. She laid out all her ornaments and lots of gold and silver coins in a heap at the entrance of the sleeping chamber and lit lamps all over the place. Then she narrated stories and sang songs to keep her husband from falling asleep. The next day, when Yama  the god of Death arrived at the prince's doorstep in the guise of a Serpent , his eyes were dazzled and blinded by the brilliance of the lamps and the jewellery . Yama could not enter the Prince's chamber, so he climbed on top of the heap of gold coins and sat there the entire night listening to the stories and songs. In the morning, he silently went away. Thus, the young prince was saved from the clutches of death by the cleverness of his new bride, and the day came to be celebrated as Dhanteras. The following day came to be called Naraka Chaturdashi ('Naraka' means hell and Chaturdashi means 14th). It is also known as ‘Yamadeepdaan’ as the ladies of the house light earthen lamps or ‘deep’ and these are kept burning throughout the night glorifying Yama, the God of Death. Since this is the night before Diwali, it is also called 'Chhoti Diwali' or Minor Diwali

Procedure for Lighting Yama’s  lamp on Dhantheras day

   On that  day , you have to light a lamp  for Yama –the god of death  , outside our house   and see to it , that  it is not put out, At the time of Lighting  the lamp you have   to chant the   following Sloka:-

Mruthyunaa pasa hasthena, Kaalena bharyayaa saha,

Trayodhasyaam dheepdhanaa  sooryaj  priyathamiva

The  God of death   with rope holding hand

Tried to snatch  away him along    with his wife,

And by lighting lamp on THryodasi ,

The son of  Sun god (Yama)   would  get pleased.

The detailed procedure  for  Pooja is given in English inhttp://www.ekunji.com/learn/puja-vidhi-learn/dhanteras-puja-vidhi

Those of you who are interested   can do that  .

But  those for whom this is not a custom can

1.Amrutha Sanjeevana Dhanwantri stotram - http://stotrarathna.blogspot.in/2013/02/amrutha-sanjeevana-dhanvanthri-stotram.html

2.Yamashtakam -  http://stotrarathna.blogspot.in/2013/03/yamashtakam.html

3. Dhanadha Lakshmi  Kavacham  http://stotrarathna.blogspot.in/2015/08/dhanadha-devi-kavacha-armour-of-goddess.html

4,Dhana  Lakshmi stotram  - http://stotrarathna.blogspot.in/2009/11/dhana-lakshmi-stotram.html

   Chanting all these   would help you  lead  a  prosperous healthy life.