It is a Monday night in the month of Karthika.
A thin, starving dog creeps into the courtyard of a priest's house. She has eaten nothing all day. Not a scrap. She has been chased away from every door.
The priest steps outside and places a small offering of rice on the ground. The dog eats it.
And then… she speaks.
Not a bark. Not a whine. A woman's voice.
"Great soul… please… save me."
Who was she? And how did one handful of rice change everything?
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Vasishtha Tells King Janaka a Story
Today, the sage Vasishtha told King Janaka about the power of Monday in the month of Karthika. And to show that power, he told this story.
Long ago, in the land of Kashmir, there lived a priest who had a daughter. Her name was Nishthuri. She was beautiful. And she knew it.
She was married to a young scholar from Saurashtra named Mitrasharma. He had learned all four Vedas. He was gentle. He was kind.
But Nishthuri had no respect for him. She was proud and sharp-tongued. She shouted at his parents. She insulted the elders. Her quarrels were so famous that the neighbours had a nickname for her: Karkasha, the harsh one. And slowly, she became unfaithful to her husband.
Mitrasharma knew. And still he stayed. He believed a householder does not abandon his home.
Then one night, she did something no one could have imagined. While her husband slept… she took his life. And she hid what she had done.
After that, nothing held her back. She led other women down the same path. She broke many homes.
But time does not stay young for anyone. Her beauty faded. Illness came. The people who once crowded around her went away. And she died alone.
Yama's messengers took her before Yama, the lord of death. And for every wrong she had done, she suffered.
Then she was born again. As worms. As insects. And then… as a dog. A dog no one wanted. Hungry. Kicked. Driven from every door. Fifteen lives, one after another.
A Karthika Monday Kept by Accident
In her fifteenth life as a dog, she was wandering in the land of Kalinga. It was the month of Karthika. And it was a Monday.
That day, she found nothing to eat. From sunrise to sunset, she went hungry.
She did not know it. But she had fasted on a Karthika Monday.
That evening, in a quiet house, a priest was keeping the Monday vow. He had not eaten all day. At dusk he bathed the Shiva linga with water. He worshipped. He waited for the stars to appear. Then he offered food to the Lord, and, as was the custom, placed a little rice outside on the ground as an offering, for any hungry creature.
The dog crept in. And she ate that offering.
In that moment, something happened. Like a curtain lifting. She remembered. Kashmir. Mitrasharma. What she had done. Every life since.
She ran to the priest and fell at his feet. And she cried out, in a human voice, "Great soul, save me!"
The priest stepped back in shock. "Who are you? How can you speak?"
She told him everything. She hid nothing. "But why do I remember now?" she asked.
The priest closed his eyes. He looked within. And he understood.
"Today is a Monday of Karthika," he said gently. "You went without food until evening. And then you ate the offering I placed outside. Without knowing it, you kept the vow. That is why your memory has returned."
The dog wept. "Then please. Give me the merit of your Monday vow. Just one Monday."
The priest looked at her. Someone who had done so much wrong. And a broken creature who had suffered for fifteen lives.
He felt only compassion.
He took water in his palm and said, "I give you the merit of one Karthika Monday." And he let the water fall.
At once, the dog's body lay still.
And in its place stood a woman, shining, in divine clothes and ornaments. A celestial chariot came down from the sky. She bowed to the priest with folded hands… and rose to Kailasa, to live near Lord Shiva.
What Vasishtha Wanted Janaka to See
Vasishtha turned to the king.
"Janaka, do you see? She did not even know it was a vow. She was simply hungry. And yet one Karthika Monday, kept by accident, brought back her memory. And one Karthika Monday, given with kindness, set her free. Now think what it does for someone who keeps it knowingly, with faith."
Six Ways to Keep the Monday Vow
So how is this Monday vow kept? Vasishtha gave six ways, so that no one is left out. Choose the one you can.
A full fast. Or just one meal in the day. Or fast through the day and eat only after the stars come out. Or eat in the late afternoon, when your shadow has grown to twice your height. If none of these is possible, bathe and pray with devotion. And if even that is hard, give a little sesame to someone.
Whoever keeps even one of these six with faith has kept the Karthika Monday. This Karthika Monday, choose yours.