01/09/2022
Rishi Panchami is dedicated to honour all the sages and is considered an auspicious festival in the Hindu community.
It is dedicated to the 7 great sagas known as Saptarishi.
The festival is dedicated to the Saptarishis — namely Kashyapa, Atri, Bharadwaja, Vishvamitra, Gautama Maharishi, Jamadagni, and Vashishtha — who were created by Lord Brahma to teach the community. They passed enlightenment on to humanity so that it would pursue the road of truth, grasp the fundamental values of goodness and become enlightened. It is assumed that if a person follows quickly and conducts rituals on this day, he or she is forgiven of all the sins of the current or past existence. The festival is observed primarily by women, who practice a fast and conduct puja to pay homage to the seven great sages. Rishi Panchami is such an auspicious day that if the fast is observed and rituals
are performed, a person is relieved from all the sins of his or her present or past life.
Lord Brahma himself is the one who narrated the story of Rishi Panchami.
In the state of "Vidarbha", a Brahmin called Uttak used to live with his wife with whom he shared a son and a daughter.
Uttak married his daughter in a prosperous and reputed Brahmin family. But as time passed on, the girl's husband dies a premature death; and she becomes his widow, and on this basis, she returns to the house of her parents.
The widow's body was infested with worms/parasites over her entire body amid a beautiful day. The sorrow saddened them after finding her tainted body and brought her father
to Uttak Rishi to figure out what had happened to their daughter.
They become extremely worried and immediately called a sage so that he could mend the situation.
The Rishi (Tuktas Rishi) whom they called, was a learned sage, and he explained the reason behind the trouble.
He made them aware of the sin that their daughter committed in her previous life. The rishi further added that the girl had handled the utensils in her household even after during the menstruation period. Therefore she got the worms covering her entire body because of this unwittingly done sin.
The Rishi advised the daughter to perform certain rituals on the day of Rishi Panchami to purify her body and soul,
so that this way, she would relieved of the sin that she has committed. Following the instructions given by the sage, the daughter performed all the customs with absolute devotion. This set her soul free from the bad karma "Dosha'.
Therefore, this little yet powerful story becomes a platform that explains the significance of Rishi Panchami.
Rishi Panchami is the road to peace and sanctification of the soul, mind and the body.
