In the Guru Pradosh katha as tradition tells it, Indra and Vritrasura are at war. The frightened gods call on their guru Brihaspati. Brihaspati tells them that in a past life Vritrasura was King Chitraratha, who mocked Shiva and Parvati on Kailasa and became an asura by Parvati’s curse; as a devotee of Shiva he is hard to defeat. On Brihaspati’s advice the gods keep the Pradosh vrat of a Thursday Trayodashi and win victory over Vritrasura.
Hindi in Roman letters: a reading aid, made by a program. The Devanagari text is the original.
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The next Guru Pradosh dates
- Thursday, 18 February 2027Guru Pradosh · Magha Shukla TrayodashiPuja time 6:13–8:46 PM (New Delhi) · your city’s time
- Thursday, 1 July 2027Guru Pradosh · Ashadha Krishna TrayodashiPuja time 7:23–9:24 PM (New Delhi) · your city’s time
- Thursday, 15 July 2027Guru Pradosh · Ashadha Shukla TrayodashiPuja time 7:21–9:23 PM (New Delhi) · your city’s time
- Thursday, 11 November 2027Guru Pradosh · Kartika Shukla TrayodashiPuja time 5:30–8:08 PM (New Delhi) · your city’s time
The next Pradosh, on another weekday: Friday, 6 November 2026, Shukra Pradosh vrat katha
Pradosh Vrat 2026-27: full listA Pradosh vrat whose Trayodashi falls on a Thursday (Brihaspativar) is called Guru Pradosh (Drik Panchang). In its katha the one who teaches the vrat is Brihaspati himself, the guru of the gods.
This katha is found in the printed Pradosh booklets and on Drik Panchang, and we checked it against them event by event and told it in our own words. Its core episode — Chitraratha’s mockery, Parvati’s curse, his becoming Vritrasura and Brihaspati teaching Indra the Pradosh vrat — is also in the Kedara Khanda of the Maheshvara Khanda of the Skanda Purana (chapter 17). But the day Brihaspati names there is the Trayodashi of the bright fortnight of Kartik that falls on a Saturday; Thursday is not named there. How the Purana’s story differs is under "Other tellings" below.
How the vrat and katha are kept
- The booklets give no separate rite for Guru Pradosh; the puja follows the general rite of the Pradosh vrat: a fast through the day, a bath before sunset and the worship of Shiva with Parvati in Pradosh kaal.
- The main time of the Shiva puja is Pradosh kaal after sunset, while the Trayodashi tithi also runs (Drik Panchang); the puja time of the next dates is above. The full rite is on the Pradosh vrat katha page.
Hindi in Roman letters: a reading aid, made by a program. The Devanagari text is the original.
The other language could not be loaded. Keep reading here, or try again.
The Guru Pradosh katha: Vritrasura and Brihaspati’s remedy
Once a fierce battle was fought between the armies of Indra and Vritrasura. The gods defeated the asura army. Seeing his army destroyed, Vritrasura grew furious and came to fight himself. By his asura magic he took on a most terrifying form.
Seeing that form, Indra and all the gods were frightened and called on Brihaspati, the guru of the gods. Brihaspati came at once. Indra told him that Vritrasura was very strong and the world of the gods was in danger; he begged for a way out.
Brihaspati said, "First hear about Vritrasura. He is a great ascetic; by hard penance on Mount Gandhamadana he has pleased Shiva. In a past life he was a king named Chitraratha. The lovely forest near you was his kingdom. Once Chitraratha went to Kailasa in his flying chariot. Seeing Parvati seated at Shiva’s left side, he laughed and said that worldly men like him are of course ruled by women, but even in the world of the gods he had never seen anyone sit in an assembly with his wife."
"Hearing this, Shiva laughed and said that his ways differ from others’; he has drunk the Kalakuta poison that could destroy the world, and still Chitraratha mocked him like an ordinary man. Then Parvati grew angry. She said he had mocked her along with Maheshvara, though wise ones like Sanaka, Sanandana and Sanatkumara sat in that assembly. She cursed him to become an asura and fall from his chariot. That instant Chitraratha fell to earth and was born among the asuras. Then by the penance of the sage Tvashta he came forth as Vritrasura."
"Vritrasura has kept to celibacy and devotion to Shiva, so you cannot defeat him as things stand. My advice is that you keep this Pradosh vrat, so that you can win over that mighty one." Hearing their guru, all the gods were glad, and they kept the Pradosh vrat of the Thursday Trayodashi with due rite. By Drik Panchang’s telling, Vritrasura was defeated by it and the danger to the world of the gods passed. The katha says that whoever keeps this vrat with faith is freed of troubles and has their wishes fulfilled.
Other tellings
- The Skanda Purana (Maheshvara Khanda, Kedara Khanda, chapter 17) has the same episode at greater length. There Brihaspati teaches Indra the Pradosh puja on the Saturday Trayodashi of the bright fortnight of Kartik, and its closing rite. Indra makes a mistake in circling the shrine (passing between the Shivling and Nandi, crossing the spout), and so Vritrasura swallows him; then, through the gods’ worship of Shiva, Indra comes out and Vritrasura is slain.
- In the booklets and Drik Panchang the gods keep the vrat together; in the Manav Vikas Foundation booklet Indra himself keeps it and soon wins.
- The booklets say Vritrasura came forth by the penance of the sage Tvashta; the Hindi text of the Purana based on Gita Press names Vishvakarma (the English translation has both).
After the katha
After the katha the Shiva aarti is done; the Pradosh booklets give "Jai Shiv Omkara" for it. The full rite of the Pradosh vrat and the original katha of the Skanda Purana are on the Pradosh vrat katha page.
Pradosh Vrat 2026-27: full list Pradosh vrat kathaFrequently asked questions
What is Guru Pradosh?
A Pradosh vrat whose Trayodashi falls on a Thursday is called Guru Pradosh (Drik Panchang). The vrat is kept on the day whose Pradosh kaal after sunset has the Trayodashi, so it sometimes falls on the Dwadashi day. The next dates and the puja time are at the top of this page; by the Pradosh booklets, this is the katha read and heard that day.
Is the Guru Pradosh katha in a Purana?
The core episode is in the Kedara Khanda of the Maheshvara Khanda of the Skanda Purana (chapter 17): Chitraratha mocking Shiva and Parvati, Parvati’s curse, his becoming Vritrasura and Brihaspati teaching Indra the Pradosh puja. But in the Purana the day of the vrat is the Saturday Trayodashi of the bright fortnight of Kartik, not a Thursday. Linked to Thursday, the katha is found in the Pradosh booklets and on Drik Panchang.
Sources
- Drik Panchang, Brihaspati (Guru) Pradosha Vrat Katha (drikpanchang.com/vrat-katha/pradosha/brihaspati-pradosha/brihaspati-pradosha-vrat-katha.html), read 10 October 2026
- "Pradosh (Trayodashi) Vrat Katha, with the separate kathas of all seven days", told by Pt. Jwala Prasad Chaturvedi, Randhir Prakashan, Haridwar (archive.org/details/PradoshVratKathaRandhirPrakashan)
- "Pradosh (Trayodashi) Vrat Katha, Puja Vidhi, Udyapan Vidhi", Manav Vikas Foundation, Mumbai (Acharya Akhilesh Dwivedi), 2021 (archive.org/details/mvf_20240803_20240803_1531)
- Skanda Purana, Maheshvara Khanda, Kedara Khanda, chapter 17 "Vritra Killed", English translation by G. V. Tagare, on wisdomlib.org (read 10 October 2026)
- The article "Pradoshavrat ki vidhi evam mahima" (in the book "Ishanah Sarvadevanam", pp. 314–329), based, it says, on Gita Press’s "Vrat Parichay" (Pt. Hanuman Sharma) and Kalyan’s "Sankshipt Skanda Puranank" (Brahma Khanda, Brahmottara Khanda, ch. 7; Maheshvara Khanda, Kedara Khanda, ch. 17): archive.org/details/20240806_20240806_0143
- Drik Panchang, Pradosh list, puja times and the names by weekday (drikpanchang.com/vrats/pradoshdates.html)
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