Akshaya Tritiya

Akshaya Tritiya celebrated on the third tithi of Shukla paksha of Vaishakh month of the lunar calendar, marks the beginning of Treta Yuga. It is the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Parshuram, and the day when Ved Vyass and Ganapati started writing Mahabharata. It is believed that this day is auspicious for bringing home prosperity and for starting new education in life! This year, it falls on Tuesday, 3rd May 2022.

Legend has it that when Ved Vyasa wanted to write the Mahabharata, he approached Ganpati for help. Ganpati agreed on the condition that Ved Vyasa would recite it in a continuous flow without pausing in between. Ved Vyasa agreed but added his own condition Ganpati must understand everything before writing - this would give Ved Vyasa a chance to pause and rest. Once they started and while Ganpati was in the midst of writing, his pen broke. In order to keep his promise of not pausing, Ganpati broke one of his tusks to continue writing the Mahabharata. This is how he received the name Ek-danta.

Hence the belief that any new learning/education we embark on this auspicious day is successfully completed. As per Vedic astrology, the planet Jupiter is associated with auspiciousness, the domain of knowledge as well as gold. This is why people buy gold on this day. For those who do not want to or cannot invest in gold, buying fresh flowers, fruits and betel leaves yield similar karmic benefits.

Now, let us look into two things you may want to do this Akshay Tritiya:

 1) start something new, and 

2) perform puja. Since you have an entire day left for preparation, start planning now!

1. Start something new: If you already know what you want to start learning, great! If not, here are a few ideas: Children can start learning a new subject or skill. Adults with a career can start learning a new skill that they always thought will be helpful to advance their career but could not find time or motivation to get started. Spiritual people can start learning a new sadhana or start performing a sadhana that they have already learned but were unable to practice regularly. Anything you start learning today will have a successful outcome in your life and will produce long term positive results.

2. Performing the pooja:

After taking a bath, light a ghee diya in your home temple, apply sandalwood paste and tilak to Ganpati, Bhagwan Vishnu, and Maa Laxmi. Offer fresh flowers, fruits, and betel leaves along with some sweet prasad. Offer prayers to Ganpati by chanting or listening to Ganesh stotram or mantras of your choice. Then offer prayers to Bhagwan Vishnu and Maa Laxmi by chanting or listening to Purusha Suktam and Shree Suktam. Complete your pooja by thanking the Divine for all the grace and goodness in your life. End the day with Annadaan to the needy.