The story
An old woman had seven sons. The six elder ones worked, while the youngest was idle, and she fed him the leftovers from his brothers’ plates. When his wife told him, he was ashamed and left home to earn his own living, leaving her behind with his family.
He found work with a merchant in a distant city, prospered, and in time forgot his wife. At home, his brothers’ wives made her do all the hardest work and gave her husks and scraps to eat. One day, gathering wood in the forest, she saw women worshipping and asked what vow they kept. They told her of Santoshi Mata: on Fridays, offer roasted gram and jaggery, hear the story, and never eat or give anything sour.
She began the vow with a few coins. Within weeks a letter and money came from her husband, then word that he would return. The goddess appeared to him in a dream and reminded him of his wife; he settled his accounts and came home with great wealth, and the couple set up their own home.
For the udyapan she invited her husband’s nephews, asking them to eat but not to ask for anything sour. Prompted by their jealous mothers, the boys demanded money and bought tamarind with it. The goddess was displeased: the husband was taken away by the king’s men for a false debt. Realising the mistake, the wife prayed for forgiveness, performed the udyapan again with care, and he was released.
In the end the goddess herself visited the family in a fearsome form to test them; only the young wife recognised and welcomed her, and the others learned humility. The story teaches contentment (santosh), patience and keeping one’s word.
Retold in our own words from the traditional story; versions told in families and booklets differ in details.