Hindu Purana Stories
Who is Lord Kubera, Benefits of Kuber Puja
Sep
Who is Lord Kubera?
Lord Kubera, also known as Kuvera, Kuber or Kuberan is the God of Gold, wealth and treasure.
Different stories narrate different versions of Lord Kuber’s stories about who is lord Kuber, How he was born and How he became Lord of Wealth.
Lord Kuber belongs to Brahma’s family and was the son of sage Vishrava (son of Pulatsya and grandson of Brahma) and Illavida. Vaishnava later married a demon princess, Kaikesi, with whom he had 4 children, Ravan, Kumbhkaran, Surpnakha, and Vibhishan, which makes Lord Kuber their step-brother.
The first mention of Kubera is given in Vedas, but instead of his mention as God, he is described as the chief of evil spirits. Even the Shatpath Brahman also defines him as chief of criminals and murderers, but in the Puranas like Shiva Puran and Hindu epics like Ramayan and Mahabharat, describe him as God, as “Kuber Dev” His journey from being chief of evil spirits to becoming God is one of the unique and interesting stories of Hindu Mythology.
Kubera, the word in Sanskrit, means a deformed body structure. Lord Kuber did not enjoy a beautiful physical appearance like other gods and was portrayed as a dwarf with Lotus-like pink complexation, big belly, only eight teeth, three legs and one eye (he lost one eye as he saw Devi Parvati with bad intentions, but later he got it back after countless prayers). He wears lots of jewels down to his belly and also holds a money bag with jewels and a mongoose.
Henry David Thoreau says “Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” Even if the context sounds capitalistic, it’s somewhat true, and believe it or not, in Hindu Culture, we worship some of the gods to attain wealth and luxury, one such God is Lord Kubera, the God of Gold. People who follow Hindu culture believe, that he can bless his devotees with immense wealth and prosperity.
How did Lord Kuber become God of Wealth?
The first story narrates the legends between Kuber and Ravana
Kuber performed years of Penance of Brahma, who got impressed by him and gave him the riches in the world, the Pushpak vimana and the gold City of Lanka. Kuber, who was the rightful king of Lanka, was the step-brother of Ravana. Ravana fought and defeated Kuber after he pleased Brahma and became powerful with his blessings and threw him out of Lanka. Ravan took charge of the city and even took the “Pushpak Vimaan”. Kuber left all that he had and settled near Kailash, at Alkapuri. There are stories in Purana about how Alkapuri was attacked by various people and how its wealth was stolen over time.
The second story narrates the legend between Kuber and Bhagwan Shiva
Kuber was a great devotee of Bhagwan Shiva and after years of Penance, Shiva finally appeared before him and blessed him with the Title of Lokpal (protector of gates), Title of Dikpala (protector of Direction), Shiva also made him the guardian of all the wealth and gold on Earth. With time, Kuber became greedy and started using wealth for his selfish motives. In order to teach him a lesson, Bhagwan Shiva sent Ganesha to the Kubera feast invitation.
Bhagwan Ganesha reached Kubera’s house and asked for food. Kuber presented him with lots of food items available for all the gods invited to the feast, but despite cooking everything he had, Kuber could not satisfy the hunger of Ganesha. Ganesha started eating plates, utensils and other items and threatened to eat Kubera.
Scared, Kubera ran to Shiva and begged for help, Bagwan Shiva presented him with a bowl of rice cooked by Mata Parvati, which was finally able to satisfy Ganesha’s hunger. Bhagwan Shiva showed him the lesson of never misusing the powers.
Another version in Shiva Purana says, millions of years ago, there was a poor man named Gunnidhi. He could not buy food as he never had money and would rely on the robbery to feed himself. Once he broke into the shiv temple with the intention of stealing food but was amazed by the gems, money and luxury at the temple. Suddenly the diyas at the temple went off in prevailing darkness and even after several attempts, Gunnidhi could not ignite them. He also revealed the truth in the darkness. Finally, he removed his shirt and set fire to it, in order to escape from the temple. His truth impressed Bhagwan shiv and blessed him to be a God of Wealth for the future.
Various other narrations lead to different stories on how lord Kubera became God of Wealth, like Mahabharat and other Hindu epics.
How to worship Lord Kuber?
The god-king of semi-divine Yakshas, Rakshasas etc in Hindu Culture blesses his devotees with wealth and treasure. We worship him along with Devi Lakshmi (goddess of fortune) and Bhagwan Ganesha at different festivals.
Steps to worship Lord Kubera…
- Take a bath, freshen up yourself and wear fresh clothes.
- Get a kuber yantra and place it on a clean red colour cloth above a wooden plank, either on Tuesday or Friday.
- Keep the Kuber Yantra closer to Devi Lakshmi’s idol or picture and worship them together.
- Light Diya or incense stick in front of Kuber yantra and offer lotus petals.
- Chant any of the below, Kuber Mantra, at least 21 times, if not 108 times
Kuber Mantras
“ॐ श्रीकुबेरायःनमः”
Remedies to worship lord Kuber for wealth and gold
- Hang the Kuber yantra in the northeast corner of your puja room. Hang it on the north wall or the east wall as well. Sit straight, face the yantra, and meditate with your wish in your head in front of Kuber Yantra daily. Chant the mantra at least 21 times.
- Perform Kuber Puja on Dhanteras
Earlier Kuber Puja took place on the day of Amavasya during Lakshmi Puja. We consider dhanteras as the special day for Lord kuber.
The steps to worship differ from community to community, and are worshipped in different ways in various temples in India like Badrinath temple_Uttrakhand, Brahma temple_Pushkar, Kuber temple_Khilchipur, Kubera Bhandari Temple_Gujrat etc… However, a simple procedure is as followed,
- Clean the Kuber idol with gangajal and place the idol next to Lakshmi-Ganesha idols or pictures. If you do not have idols, use small supari wrapped in kalava.
- Start with Dhyan and chant mantras dedicated to each god.
- Offer Padya, Arghya, Achaman and small pieces of the sacred thread kalava as a form of vastra to the deities. Then proceed by offering rice, janeyu, Roli, Chandan and haldi.
- Prepare Havan Kund, and add dried sticks to the kund. (Optional, mostly performed at shops and temples)
- Add ghee and light the fire. Offer supari, rice, roli, kumkum, and betel leaves to the fire while chanting mantras.
- Offer flowers and the bhog and gold coins. People also worship the diyas and offer dhoop.
- Distribute and consume Prasad after Puja.
Benefits of Kuber Puja
To gain boons and wealth, devotees perform Kuber Puja at their shops, offices and homes. Some call Pujari Ji to perform the rituals properly as well.
Lord kuber, the god of gold, bless his devotees with prosperity, wealth and treasure and can benefit his devotees in different ways.
