Vrindavan is a holy land with myriad of holy tales, and a girl called Lalita lived there. She belonged to a family who had great belief in Lord Krishna, and she grew up listening to the glorious stories and wisdom of Lord Krishna. She also became a devotee of Lord Krishna, but she was looking for a more divine connection with God in her life! That’s when her grandmother narrated the story of the Katyayani Vrata. It is a sacred vow taken by the gopis to invoke the blessings of Goddess Katyayani!

So in this story of Katyayani Vrata, the gopis of Vrindavangatehred by the river Yamuna and performed the Katyayani Vrata with pure devotion and love for Lord Krishna. They got up every day and went down for an entire month to bathe in the holy waters of the river Yamuna and offered their prayers to Goddess Katyayani, the sixth form of Durga.

The groups chanted “evi Katyayani, Maha-maye, Maha-yogini Adhiswari, Nanda-Gopa-Sutam Devi, Patim Me Kurute Namah,” and offered fresh butter, flowers, and earthen lamps and were pleased with the prayers and offerings, Goddess Katyayani blessed them, and Krishna Himself became the ultimate fulfilment of their desires.

The Importance of Katyayani Vrata

Katyayani Vrata has its roots in Skanda Purana and other ancient scriptures, and it is a proven practice that has the power to bless devotees with fulfillment and divine connection.

The Goddess Katyayani is born with the combined energies of the Trimurtis—Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. She is believed to be a warrior Goddess who destroyed the demon Mahishasura. She is filled with divine feminine energy called Shakti that nurtures, protects, and guides her devotees.

So, at ISKCON Delhi, the devotees learn that if you are looking for something that will help you overcome the obstacles in your spiritual and personal life, then Katyayani Vrata is the answer!

Know the Rituals Related To Katyayani Vrata

Lalita, who wanted to have a deep connection with the Lord, began her journey with Margashirsha on the first day of the month. She would begin at dawn, bathe, dress up and then offer fruits, incense, and ghee lamps to a clay idol of Goddess Katyayani. She also chanted the sacred mantra taught by her grandmother, immersing herself in its vibrations. She also visited River Yamuna with her friends, just like the gopis, to recite prayers, sing kirtans, and share stories of Krishna.

The whole thing ended with the vrata on the Purnima (full moon) of Margashirsha and a puja by the family!

Know The Benefits of Katyayani Vrata

1. Divine Guidance: It sets you as a devotee on the spiritual path, enabling you to make life decisions with harmony and dharma.

2. Good Relationships: If you are a woman looking for a righteous and spiritually compatible life partner, then Katyayani Vrata is best for you.

3. Removal of Obstacles: You can overcome your obstacles, whether material, emotional, or spiritual.

4. Inner Strength: You gain inner strength with the spiritual power gained!

5. Enhanced Bhakti: As you observe the vrata, your spiritual connection with the Lord strengthens.

The Eternal Outcomes of Katyayani Vrata

Continuing the story of Lalitha, the observation of Katyayani Vrata for a month brought her inner calm and peace with her prayers to Goddess Katyayani. In the end, she also gained a great sense of confidence. She was confident that KKrishna’sgrace would lead her at every turn and that her path was blessed.

Come to ISKCON Delhi and draw inspiration from the Gopis and Lalita. Practice Katyayani Vrata with faith and devotion, bringing you the blessings of Goddess Katyayani, who will put you on the path of spirituality, enrich your life, and bring about a divine connection with the Lord!

ISKCON Delhi and Its Role in Katyayani Vrata

ISKCON Delhi is where you can get guidance as a devotee to practice Katyayani Vrata. They organise special programs during Margashirsha when Katyayani Vrata is traditionally performed. You get to participate in bhajans, kirtans, preachings of Bhagavad Gita, and rituals invoking Goddess Katyayani.

You can also participate in sankirtan yajnas, and you do not haveddon’thave to worry about the materials required, like flowers, ghee lamps, or prasadam, as all is provided, enabling you to focus on the performance of your vrata with ease. The outcomes are profound, and you experience spirituality, peace, happiness, and clarity regarding your life purpose.

ISKCON Delhi plays a crucial role in both preserving and promoting Katyayani Vrata!

Wrap up!

The Katyayani Vrata is a great act where you surrender your desires to Goddess Katyayani and embrace the grace of Lord Krishna. As Srila Prabhupada said, “he real perfection of life is to please Lord Krishna and to always remain in His service.”

Hare Krishna, 

Vasant Panchami is a spring season festival as per the English calendar, celebrated throughout India. Therefore, worshipping mother Saraswati, the goddess of education, creativity, and music, is of great significance. It is also quoted that on the day of Vasant Panchami, Brahma created the goddess Saraswati. That’s why worshipping mother Saraswati on this particular day is unique.  

As per Vedic literature, Lord Krishna blessed goddess Saraswati that on Vasant Panchami, she would be worshipped everywhere. Even today, we can see that people offer their obeisance and worship goddess Saraswati on every Vasant Panchami. In Rigveda, mother Saraswati has been glorified as below –

“Prano Devi Saraswathi, Vajhebhir vajinavathi, Dhinam avithri avathu”

It means – Supreme consciousness in the form of goddess Saraswati protects our intelligence, mind, and psychology. Whatever character and intellect we got are because of mother Saraswati who has unique opulence in terms of prosperity and form. Here supreme consciousness means the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna, the original cause of all causes. 

In Bhagavad Gita, Lord says – 

mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya 
mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani-gana iva

“O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.”

The supreme personality of Godhead has given different services to His devotees to govern the material world. For example, Brahma Ji is responsible for the creation, Lord Shiva for annihilation, goddess Laxmi for wealth, and goddess Durga for protecting this material world compared to a prison. Similarly, goddess Saraswati is given a department of knowledge, creativity, and music which she is governing very skillfully. Goddess Saraswati bestows these qualities upon those who worship her and please her with their rituals. However, goddess Saraswati never forgets that the supreme personality of Godhead is her master and all demigods-demigoddess are being engaged in His service. This can be illustrated by the below example – 

As per Ramayana, when Kumbhakaran, brother of Ravana, performed severe austerities to please Brahma, all demigods-demigoddesses became afraid of him. Thus they approached goddess Saraswati and requested her to sit on the tongue of Kumbhakaran when he asked for benedictions from Brahma. Goddess Saraswati assured the demigods and agreed to sit on the tongue of Kumbhakaran. Kumbhakaran wanted Indraasan, the kingdom of Indra, as a benediction, but under the influence of goddess Saraswati, he ended up asking for Nindraasan, oversleeping. In that way, goddess Saraswati assisted demigods to protect the Lord’s creation. 

One more illustration can be seen from Sripad Ramanujacharya’s life. Sripad Ramanujacharya’s spiritual master instructed him to write a Vaishnav-style commentary on Srila Vyasdeva’s Vedanta Sutra. He went to Kashmir-based Sharda peetha to get the original text. When residents of Sharda peetha denied him the original texts, goddess Saraswati personally came and provided him with the original texts. When Sripad Ramanujacharya finished the commentary, mother Saraswati became very much pleased. She presented to Sripad Ramanujacharya her personal deity of `Hayagriva`, a plenary expansion of Lord Shri Hari, and awarded him the title “scholar”.

We can see one more incident where goddess Saraswati showed her allegiance and devotion to the supreme personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna. This particular example is from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s life who Himself is non-different from Krishna. Keshav Kashmiri, a great scholar and a great devotee of mother Saraswati, came to Navdwip for debate based on scriptures. He had already visited all the learning centers of India and was unconquered in all of them. 

Once Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who was popularly known as Nimai pandit at that time was on the bank of river Ganga. There He met Keshav Kashmiri and asked him to create a verse to praise the river Ganga. Keshav Kashmiri, being a learned scholar, created 100 verses in a few minutes. Keshav proudly spoke all 100 verses to Nimai. Nimai not only learned all the 100 verses instantly but also quoted various grammatical errors in the 64th verse. Nimai also quoted errors in a few more verses. Keshav Kashmiri was amazed and stunned at that. 

Keshav Kashmiri was puzzled at how a small boy of Sanskrit grammar school was finding errors in his compositions. At last, goddess Saraswati came in his dreams, as he was a great devotee of goddess Saraswati. She ordered Keshav Kashmiri to take shelter at the lotus feet of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. She also informed him that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is no other than Lord Shri Krishna. In this way, Keshav Kashmiri became a devotee of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. 

All the above incidences show that goddess Saraswati is a unique devotee of Lord Shri Krishna. She is using her post and designation to assist devotees of the Lord. Let us pray to mother Saraswati on this auspicious occasion of Vasant Panchami that we all dedicatedly devote ourselves to the selfless service of the Lord and his devotees; that we should develop a service attitude and make this human form of life worthy.