By the causeless mercy of Guru-pāda-padma and the rūpānuga Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, we are present in Vṛndāvana-dhāma, nearby the lotus feet of Vṛndā-devī.
It is very rare that any person is following this kātyāyanī-vrata. Why? No one likes. They have desire for the mundane, or they desire to go to Vaikuṇṭha, or Goloka, and they have desire for sakhya, dāsya, or vātsalya-rasa. Then they don’t follow this vrata. And many have desire for Goloka rādhā-kṛṣṇa-līlā, svakīya-līlā. They also don’t follow this vrata. Crossing everything and entering parakīya-rasa, and only having desire for relation with Kṛṣṇa in mādhurya-rasa as a maidservant of Śrīmati Rādhārānī is very rare.
While following the vrata, every morning, the gopīs worshipped devī according to the instruction of Bhagavatī Paurṇamāsī.
They gave pādya, arghya, ācamana and then madhuparka. Madhuparka means the mixture of ghee, yogurt, honey and sugar. They say, “Devī, offer this to Kṛṣṇa. You have relation with Kṛṣṇa, therefore Kṛṣṇa will drink and taste this sweet madhuparka; then He will accept us also. Then Kṛṣṇa will definitely call us, and kiss us or accept us.”
Thereafter, they gave ācamana, and then sesame oil and many pastes to massage the body with.
If anyone worships any powerful person, the qualities and power of that person will come to one. By this oil massage of Kṛṣṇa, one’s other desires, attachment and attraction will be cut off, Kṛṣṇa’s goodness and qualities will come, and one’s body, mind and soul will be very happy and qualified. This is a very sweet process to quickly get benefit and benediction. Then all sadness, worry and other problems will all go away.
They then arranged water mixed in camphor. Camphor not only cools the body, it cleans and makes the body very smooth and fine. If the body has any heat, exhaustion or weakness, mixing camphor oil in water and bathing with it is very helpful. Then the gopīs offered this pure camphor in water and gave rose in Yamunā water. They said, “Devī, please offer this to Kṛṣṇa, then this water will touch Kṛṣṇa and come back as His prasāda and be very helpful for us.”
Then they gave ornaments, a sari and jewellery. They said, “This cloth is Kṛṣṇa’s; if you offer it to Him and He gives it back, then we will wear it and māyā will never affect us, and other persons’ desires will not disturb us.” Therefore they offered this cloth.
Then they offered anklebells, bangles, cūḍāmaṇi, jewels, and so forth, and decorated devī. They said, “Hey Devī, may you offer these ornaments to decorate Kṛṣṇa. May our eyes cross beyond māyā and be able to see Kṛṣṇa, and we become absorbed in Kṛṣṇa’s beauty and never be attracted to any other thing.”
Then they pasted sandal, mixed kastūrī and karpura, and smeared on the body of devī. “May this fragrance be smeared on the body of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa will take this fragrant candana and will understand who offered it and where it came from.” Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, kindness and bless, that person’s heart will be very wonderful and only goodness will come from there, no bad idea or doubt will grow in the heart. Offering this fragrance, the heart will be very pure. No darkness will remain in the heart.
Then they offered flowers such as jasmine, rose and lotus to Devī’s feet and made a crown for Her head. They said, “Please take these flowers and offer them to Kṛṣṇa and decorate His body.”
Then they gave incense and ghee lamp, “Please accept this fragrant incense, and make us bright, our hearts clean and fragrant, and with this we can worship and serve Kṛṣṇa.”
Offering incense means, our colour will be bright, light and fair, and we will be ready to serve Kṛṣṇa.
With pure ghee, they arranged a ghee lamp and offered it, “Devī, take this and give to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa wears kaustubha-maṇi; similarly, we will watch Kṛṣṇa’s face and body with this light. This light is helpful for everyone. Therefore please accept this.”
Then they offered sweets, naivedya, rice, sweet-rice, salty preparations, munga dal, coconut, fruits, malapuras, kacoris, laddus, and many other things. They prayed, “Please accept this, and make our body, mind and soul naivedya for Kṛṣṇa.”
Then they chanted the mantra—
kātyāyanī mahā-māye mahā-yoginy adhīśvari nanda-gopa-sutaṁ devi patiṁ me kuru te namaḥ
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.22.4
It means, “He kātyāyanī, he mahāmāye, he mahā-yoginī, he adhīśvarī, we offer you praṇāma. Give us the fruit that Nanda-nandana will be our beloved and there will no share of us for any other.” The procedure of this mantra is written. This mantra should be chanted peacefully and quietly. It should not be chanted loudly, as a shout. When doing this japa, one offers ācamana and tāmbūla to devī. Cardamom, tāmbūla and camphor are there. Be pleased and give us blessings. He mahāmāye, he Devī, this world is yours, and has many things. But people take birth and then with their choice, they steal things and hide them andsay, “This is my property. Everything is mine.” Anything that comes near them, they take and reserve it carefully and never want to give share to anyone. These objects of māyā have strong affection; by touching that, you will be related to it. One piece of cloth, wood, land or property— anything that comes to one, by touching or looking at it, you become attached. Like a pen, pencil, cloth, bag, asana—anything you have, if you touch it, catch it, then touching it means you think, “It is my property. I will never give a share to anyone.”mīyate anayā iti māyā
“That which can be used to measure or that which can be measured is māyā.”
We came alone and go alone. Everything is māyā in this world. They offered praṇāma, “Kātyāyanī mahāmāye, mohinī māyā, please forgive and protect us. In this world, may we not make more relationship with anything. May we have no attachment. If we are attached, then we will think of that 24 hours a day; and have no time for other things. We will always think of that and be engaged there. He mahāmāye, we pray to you for this protection.” “He kātyāyanī, he mahāmāye. Two things. Kātyāyanī Devī, you are the expansion of Mahāmāyā. You are everywhere as Candī, Kālī, Bhairavī— you are famous with many names. Your māyā is very strong. If anyone touches any of your property, they become related with that and the qualities of that thing—sāttvika, rājasika and tāmasika, come to one, and one can never cross your māyā. They become arrested and engaged there and can never come out. Please make us the followers of Mahā-yogini. Yoginī means, anything that comes, I will offer everything for God’s service. This is yoga. Then one is neutral and no longer in māyā. Anything that comes in return is called prasādam. Māyā is not present there. Then one will be a yoginī. He adhīśvarī, the great master and authority, We offer praṇāma for Her. May She give bless of Nanda-gopa-sutam-devī. Near Nanda-nandana is one Devī; She is Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. May She give blessings to us, then we can attain permanent relation with Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa will be our husband, or lover. Now they started ārati and then offered praṇāma. While chanting this mantra they directly were present near devī. They started ārati and said, ‘Bṛhaspati, Indra, Mahādeva, or any other demigods cannot cross you. We pray to you, please cut our attraction and attachment, and help us cross your māyā. If you don’t help, we can’t cross beyond your country, state and universe. We can’t go beyond, to Yogamāyā, without your mercy. Without your permission, we can’t cross. We have this body and are arrested and attached to this body. This is also your gift. You have some special power. If anyone likes to go for God’s service, then you are helpful; you arrange all program so that we can cross and can cut our attachment. You give satisfaction, nourishment and peace. Now they prayed to Devī, “How can we be pleased and cross your boundary i.e. relation to the body and mind, and from them, we can cross beyond to the soul and get svarūpa-siddhi and then vastu-siddhi, meaning, permanent service of Kṛṣṇa—not only for one day and then coming back. Give parā-vidyā, transcendental knowledge, and bhakti— this is permanent. Otherwise one day your mercy and bless, and the next day if we lose everything this is not proper. First give mukti.”agre haya mukti, tabe sarva-bandha-nāśa tabe se haite pāre śrī kṛṣṇera dāsa
Caitanya-bhāgavat, Madhya-līlā 17.104
First mukti, liberation, is necessary. Then when I am clean, with no attachment or attraction, then I can serve Kṛṣṇa. One day rich people come and arrange a big feast and the next day they don’t even give water or a scrap of bread—nothing. They say, “Yesterday I gave a big feast; where will it come from everyday?” Devī, this is your mercy; people are cheated by this. One day they attend a program and the next day there is nothing. One day they wake early and chant Gāyatrī and offer nice bhoga and then next day they run and hide in their beds, sleeping with no energy. One time they go to the holy dhāma and to holy rivers and then for their complete life they never remember or follow God. One day one chants 64 rounds harināma, and after this, they cannot chant any harināma, they have no taste. One day they do kīrtana and then do no kīrtana, and hear no hari-kathā and perform no program. Therefore they prayed, “Devī kātyāyanī, devī mahāmāye. Do not involve us in your programs.” Her program means sleep, eat, drink, and recreation—this is her program. This is all habitual since millions of lives. “Māyā-Devī, please stop your program; let it no more affect us. No, we desire to attend the eternal program. Give us parā-vidyā and bhakti-yoga. Don’t give us the bondage of wealth, health, prestigious family, and so forth. We don’t desire this. He Mātā, he Devī, please give us mukti and your mercifully glance, then we will become mahā-yoginī and will follow Yogamāyā. Being present near Yogamāyā, she will give us chance for the service of her adhīśvarī. “He Devī, all auspiciousness is with you, therefore give us some good qualities. You are supreme Vaiṣṇavī; if anyone has desire for Kṛṣṇa’s service, you give chance. With this hope of Kṛṣṇa’s service, we offer praṇāma to you. “We have a desire to make a relationship with Nanda-nandana. Therefore help us.” The vraja-gopīs worshipped Devī like this and afterwards, when pūjā was complete and ārati was finished, they chanted this mantra, did parikramā and then prayed to her. Then they gave visarjana, offering Devī’s deity in the Yamunā, and went back home. On the way home, they sat in some places and did saṅkīrtana of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. The gopīs were greatly fortunate and their goodness and good qualities increased day by day. How to worship? Which mantras to chant? What to pray? Step by step, newer and newer inspiration and moods came to them. By taking a shower, the body and mind are cooled and one gets healthy. If one puts soap in cloth, the cloth can be made clean by being washed. Similarly, by worshipping Devī, all anarthas and bad desires are cleaned by Devī. Then one has space for good moods. Then all help comes to inspire what is necessary to do next. Mahā-Lakṣmī was with Lord Nārāyaṇa for millions of years; if anyone worshipped her, she is very restless. Cancala Lakṣmī. The vraja-gopīs said, “Please Devī, give us strength, we are worshipping you. We don’t want that later we will be glad and everyone will respect and worship us. We don’t want to be like Mahā Lakṣmī, who goes to help her followers when they worship and pray for her help. Don’t give us that mood. Otherwise, we will not be able to serve Kṛṣṇa or be near Kṛṣṇa; we will go near other persons to serve them.” Then Devī appeared and gave a boon, “I am very pleased. Kṛṣṇa will come and give you darśana. Don’t wait only for His darśana, pray for His service.” Mahā Lakṣmī continuously serves the Lord. She prayed to Kṛṣṇa, “How can I come near You in the body of a gopī?” But Kṛṣṇa did not accept her. He kept Her at a distance. Devī said, “When Kṛṣṇa appears, don’t ask for opulence, wealth, health or anything else. Always pray to Kṛṣṇa for His service only, then your vrata will be successful and your desire will be fulfilled. Otherwise asking for anything else, he will give that and then reject you and never come back.” Devī taught the gopīs this and then disappeared. The gopīs were very pleased with their boon and began to dance and play. They had faith that Kṛṣṇa would come. They thought to quickly bathe in the water and be ready for Kṛṣṇa’s arrival. They thought, “Kṛṣṇa will come and we will wear dry cloth to see Him.” Daily they went in the water with their cloths and performed worship of the Devī in wet cloths, but today they left their clothes on the Yamunā’s bank, thinking, “How can we meet with Kṛṣṇa in wet cloth?” Hari-katha spoken by Sripada Premananda Prabhu; rendition by Rasik Mohan Das This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.