Sri Katyayani-vrata | The Meaning of the Mantra

The īśvarī of this mantra is Śrīmatī Rādhārānī, but first Mahāmāyā cleans us, makes a foundation, and cuts our attachment for others, as well as others’ attachment for us. A baby catches anything and puts it in his mouth. If anyone gives it a toy to play with, he thinks, “This is mine.” Everyone has this nature. We desire to collect and possess the things that māyā created in this world. If we follow this vrata and pray to Mahāmāyā, she will first give us the good intelligence to not touch or take anThe Meaning of the Mantray of her property. She will give us the power to renounce attachment to this world. Once our attachment to this world is broken, then we can develop attachment to the spiritual world and transcendental personalities. Every morning Śrīla Gurudeva would pray:

rādheśa-keli-prabhutā-vinoda vinyāsa-vijñāṁ vraja-vanditāṅghrim kṛpālutādyākhila-viśva-vandyāṁ śrī-paurṇamāsīṁ śirasā namāmi

[I bow my head and offer obeisance unto Śrī Paurṇamāsī-devī, who is completely adept at arranging the most elevated varieties of enjoyment for the master of Śrīmatī Rādhikā; whose lotus feet are worshiped by the Vrajavāsīs; and who, due to possessing the entirety of transcendental qualities starting with kindness, is worshipable to everyone in the entire universe.] The Vrajavāsīs arrange everything for Kṛṣṇa’s happiness. They pray to Yogamāyā, “O Bhagavatī, please give us adhikāra (qualification) for kṛṣṇa-sevā.” We should pray to Paurṇamāsī-devī to remove all our desire and taste for mundane enjoyment and relationships, and to awaken spiritual greed within us. Śiva Ṭhākura himself came and took shelter of Paurṇamāsī-devī to gain entrance into Vraja. Therefore Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sang:

tomāke laṅghiyā kothā jive kṛṣṇa pāya kṛṣṇa rāsa prakaṭilo tomāra kṛpāya

[Crossing māyā and entering Vraja-maṇḍala is impossible without the mercy of Bhagavatī Paurṇamāsī-devī. Thus pray, “Please give me a chance to attain vraja-sevā and vraja-bhāva.”] In the third part of the mantra, given by Bhagavatī Paurṇamāsī, we pray to Nandagopa-sūtadevī. Who is that Devī? How can we understand Her and receive Her mercy? This Devī is dyutimān, brilliant and shining. By Her own effulgence, She gives us darśana of Nandagopa-sūta Kṛṣṇa. Nandagopa-sūta is glorious and very popular. How can we meet with Him? We pray to that Devī who has the power to show us Kṛṣṇa and establish our relationship with Him—that is, Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. Patim me kurute namah. Pati does not mean only husband. It means one’s maintainer, guardian, life and soul. So we pray, “Patim me kurute namah—I offer praṇāma unto You. Please bestow a permanent relationship with Kṛṣṇa. May He be my maintainer, guardian, and dearmost beloved.” Bhagavatī Paurṇamāsī gave this mantra to the gopīs and they chanted it with great determination to achieve their desired goal. Coming every morning to the bank of the Yamunā, they would first make a deity of Devī out of sand. They became surprised to see that even after bathing the deity, she did not fall apart. They offered this deity articles offered in arcana, and then chanted the mantra. It seemed to them that Devī appeared directly before them in the form of the deity. By continually chanting the mantra they began to feel a swelling of happiness, born of awakened faith that Kṛṣṇa would surely accept them and that no mundane person would be able to touch or disturb them. They felt, “My body is now the property of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa will protect me and allow me to serve Him.” After their worship and ārati, the gopīs offered the deity to Yamunā-devī so that she would not be disrespected in their absence. They then returned to their homes before sunrise. During the day, the gopīs fasted and remained silent and meditative. In the evening, they took a small amount of milk and fruit to maintain their bodies.