Day 2 of Navratri: The Tale of Bramhacharini Mata

The second day of navratri glorifies the significance of Maa Bramhacharini. Maa Bramhacharini wears white saree and stands barefoot. She holds a japamala (rosary) with her right hand and a kamandal (water pot) in her left hand.

Origin of Devi Bramhacharini

Mata Parvati grew as the daughter of king Himavat and queen Maina. Himavat decided to marry her daughter to Lord Vishnu but Parvati from her early years was devoted towards Lord Shiva. Sage Narad visited Parvati and helped her get clear vision. He reminded her of her love and sacrifice during her previous incarnation. He made her realise that she was meant to marry Lord Shiva. Also as Shiva was in the state of samadhi and no more wanted to involve in the worldly affairs, sage Narad instructed Parvati to perform severe penance to wake him up. After getting guidance from the sage, she was ready to go through anything to get Shiva as his husband.

Due to the extremity of the penance Parvati performed, she is called as Maa Bramhacharini or Tapascharini, where 'bramha' or 'tapas' means penance and 'charini' means achran, that is one who performs.

Parvati left the palace, the luxury, and all the comfort; went into a deep forest and started meditating on Shiva. She ate only fruits and sweet potatoes for the first ten thousand years, in the next hundred years she ate only leafy vegetables, for the next three thousand years she survived eating only fallen dried bel patra (leaves of wood apple). Seeing the extremity of Parvati's penance, her mother Maina called her out "Uh! Ma" and refused to do so. That's why Parvati is also known by the name, Uma. However, Shiva was still not pleased.

Kamdeva burnt into ashes

The devas were already troubled by the oppression of the demon, Tarakasur. They instructed Kamdeva (god of love) to invoke desire in Shiva towards Parvati. Following them, Kamdeva shot an arrow of love at Lord Shiva. Upon getting disturbed in his meditation, Shiva fumed in anger, opened his third eye and burned Kamdeva into ashes.

The Severe Penance of Mata Bramhacharini

On the other hand when nothing happened so far, Parvati gave up eating bel patra too. For this reason, she is also called as Aparna (meaning one who lives without even eating leaves). She continued her tapasya (meditation) in the open sky, fearless of the wild animals as well as bearing harsh weather conditions like scorching heat, heavy rain, or extreme cold. She went on to worship Lord Shiva without having any food or water for many further years. Finally, Lord Shiva was pleased with the intense penance of Maa Parvati and accepted her as her wife.

Significance of Worshipping Maa Bramhacharini

Maa Bramhacharini symbolises simplicity and teaches us to be self-disciplined and resilient in the face of adversity in order to reach our goal. She blesses her devotees with focus, devotion, love, loyalty, patience and wisdom. She rules the mangal (planet mars) and presides over the swadhishthana chakra (sacral chakra), present just below the navel which governs the creativity and emotional well-being.