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Brahmacharini Mata – About Goddess Brahmacharini


Brahmacharini Mata is an incarnation of Mother Goddess Shakti and is also one among the Navdurgas – nine avatars of Goddess Durga. Goddess Brahmacharini is worshiped on the second day of the Navratri (September – October). ‘Brahma’ here refers to the meditative aspect of Brahmacharini and is always depicted as pious women or Sannyasin. She performs Tapas or intense austerities for the welfare of her devotees and for rule of Dharma on earth.

Brahmacharini Mata is two-armed and carries a rosary and sacred water pot (Kamandalu).

She is associated with the pious form of Goddess Shakti. She is believed to be that aspect of Mother Goddess, which was present in Sati and Parvati, when they both did intense austerities to get Mahadev Shiva as husband.

Legend has it that Goddess Shakti did penance for 1000 years just consuming fruits. She then continued the penance for 3000 years consuming only leaves that fell from trees. Goddess Shakti got the name Brahmacharini Mata after performing such intense tapas or austerities.

She performed these austerities for the welfare of the living beings in the universe. Creation had come to a standstill with Shiva showing no interest in worldly life. First as Sati and then as Parvati, she undertook harsh austerities and succeeded in changing the ways of Mahadev Shiva.

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