Śarad Navrātri: Day 2 – Mā Brahmacāriṇī


On day 2, Hindus honour Mā Durgā’s manifestation as Brahmacāriṇī. ‘Brahma’ means penance and ‘Cāriṇī’ means an ardent female devotee.

Mā Brahmacāriṇī
Mā Brahmacāriṇī. Image Credit: Sanskriti Magazine

Brahmacāriṇī symbolizes one who observed deep penance to attain Bhagwān Śiva. The Goddess signifies love, affection, and fidelity. She is believed to be the storehouse of divine wisdom and intellect.

Devi Brahmacāriṇī is one of the mightiest avatars of Mā Durgā and is believed to be a symbol of peace and tranquillity.

In her previous birth, Mā Durgā sacrificed her life in the Mahā Yajña of King Daksha. She took birth again and this time she was born to the king of the mountains, The Himalayas, and was named Parvati.

As she grew up, Mā Pārvati resolved to marry Bhagwān Śiva, her husband from her previous birth. When her parents got to know about this desire, they strongly discouraged her and told her that it was not possible.

One day Pārvati was visited by Nārada Muni. After understanding Mā Pārvati’s wish, he told her that the only way she could marry Bhagwān Śiva was if she followed a path of severe penance and meditation.

Pārvati went into severe penance. It was no ordinary penance it went on for thousands of years. For the first thousand years, she only ate fruits and flowers, for the next hundred years, she only ate vegetables, for the next three thousand years she only ate dried leaves. She gave up water, she gave up food and her purpose of life became severe penance. She became weak and absolutely emaciated. Once when her mother visited her, she was shattered to see her and remarked, ‘Oh! ma.’ That’s why Pārvati is also known as Umā. When she gave up eating leaves, she earned herself another name – the name is Aparnā – somebody who lives without the leaves. 

Soon, the news of her dedication and sacrifice spread to every corner of the world and reached the Gods as well.

Bhagwān Brahmā heard of Mā Pārvati’s penance and appeared before her. He was pleased with her devotion and told her that no other person could have undergone such difficulties. Brahmā ji blessed Mā Pārvati and that her love for Bhagwān Śiva was truly special and pure. Śiva ji pleased and with Brahmā ji’s blessings both of them could get married in this birth. 

Brahmacāriṇī is the symbol of immense sacrifice, penance, solitude, and purity. On the second day of Navratri, we pray to her to give us so much strength that we can be completely focused on penance towards God. In this form, she carries a rosary in one hand and a commandal in the other. People pray to her for peace, prosperity, and happiness. A lot of people who follow the Navratri also observe a fast for all nine days. They go without food and sometimes even water. On those days they pray to goddess Brahmacāriṇī for strength so that they can stay focused and they can deal with whatever they wish for.