Chapter 22
श्रीशुक उवाच हेमन्ते प्रथमे मासि नन्दव्रजकुमारिका: । चेरुर्हविष्यं भुञ्जाना: कात्यायन्यर्चनव्रतम् ॥ १ ॥
Transliteration
śrī-śuka uvāca hemante prathame māsi nanda-vraja-kumārikāḥ cerur haviṣyaṁ bhuñjānāḥ kātyāyany-arcana-vratam
Synonyms (Word-for-Word)
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; hemante — during the winter; prathame — in the first; māsi — month; nanda-vraja — of the cowherd village of Nanda Mahārāja; kumārikāḥ — the unmarried young girls; ceruḥ — performed; haviṣyam — unseasoned khichrī; bhuñjānāḥ — subsisting on; kātyāyanī — of the goddess Kātyāyanī; arcana-vratam — the vow of worship.
Translation
“Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: During the first month of the winter season, the young unmarried girls of Gokula observed the vow of worshiping goddess Kātyāyanī. For the entire month they ate only unspiced khichrī.”