33 / Vidyādhara Liberated and the Demon Śaṅkhāsura Killed
Once upon a time, the cowherd men of Vṛndāvana, headed by Nanda Mahārāja, desired to go to Ambikāvana to perform the  Śivarātri  performance. The  rāsa-līlā  was performed during the autumn, and after that the next big ceremony is  Holi  or the  Dolayātrā  ceremony. Between the  Dolayātrā  ceremony and the  rāsa-līlā  ceremony there is one important ceremony which is called  Śivarātri , which is especially observed by the Śaivites, or devotees of Lord Śiva. But sometimes the Vaiṣṇavas also observe this ceremony because they accept Lord Śiva as the foremost Vaiṣṇava. But the function of  Śivarātri  is not observed very regularly by the  bhaktas , or devotees of Kṛṣṇa. Under the circumstances, it is stated in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  that the cowherd men headed by Nanda Mahārāja “once upon a time desired.” That means that they were not regularly observing the  Śivarātri  function, but that once upon a time they wanted to go to Ambikāvana out of curiosity. Ambikāvana is situated somewhere in the Gujarat province. Ambikāvana is said to be situated on the river Sarasvatī, yet we do not find any Sarasvatī River in the Gujarat province; the only river there is Savarmati. In India, all the big places of pilgrimage are situated on nice rivers like the Ganges, Yamunā, Sarasvatī, Narmadā, Godāvarī, Kāverī, etc. Ambikāvana was situated on the bank of Sarasvatī, and all the cowherd men and Nanda Mahārāja went there.
They very devotedly began to worship the deity of Lord Śiva and Ambikā. It is the general practice that wherever there is a temple of Lord Śiva, there must be another temple of Ambikā (or Durgā) because Ambikā is the wife of Lord Śiva and is the most exalted of chaste women. She doesn't live outside the association of her husband. After reaching Ambikāvana, the cowherd men of Vṛndāvana first bathed themselves in the River Sarasvatī. If one goes to any place of pilgrimage, his first duty is to take a bath and sometimes to shave his head. That is the first business. After
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