22 / Stealing the Garments
of the Unmarried Gopi Girls

According to Vedic civilization, unmarried girls from ten to fourteen
years of age are supposed to worship either Lord Siva or the goddess
Durga in order to get a nice husband. But the unmarried girls of Vrndavana
were already attracted by the beauty of Krsna. They were, however,
engaged in the worship of the goddess Durga in the beginning of the
hemanta season (just prior to the winter season). The first month of
hemanta is called Agrahayana (October-November), and at that time all
the unmarried gopis of Vrndavana began to worship goddess Durga with a
vow. They first ate havisyanna, a kind of foodstuff prepared by boiling
together mung dahl and rice without any spices or turmeric. According to
Vedic injunction, this kind of foodstuff is recommended to purify the
body before one enacts a ritualistic ceremony. All the unmarried gopis in
Vrndavana used to daily worship goddess Katyayani early in the morning
after taking bath in the River Yamuna. Katyayani is another name for god-
dess Durga. The goddess is worshiped by preparing a doll made out of sand
mixed with earth from the bank of the Yamuna. It is recommended in the
Vedic scriptures that adeity may be made from different kinds of material
elements; it can be painted, made of metal, made of jewels, made of wood,
earth or stone or can be conceived within the heart of the worshiper. The
Mayavadi philosopher takes all these forms of the deity to be imaginary,
but actually they are accepted in the Vedic literatures to be identical with
either the Supreme Lord or a respective demigod.

The unmarried gopis used to prepare the deity of goddess Durga and
worship it with candana pulp, garlands, incense lamps and all kinds of
presentations—fruits, grains and twigs of plants. After worshiping, it is the
custom to pray for some benediction. The unmarried girls used to pray
with great devotion to goddess Katyayanti, addressing her as follows: “‘O
supreme eternal energy of the Personality of Godhead, O supreme mystic

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