Thursday, 22 August 2024

This festival is celebrated on Chandrodaya Kalik Bhadrapada Krishna Paksha Chaturthi. There are two Chaturthi in every lunar month. The Chaturthi of Krishna Paksha which comes after full moon is called Sankashti Chaturthi and the Chaturthi of Shukla Paksha which comes after Amavasya is called Vinayaka Chaturthi. Although all the Sankashti Chaturthi that comes throughout the year are important, but Sakat Chauth, Vakratund Sankashti Chaturthi and Bahula Chaturthi have different importance. On the day of Bahula Chaturthi, the cow and Lord Krishna are worshiped. By observing this fast, a person gets a child. Those who have children, they keep the fast of Bahula Chaturthi to protect them.

All the gods reside in Cow. Brahma in the middle of the cow's horns, Shankar on the forehead, Ashwini and Kumar, in the ears, the Moon and the Sun in the eyes, Parvati in the neck, the Sadhya deity in the abdomen, the constellations in the back, the sky in the Kakud, the four seas in the udders and Laxmi ji is believed to reside in cow dung. All the devotees abstain themselves from consuming any kind of milk or milk product considering that only calves possess the right to have cow milk.

The story of the worship of the cow and its calf on this day is related to the Dwapar era. Lord Krishna had great love for a cow named Bahula. One day Shri Krishna took his test. He approached Bahula in the form of a lion. Then Bahula requested that her calf is hungry, after feeding her milk, she will come back to be his food. On this the lion let her go. Bahula gave milk to her calf and came back to the lion. Seeing her devotion and integrity, Shri Krishna came in real form and blessed that whoever worships you on the day of Bhadrapada Chaturthi in the form of a cow, will get the happiness of wealth and children.

Bahula Chaturthi (1950 to 2050)