Navratri - 02 - Brahmacharini Devi
The second day of Navratri is dedicated to Brahmacharini Devi. Let us find out who Brahmacharini is, and what her story tells is...
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Before her marriage to Shiva, Parvati lived in the mountains for some time to do tapas (penance). She wanted to impress Shiva, and ask him to marry her.
When she was almost at the end of her long austerities, an asura called Prakandasura aimed at disturbing her and attacked her with a million other asuras. Parvati was unable to save herself as that would mean stopping the tapas midway. Seeing her helplessness, goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati rushed to her aid. They fought off the million asuras but were yet unable to stop Prakandasura. Finally Parvati opened her eyes slightly, and with the power of the tapas she had performed, she could now shoot fire from her eyes itself, which burnt the asura to death.
The name Bramhacharini is derived from the words Brahma (= tapas in this context) and charini (= ardent female follower).
The second day of Navratri is dedicated to Brahmacharini devi