श्रीशुक उवाच हेमन्ते प्रथमे मासि नन्दव्रजकुमारिका: । चेरुर्हविष्यं भुञ्जाना: कात्यायन्यर्चनव्रतम् ॥ १ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca hemante prathame māsi nanda-vraja-kumārikāḥ cerur haviṣyaṁ bhuñjānāḥ kātyāyany-arcana-vratam
- 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
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.