Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 1
द्वादशमासेषु अष्टमी-व्रत-कथनम्
Account of the Aṣṭamī Vow Across the Twelve Months
सनातन उवाच । शुक्लाष्टम्यां चैत्रमासे भवान्याः प्रोच्यते जनिः । प्रदक्षिणशतं कृत्वा कार्यो यात्रामहोत्सवः ॥ १ ॥
sanātana uvāca | śuklāṣṭamyāṃ caitramāse bhavānyāḥ procyate janiḥ | pradakṣiṇaśataṃ kṛtvā kāryo yātrāmahotsavaḥ || 1 ||
Sanātana dit : «Au jour de Śuklāṣṭamī (huitième jour de la quinzaine claire) du mois de Caitra, on proclame la naissance de Bhavānī. Après avoir accompli cent pradakṣiṇā (circumambulations), on doit célébrer la grande fête de la yātrā, la procession de la Déesse».
Sanātana (one of the Sanatkumāra brothers)
Vrata: Bhavānī-janma/Śuklāṣṭamī observance (festival-vrata context)
Primary Rasa: bhakti
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It sanctifies a specific sacred time—Caitra Śuklāṣṭamī—as auspicious for honoring Bhavānī’s manifestation, linking devotion to disciplined ritual acts (pradakṣiṇā) and communal celebration (yātrā-mahotsava).
Bhakti is expressed through embodied reverence—circumambulating (pradakṣiṇā) as an act of surrender and then celebrating the deity publicly via yātrā, turning personal devotion into a shared dhārmic festival.
It uses calendrical ritual precision—identifying the lunar tithi (Śuklāṣṭamī) in the month of Caitra—reflecting Jyotiṣa-based timing applied to vrata and utsava observances.