अहोई अष्टमी व्रत कथा

In ancient times there lived a moneylender in a certain town. He had seven sons, a house full of grain and wealth, and a courtyard that rang with the laughter of children. His wife was a capable and devout woman. One year Diwali was only a few days away. The custom in those days was to plaster the house with fresh earth before Diwali, so that Lakshmi would enter a clean home. The moneylender's wife thought, 'I will go and dig some good earth myself.'

She took a spade and a basket and went out past the town towards the fields, found a patch of soft fine clay and began to dig. She did not know that right there, under the ground, was the burrow of a syahu, a porcupine, with her little ones asleep in it. One stroke of the spade struck the burrow and a cub died on the spot. When she saw it her heart leapt into her mouth. 'Oh, what have I done!' But what could be done now? Heavy-hearted, she gathered the earth, went home and told no one.

When the mother syahu came back from foraging she found her cub dead. She wailed, and then a curse came from her mouth: 'Whoever has killed my child, let her lap be emptied in the same way.' The syahu's curse, together with the unknowing sin, travelled to the moneylender's house.

That same year the eldest son fell suddenly ill and died within days. Grief filled the house, but people said, 'It is the way of fate.' The next year the second son went. Then the third. In this way, over seven years, all seven sons went one by one. The courtyard where seven children had played was silent now. The moneylender and his wife were broken; all their wealth lay useless, for there was no lamp left in the house.

One day some women of the neighbourhood came to sit with her in her grief. Weeping, the moneylender's wife opened her heart. 'Sisters, I have never knowingly done wrong. But one thing has weighed on me for years. Seven years ago, digging earth before Diwali, my spade killed a syahu's cub. From that time my sons began to leave me, one after another. Is this the fruit of that?'

Among those women was an old and experienced one. She said, 'Daughter, you have owned your sin, and that is half the atonement. The syahu whose child died was a mother too; her grief was no less than yours. Now hear the remedy. On Kartik Krishna Ashtami keep the fast of Ahoi Mata. Draw Ahoi Mata on the wall in red ochre, and beside her draw the syahu with her cubs. Before the Mother ask the syahu's forgiveness, keep a karwa of water, hear the katha, and when the stars come out give the arghya and break your fast. Ahoi Mata is the protector of children; she turns what should not happen into what does.'

That very year, on Kartik Krishna Ashtami, the moneylender's wife did exactly that. She bathed before sunrise, took the vow, and through the day took neither food nor water. On the wall she drew Ahoi Mata in ochre, and beside her the syahu and her seven cubs. Before the image she set a karwa of water, offered roli, rice and milk-rice, told the katha with the women of the house, and said with folded hands, 'Mother, unknowing, I emptied a mother's lap, and my own empty lap is the fruit of it. Forgive me, and ask that syahu mother to forgive me too.' When the stars came out in the evening she poured the water of the karwa to the stars as arghya and broke her fast.

It is said that Ahoi Mata came to her in a dream that night and said, 'You did not hide your sin, and you have repented from the heart. The syahu mother's anger is now at rest as well.' By the Mother's grace, in some tellings the seven sons came back alive that very moment; in others, in the years that followed, seven sons played in her lap once more. Both versions are told, and both mean the same: the lap that had been emptied, Ahoi Mata filled again.

Since then, every year on Kartik Krishna Ashtami, mothers keep the Ahoi fast, draw Ahoi Mata and the syahu with her cubs on the wall, and hear this katha. Its message is that the grief of every creature's mother is the same, the syahu's no less than the moneylender's wife's; that even an unknowing sin bears fruit; but that whoever owns it, repents and takes refuge in the Mother has the sin undone, and Ahoi Mata herself protects their children.

What you need: an image of Ahoi Mata (drawn on the wall in red ochre or a printed picture from the market), a silver syahu with beads (the syahu mala) or, in its place, beads threaded on red mauli, a karwa or lota filled with water, a puja plate, roli, unbroken rice, mauli, turmeric, durva grass, flowers, a ghee lamp, incense, and the offering: milk-rice, halwa, and pua or puri (usually eight or fourteen), plus the bayana for the mother-in-law.

On the Ashtami, rise before sunrise, bathe and take the vow: 'I keep the fast of Ahoi Mata for the long life, health and happiness of my children, and I will break it after offering arghya when the stars come out.' Those without children take the vow with the wish for a child. Take neither food nor water through the day; women who are unwell or pregnant may take fruit and water.

In the afternoon, or before evening, prepare the puja wall. Clean a patch of wall and draw Ahoi Mata on it in ochre or yellow clay; in many homes she is drawn with eight corners, for the eighth tithi, and beside her the syahu with her cubs. Those who cannot draw put up a printed picture or calendar image. Below the picture spread a red cloth on a low stool.

On the stool place the karwa or lota filled with water and tie mauli around it; draw a swastika on it in roli. In many homes this is the very karwa that was filled on Karwa Chauth, and its water is used for the arghya to the stars on Ahoi. Beside it keep seven grains of wheat, durva grass and the offering of pua and halwa. Place the silver syahu mala on the plate too.

After sunset, just before the stars come out, begin the puja; this is the hour of godhuli, the dusk. Light the lamp and incense, offer roli, rice, turmeric, flowers and durva to the image, and offer the mauli. Set out the milk-rice, halwa and puas. In some places the Mother is worshipped with a lamp placed on the water-filled karwa.

The katha: the eldest woman of the house tells it while the others listen holding seven grains of wheat or a little grain in their hands; seat the children close by. After the katha, place that grain before the Mother or give it to birds later. In many homes the story of the syahu mother and a short story of Gauri and Ganesh are told along with the Ahoi katha.

The mantras, by name: Ahoi Mata is a form of Parvati, so 'Om Parvatyai Namah' or 'Om Gauryai Namah'; for Ganesh, 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah'. Long japa is not needed. Take the Mother's name with faith and pray for your children's protection, speaking their names. Those who know no mantra simply say 'Jai Ahoi Mata'; that is enough.

When the stars appear, offer arghya to them with the water of the karwa: pour the water towards the sky from cupped hands or the lota and bow with folded hands. Then take water and break the fast. The moon of the Ashtami rises very late at night, so in this fast it is the stars that are looked for, not the moon; women who wish to break the fast at the moon wait until moonrise, around midnight.

After breaking the fast, feed the offered food to the children as prasad, touch the feet of your mother-in-law (or the eldest woman of the house) and give her the bayana: puris, halwa, cloth and dakshina. Then eat a sattvik meal together. The syahu mala is worn from this day until Diwali, and the picture on the wall stays until the Diwali whitewashing. Share the halwa and puas of the offering among the women of the house.

The mark of the Ahoi fast is the picture on the wall. In older homes mothers drew the figure of Ahoi Mata near the kitchen or on the puja wall in red ochre, yellow clay or charcoal, in many homes with eight corners for the eighth tithi, and beside her the syahu with her cubs, as in the story. Many homes add the sun, the moon, stars, a well and a karwa. Today most homes put up a printed picture or calendar image showing these same figures around Ahoi Mata. The picture stays on the wall from Ahoi until Diwali and comes down with the Diwali cleaning and whitewashing.

The syahu mala is the second distinctive object of this vrat: a small silver syahu, the figure of a porcupine, with two silver beads, threaded on mauli or a red string, kept in the puja and then worn around the neck. The custom is to add two new beads to the mala every Ahoi, and more in a year when a son is born or married in the family; in this way the mala keeps count of the family's growing lap. It is put on on the day of Ahoi and worn until Diwali, then taken off, washed in Ganga water or clean water and put away safely until the next year. Those who have no silver syahu keep the custom with beads threaded on mauli.

The third object is the karwa of water. In many homes the karwa from Karwa Chauth is kept with its water for the four days until Ahoi, and on the evening of Ahoi Ashtami that water is poured to the stars as arghya; this Ahoi water is then kept until Diwali and sprinkled in the corners of the house on Diwali morning, so that the home is purified before Lakshmi comes. In this way Karwa Chauth, Ahoi and Diwali are tied together by the water of a single karwa. The Ahoi fast is broken by the stars, not the moon: the moon of the Ashtami rises around midnight, so mothers wait at dusk for the first star, offer the arghya to it and take water. The stars here are taken as a sign of the children for whom the fast is kept, beyond counting and always shining.

By tradition the Ahoi Ashtami fast is kept for the long life, health and progress of one's children, and by childless couples for the gift of a child. The message of the story runs deep: the moneylender's wife sinned unknowingly, yet the fruit came all the same; and that fruit was undone only when she stopped hiding her fault, owned it, and asked forgiveness of the creature she had hurt. That is why the syahu and her cubs are drawn beside the Mother in the Ahoi picture: a reminder that every creature's mother grieves the same, and that compassion is the greatest protection a child can have.

This fast is a festival of the mothers of a household: daughter-in-law, mother-in-law and the brothers' wives sit together to hear the katha, the children sit close, and the growing count of the syahu mala bears witness to the family's growth. In Jyotish, Jupiter is the significator of children and the Moon of the mother and of nurture; for mothers whose kundli has an afflicted fifth house, a debilitated or combust Jupiter, or a standing worry over a child's health, this fast and the refuge of the Mother are especially recommended.

After the katha the aarti of Ahoi Mata is sung; in many homes, since Ahoi is a form of Parvati, this is the Gauri aarti 'Jai Ambe Gauri', followed by the Ganesh aarti 'Jai Ganesh Deva'. After the aarti the arghya is given to the stars, and the prasad of milk-rice, halwa and puas is shared, first with the children and then with everyone.