A lot of people wonder why Goddess Chhath (Chhathi Maiya) is worshipped along with the Sun God on the occasion of Chhath or Surya Shashti Vrat. Is the Goddess mentioned in the Puranas?
Nowadays, Chhath is celebrated not only in Bihar but all over the world, where people from the area have settled. Still, a lot of people are unaware of the fundamental details of this fast.
Here is all you need to know about the festival.
Goddess Shashti in the Puranas
It's written in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad that God divided himself into two parts to create the universe. The 'right' part formed the 'male' and the 'left' side formed 'nature'.
The ‘nature’ chapter in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana states that a prominent part of the Nature Goddess is called Devasena. As this goddess is the sixth part of nature, one of her popular names is Shashti. According to the Purana, Shashti protects children and gives them a long life.
Shashti Devi is called Chhathi Maiya in local parlance. The Goddess is also called Brahma's Manasputri, and is believed to give children to those who are unable to have any. To this day, in most parts of the country, people celebrate Shashti Pooja or Chhath Pooja on the sixth day after a baby is born.
She is also called Katyayni in the Puranas, and is worshipped on Shashti during the Navratras.
The Significance of Sun-Worship
Hindu religious texts list dates for worshipping gods and goddesses. For instance, Ganesha is worshipped on Chaturthi, Vishnu is worshipped on Ekadashi.
Similarly, the Sun God is worshipped on Saptami. However, on Chhath, Sun is worshipped on Shashti, which is unusual.
On Surya Shashti vrat, Brahma and Shakti are worshipped together. Therefore, those who practice fasting get the reward of worshipping both. This makes the worship even more special.
Women have kept this mythological tradition alive in the folklore of Chhath.
The reason for worshipping God and Goddess together becomes clear from the couplet. In it, Vratis are saying that they are worshiping the sun deities for food, wealth, property, etc, and the Shashthi Devi for children.
(With inputs from texts published by Gita Press, Gorakhpur)
(This article has been republished from The Quint’s archives to mark Chhath Puja. It was first published in Hindi Quint.)
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