🐄 Bachh Baras (Govatsa Dwadashi / Vasu Baras) Vrat Katha
The story
The katha of Bachh Baras (the merchant's wife and the pond): a merchant had a pond dug in the village, but for years it held no water; the pandits said it would fill only with the sacrifice of the eldest son or daughter-in-law. The merchant's wife sent the daughter-in-law to her parents and sacrificed the eldest son and grandson — the pond filled to the brim. That very day was Bachh Baras — she looked for a cow and calf for the puja; finding no calf, she took small grains of wheat as the 'calf' and cut and ground them by hand (in the folk telling she 'cut a handful of wheat in place of the calf'); in some versions she mistakenly slaughtered the very calf of the cow for the puja.
After the puja and katha she prayed to 'Bachh Baras Mata' — 'forgive my son and daughter-in-law; the sacrifice and killing I did unknowingly…'; pleased with her faith, the Mata restored the son, the grandson and the calf to life; when the daughter-in-law returned she found the house whole again. Since then the rules of Bachh Baras — serving the cow and calf, cutting nothing with a knife (the wheat/calf katha), leaving the cow's milk for the calf; and the lesson that no sacrifice or violence in the name of one's children — only service bears fruit.
Govatsa Dwadashi (Purana): in the Bhavishya Purana — the woman who worships the cow Nandini (daughter of Kamadhenu) with her calf on Kartika Krishna Dwadashi and that day gives up cow's milk, curd, ghee and fried food, has long-lived sons and grandsons — this is the Vasu Baras of Maharashtra and Gujarat; folk belief also places Kamadhenu's emergence from the churning of the ocean on this day.
Why this katha — the significance
Cow-and-calf worship: thirty-three crore gods dwell in the cow (Kamadhenu) — worshipping the cow with her calf on Govatsa Dwadashi pleases them all; the Bhavishya Purana describes Govatsa Dwadashi — worship of the cow Nandini, the calf standing for one's children; hence a mothers' vrat.
For the children: it is believed that serving the cow and calf makes children long-lived and healthy and gives children to the childless; in the katha, harming the cow or calf brings the loss of a child and serving them restores the child — this is the root of the vrat.
Giving up milk and the knife: that day the cow's milk, curd and ghee are the calf's due — hence buffalo milk or a milkless meal; vegetables or fruit cut with a knife are forbidden (a symbol of not hurting the cow and calf) — whole moth beans, millet, kadhi, kheench; produce plucked by hand from the field.
The start of Diwali (Gujarat, Maharashtra): the five or six days of Diwali begin with Vagh Baras / Vasu Baras — Vasu Baras (cow and calf), Dhanteras, Kali Chaudas, Diwali, Bestu Varsh / Padwa, Bhai Beej; in Gujarat traders close their ledger transactions and settle accounts on this day ('vagh' = tiger, the day to clear debts).
How the katha is heard
- Hear or read the katha after the puja, before the aarti — the whole family sits together.
- The one keeping the vrat should listen with a calm mind; keep a lamp lit and a little akshat-flowers in hand.
- At the end, offer the flowers at the deity's feet and bow; share the prasad with everyone.
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Frequently asked questions
When is Bachh Baras in {Y} — Bhadrapada or Kartika?
Both dates are above: in Rajasthan, UP, MP and Haryana on Bhadrapada Krishna Dwadashi (4 days after Janmashtami) as 'Bachh Baras'; in Gujarat and Maharashtra on Kartika Krishna Dwadashi (1 day before Dhanteras) as 'Vagh/Vasu Baras, Govatsa Dwadashi'. Follow your region's or family's custom.
What is not eaten on Bachh Baras, and why?
Cow's milk, curd and ghee (the calf's due that day), vegetables or fruit cut with a knife (the katha — the error of cutting the calf/wheat; a symbol of violence), in many homes wheat too; eaten — millet roti, moth, gram, kadhi (buffalo curd or buttermilk), kheench, whole fruit.
How to do the puja without a cow and calf?
Make a cow and calf of wet clay or use a picture of the Cow Mother — tilak, garland, offering, katha; place the clay images in water afterwards; visiting a gaushala with fodder and jaggery is equally valid.
For whom is the vrat — only mothers with sons?
By tradition mothers for their sons; now it is kept for all children (sons and daughters) and by the childless (wishing for a child); men and children join the cow worship.
Why are ledgers closed on Vagh Baras in Gujarat?
Vagh Baras is the first day of the Diwali festival — traders stop credit transactions and settle accounts that day (freeing themselves of debt — the folk idea of escaping the 'tiger'); new ledgers are opened with the chopda pujan on Diwali or Labh Pancham.
What is the muhurat for Bachh Baras?
In Bhadrapada (North) the cow puja in the morning to midday (sunrise to Abhijit); in Kartika (Gujarat, Maharashtra) in the evening at godhuli/pradosh — timings above; the Dwadashi tithi window above; avoid Rahu Kaal.
What is the difference between Bachh Baras and Gopashtami?
Both are cow worship — Bachh Baras / Govatsa Dwadashi is a mothers' vrat for children (Krishna Dwadashi of Bhadrapada or Kartika), Gopashtami is Kartika Shukla Ashtami — the festival of Krishna's first day of cow-herding, a gaushala celebration (not a vrat).
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