Gopashtami 2023: The festival of Gopashtami is celebrated on the Ashtami date of Shukla Paksha in the month of Kartik. On this day, there is a special tradition of worshiping and serving Mother Cow. This year Gopashtami is on 20th November. According to the belief, on this day Lord Krishna first started grazing the cows, hence on this day the calf is also worshiped along with the mother cow. It is believed that if a cow is worshiped and served as per the rituals on the day of Gopashtami, then one receives the blessings of the Gods and Goddesses. By worshiping the cow, Shri Krishna becomes happy and showers blessings on his devotees. Worshiping cows on this day brings happiness, prosperity, and peace to the house. So let us know about the worship method and the importance of Gopashtami...

How to worship Mother Cow on Gopashtami
On Ashtami Tithi, one should wake up in Brahma Muhurta and first of all take a bath and light the lamp in front of Lord Krishna.
After this, bathe the cow and its calf prepare them, and make the cow wear Ghunghru, etc.
Decorate the cow by adorning it with jewelery or a garland of flowers. Paint the horns of the mother cow and tie chunari on them.
Now worship the cow properly and feed it. After this, circumambulate the cow.
Worship the cow again in the evening and feed them jaggery, green fodder, etc.
If you do not have a cow in your house then you can go to a cowshed and worship the cow.

Story of Gopashtami
According to belief, the day Kanha left the house for the first time to graze cows was the Ashtami Tithi of Shukla Paksha in the month of Kartik, hence this date is celebrated as Gopashtami. According to the mythological story of Gopashtami, when Shri Krishna turned six years old, he said to Yashoda ji, 'Mother, now I have grown up. Yashoda ji said lovingly - Okay Lalla, now you have grown up, so tell me what to do now. On this Kanhaiya said- Now I will not go to graze calves, now I will go to cows. On this Yashoda ji said- Okay, ask Baba. As soon as his mother said this, Krishna ji immediately went to ask Nand Baba.

Nand Baba said - Lalla, you are still very young, you should only graze the calves, but Kanhaiya started being stubborn. Then Nand ji said, okay Lalla, you call Pandit ji - he will tell you after seeing the auspicious time for cow grazing. Hearing Baba's words, Krishna ji immediately reached Pandit ji and said - Pandit ji, Baba has called you. You want to know the auspicious time for cow grazing, you tell me today's auspicious time and I will give you a lot of butter.

Pandit ji reached Nand Baba and started calculating by looking at the almanac again and again. Then Nand Baba asked, what is the matter Pandit ji? What are you counting over and over again? Then Pandit ji said, what to tell, only today's auspicious time is coming for cow grazing, after this there is no auspicious time for one year. After listening to Panditji, Nandbaba had to give permission for cow grazing. On the same day, God started cow grazing. This auspicious date was Shukla Paksha Ashtami Tithi in Kartik month, this date was called Gopashtami because God started cow herding.

Also a belief
According to another belief, it is said that in the month of Kartik, from Pratipada to Saptami of Shukla Paksha, Lord Shri Krishna was holding Govardhan Mountain on his finger. On the eighth day, Indra Dev's ego broke and he came to Shri Krishna to ask for forgiveness. Since then the festival of Gopashtami has been celebrated on Kartik Shukla Ashtami.
PC Social Media