कात्यायनि महा-माये | महा-योगिन्य् अधिज़्वरि ....

This chapter describes how the marriageable daughters of the cowherd men worshiped Kātyāyanī to get Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as their husband, and how Kṛṣṇa stole the garments of the young girls and gave the girls benedictions. (Srimad Bhagavatam: 10.22.4)

कात्यायनि महा-माये |  महा-योगिन्य् अधिज़्वरि

नन्द-गोप-सुतं देवि |   पतिं मे कुरु ते नमः

इति मन्त्रं जपन्त्यस् ताः |  पूजां चक्रुः कमारिकाः

kātyāyani mahā-māye | mahā-yoginy adhīśvari

nanda-gopa-sutaṁ devi | patiṁ me kuru te namaḥ

iti mantraṁ japantyas tāḥ | pūjāṁ cakruḥ kumārikāḥ

Translation:  Each of the young unmarried girls performed her worship while chanting the followingmantra. "O goddess Kātyāyanī, O great potency of the Lord, O possessor of great mystic power and mighty controller of all, please make the son of Nanda Mahārāja my husband. I offer my obeisances unto you." (SB 10.22.4)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: During the first month of the winter season, the young unmarried girls of Gokula observed the vow of worshiping goddess Kātyāyanī. For the entire month they ate only unspiced khichrī.

My dear King, after they had bathed in the water of the Yamunā just as the sun was rising, the gopīs made an earthen deity of goddess Durgā on the riverbank. Then they worshiped her with such aromatic substances as sandalwood pulp, along with other items both opulent and simple, including lamps, fruits, betel nuts, newly grown leaves, and fragrant garlands and incense.

Thus for an entire month the girls carried out their vow and properly worshiped the goddess Bhadrakālī, fully absorbing their minds in Kṛṣṇa and meditating upon the following thought: "May the son of King Nanda become my husband."

The gopīs worshiped the goddess Durgā, or Kātyāyanī, but their inner desire was to get Lord Kṛṣṇa as their husband. Kṛṣṇa, as Paramātmā, could realize the ardent desire of the gopīs, and therefore He enjoyed the pastime of vastra-haraṇa.

The unmarried gopīs used to prepare the deity of goddess Durgā and worship it with candana pulp, garlands, incense lamps and all kinds of presentations--fruits, grains and twigs of plants. After worshiping, it is the custom to pray for some benediction. The unmarried girls used to pray with great devotion to goddess Kātyāyanī, addressing her as follows: "O supreme eternal energy of the Personality of Godhead, O supreme mystic power, O supreme controller of this material world, O goddess, please be kind to us and arrange for our marriage with the son of Nanda Mahārāja, Kṛṣṇa." The Vaiṣṇavas generally do not worship any demigods. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākur has strictly forbidden all worship of the demigods for anyone who wants to advance in pure devotional service. Yet the gopīs, who are beyond compare in their affection for Kṛṣṇa, were seen to worship Durgā. The worshipers of demigods also sometimes mention that the gopīs also worshiped goddess Durgā, but we must understand the purpose of the gopīs. Generally, people worship goddess Durgā for some material benediction. Here, the gopīs prayed to the goddess to become wives of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The purport is that if Kṛṣṇa is the center of activity, a devotee can adopt any means to achieve that goal. The gopīs could adopt any means to satisfy or serve Kṛṣṇa. That was the superexcellent characteristic of the gopīs. They worshiped goddess Durgā completely for one month in order to have Kṛṣṇa as their husband. Every day they prayed for Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, to become their husband.  

"My dear gopīs," Kṛṣṇa continued, "your desire to have Me as your husband will be fulfilled because with this desire you have worshiped goddess Kātyāyanī. I promise you that during the next autumn season you shall be able to meet with Me, and you shall enjoy Me as your husband." 

Purport:  (SB 10.22.4) According to various ācāryas, the goddess Durgā mentioned in this verse is not the illusory energy of Kṛṣṇa called Maya but rather the internal potency of the Lord known as Yoga-māyā. The distinction between the internal and external, or illusory, potency of the Lord is described in the Nārada Pañcarātra, in the conversation between Śruti and Vidyā:

"The Lord's inferior potency, known as Durgā, is dedicated to His loving service. Being the Lord's potency, this inferior energy is nondifferent from Him. There is another, superior potency, whose form is on the same spiritual level as that of God Himself. Simply by scientifically understanding this supreme potency, one can immediately achieve the Supreme Soul of all souls, who is the Lord of all lords. There is no other process to achieve Him. That supreme potency of the Lord is known as Gokuleśvarī, the goddess of Gokula. Her nature is to be completely absorbed in love of God, and through Her one can easily obtain the primeval God, the Lord of all that be. This internal potency of the Lord has a covering potency, known as Mahā-māyā, who rules the material world. In fact she bewilders the entire universe, and thus everyone within the universe falsely identifies himself with the material body."

From the above we can understand that the internal and external, or superior and inferior, potencies of the Supreme Lord are personified as Yoga-māyā and Mahā-māyā, respectively. The name Durgā is sometimes used to refer to the internal, superior potency, as stated in the Pañcarātra : "In allmantras used to worship Kṛṣṇa, the presiding deity is known as Durgā." Thus in the transcendental sound vibrations glorifying and worshiping the Absolute Truth, Kṛṣṇa, the presiding deity of the particular mantra or hymn is called Durgā. The name Durgā therefore refers also to that personality who functions as the internal potency of the Lord and who is thus on the platform of śuddha-sattva,pure transcendental existence. This internal potency is understood to be Kṛṣṇa's sister, known also as Ekānaṁśā or Subhadrā. This is the Durgā who was worshiped by the gopīs in Vṛndāvana. Severalācāryas have pointed out that ordinary people are sometimes bewildered and think that the names Mahā-māyā and Durgā refer exclusively to the external potency of the Lord.

Even if we accept hypothetically that the gopīs were worshiping the external Māyā, there is no fault on their part, since in their pastimes of loving Kṛṣṇa they were acting as ordinary members of society. Śrīla Prabhupāda comments in this regard: "The Vaiṣṇavas generally do not worship any demigods. 

Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has strictly forbidden all worship of the demigods for anyone who wants to advance in pure devotional service. Yet the gopīs, who are beyond compare in their affection for Kṛṣṇa, were seen to worship Durgā. The worshipers of demigods also sometimes mention that the gopīs also worshiped goddess Durgā, but we must understand the purpose of thegopīs. Generally, people worship goddess Durgā for some material benediction. Here, the gopīscould adopt any means to satisfy or serve Kṛṣṇa. That was the superexcellent characteristic of thegopīs. They worshiped goddess Durgā completely for one month in order to have Kṛṣṇa as their husband. Every day they prayed for Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, to become their husband."

From Krishna Book 1-52: "Praying to the demigods to achieve the favor of Kṛṣṇa is not irregular, and Rukmiṇī was fully absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa."

The conclusion is that a sincere devotee of Kṛṣṇa will never imagine any material quality to exist in the transcendental gopīs, who are the most exalted devotees of the Lord. The only motivation in all their activities was simply to love and satisfy Kṛṣṇa, and if we foolishly consider their activities to be mundane in any way, it will be impossible for us to understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

The unmarried gopīs used to prepare the deity of goddess Durgā and worship it with candana pulp, garlands, incense lamps and all kinds of presentations--fruits, grains and twigs of plants. After worshiping, it is the custom to pray for some benediction. The unmarried girls used to pray with great devotion to goddess Kātyāyanī, addressing her as follows: "O supreme eternal energy of the Personality of Godhead, O supreme mystic power, O supreme controller of this material world, O goddess, please be kind to us and arrange for our marriage with the son of Nanda Mahārāja, Kṛṣṇa." The Vaiṣṇavas generally do not worship any demigods. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākur has strictly forbidden all worship of the demigods for anyone who wants to advance in pure devotional service. Yet the gopīs, who are beyond compare in their affection for Kṛṣṇa, were seen to worship Durgā. The worshipers of demigods also sometimes mention that the gopīs also worshiped goddess Durgā, but we must understand the purpose of the gopīs. Generally, people worship goddess Durgā for some material benediction. Here, the gopīs prayed to the goddess to become wives of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The purport is that if Kṛṣṇa is the center of activity, a devotee can adopt any means to achieve that goal. The gopīs could adopt any means to satisfy or serve Kṛṣṇa. That was the superexcellent characteristic of the gopīs. They worshiped goddess Durgā completely for one month in order to have Kṛṣṇa as their husband. Every day they prayed for Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, to become their husband.

मथुरा-वृंदावन (विपिन पाराशर)। द्वापर में रासेश्वर कृष्ण ने मोहिनी बांसुरी और अनूठी लीलाओं से ब्रज की गोपिकाओं को अपने प्रेमाकर्षण में बांध लिया था। गोपिकाएं तो बलिहारी थीं। उन्होंने कृष्ण को पति के रूप में पाने के लिए मां कात्यायनी की आराधना की। तब से अब तक युवतियां की ओर से सुयोग्य वर के लिए मां की आराधना की परंपरा चली आ रही है।

भागवत पुराण में उल्लेख है कि ब्रज की गोपिकाओं ने श्रीकृष्ण को पति रूप में पाने का मन में विचार बनाया। ब्रज लीला के तत्वज्ञ गर्ग मुनि ने गोपिकाओं के इस मनोभाव को जानकर भगवान श्रीकृष्ण को सचेत कर दिया। ब्रज गोपिकाओं के संकल्प को देख वृंदा देवी एक दिन गोपिकाओं के पास पहुंचीं और उन्होंने कहा कि अगर श्रीकृष्ण को पाना है तो मां कात्यायनी की आराधना करो। गोपिकाओं ने वृंदा देवी द्वारा बताई विधि के अनुसार यमुना के तट पर एकत्रित होकर बालुई मिट्टी से मां कात्यायानी का श्रीविग्रह बनाया और उनकी वैष्णव विधि से पूजा कर एकमासीय व्रत का संकल्प लिया। इस पर प्रसन्न हुई मां ने गोपियों को वरदान दे दिया।

भागवत के दशम स्कंध में उल्लेख है कि ब्रह्माजी ने भगवान श्रीकृष्ण की परीक्षा लेने के लिए ब्रजमंडल के गोवंश और ब्रज गोप का हरण कर उन्हें ब्रह्मलोक ले गए। बिगड़ती स्थिति को संभालने के लिए भगवान कृष्ण ने गोवंश और ब्रज ग्वालों का रूप धरकर एक साल तक ब्रज में निवास किया। इस तरह मां कात्यायनी का दिया गया वरदान पूरा हुआ। भगवान कृष्ण गोपियों के पति के रूप में उनके घर पर रहे थे।