Mata Brahmacharini

The second durga shakti is Brahmacharini. Brahma that is who observes penance (tapa)and good conduct. She is depicted with prayer beads in her right hand and kamandal in left hand.legend states that in a previous birth she was parwati/Hemawati the daughter of himvan. Once when she was busy in games with her friends, nardji come to see her and on reading her hand/palm-lines narad muni stated that "you will get married with a naked-terrible Bhola Baba who was with you in the form of sati, the daughter of daksh in previous birth. But now you have to perform penance for him". There upon parvati told her mother Menaka that she would marry none expect Shambhu, otherwise she would remain unmarried. Saying this she went to observe penance. That is why her name is famous as tapacharni-Brahmacharini. From that time her name Uma also becomes familiar.

Brahma here refers to the meditative aspect of Brahmacharinin and is always depicted as pious women or sannyasin, she is also worshipped as goddess Tara and is associated with the pious form of goddess shakti. She is believed to be that aspect of mother goddess, which was present in sati and goddess parvati, when they both did intense austerities to get lord shiva as husband. During the penance mata parvati did in order to gain lord shivji as her consort for thousands of years without eating even leaves her penance so she was called Aparna. Seeing her body her mother uttered U-Ma and so she is also called Uma. Her worship increases sacrifice, good deeds & restraint in humans. Rudraksha is her most adorned ornament.