Hala Shashti 1901

From the Bhagavata Purana

The name Hala Shashti comes from the hala, the plough carried by Lord Balarama, whose birth the day honours.

Kamsa, the cruel king of Mathura, had killed the first six sons of his sister Devaki. Then a part of the Lord, the one the sages call Ananta and Shesha, entered Devaki's womb as her seventh child. It brought her joy and sorrow together.

To protect His devotees, the Yadus, from Kamsa, the Lord called His power Yogamaya. He told her to go to Vraja, where Rohini, another wife of Vasudeva, was living in the home of Nanda, hiding from Kamsa like Vasudeva's other wives. "My portion called Sankarshana is in Devaki's womb," the Lord said. "Move Him gently into the womb of Rohini." He told her that He Himself would soon be born as Devaki's son, and that she would be born as the daughter of Yashoda, Nanda's queen.

The Lord also told her the names this child would carry. Because He would be drawn from Devaki's womb into Rohini's, He would be called Sankarshana. Because He would delight all the people of Gokula, He would be called Rama. And because of His great strength, He would be called Balabhadra.

Yogamaya bowed, walked around the Lord, and went to Gokula, and she did all that He had asked. When the child was moved, it seemed in the palace that Devaki had lost her baby, and everyone cried out, "Alas, Devaki has lost her child!" But the child was safe in Rohini's womb, and in Gokula he was born as Balarama, the elder brother of Krishna.

Another story

This is the katha traditionally told by mothers who keep Hala Shashti; no Purana source was found for it.

A milkmaid who sold milk and curd was close to giving birth. Not wanting to lose a day's sales, she set out with her pots anyway. On the road her pains grew, and she gave birth to a son behind a jujube (ber) bush. She wrapped the baby in cloth, left him there, and went on to the village.

It was Hala Shashti, and many women were keeping the fast, on which cow's milk is not taken. Her milk was a mix of cow's and buffalo's milk, but she told everyone it was only buffalo's milk, and she sold it all.

Nearby, a farmer was ploughing. His bullocks ran wild toward the bushes, and the plough struck and killed the baby. When the milkmaid came back and found her son dead, she understood that this had come from her lie, which had broken the other women's fast. She went back to the women, confessed what she had done, and begged forgiveness. Then she returned to the bush and found her son alive and safe. From that day she promised never to lie again, and she kept Hala Shashti with devotion.