The katha
A woman with seven sons lived in a village. A few days before Diwali she went to the forest to dig soil to plaster her house. As she dug, her spade struck and killed a porcupine's cub (syahu) hidden in its burrow. She was grieved, but went home with the soil.
Within a year, one after another, all seven of her sons died. In despair she told the old women of the village what had happened in the forest, and that she had not meant to kill the cub. They told her that by repenting she had already lessened her sin, and that she should worship Ahoi Mata, the goddess who protects all children, on the Ashtami of Kartika, drawing a picture of the porcupine and its cubs and praying for forgiveness.
The woman kept the fast and worshipped Ahoi Mata on that day, and every year after. Pleased with her repentance and devotion, the goddess restored her seven sons to life.
Another version tells of a woman whose sister-in-law, digging soil, killed the cub, and who, through her own service to a cow and a holy man, won back the children of her family.
Its lesson
The katha teaches that every mother's child is precious, even an animal's, and that sincere repentance and prayer are answered. Mothers hear it with a pot of water and grain before them, and offer the water to the stars when the fast ends.