A Fifteen-Day Havan at the Threshold — The Kul Shakti Prayog for Dev Shraap and Pitr Shraap

The speaker says he will today place before listeners the discussion of a very special prayog. This prayog, he says, is for obtaining the grace of the adhishtatri shakti of one's own kula — the Kul Shakti. And it is, he adds, a fully havanatmak prayog: the whole of it is done through the Havan fire.

The speaker says this should be done by every person who is somewhere or other afflicted by the curse of the kul shakti, afflicted by the curse of the Pitr shakti, or upon whom some kind of dev danda is falling. He spells out what he means. Some mistake may have been made in puja-path. At some temple an offence may have been committed by that person knowingly or unknowingly. A Shri Vigraha may have been broken. Some object of a temple may have been broken. Or, in confusion, a person may at some time have committed some kind of theft in a temple. By performing acts of this kind, he says, what happens is that the curse of the deva attaches — the curse of the devatas.

The speaker says the kula's shaktis become displeased in a complete way, and the mind becomes so licked over and so confused that even though all fit means are with you, you can do nothing. It may be, he says, that you have property worth crores, but you will not be able even to sit and eat properly. It may be that a car worth twenty lakh stands before your house, but the capacity to put petrol into it so as to move it will not remain within you. This state, he says, arises somewhere or other from dev Shraap and from pitr shraap — somewhere or other the devas and the pitrs become displeased, the kula's shaktis become displeased.

For such a condition and such a time especially, the speaker says, this prayog is given — and whenever it feels to you that yes, you are making the effort, you do want it, but you have become so confused that you simply cannot understand what is to be done. You ask someone again and again: tell me what my affliction is, tell me what the root cause of my trouble is. Whenever you know that you have gone and got stuck in one place, that you are not able to get the answer to your question, or that you are not able to be satisfied by one person's answer — then, he says, take it as a hundred per cent settled that this is dev Dosha, that is, the wrath of the devas upon you. This much, he says, should be accepted.

Whether it be because of a vaicharik state, the speaker says, or because you insulted the devatas in some manner and on account of that this vaicharik state arose with you and happened to you — even then you will attain to this same condition. So in this condition, what should we do and how? For this, he says, a very simple vidhi is presented before you all. He hopes every person who wishes to move forward on the sadhana marga will obtain benefit from it.

Before you, the speaker says, there will first be two problems: either you will have knowledge of your Kuldevi and know who she is, or else you will not know at all who the Kul Shakti is. In both conditions, in both ways, this prayog is to be done. And this prayog, he says, is not only and only for the kuldevi. It is also for whichever protective devas of your kula there may be, who will be in the pad of Bhairava — it is for their sake too. Take this as a hundred per cent certain, he says: whether it is within your knowledge or not, along with the kuldevi there are the kul Kula Bhairava, there are protective devas, whatever the pad may be — whether he be a Veer, a Mahaveer, whether he be in the form of Hanuman ji or in the form of Bhairav ji.

Bhairav, the speaker says, is a pad which is obtained by a rakshatmak deva — a protective deity. There may be some earlier siddha person of your kula who obtained that pad by the Devi's grace. But they are there. In the course of time people forget, or there is no knowledge of it because the information was not there.

It is to be done at the time of sunrise in the morning, the speaker says, or else at the time of sunset in the evening. But if you are doing it at the time of sunset, then take it as certain and settled that you must then not eat salt and so on that day. So it will be better, he says, that you do it in the morning time; or, if you perform Navratri UpasanaSustained worship of a chosen deity, the settled practice a sadhak keeps to over years., then in Navratri you may also do it in the evening.

The very first thing needed, the speaker says, is a large earthen vessel — a mitti ka patra — in which you can perform the Havan. If you have a havan kund, that will do, but the havan kund should be of copper: it should not be of aluminium, not of iron. A vedi cannot be made in this, he says, and that is why a kund will be needed. So either bring an earthen kund or bring a copper kund — of a medium size, neither very small nor very large.

The second thing needed, the speaker says, is that you yourself bring wheat, wash it and have it ground; or else bring wheat flour from such a place where pure wheat for puja-path is available. From that place, bring the flour. At the least, he says, since you have to do an eleven-day prayog, bring and keep at least two and a half to three kilos of wheat. Bring good gud from a puja shop where salt and the like are not sold — so that there be no Dosha in the gud. Then gud is done, and ghee. These three materials, he says, are what you will need.

This prayog, the speaker says, can be done by the eldest boy of the house, or by whoever is the mukhiya of the house. In a special circumstance the daughter of the house can also do it, and the bahu can also do it. But make the effort, he says, that if the boy of the house does it — the eldest boy, or any son — then that is much better. In a special circumstance the daughter and the bahu may also do it. Keep this matter in mind, he says: whom priority is to be given to.

Suppose you have begun the prayog from Purnima, the speaker says; you may also take it as the PratipadaThe first tithi of a fortnight, on which navaratra anushthans begin. of Navratri. On the first day, first of all, do the cleaning of the house well one day earlier, and with an entirely pure mind let there be a firm SankalpaA formal ritual resolution spoken aloud before an offering or observance, declaring its intent and dedicating its merit. in the mind. However much the affliction — false cases may have been filed against you, there may be very great suffering in the body — it is a prayog of ten or fifteen minutes, not more. Even if the suffering is very great you have to do it, and in both conditions: whether the kuldevi is known, and whether the kuldevi is not known.

Two lamps will be used in this, the speaker says, and both will be chaumukh lamps (Chaumukh DeepakA four-faced oil lamp with four wicks, used in pairs or in multiples across a house during application rituals for Bhairava and similarly potent deities.). New lamps will be used each day. That is, if you are doing Purnima to Amavasya, thirty lamps will go; if you are doing ten days in Navratri, roughly twenty lamps will go. Keep this in mind. Bring and keep both mustard oil and sesame oil as well. The wick in this will be of KalavaThe red-and-yellow sacred thread (also called moli) tied at the wrist or used to twist lamp wicks; sold in strands that are wound to a counted number.: make the wick from kalava and keep it ready for the chaumukh lamp.

Bring the orange-coloured Mahabiri SindoorVermilion powder, used here to draw the inverted triangle Mandala for a Bhairava offering, in place of the Roli-and-Ashtagandha triangle drawn for a Goddess., the speaker says — in many places the orange one is also called bhakhra sindoor. Bring the sindoor that is real sindoor, of the better kind, and keep it. On the first day, this is to be done at the main door of your own house. And if you live in a rented house, if it is not your own house but a rented one, then at whatever will be your main door — up to where you pay the money, from where your own limit begins, whichever is your house's main door — it is there that this is to be done.

First of all, the speaker says, soak some cloth and wipe the whole doorway properly with GangajalWater from the Ganges, used to purify and re-consecrate ritual items exposed to impurity.. You may have washed and wiped it earlier, but at the time of puja it is to be wiped again. Kush is available at the puja shop. Bring the kush wood (KushaThe sacred grass used for seats, rings and purificatory sprinkling; treated as spiritually insulating.) — there will be three or four kush — and a mango leaf. Joining these two, cut off the front part of the mango leaf, and at its back part bind that leaf with at least three kush. Then dip that leaf in Gangajal and hang that kush-and-leaf at the exact middle of your main door.

After hanging it, the speaker says, mix the orange Mahabiri SindoorVermilion powder, used here to draw the inverted triangle Mandala for a Bhairava offering, in place of the Roli-and-Ashtagandha triangle drawn for a Goddess. you have brought with ghee and make a tilak upon it. After that, on that chaukhat — the chaukhat of the main door — you have to make tilak at five places, in the name of the kuldevi. Where the kuldevi's vaas is and how it is, he says, he has already told in earlier videos. So the Chaukhat is the most important.

After that, on both sides, with your face towards the outside of the house — that is, as we come out of the house, the position that is on your right hand at the time of stepping out — there the chaumukh lamp is lit, and it will burn with mustard oil. And on the part of the chaukhat that is on your left, the lamp you light will be of sesame oil. Both will be chaumukh. Beneath the lamp, a little AkshatUnbroken raw rice grains, held in hand along with water and flowers while taking a Sankalpa. is certainly to be kept, or a flower is to be placed. A lamp is not kept empty, the speaker says; it will be placed upon an asana given to it. The mustard-oil lamp lit at the right hand burns in the name of Bhairava ji, the protective Bhairav of your kula; and the lamp lit on the left burns in the name of the Kuldevi. Your face is towards the outside of the house, he repeats — that is, you are stepping out of the house; listen to this thing properly, again and again.

Having done this much, the speaker says, first take the earthen vessel you brought or the Havan kund you had brought and kept, and kindle the fire in it with cow-dung upale or with wood — mango wood. Before this, having bathed and washed, take the wheat flour you have brought. Take the wheat flour, gud and ghee, mix these three things, and mix into it a little black til — a light amount of black til. You have to knead enough dough that from the kneading one good rot is made. Using ghee, make a good rot; and having made the rot, break it and crumble it again. After crumbling it, make it into small round laddu-like pieces for the ahuti.

Twenty-seven Ahutis are to be offered, the speaker says, made in this manner from the pieces of the rot. Make and keep twenty-seven pieces separately. Apart from these twenty-seven pieces, three more pieces should be there. Three more pieces will be in this, kept separately — that is, in total you should have thirty pieces with you.

Kindle the fire, the speaker says. Your face will remain towards the outside of the house. It is to be done quickly; you are not to take long over it. The mantras are to be spoken in the mind. For the first ahuti, in the name of Ganpati ji, take in your hand that piece of rot you have made into a ball; you may have broken it small — it is not necessary that a ball be made. You can break it and keep thirty pieces separately. That, in the name of Ganpati ji, you will put into the offering. The first Ahuti is done. The second ahuti will be in the name of the kul guru — remember, in the name of the kula's guru, wherever that guru may be, wherever the lineage is running. That is the second ahuti in the name of the kul guru. If you know your kul guru, then the first ahuti is in the name of the kul guru and the second in the name of Ganpati ji. If you do not know, then the first ahuti is in the name of Ganpati ji and the second in the name of the kul guru. The third ahuti is in the name of Hanuman ji. These three ahutis will be so.

As for the remaining twenty-seven ahutis, the speaker says, if you know the name of your own Kuldevi, then keep giving them in her name, adding namah after her name. Suppose, he says, that the kuldevi's name is Bhavani, or that the kuldevi's name is Durga — then there is no need to add Om. Saying "दुर्गाय नमः", it is to be offered. You may say SwahaThe closing utterance for an oblation offered into fire for the devas, as distinct from Swadha, used for the pitrs.; there is no difficulty in that.

If you do not know her name, the speaker says, then keep offering while saying "कुलदिब्बे नमः". Saying "कुलदिब्बे नमः", keep giving the Ahuti into it — "कुलदिब्बे नमः स्वाहा". Adding namah is certainly necessary, he says. Here the havan paddhati will not run by which, when swaha is added, namah is not added. Do it here only in the manner in which he is telling it, to that extent alone.

This work you have completed, the speaker says; you have put in the thirtieth Ahuti. After offering the ahutis, take water in the hand, circle it three times around that kund, pour the water there, and let it burn for as long as it burns. When it has burnt and become ash, remove it. And keep collecting that same ash at one place.

This work, the speaker says, you should do for at least twenty-seven days. If you do it for twenty-seven days, that is well. Otherwise, as has been told: from Poornima to Amavasya at the least — that is, you will do it for fifteen days, from Purnima up to Amavasya — or from the Pratipada of Navratri up to the Dashami tithi, in the morning time. If you do it for twenty-seven days it is extremely excellent; if you are able to, it is very good. Otherwise do it only for as many days as have been told.

After doing this, the speaker says, keep one more thing in mind. When you have given the final Ahuti, then, if it is possible for you and if you can manage it, buy a silver lamp — even a small one, even the smallest. In it, make a wick from the red mauli thread, put ghee into it, and after giving the final ahuti, light that lamp from that same fire. Take it to your place of worship and keep it there in the name of the Kuldevi.

This whole thing, the speaker says, you have to do right up to the last day. Only this much is what you have to keep doing, continuously. And the three KushaThe sacred grass used for seats, rings and purificatory sprinkling; treated as spiritually insulating. and the mango leaf that were bound at the middle of the doorway at the beginning are not to be changed until the last day. Take care that it does not dry up and fall, he says: it must be tied very tight.

Do this much, the speaker says, and a hundred per cent your Kuldevi will, in this interval, give darshan through the medium of a dream, through one medium or another, in a dream. This much guidance you will certainly obtain: that yes, the Devi is there. Whether she is pleased or not will also come into your understanding, and guidance for what lies ahead will also be obtained.

If from one performance of the prayog this thing does not happen, the speaker says, then wait fifteen days and do it again from Purnima. One is not to accept defeat in one attempt — that it is done, it did not happen. Your PrarabdhaThe portion of destiny already set in motion by past actions — spiritual practice and good deeds can lessen its severity, but not eliminate it. will be such; you will have made a big mistake, committed a big offence, so the punishment too will be of that kind. Many offences occur, he says, and people do not speak of them. So do this again and again. Not much expense is going to come to this, nor is much of yours going to go — but you will get a great deal.

The speaker says he will make one more thing clear, since people may have the question: if there be an abhicharik prayog (Abhichara), if there be a use of tantra-mantra in the house, this or that thing — how then shall we do it? Difficulty will arise in this; the shaktis will be taken by someone else, the bhog will be taken by someone else. Be free of worry, he answers. Nothing has the standing to take the puja upon the Chaukhat so easily. So where you give in the name of the kuldevi, an ansh shakti of Bhagavati ParvatiThe daughter of the mountain and consort of Shiva; the questioner to whom much of tantra is expounded. herself will receive it. The fruit may not come to you on account of your karma — that is a separate matter — but your puja cannot go wrong there. The puja of the chaukhat, the puja of the chauk — that is, the puja of the chauraha, the puja of the chaukhat — goes only to the right thing. A wrong thing is not able to take it quickly.

For this reason, the speaker says, perform this prayog free of worry. By performing this prayog you will obtain extremely great benefit. He hopes that the grace of the Kuldevi may be obtained by the listener, and that Bhagavati may dwell in their kula with pleasure — for somewhere or other her blessing will be obtained by him too, when the welfare of their family comes about.