Hanumant Badavanal Vidya Siddhi Vidhan — the Ekadashi-to-Ekadashi Sitaram Japa, the 21-Day Temple Anushthan and the Closing Havan

Introducing the second part of his Badavanal vidya series, the speaker repeats a point from the earlier talk: whichever form of Bhagavati one worships, in every form of Jagdamba four Mahashaktis are present as viras — Mahashaktis who are Mahaviras. The first is Bhagavan Ganpati, the second Bhairav, the third Hanuman, and the fourth Bhagavan Narasimha. These four powers, he says, move together with Bhagavati. Of these four Mahaviras, he says, one should certainly take the shelter of at least one power in life, so that one's material work is accomplished and one also receives protection. It is in that sequence, he says, that today's talk takes up the vidhan for attaining siddhi of Hanuman's Badavanal vidya.

Asked first who may perform this AnushthanaAn extended ritual observance — such as 108 recitations of a scripture — carrying its own strict rules., the speaker sets out three basic things. The first is that one must have the capacity within to give up meat and alcohol; if one cannot give them up, he says, do not do this vidhan at all. The next is BrahmacharyaStrict celibacy required through an extended ritual observance., which he calls extremely necessary in Hanuman's sadhana — as it is in all sadhanas — and it must be kept both mentally and physically. The third is restraint over oneself, and over anger in particular, because this is an ugra sadhana and anger will increase in it. If one becomes angry at someone, the energy and the punya being earned are destroyed. These three, he says, are the basic things to keep in mind.

On how to begin, the speaker says the vidhi is started from the Ekadashi tithi of any month and continued up to the Ekadashi of the following paksha, Shukla to Krishna or Krishna to Shukla. Its purpose is the destruction of one's paap and taap, so that the Badavanal vidya may become established within and the element arises in the body by which one can hold that vidya. For this one does japa of Bhagavan Shri Ramchandra and Mata Janaki, the Sitaram nama, on a genuine Tulsi Mala of 108 beads plus one SumeruThe head bead of a mala, never crossed during japa — the count turns back at it instead.. He warns that duplicate tulsi malas are sold; ask and buy the larger-beaded one from a trusted place, and do not be fooled into a wooden mala because Ram and Radha names are written on it. 108 malas every day, morning after bathing; fewer or more by capacity, but 108 is very good. The setting: BrahmacharyaStrict celibacy required through an extended ritual observance. is kept, and if possible one sleeps on the ground. Daily after bathing one performs PanchopacharaThe basic five-item worship sequence — incense, lamp, fragrance, flower, and food — performed for a deity after the opening rites of a sadhana., dashopachar or ShodashopacharaThe full sixteen-item worship sequence for a deity, more elaborate than the basic five-item [[panchopachara]] offering. puja of Shri Ram's darbar (Ram, Janaki, Lakshman, Bharat, Shatrughna, with Hanuman alongside) as far as one's capacity and knowledge allow. One sits on a Kusha Asana laid with its head to the east, in yellow clothes (for women and men alike), facing east only, not north, west or south. After sitting one completes AchamanaThe ritual sipping of water for self-purification before worship, one of the opening Shatkarma/Pavitrikaran rites. and takes SankalpaA formal ritual resolution spoken aloud before an offering or observance, declaring its intent and dedicating its merit. with water, AkshatUnbroken raw rice grains, held in hand along with water and flowers while taking a Sankalpa. and flowers, or water alone, in hand: that so the siddhi of Badavanal vidya may take root in this body and, by Shri Hanuman's grace, one may gain the capacity to hold it, one undertakes japa of Shri Sitaram's name from today until the coming Ekadashi; praying that Ram and Janaki give the body the strength to receive Hanuman's grace, his Badavanal siddhi, and its full effect in the time of prayog. One also states that the japa is for the counterweight of all paap of this and previous births, every kind of Shraap, and any Dosha of the kundali or otherwise. Then the 108 malas; afterwards, with water in hand, the japa is surrendered to Prabhu Ram and Mata Janaki, placed into Bhagavan's right hand or Mata's left hand on whatever vigraha or photo one keeps, or on Lakshmi-Narayan. When the home puja is complete with AartiA ritual of waving a lit lamp or flame before a deity's image, performed here at the close of Deepdan once the lamps begin to burn down. and Kshama PrarthanaThe plea for pardon made at the close of a rite for whatever was done wrongly or left out., one goes to a Shiva temple, lights five ghee lamps, does abhishekaA ceremonial bathing of a deity’s image or symbol, usually with water and other prescribed substances. of Shiva with milk, curd and honey, then with water, then his shringar, offers bilva leaves and flowers, and recites the Rudrashtakam eleven times. On coming back, before one's own meal, one feeds whatever living beings are around the house, a bird, a crow, a dog, a bull or Gau Mata, according to capacity. This sequence is kept up until the Ekadashi. When it has been carried through from Ekadashi to Ekadashi, he says, the first stage is done.

Moving to the second stage, the speaker says that if a Purnima falls on a Tuesday that is excellent — begin from that day; otherwise begin the vidhan from a parva kaal or from a Tuesday. This vidhan — the vidhan for siddhi of Badavanal — should be performed in a temple, which he calls excellent; do not do it at home in the beginning. If one has already been practising sadhana at home, then fine, but try to have this vidhan in a temple. Within temples, a south-facing (dakshinmukhi) Hanuman temple is best — but women should not perform a very large anushthan at a south-facing temple, and should do it at an ordinary temple; a man who can find a south-facing Hanuman temple should do it there. If an image of Hanuman is established beneath a banyan tree and one sits there to attain this vidya, that is excellent; beneath a PeepalA sacred fig tree dedicated to Lord Dattatreya — Pitru Tarpan performed beneath it calms agitated ancestral spirits causing domestic unrest. tree is equally excellent. Red clothes are to be kept, and a kusha asana only — or, if one wishes, a red asana. Here, he says, the face may be turned east or north; it is not necessary to keep it only to the east. On the first day one puts on red clothes, a DhotiThe unstitched lower garment worn for ritual, stitched cloth being disallowed in many vidhis. and kurta in red, and goes wearing them; not shirt and trousers. Give that up, he says. The main vidhan is unstitched cloth: a man wears a dhoti, and a woman should at least go in a saree.

If someone mocks you for wearing a dhoti, the speaker says, even if that person is a Brahmin, and is ridiculing and insulting you, close your ears. These are vighna-badhas, obstacles trying to make sure you cannot complete your sadhana; and then you will neither finish the sadhana nor gain any benefit. So close your ears and pay it no attention.

On the first day, the speaker says, one goes and has a chola offered to Hanuman: where there is a vigraha of Hanuman, ask the pandit to make the sankalp and have the chola put on. Next one takes paan leaves — 11 or 21 — on which the name of Bhagavan Shri Ram is inscribed. He explains two ways of writing it. One is to write रा and put the anusvara above it, making राम; the anusvara, he says, is the symbol of Mata Janaki, so this becomes Sitaram. The other is to write श्री राम, where Shri is the symbol of Mata Janaki, so that merely by writing Ram this way it becomes Sitaram. One writes this name on the paan leaves with AshtagandhaA fragrant paste made of eight substances, applied as a tilak before vermilion (sindoor) in remedy and worship rites. using the ring finger, makes them into a garland and puts it on Hanuman, along with a garland of red flowers. The cloth printed with Ram nama that is sold is also put on Hanuman. One asks the pandit to offer a janeu of moonj; if one wears a janeu oneself — a man who does Gayatri and so on, or simply keeps the sacred thread — and there is no pandit at that place, one may put the moonj janeu on Hanuman oneself, reciting the Gayatri mentally. Then BhogThe food offering placed before a deity before anyone in the household eats.: RotThe thick offering bread made for kul and Bhairav rites, broken into portions after the offering.-churma, which he calls Hanuman's foremost bhog, together with laddu and tulsi leaf. Rot-churma and laddu are offered every day. On the first day one may offer more if one wishes, but the quantity should be the same each day — if 100 grams, then 100 grams daily; if five laddus on the first day, five every day — with tulsi leaves added.

When the bhog and puja are done, the speaker says, one sits on the asana. First achaman; then the PavitriA ring woven from kusha grass and worn on the ring finger, required for pitr karma and many other rites. is worn; then purification of the body, asana shuddhi and ShikhaThe tuft of hair at the crown, knotted before certain rites. bandhan; then a mangalik path, SwastivachanA Vedic invocation of auspiciousness and well-being, recited alongside Yajna, offerings, or Havan. if one knows it or else the Mangalam Bhagavan Vishnu verse; then sankalp. The vidhan should run at least 21 days: women may do seven or eleven; men should certainly do 21, fewer if they cannot, but 21 is much better. Sankalp may be taken every day or once on the first day for all 21. Then one remembers the Guru, Ganpati, Bhairav, the Kuldevi and the sthan devata, does 11 malas of the Sitaram name on the same mala used for the daily 108, and only then does Hanuman's DhyanHolding the deity's form in the mind, the step that precedes japa in most vidhis., the Viniyoga of Badavanal, and begins the japa. For the japa one needs whole black urad. Each day one may do 11, 21, 27, 54 or 108 paths; since the Badvanal Stotra is not very long, he recommends 108 daily. Collect 108 grains in a bowl, make a dona (a small cup) of paan or sal leaf in front of you, hold the grains in your hand, recite the full path, and after each path drop one grain into the dona. He cautions that viniyog is done only once; newcomers repeat it before every path, which is wrong. As soon as the 108 paths are finished, 11 malas of Sitaram again on the same mala; and for as long as the Badavanal japa continues, that mala stays in a GomukhiA cloth rosary bag, shaped like a cow's face, used to conceal the hand and rosary while chanting mantras in public. placed in front of you. On the dona: two or three leaves are pinned together with a small piece of wood, like the sal-leaf cup golgappas are served in. If one cannot make it, a brass bowl may be used, but a leaf dona is better and sal leaf best of all. For SamarpanaThe dedication of Japa and worship's accumulated merit to one's chosen deity — performed by taking water in the right hand at the conclusion of practice and reciting a formal dedication formula before offering the water., the urad from the dona is offered half onto Hanuman's right foot and half onto his left. Then with water in hand one says, O Prabhu, whatever japa we have done today is offered to you, and pours it at his feet. Then aarti, kshama prarthana and pradakshinaClockwise circumambulation of a deity or shrine, keeping it to one’s right.: 11 around Hanuman's vigraha if there is a path, or 11 around a PeepalA sacred fig tree dedicated to Lord Dattatreya — Pitru Tarpan performed beneath it calms agitated ancestral spirits causing domestic unrest. or banyan, or 27 or 108 as time allows, doing Sitaram japa while circling. With this the first day is complete. From the next day to the 21st the entire vidhi is repeated daily. The Ram-nama cloth and the moonj janeu need not be offered again; if paan leaves are available the Ram-nama garland should be made and offered each day; everything else is done. He sums up the temple order: 11 malas of Sitaram, 108 paths of Badavanal, 11 malas of Sitaram.

The speaker says there is one more special vidhan in this practice which, if done, gives its effect even more strongly and very quickly. When you sit to do the japa, light a Karma Sakshi lamp there — something, he notes, he had not mentioned before. The lamp is a clay DeepakThe lamp lit for worship, of ghee or oil according to the vidhi.. Its wick (vartika) is made from red 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. measured to the length of your own body — and he is specific that body length here is measured by stretching the arms out wide, as a child pretends to fly, not by touching the thread from head to foot. Measure the thread that way and twist it into the wick for the clay lamp. The oil used will be either mustard oil or pure desi cow's ghee; in a siddhi vidhan, he says, use ghee. Along with it one may also make a lamp of wheat-flour dough — a big, strong lamp, kneaded with little water so that it is tight and neither water nor oil leaks from it — fill that too with ghee, fit a kalava wick in the same way and light it. If two lamps are lit in this manner it is excellent; the effect will come very quickly, and this may be done every day.

When the full path of 21 days is complete, the speaker says, on the last day one performs Hanuman's Havan. One may do the havan oneself, and it is to be done in the temple itself. If one is a woman and the full material or arrangement is not available there, one may have a pandit perform it; for a woman, he says, having a pandit or someone else do it will be better. The havan material is ghee and GuggulA fragrant resin burnt as dhoop or mixed with ghee for ahutis, used heavily in protective and prosperity rites.. First the ahutis are offered with Hanuman's sahasranama; then 108 ahutis with Ram's Gayatri mantra, 108 with Sita's Gayatri mantra, and 108 with Hanuman's Gayatri. All the ahutis are to be made with ghee and guggul only, and then Purnahuti is performed. After the purnahuti, the speaker says, the bhog one has been offering daily — the rot-churma — is being eaten oneself and fed to the people of the house. On the final day, if one wishes, one may arrange a sawa-mani: 40 kilos of LadduThe round sweet offered as naivedya, especially to Ganpati and Hanuman. if one has that much capacity, or, according to one's wish, simply a sawa kilo of laddu. Feed it to small children; if there are monkeys around, make some arrangement for them; and do seva of the cow. If Brahmins who are complete brahmacharis — who truly keep brahmacharya and are suitable people — can be found, have food cooked by one's own hand and feed five such brahmacharis. If such people cannot be found, give dan and DakshinaThe offering made to a guru or officiant that completes a rite; a ritual is held incomplete without it. to a pandit or two according to one's wish, and do gau seva. Done in this way, he says, this is one vidhi by which siddhi of the Badavanal vidya is attained.

When the 21 days are complete, the speaker says, one may also do more if one wishes — 41 days or 108 days. He adds that further vidhi-vidhans will follow on how this vidya's full grace and special siddhi are obtained. Once this vidhan is completed, one should first practise at home for 41 days: every day 11 malas of Sitaram japa, then 11 paths of the Badavanal, then again 11 malas of japa. Only after that should one take sankalp for a Prayoga. At home too the sankalp is the same — for grace, for siddhi, and for Hanuman's special grace and the siddhi of the Badavanal vidya. Asked how the path is done in the temple, he restates the order: 11 malas of Sitaram japa, then 108 paths of the Badavanal, then 11 malas of Sitaram japa. In this way, he says, the whole vidhan is completed.