Navdurga, Navgrah and the Mothers of the Nine Grahas — a Nine-Day Navratri Jap Vidhan

The speaker opens the subject directly. If in the nine days of Navratri the nine grahas, together with the mothers of the nine grahas and the nine Durgas, are worshipped all at once, he says, then a great many graha Doshas and yogas standing in the janma kundali come to be pacified. Those doshas and yogas, he says, are the reason our life is affected.

In all the world, the speaker says, even the smallest particle — the smallest pind or kan — is held to be a karaka of the presence of the nine grahas: that is, the influence of the nine grahas falls upon it. The good and the bad fruit of that influence is what gets displayed in life. For this reason, he says, the nine grahas should not be neglected. Along with the seva and puja of one's own Ishta Devata alone, puja-path connected with the nine grahas should also certainly be done from time to time.

If you do not know which your janma kundali is — and it is possible, the speaker says, that you have no knowledge of your own janma kundali — then in such a situation the pujan vidhan he is giving today, which he is giving only for the time of Navratri, will prove extremely necessary and useful for you. By doing this alone, he says, in nine days the subtlety of the nine grahas is reached: whatever dosha there will be in your life is pacified, and their grace is obtained.

As to how this vidhi-vidhan is to be done: if you go to perform the seva-puja of the nine grahas separately, the speaker says, then each has its separate vastra, and every vidhi-vidhan of it is fairly difficult and long. The vidhan he is placing before listeners is only for the sake of nine days. It is an extremely simple vidhan. Any sadhak or sadhika can do it, and it is on that basis that he is presenting the subject.

Of all the mantras connected with the nine grahas, the speaker says, there are tantrokta mantras, there are pauranik mantras, and there are Sabar Mantra forms as well. Making a selection among these mantras becomes extremely difficult, because if you wear the YajnopavitaThe sacred thread ceremony marking initiation into Vedic rites (Janeu) — if lapsed across generations, expiation (Prayashchitta) for each known generation is required before it can be resumed. then all the mantras will be for you. If you do not wear the yajnopavita, then you can jap those mantras that are connected with the beej mantras — without the Pranav.

For this reason, the speaker says, all the mantras placed before listeners in this video are of the kind whose jap anyone at all can do. They are mantras furnished with beej and with naam. Their jap, he says, women and men, those who wear the YajnopavitaThe sacred thread ceremony marking initiation into Vedic rites (Janeu) — if lapsed across generations, expiation (Prayashchitta) for each known generation is required before it can be resumed. and those who do not, may all do without any shak or sanshay — without doubt or hesitation.

As to how the jap and pujan are to be done: in Navratri, on the Pratipada TithiA lunar calendar day — some idols (like a Shivling) need daily bathing regardless, while others only need it on their dedicated weekly day or tithi., after doing Kalash sthapana, Akhand Jyot prajwalan and so forth, the speaker says. If you do not do the akhand deep or the kalash sthapana, and only do puja-path, then too you can certainly do this sadhana. Morning or evening, according to your own convenience — as your business may be, or if you go to a job — take out time accordingly and do this sadhana.

It is most excellent, the speaker says, that you do this sadhana in the time of morning. First of all the Kalash sthapana and so forth is done on the day of Pratipada; the guru and Ganapati (Ganesha) pujan and the rest is done; the path of Bhagavati that you are to do, you have done — and after that you are to do this jap. For doing the jap, the mantra of each of the nine grahas, the mantra of their mothers, and along with them the mantra of Bhagavati, have all been put together on one page on your screen.

In Navratri you may wear red vastra, wear yellow vastra, or wear white vastra, the speaker says. It is not necessary that you change the vastra according to the colour of each day. Although that is useful, it will fall very expensive for you. So whichever one vastra you wear, you will wear that same vastra on every day. That is to say, there is no difficulty from the side of colour.

If you wear the YajnopavitaThe sacred thread ceremony marking initiation into Vedic rites (Janeu) — if lapsed across generations, expiation (Prayashchitta) for each known generation is required before it can be resumed., then on the day of Pratipada put the yajnopavita on; if you do not wear it, there is no matter, the speaker says. At the least, one RudrakshaA sacred seed strung into rosaries and worn during shiva worship. Mala should certainly be worn by the sadhak or sadhika. For doing the jap, if you have a panchmukhi rudraksha mala or a navmukhi rudraksha mala, that is extremely excellent. If it is navmukhi, you will be able to do the jap of the mantras connected with all nine grahas and nine Durgas easily. Do not use a mala of any ratnas — any gemstones — in this jap; keep particular attention on this point. Only and only a navmukhi or panchmukhi rudraksha mala will you use in this mantra jap.

In the time of morning on the Pratipada tithi, after doing your initial pujan and so on, the puja of Surya Narayan is to be done that day — the first day being the day of the Pratipada tithi, the speaker says. So first of all you will do the jap of the mantra of Surya Narayan, the mantra given in the PDF file: nine malas of the mool mantra of Surya Bhagavan. And of the mantra of his mother, one mala; and of the first Durga, Mata Shailputri, one mala. That is: nine malas of Surya Narayan japped, one mala of Mata Aditi japped, and then one mala of Bhagavati Shailputri japped.

Now attend to what the order of this jap will be, the speaker says. If you also jap other mantras and so on, then first of all do one mala of the jap of the guru mantra, and one mala of the jap of the Ganapati (Ganesha) mantra. After that, do one mala of the jap of the mantra of the first Durga among the nine Durgas, Mata Shailputri. Then, of the nine grahas, the Surya graha, whose jap on the day of Pratipada is nine malas. Then do one mala of the jap of his mother Aditi. Do the jap in this manner. That is to say, the mantra of the nine grahas — the mantra of Surya Narayan — becomes Samput-ed by Ma Durga and by his mother Aditi, and by that the mantra becomes one that gives a sharp effect. After that, the entire jap is to be surrendered into the left hand of Bhagavati Jagadamba Durga — that is, into the left hand. With that, the work of the Pratipada tithi is completed.

On the Dwitiya tithi, in exactly the same manner, after doing whatever initial pujan-path you wish to do, the speaker says, you do the jap of the guru mantra and the jap of the Ganapati mantra, and after that the jap of Bhagavati Brahmacharini. After doing one mala of the jap of Brahmacharini, you will do nine malas of the jap of the mantra of the Chandra graha, and then one mala of the jap of his mother Anusuya. In exactly this same way, on the day of the Tritiya tithi, after doing the guru-Ganapati pujan, one mala of the jap of Mata Chandraghanta, then nine malas of the jap of the mantra of the Mangal graha, and after that one mala of the jap in the name of Mata Bhumi — that is, Prithvi Mata. And the jap of each day is to be surrendered in this same manner. In this same sequence the jap of every day will go on.

When the nine days of jap of the nine days of Navratri are complete, the speaker says, then on the last day you will do a Havan. The initial vidhi-vidhan of the havan has been told on the channel. So to guru and Ganapati, all of them, five ahutis each are to be given. And from the separate mantras of the nine Durgas that have been japped — the mantra of Bhagavati Shailputri and so on — nine ahutis each are to be given from all of them. Of each mantra of the nine grahas, nine Ahuti each are to be given. And in the names of the mothers of the nine grahas as well, nine ahutis each are to be given. In this manner you will complete the pujan.

On the last day, that is on the day of Navami — on the Navami tithi — you will do the havan and so forth, and Kanya Pujan and so forth, the speaker says. And after that, on the Dashami tithi, you will do parana. In this manner, if in this Navratri you carry out the seva of the Navadurga, the Navagraha and the mothers of the navgrah, then however great a suffering or calamity there may be in your life, Bhagavati Jagadamba will certainly remove it on account of the doing of this complete vidhan.

In all these pujans, the speaker says, the puja of Bhagavan Sadashiva and of Bhairava and Hanuman ji is compulsory. Whether you light one lamp in their names, or do a path of the Hanuman Chalisa and so forth, or a path of the Shiv Panchakshar Stotra and the like, or a path of the Rudrashtakam, or a path of the names of Bhairav ji — this too all of you should certainly do. If you cannot do it in the morning, then do it in the time of the evening; but the pujan of these deities too is necessary. Do not leave any of these out.

If you perform the pujan in this manner, the speaker says, then whatever sufferings and calamities may be arriving in your life which are not being removed, by this samyak pujan — by this entire collective pujan — all of those will certainly be removed. All sufferings will certainly be removed, and your work and your manokamna will be fulfilled. He adds his hope that the nine grahas will become favourable towards all.

For the sake of freedom from rin dosha, the speaker says, every day certainly light one ghee lamp beside Bhagavati Tulsi — so that between those from whom this vidhi-vidhan has been taken and ourselves no rin dosha remains. Just this much you should certainly do, he says, so that no rin dosha remains, and so that the effect of this sadhana is obtained by you in an incontrovertible manner.