Aghor Chaturdashi and the Great Tara Amavasya at Tarapith

Opening the talk on Aghor Amavasya and Mahavidya Tara Amavasya, the speaker first says whom it concerns. Anyone who belongs to the tantra sampradaya, he says, should treat this day as very important: whether they are in the Nath Sampradaya parampara, the Kaula Sampradaya parampara, the ShaktaBelonging to the stream that takes the Goddess as the supreme principle. parampara or any other parampara. He widens the scope further. Someone who has no guru parampara at all but is engaged in tantra-related kriyas on their own is included. So is anyone worshipping any mahashakti through the TantroktaStated in the tantras, as against a vedokta form of the same rite or mantra. method, even if they do it with a sattvik vidhan. For all of these people, he says, this day is very important.

The speaker describes the pull of Tarapith on this tithi. In the north-eastern belt, he says, from West Bengal through Assam and Nagaland to the areas of Bangladesh, every sadhak, every regional tantrik and everyone who follows these kinds of vidyas comes without fail to Tarapith on the Amavasya tithi of Bhadrapada Maas. He lists what they come for: to do the sadhana of the Mahashmashan, to awaken their vidyas in the mahashmashan, to sit there and perform various kinds of anushthan and PurashcharanaA ritualistic repetition of a mantra to prescribed rules — required in Tantra Sadhana., and to have darshan of Bhagavati Mahavidya Tara. He is careful to say that this day is not Tara Jayanti. Even so, he says, the day has very great importance, and in TantroktaStated in the tantras, as against a vedokta form of the same rite or mantra. sadhanas it has very great importance.

The speaker fixes the timing with the year he is speaking in. In 2021, he says, Mahavidya Tara Amavasya, Aghor Amavasya and Aghor Chaturdashi — the Amavasya that falls joined with Chaturdashi — came on Monday, 6 September. The Chaturdashi tithi was on 5 September. So, he says, all the sadhanas began from the night of 4 September. The general rule he draws from this: whenever the Chaturdashi tithi sets in at night, from that moment people begin these sadhanas, and they keep doing their mantra, tantra and whatever sadhana they have to do until the Amavasya tithi has its visarjan (ends). He then turns to the ordinary sadhak who has no information about this, and asks them to take this information in, understand it properly and do it properly.

The speaker puts the question himself — what should be done on this day? — and answers in two parts. First, for the Shabar side. If a sadhak belongs to the Shabar kshetra, he says, they do their pujan with Sabar Mantras or with their own TantroktaStated in the tantras, as against a vedokta form of the same rite or mantra. methods, such as SahasrarchanaA worship method involving a thousand-fold offering or recitation count, used by Shabar-tradition practitioners on especially potent occasions like Aghor Chaturdashi and Tara Amavasya.. The instruction is to involve the whole of the three tithis: the night of Chaturdashi and the night of Amavasya, fully. In the 2021 instance, he says, that meant a sadhak could keep doing japa of their mantras from Sunday, through Monday, up to Tuesday night or Tuesday morning. Second, for everyone: keep the vidhi-vidhan according to your own Ishta Devata. He gives an example. Suppose one of the listeners is doing the sadhana of Mahavidya Bhagavati Mahakalika. Then whichever of her mantras that sadhak has done sadhana, anushthan and PurashcharanaA ritualistic repetition of a mantra to prescribed rules — required in Tantra Sadhana. of again and again, the anushthan of those same mantras — their Japa, Havan and so on — must be done on these tithis of Aghor Chaturdashi and Mahavidya Tara Amavasya. This, he says, should be done.

Having said which mantras to do, the speaker says why these days are worth it. Whatever benefit one gets on ordinary days, he says, doing the practice on these days gives many times more. He names two gains. First, the TapobalaAscetic or spiritual power accumulated through sustained practice. of that mantra will increase, and its energy will increase. Second, and beyond that, a great many of the sadhak's sins — known and unknown — will be destroyed. So, he says, one should take advantage of this day. Every tantra-lover and every sadhak must take the benefit of Aghor Chaturdashi, Aghor Amavasya and Mahavidya Tara Amavasya, this year and every year.

Looking beyond the year he is speaking in, the speaker says that in the years ahead, whenever the tithi of Aghor Amavasya, Mahavidya Tara Amavasya and the like falls, everyone should try — if the situation is normal — to go to a Shakti Peeth in their own area. He specifies which kind. On that day, wherever there are shaktis connected with Bhagavati, especially if they are TantroktaStated in the tantras, as against a vedokta form of the same rite or mantra. shaktis, or wherever sadhana-upasana and seva-puja of Bhagavati are done by the Vamachara method — if such a shakti peeth is near you, you must go there on this day. His examples: Kamrup Kamakhya; Bhagavati Mahavidya Tarapith in Birbhum, West Bengal; Rajrappa, which is in Jharkhand; and a peeth of Bhagavati Mahavidya Tara that exists in Bihar. To these he adds all other popularly known peeths and shakti peeths that are worshipped by the tantrokta method. Go to all such places on this day and mark your attendance, he says, and see: many of your stalled works will be completed.

As a closing point the speaker singles out one kind of sadhak. If you do the sadhana of mantra and tantra, he says, if you do the work of awakening mantras, if you are engaged in sadhana — and it is not giving any special effect — then take the benefit of this day of Aghor Amavasya and Mahavidya Tara Amavasya and see. You will get a very special benefit, he says. He does not describe what form that benefit takes.