Worshipping a Mahishasura Mardini or Ten-Headed Kali Idol at Home: A Caution

The speaker opens by saying that Tantra is a subject of kriya. Along with bhav there is kriya in it, but mainly it is kriya-led, and the shaktis in it look at the kriyas in particular. Bhakti, he says, has been described as ninefold (Navadha BhaktiThe nine classical modes of devotion (such as listening, chanting, and service) — contrasted with Tantra, which is action-dominated and demands precise ritual procedure rather than devotion alone.); one may do bhakti in nine ways. But when one enters the kriyas of Tantra and does seva-puja of the tantric form of one's ishta, wishing for some special gain from them, then the vidhi-vidhan related to that form must be followed letter by letter. Only then, he says, does its auspicious fruit come. Otherwise anishta comes into the house and family and stays there. This, he stresses, must be kept in mind above all.

The speaker states the day's subject: what happens if an ordinary GrihasthaThe householder, who carries a family alongside practice — the audience these talks address. installs at home, as a vigraha, the form of Mahishasura Mardini — that is, the ten-armed Durga — or such a form of Bhagwati Kali in which no hand shows the Varada MudraThe boon-granting hand gesture on a deity's idol — its absence marks an especially fierce (tantric) form, such as Bhadrakali or Smashan Kali, that a householder should approach with caution., the boon-giving, blessing-giving gesture. He names the fierce forms in particular: Shamshan Kali, Bhadrakali, or any form like the ten-armed Dasha Mahavidya form in which the Devi has ten heads, twenty hands and twenty feet. What dosh attaches, what troubles come, and what should be done. He first asks the listener to understand that this is not a matter of blind faith. It is being put forward so that if you, or any of your ancestors or elders, have made this kind of mistake, because of which kalah and klesh are going on in the house and family or some anishta is happening, you can correct it. His first rule: a householder should not install such a form in the house at all, because these forms are extremely fierce. If a mistake is made in their worship, there is no remedy. All of these forms, all of these vigrahas, he says, are tantrokta.

The speaker describes how the Mahishasura Mardini form of Bhagwati is worshipped, especially in Shardiya Navratri. Everyone will have seen, he says, that the Devi is awakened (udbodhan) through Navapatrika pravesh, and after that the cloth tied over her eyes is opened. Her Prana Pratishtha vidhi-vidhan is performed and all the puja-path takes place. Worship is done on Saptami, Ashtami and Navami. On Dashami she is immersed: after Shami puja and so on there is Sindoor Khela, each with its own vidhi-vidhan, and after those her visarjan happens.

The speaker says that if people keep the Mahishasura Mardini form at home as a vigraha, the first thing is that with that shakti, with that form, comes the Devi's vahan — Som NandiThe name given to Goddess Durga's lion vehicle (Vahan) in its fierce, battlefield state — worshipped alongside her with its own daily offering when her Mahishasura Mardini form is installed at home., the great lion — and he is in his fierce form, on the battlefield. With her are two danavas as well: one as Mahisha, the other as Mahishasura. Even if Mahisha and Mahishasura are taken as one, he says, there is still a negative energy present there which received the Devi's boon and attained her sayujya form. That is, he too will be worshipped — this boon he has received. Jagadamba"Mother of the World" — an epithet of the Devi. herself gave her word, gave the blessing: "with me, you too will be worshipped." So, he says, if you have installed this form at home and are worshipping only Durga ji, worship of Durga alone will not bring complete satisfaction, because that rakshasa Mahishasura is also to be worshipped. Where, then, will your puja bear fruit? Two kinds of shrap attach here. First, you become the object of the Devi's anger (kop-bhajan). Second, because of the presence of that daitya, the field of negative energies in your house keeps growing. And Bhagwati too will not be able to help you in this, he says, because — as he said at the start — this is not a matter of bhav, not a matter of bhakti. It is a Tantra-led, kriya-led subject.

Having explained why worshipping only Durga before a Mahishasura Mardini idol does not satisfy, the speaker gives the alternative. If you want to do bhakti-bhav, he says, then install the Ashtabhuja Durga — the eight-armed form — or the other forms of Jagadamba"Mother of the World" — an epithet of the Devi., because those are saumya, and do your puja vidhi with that form. The fierce form, he repeats, is a Tantra-led subject, a kriya-led subject.

The speaker says that if you do install this kind of form at home, then for it you must be properly initiated (Diksha), and the dashakshari-mantra and so on of Bhagwati Mahishasura Mardini must have been received by you. Through that mantra you do her ShodashopacharaThe full sixteen-item worship sequence for a deity, more elaborate than the basic five-item [[panchopachara]] offering. or PanchopacharaThe basic five-item worship sequence — incense, lamp, fragrance, flower, and food — performed for a deity after the opening rites of a sadhana. puja — whichever puja is done in your Guru parampara. Along with this, he says, two things will be very special. Every day there must be a Bali bhog for the Devi's vahan, the lion, and a bali bhog for Mahishasura. For both of these, bali bhog must certainly go.

The speaker adds that there is an invisible side to this. If you construct a full Mandala, the vidhan becomes different. But even if you keep only the vigraha, it is held that two sahacharis of Bhagwati — two Yoginis — are certainly present, invisibly, on both sides. On the two sides of Jagadamba"Mother of the World" — an epithet of the Devi. Mahishasura Mardini the form of two Nayikas is also accepted. For those two forms as well, he says, a Bali bhog goes every day, as far as one is able (yathashakti). And bali bhog, he clarifies, does not mean the vama paddhati. Their names, he says later, are received in the Guru parampara; that cannot be made public.

The speaker says that in ordinary Bali bhog, if you have to give it even symbolically, then at the very least five lemons must be offered every day, symbolically (Nimbu Bali). This, he says, is a matter of Tantra. He counts them. The first bali goes in the name of Bhagwati — when she severs Mahishasura's head, the first bali bhog has gone in the name of Jagadamba"Mother of the World" — an epithet of the Devi. Mahishasura Mardini. The second in the name of her vahan, the lion Som NandiThe name given to Goddess Durga's lion vehicle (Vahan) in its fierce, battlefield state — worshipped alongside her with its own daily offering when her Mahishasura Mardini form is installed at home. ji. The third and fourth in the names of her Yoginis, the two Nayikas — you will receive their names in the Guru parampara; that cannot be made public. That makes four. The fifth is in the name of Mahishasura. These five bali are given symbolically. Your guru ji may tell you lemon bali, or clove and camphor, or nutmeg; he may also tell you a mixture of all three. Whatever he prescribes — that stays in the guru parampara.

The speaker turns to the person who has already kept this form and wishes to do its seva-puja every day. Such a person, he says, should learn its vidhi-vidhan. And if they want the information through this video, then generally he can only say this: every day, inside the house, at least one lemon Bali in the name of Bhagwati; one lemon bali in the name of the Devi's vahan, the great lion Som NandiThe name given to Goddess Durga's lion vehicle (Vahan) in its fierce, battlefield state — worshipped alongside her with its own daily offering when her Mahishasura Mardini form is installed at home. ji; and the third lemon should be given after coming out of the house, at some place, in the name of Mahishasura. He then withholds his endorsement. In this, he says, there is no full support from him in any way. Since the subject is guru-gamya, one should do it only after taking this information from one's Guru. Whatever loss or gain comes, the practitioner will be responsible for it. His part, he says, is only to give the information that the thing should be this way. If you are insisting that you must worship this very form, then this is its vidhi-vidhan. It is a matter of responsibility; it is a matter of Tantra, so one has to proceed with responsibility, and do it in this special way.

Beyond the Mahishasura Mardini idol, the speaker takes up a form of Bhagwati Kali that is quite fierce, in which there is no Varada MudraThe boon-granting hand gesture on a deity's idol — its absence marks an especially fierce (tantric) form, such as Bhadrakali or Smashan Kali, that a householder should approach with caution. — no boon-giving gesture, no blessing gesture — and which is being kept and worshipped at home. Suppose, he says, that such a form is that of your Kuldevi. Then you should obtain the information from your Kulguru and do her seva-puja that way. Otherwise, every day — and if not every day, then on Tuesday and Saturday — a garland of lemons must certainly be put on her. Without the lemon garland, he says, the effect that form of Bhagwati has on your Aura (abha-mandal) will somewhere weaken it; somewhere it will cause harm, because that form is very fierce and is not for the GrihasthaThe householder, who carries a family alongside practice — the audience these talks address..

The speaker says: now if Shamshan Kali is made to sit in the house — her installation, her place, is in the cremation ground. If you are worshipping her mantras, worshipping her form, then the shaktis related to her are what will come. From where, then, will they become peaceful? So a GrihasthaThe householder, who carries a family alongside practice — the audience these talks address. should not do this in the house at all. But if you now insist that you will worship this very form, then at least this much niyam and vidhi-vidhan — the lemon garland he has just described — you should do. From just one lemon, he says, a great deal can be pacified; do not think of it as ordinary. Through it one can make the effort to pacify Bhagwati.

The speaker closes with the case of a photo. If you have kept at home even such a photo in which Bhagwati has ten faces, twenty hands and twenty feet — the form related to the dhyan mantra of Bhagwati in the first charitra of the Durga Saptashati — then for her too, at the least and if nothing else, on the Amavasya tithi you must certainly put on her a garland of 11 lemons and do her seva-puja and 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.. This is done, he says, so that her special grace comes to you, and so that her fierceness becomes the cause of your enemies' undoing, not your own.