The Datt Mala Mantra — An Anushthan from Purnima for a Sadhak with No Guru

The speaker says that when there is no guru or any guide in a sadhak's life in physical form, it becomes quite difficult to choose which sadhana path to take: what kind of sadhana to do, whether to take up Pauranik mantras or Tantrokta mantras within Sabar, and which swarup of the Lord to worship. He says the first hard situation is this: which deity to choose in the form of guru, which Mahashakti to worship as guru. There are many options, he says, but the capacity a sadhak needs to select among them, the capacity to take a decision, somewhere fails to give its support. Even if a sadhak does make a choice, he says, the doubt still remains inside whether what he has done is right or wrong. When wavering sets in, and the sadhak begins to doubt and suspect the very Mahashakti he has accepted as his ishta and his guru, then somewhere the full fruit of his sadhana will not be obtained. Seeing all these circumstances, he says, the sadhana he is giving is for every sadhak — new or old, doing any kind of sadhana, Pauranik, Tantrokta or of the Sabar field, man or woman, sadhikas and new sadhaks alike.

The speaker says the samyak swarup of all three Mahashaktis — Bhagwan Brahma, Bhagwan Vishnu and Bhagwan Shiva — has been called Bhagwan Dattatreya. That is his reason for giving Dattatreya to every sadhak who has no guru. Just as Bhagwan Sadashiv Maharudra is said to dwell always and eternally on Kailash Parvat, and the residence of various kinds of shaktis is said to be there, he says, in the same way the residence of countless crores of siddhas is said to be with Bhagwan Dattatreya on Girnar Parvat. On Girnar Parvat, he says, Bhagwan Dattatreya resides eternally.

The speaker says the Purnima tithi of the month of Margashirsh is taken as Dattatreya Jayanti, that is, as the day of his descent. He says everyone will know the katha: when Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh came for the testing of Mata Anasuya, to test her satitva, and made their prayer to her, Mata Anasuya, keeping her satitva and her pativrat dharma, by the effect of that made all three of them into infant form. From the grace of these three, he says, the swarup that appeared was threefold: one swarup was called Bhagwan Chandrama, one was called Bhagwan Durvasa, and one is called Bhagwan Dattatreya. Dattatreya has been taken principally as an ansh of Vishnu, he says, but the samyak form in him is of all three Mahashaktis: three heads, in which Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh are all three, together with six arms. Such is Bhagwan Dattatreya.

The speaker says that to please Bhagwan Dattatreya one should worship him daily in the form of Mahaguru. His reason: as many guru paramparas and guru mandalas as there are in this brahmand, they have all come out of the parampara of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh — somewhere it is their parampara. And these three, he says, became the greatest shaktis only by the samyak effect, the grace and blessing, of Mata Jagdamba Bhagwati Mahashakti. So when a sadhak takes the shelter of this Mahaprabhu, this Mahashakti of Girnar, he says, it simply cannot happen that he is left deprived of the kripa of any guru or of any guru mandala. Whichever parampara one wishes to enter, he says, but has no idea what to do and what not to do, with many options and no decision coming — in that state, take the sharan of Bhagwan Dattatreya. Because all three Mahashaktis, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, are within him in samyak form, by his grace every manokamna of the sadhak will be fulfilled.

The speaker says the sadhana and aradhana he is placing before all — the japa of the Datt mala mantra, its prayog and its anushthan — should be done by every sadhak, whether new or old. If new sadhaks do it, he says, the very first thing that will happen is that whatever bad prarabdha they carry from their past earned karma will be cut. Tapobal will grow within them, he says, and in the future they will obtain protection.

The speaker says that along with the mala mantra, for the purpose of a guru mantra, a sadhak can do the japa of the beej mantra of Bhagwan Dattatreya. He says it can also be done mentally. If a sadhak has not received a guru mantra or a naam mantra from any guru in physical form, he says, then until that is obtained he should become sharanagat to Bhagwan Dattatreya and make this prayer to him daily: O Prabhu, blessing me in the form of a shishya, grant me a guru in physical form.

The speaker says that if a sadhak begins from Margashirsh Purnima, that day is Dattatreya Jayanti and he can start from it; otherwise the japa is begun from the Purnima tithi of any month. For the vidhi vidhan, he says, one may if one wishes establish at home a pratima of Bhagwan Dattatreya smaller than six inches, that is, a shri vigrah, or establish a Dattatreya yantra; and if one does not want to do that either, one can still do the japa of his mantra before Bhagwan Sadashiv. If a sadhak has received no diksha of any kind and wishes to obtain one in physical form, he says, then he should establish Bhagwan Dattatreya as his first guru, his adi guru. This can be done in two ways: either his shri vigrah, or his yantra — or the yantra wrapped in yellow cloth with the shri vigrah of Bhagwan Dattatreya established on top of it. On the Purnima tithi of any month, he says, do abhishek with panchamrit and the like, dress the shri vigrah well, do puja with dhoop, deep, naivedya and so on as one is able, and before him light a ghee lamp, putting a little haldi into the ghee.

After the establishment and puja, the speaker says, the sadhak puts on yellow or white cloth and sits on a kusha asana or a yellow asana — or wears the orange, that is bhagwa, saffron cloth — and begins the japa of the Datt mala mantra. In the sankalp, he says, one takes this: for obtaining the supreme kripa of Bhagwan Dattatreya, and by his kripa for the shaman of all one's bad prarabdha, for the rise of punya, for obtaining a guru in physical life, and for obtaining complete success in the sadhanas to be done in the coming time, I take the sankalp of the japa of the Datt mala mantra — leta hun or leti hun. Saying this, water is offered, and after that the Datt mala mantra is recited 108 times. The viniyog and the opening portions, he says, are to be done only once: the opening shlokas are read once, the viniyog is taken once, and after that the mala mantra as given is done 108 times on a rudraksha mala — a panchmukhi rudraksha mala — and that japa is offered into the Lord's right hand. If a sadhak does not want to keep a shri vigrah or yantra, he says, then before the vigrah of Bhagwan Sadashiv or before his shivling, light the lamp in the same way, do the japa, and offer it to him.

The speaker says that if the sadhak does this work from the Purnima tithi up to Amavasya, fifteen days, that is ati uttam. Or at the very least, he says, do it for eleven days — eleven days one should do. And if one does it for twenty-seven days, that is the best of all. The 108 japa is to be done every day in the morning, he says; the morning is the best time.

The speaker says that for as long as this japa, this anushthan, continues, every day the sadhak must as far as he is able put out grain for the birds, must feed the dogs, and must feed the cow. His reason: one will always see, he says, that behind Bhagwan Dattatreya stands Gau Mata, near his feet are dogs, and around him birds are always flying. That is, he is wholly connected with prakriti; this swarup of the Lord is completely dedicated to prakriti. So their seva is very necessary for the sadhak. If a sadhak can feed the cow grass every day, and along with that gives food to dogs and to birds, then, he says, write it down and keep it as 100 percent certain: the full kripa of Bhagwan Dattatreya will come to him, without fail, within the period of this sadhana anushthan itself.

One special thing, the speaker says: since this is a mala mantra, no kind of diksha is required for it, so the sadhak should take the doubt out of his mind. Where a mantra has more than a hundred words, more than a hundred syllables or beejakshars, he says, the granths — the tantra granths — describe that diksha is not required for it. So the sadhak can do the japa of this mantra without any diksha. It has no adverse effect, he says, because this mantra is in itself supreme and siddh — swayam siddh. What the sadhak has to do is make himself fit for it, worthy of this mantra, so that its effect is obtained. This mantra, he repeats, is siddh.

The speaker says that when the sadhak has done the japa for eleven days, twenty-one days or twenty-seven days, or from Purnima to Amavasya, for as many days as he is able, then on the last day — whatever the length of his sankalp — he must go to a temple and give daan to a brahmin as far as he is able. The daan is of anna, he says, given together with dakshina. And if possible, at least five children must be fed on that last day. Feed five children without fail, he says: if possible feed them sweet kheer, but feed them in any case, whether at the temple or at home. If the sadhak does this much, he says, then this mantra and the shakti of this mantra will become extremely teekshna for him, will become siddh, and whenever he uses it in prayog he will obtain a good result.

After completing this sadhana, the speaker says, the sadhak should go on reciting the mantra every day, at least five times, or seven, eleven, twenty-one or twenty-seven times — without obstruction, continuously. Every day, whenever the sadhak sits on the asan, he says, this mantra is the very first thing he does japa of, whether five times or twenty-seven, as much as his shakti and capacity allow. In this way, he says, every person can do this sadhana anushthan; new sadhak or old, one must do it. By its effect — by the effect of the awakening of this mantra, by the kripa of Bhagwan Dattatreya — the sixty-four koti of mantras run: that is, every kind of mantra becomes jagrit, set in motion, and begins to give its effect. For that reason, he says, every person and every sadhak should certainly do this sadhana.