How to Do Mantra Japa on Holika Night for Siddhi

What must already be true of a mantra before trying to make it siddha on Holika night?

The speaker says a sabar mantra should already be one the practitioner has been reciting and has memorized — never attempt to awaken a mantra for the first time on Holika night, since that brings no special benefit.

The speaker says that before Holika night, one should never plan to recite a sabar mantra for the very first time — doing so brings no special benefit. The mantra should already be committed to memory, one the practitioner has been reciting regularly. He says a sabar mantra received from a guru is already fully potent (sarvasamarth siddha), and if that same mantra is given a repeat purashcharan and awakened again on Holika night, it becomes amogh (unfailing). However, he says that if someone has taken a mantra on their own — from the internet, YouTube, Facebook, or a text — for their work, protection, advancement or welfare, and wants to purify it, they should begin at least four or five days before Holika, or from Ekadashi, reciting one mala of that mantra daily at a fixed time.

The cloth matches the deity — red for fierce forms, yellow for Pitambara, either for Hanuman and Bhairav — on a wool or kusha seat facing east or north, with a lamp kept burning.

The speaker says the japa method should match the subtle nature of the deity being invoked — fierce deities call for red cloth, Hanuman red or yellow, Pitambara yellow, and Bhairav yellow or red — with a seat of wool or kusha grass, facing east or north, and a lamp kept continuously lit.

He says the manner of japa should follow the subtle form (sukshmata-anusar swaroop) of the deity being addressed. For fierce (ugra) deities such as Bhagwati Kali, he advises keeping red cloth; for Hanuman ji, red or yellow cloth; for Bhagwati Pitambara, yellow cloth; and for Bhairav ji, yellow or red cloth. The seat should be of wool or of kusha grass, and the practitioner should always face east or north. A single continuous lamp should stay lit for as long as the japa continues, and he says a rudraksha mala is the best choice. He says the practitioner should remember Bhagwati Sabari — a form of Jagdamba Bhagwati Durga — and the Kirateshwar form in which Bhagwan Shiv and Bhagwati Parvati once appeared, along with their own kul devi-devata, before beginning at least one full round (108 recitations) of the sabar mantra.

How is a mala purified with fire after a period of ritual impurity in the home?

The speaker says fire has the boon that whatever it touches becomes pure, so when a household has passed through sutak-patak and a sadhak resumes their sadhana, the mala's purity can be restored by passing it lightly through a lit camphor flame.

He says Agni Dev carries the boon that anything he touches becomes pure. Because a mala is strung on a thread, when a home passes through a period of ritual impurity (sutak-patak) and the sadhak later resumes their sadhana, there is a provision for touching the mala to fire to restore its purity and cleanliness. He describes the method: light a camphor flame, meditate on Agni Dev, and pass the mala lightly through the flame — the mala becomes pure by that mere touch.

How should japa timing be arranged around the local Holika Dahan?

The speaker says the japa session should be arranged so midnight falls within it, and should also cover whatever local time Holika Dahan actually takes place, continuing without counting the number of malas completed.

He says there are two things to attend to regarding timing on Holika night. First, whatever time the sadhak begins japa, midnight must fall within that session, regardless of what time Holika Dahan itself is observed — 7pm, 9pm, midnight, or 2am. Second, japa should also be done during the actual local time at which Holika Dahan takes place in one's own area, following the local convention for when it is held. As an example, if the dahan is at 9pm, he suggests sitting from 8:30pm and continuing japa until 9:30pm, so the dahan falls fully within that window. If a temple courtyard or other good place has arranged the dahan properly, the sadhak can sit a little to the side, out of others' view, and continue the sabar mantra japa for the full duration the fire is lit — for instance from 8:30 until 9:30 or 10pm. He says there is no need to count how many malas have been completed during this time — whether it is one, ten, or a hundred — because as long as the japa continues while the fire burns, the mantra's potency increases greatly and it becomes amogh (unfailing).

Whatever is cooked at home that evening is carried by the sadhak and offered into the Holika fire, before or after the japa, so the mantra turns nourishing.

The speaker says whatever food is cooked at home that evening should be carried by the sadhak themselves and offered into the Holika fire, either before or after the japa session, so the mantra becomes nourishing and prosperity-increasing.

He describes a third point, which he calls the most important: whatever grain or dish (anna) has been prepared at home that evening for the night's meal should be offered into the fire about to be lit for Holika Dahan — either before or after the japa session, depending on how the timing falls. He says the sadhak doing the japa should personally carry that food and present it as naivedya to the Holika fire. When this is done and the sadhak then sits for japa during the dahan, the mantra becomes poshak (nourishing) and pushta-vardhak (prosperity-increasing).

What risk comes from awakening fierce shmashan sabar mantras without the proper method?

The speaker says siddhi of fierce, cremation-ground-linked sabar mantras — such as those of Shmashan Kalika or Shmashan Chandika — done without the correct method can bring on bodily illness and a loss of the body's Shri (prosperity), because such mantras carry the bound, curse-invoking shaktis of alakshmi-natured yoginis.

He gives examples such as the Shmashan Kalika mantra and various shmashan forms of Raksha Kali, along with the Shmashan Chandika mantra — mantras people awaken in their fierce (ugra) aspect to defeat an enemy. He says that when such sabar mantras are made siddha without the correct method, it brings on illness (rugnata) in the body, and the body's Shri element is said to be diminished or harmed. He names Shmashan Kali and other fierce, cremation-ground-linked shaktis specifically, saying that if their sabar mantras are recited without the proper vidhi-vidhan, something is inevitably lacking. He adds that a householder (grihastha) awakening such mantras is invoking mahashaktis and yoginis of an alakshmi nature, because the mantra itself carries a duhai (an invocation addressed at someone) — and this, he says, is genuinely why loss of Shri often follows. He acknowledges that only those who practice these things directly will understand this, while those who only ever listen can say anything they like about it — but he maintains it is true. He gives further examples: the Aghor Kali mantra, and Aghor Kali's shmashan sabar mantra. He says that making any of these shmashanik sabar mantras siddha tends to bring various kinds of illness and the residence of alakshmi in the body, which in turn causes loss of wealth.

How does offering naivedya to the Holika fire offset the adverse effects of fierce mantra siddhi?

The speaker says offering home-cooked food into the Holika fire before doing japa of a fierce mantra prevents the food-related suffering, financial loss and loss of prosperity that such japa can otherwise cause.

He says that if, during Holika time, the sadhak offers home-cooked food into that fire and only then does japa of such a mantra, the oblique (tiryak) adverse effect that otherwise follows from japa of fierce mantras will not occur. He says this means no food-related suffering, no major loss of wealth, and no loss of Shri or prosperity — because the sadhak is pleasing a form of pure (pavak) fire itself and doing japa in its presence, which is itself increasing of Shri and of a Narayani nature.

How should ash from the still-burning Holika fire be applied to the body?

The speaker says that while the Holika fire is still alight — before it turns fully to ash — its ash should be applied to the forehead, heart, chest and navel while remembering God or continuing one's mantra, so the mantra becomes established in the subtle body with full power.

He says that once Holika Dahan is complete but the fire is still lightly burning and has not yet turned fully to ash, the sadhak should watch it directly. While the fire still remains, ash drawn from that moment should be applied to the forehead, the heart, both sides of the chest, the navel and similar places, while remembering God or continuing the japa of the very mantra one has been reciting. Done this way, he says, the mantra becomes established in the sadhak's subtle body with full power.

Why should ash not be taken from the Holika fire once it has gone out?

The speaker warns that divinity is present only while the Holika fire is burning, and that ash taken after it dies down — once others have discarded their household utara or performed inauspicious rituals there — risks transferring their affliction to whoever takes it.

He says divinity is present only for as long as the fire remains alight. Once the fire has died down, people bring their household's utara (items used to ritually discard misfortune) and simply drop them there — he notes many people do this. While a divine fire purifies everyone, various inauspicious rites (vidveshan kriya) also take place there after the fire goes out: someone brings something to discard and leaves it, someone brings their household's alai-bala (troubles) and sits with it. If the fire has quietened, the sadhak wasn't watching, and they then take ash from that calmed fire, and someone has left something of their own there, it can attach itself to the sadhak's body and cause serious trouble. He compares it to the practice in a havan, where at the end a little fire is drawn from the agni-kona corner and applied to the forehead with hunkar mantras while the fire is still burning — the same should be done at the Holika fire. But he cautions that once people have left and there is no one to stop others, someone may arrive and do something there while the sadhak's own mantra-mala is still incomplete; the fire may go out, someone may come and dump their utara, some may even pour alcohol there, and various such rites take place. In that situation, he says, this practice of taking ash should not be done. If it is done in purity, he says, one certainly gains its benefit.