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

The speaker opens with the claim: 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, then a great many graha Doshas and yogas present in the janma kundali, because of which our life is affected, are pacified. His reasoning: in the whole world even the smallest particle is held to be a karaka of the presence of the Navagraha, that is, the influence of the nine grahas falls on it, and its good and bad fruit shows in life. Therefore the nine grahas should not be neglected. Along with the seva-puja of one's Ishta Devata, puja-path connected with the nine grahas should also be done from time to time. He addresses the vidhan particularly to those who do not know their own janma kundali. For them this pujan vidhan, which he says is only for the time of Navratri, will prove extremely necessary and useful: merely by doing it, within nine days whatever dosha of the grahas exists subtly in one's life is pacified, and their grace is obtained. He says that if one goes to do the seva-puja of the nine grahas separately, each has its own separate vastra and the whole vidhi-vidhan is quite difficult and long. The vidhan he is placing before listeners is for nine days only, is extremely simple, and any sadhak or sadhika can do it. On the result he says: if in this Navratri one completes the seva of the Navadurga, the navgrah and the mothers of the navgrah, then however great the suffering or calamity in one's life, Jagadamba"Mother of the World" — an epithet of the Devi. will certainly remove it because this complete vidhan was done. And if the pujan is done in this manner (including the worship of Sadashiva, Bhairav and Hanuman he insists on), then whatever sufferings and calamities are coming into one's life and are not being removed, all of them will certainly be removed by this samyak pujan, this whole collective pujan; one's work and wish will be fulfilled.

The speaker says that of all the mantras connected with the Navagraha, there are TantroktaStated in the tantras, as against a vedokta form of the same rite or mantra. mantras, pauranik mantras, and Sabar Mantras as well. Choosing among these 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., all the mantras are for you; if you do not wear the yajnopavita, you can jap the mantras connected with the Bija Mantra mantras, without the Pranav. Therefore, he says, every mantra placed before listeners in this video is of the kind that anyone can jap: mantras made up of beej and naam. Whether woman or man, whether you wear the yajnopavita or not, all can jap these without any doubt or hesitation. (The mantras themselves are not spoken in the talk; he says they are shown on screen and will be given in the video description or a PDF.)

On how the jap and pujan are to be done, the speaker says: in Navratri, on the PratipadaThe first tithi of a fortnight, on which navaratra anushthans begin. tithi, after Kalash sthapana, Akhand Jyot prajwalan and so on. But if you do not do the akhand deep or kalash sthapana and only do puja-path, you can still certainly do this sadhana. Do it morning or evening according to what suits you, whatever your business is, if you go to a job, taking out time accordingly. It is most excellent, he says, to do this sadhana in the morning. The sequence: first, kalash sthapana and the rest have been done on the day of Pratipada; guru and Ganesha pujan and so on have been done; the path of Bhagavati that you do, you have done; after that you are to do this jap. For the jap, he says the mantra of each of the nine grahas, the mantras of their mothers and with them the mantra of Bhagavati have all been put together on one page on screen; he will also put them in the video description so they can be looked at and written down comfortably, or give a link to a PDF in which all the mantras are collected in one place.

The speaker says that in Navratri you may wear red vastra, yellow vastra or white vastra; it is not necessary to change the clothes according to the colour of each day. He grants that it is useful, but says it will turn out very expensive for you. So whatever one vastra you wear, wear that same vastra every day; that is, there is no problem with colour.

The speaker says that 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., put it on on the day of PratipadaThe first tithi of a fortnight, on which navaratra anushthans begin.; if you do not wear one, it does not matter. At the least, one RudrakshaA sacred seed strung into rosaries and worn during shiva worship. Mala must 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 most excellent. If it is navmukhi, you will be able to jap the mantras connected with the nine grahas and the nine Durgas easily. He asks that special care be taken of this: do not use a mala of any gemstone in these japs. Only and only a navmukhi or panchmukhi rudraksha mala is to be used in this mantra jap.

The speaker says that on the morning of the PratipadaThe first tithi of a fortnight, on which navaratra anushthans begin. tithi, after one's initial pujan and so on, the puja of Surya Narayan is done that day. One japs the mool mantra of Surya Bhagwan as given in the PDF: nine Malas. Then one mala of the mantra of his mother, and one mala of the first Durga, Mata Shailputri. That is: nine malas of Surya Narayan, one mala of Mata Aditi, one mala of Bhagwati Shailputri. He then fixes the order. If you also jap other mantras, first jap one mala of the guru mantra and one mala of the Ganesha mantra. After that, one mala of the mantra of the first of the nine Durgas, Mata Shailputri. Then, on Pratipada, nine malas of the Surya graha among the nine grahas. Then one mala of his mother Aditi. Done this way, he says, the graha's mantra, Surya Narayan's mantra, becomes Samput-ed by Ma Durga and by his mother Aditi, and so becomes a mantra that gives sharp (tivra) effect. After that, all the jap is surrendered into the left hand of Bhagwati Jagadamba"Mother of the World" — an epithet of the Devi. Durga. With this, the work of Pratipada is complete. On the Dwitiya tithi, in exactly the same way, after the initial pujan and path one wishes to do: the guru mantra jap, the Ganapati mantra jap, then the jap of Bhagwati brahmacharini; after one mala of Brahmacharini, nine malas of the mantra of the Chandra graha, and then one mala of his mother AnusuyaThe wife of Sage Atri and mother of Dattatreya, renowned for her pativrata power.. Likewise on the Tritiya, after guru-Ganapati pujan: one mala of Mata Chandraghanta, then nine malas of the Mangal graha mantra, and after that one mala in the name of Mata Bhumi, that is, Prithvi Mata. Each day's jap is surrendered in the same way, and each day's jap goes on in this same sequence. (The remaining days are not spelled out; he says they follow the same order, and the mantras and pairings are in his PDF.)

The speaker says that when the nine days' jap of Navratri is complete, on the last day you do a Havan. The initial vidhi-vidhan of havan, he says, has been explained on the channel. The Ahutis: to guru and Ganesha and all, five ahutis each. From the mantra of Bhagwati Shailputri and the rest, that is, the separate mantras of the nine Durgas that were japped, nine ahutis each. Nine ahutis each from every mantra of the nine grahas. And nine ahutis each in the names of the mothers of the nine grahas. In this way the pujan is completed. On the last day, that is the NavamiThe ninth tithi of a fortnight, on which a navaratra anushthan is completed. tithi, you do the havan and so on, and Kanya Pujan and so on; after that, on the Dashami tithi, you do the ParanThe formal breaking of a vrat at its appointed time, without which the observance is held incomplete..

The speaker says that in all of this pujan, the puja of Bhagwan Sadashiva and of Bhairava and Hanuman ji is anivarya, compulsory. Whether you light one DeepakThe lamp lit for worship, of ghee or oil according to the vidhi. in their name, or do a path of the Hanuman Chalisa and the like, a path of the Shiv Panchakshar Stotra, a path of the Rudrashtakam, or a path of the names of Bhairav ji, this too everyone must certainly do. If you cannot do it in the morning, do it in the evening; but the pujan of these deities is necessary. Do not leave any of them out.

At the close, the speaker says: for release from rin dosha, every day light one ghee DeepakThe lamp lit for worship, of ghee or oil according to the vidhi. beside Bhagwati Tulsi without fail, so that between those from whom this vidhi-vidhan has been taken and us there remains no rin dosha. Just this much, he says, you must do, so that no rin dosha remains and the effect of this sadhana reaches you incontrovertibly.