Why the Head of a Grihastha Family Should Recite the Shakambhari Kavach

The speaker begins with the common view: Bhagwati Shakambhari is mainly worshipped by people whose Kuldevi she is, or in whose area a Shakambhari Peeth is established. He then says listeners will be surprised to learn that in Kalikaal, and particularly in the Kalpa now running, the Shwetavaraha Kalpa, Bhagwati Shakambhari is one of the six principal Durgas. Those who are guru-initiated, or are sadhaks of the ShaktaBelonging to the stream that takes the Goddess as the supreme principle. or Kaula Sampradaya tradition, are taught by their guru the vidhi of mandal and peeth pujan for whichever form of Jagadamba is their Ishta. In that peeth pujan, in the main mandal pujan sequence, the six Mahadurgas are worshipped, and one of those forms is Bhagwati Shakambhari. So she is directly one of the Mahadurga forms. He names the first three in order: Bhagwati Nandaja, then Raktadantika, then Bhagwati Shakambhari. His conclusion: her worship is not something only those whose kuldevi she is can do. Everyone can do her pujan and the path of her Kavach.

The speaker says today's information is especially for those in the GrihasthaThe householder, who carries a family alongside practice — the audience these talks address. ashram on whom the whole family's responsibility rests, who have to carry the family's entire Yoga KshemaThe securing of what one lacks and the preservation of what one has — the whole burden of providing for a household.. That means running the household, making spiritual progress, feeding and supporting the family, earning, and doing all their own work as well. Such a person, he says, needs a capacity that lets him provide for his family properly. For such people, Bhagwati Shakambhari's Kavach is, in this battle of life, like the VajraLord Indra's indestructible thunderbolt weapon — invoked here as a simile for a fully consecrated Stotra's impenetrable, intensely potent efficacy. of Indra himself. He says Bhagwan Kartikeya told this kavach to Devraj Indra. He adds that the PurashcharanaA ritualistic repetition of a mantra to prescribed rules — required in Tantra Sadhana. of this kavach is done with a mere 1000 recitations. Later in the talk, when he gives the actual method, the figure he uses is 1008 within nine or seven days; both numbers are recorded here as he spoke them.

The speaker says that after the Kavach has been sidh-ed through its path and japa, whenever you recite it you are protected in every way from every kind of problem: whether it is adhibhautik or daivik, whether it is a bodily or mental disease of any kind, or an obstruction from Preta and pishach, or a vicharik obstruction. Along with that, if an enemy is doing some kind of vicharik prayoga against you, it protects from that too. By Bhagwati's grace, if some false case or lawsuit is put on you and you use the kavach and recite it, you get victory in that. In short, he says, this kavach is fully ready to give you victory in whatever troubles come in your worldly life. He adds that for men and women, for animals and wealth, and especially for the feeding and upkeep of the family and its Yoga KshemaThe securing of what one lacks and the preservation of what one has — the whole burden of providing for a household., this form of Bhagwati is extremely special.

The speaker says every head of a grihasthi should certainly recite this Kavach, should keep it siddha, and should do at least one or so path of it daily without fail. He lists what follows: enemies are destroyed, health is obtained in every way, and progeny and wealth are all obtained. Then he singles out one group. Those whose Kuldevi Bhagwati is, or in whose region a Shakambhari Peeth is established, such as areas like Saharanpur, must certainly do the PurashcharanaA ritualistic repetition of a mantra to prescribed rules — required in Tantra Sadhana. of this kavach and keep it in their daily recitation.

The speaker asks how the Kavach will be made siddha and answers with two schedules. In any Navratri, recite from PratipadaThe first tithi of a fortnight, on which navaratra anushthans begin. through NavamiThe ninth tithi of a fortnight, on which a navaratra anushthan is completed. and complete 1008 paths, that is, 1008 within the nine days. If you do it in another month, do it from the AshtamiThe eighth tithi of a fortnight, held especially favourable for shakta rites. to the chaturdashi of either the krishna or the shukla paksha, and 1008 paths must be completed within those seven days. On the final day, make a mixture of guggal and ghee and with it offer 1008 Ahuti using Bhagwati Shakambhari's 1008 names, or her 108 names, or only the Shri Shakambhari mantra. With that, he says, the kavach becomes fully awakened. For the time of this siddhi he gives the outer rules: wear yellow or red cloth, that is, red or yellow, and unstitched; the face stays towards east or north; and the lamp to be lit is a ghee DeepakThe lamp lit for worship, of ghee or oil according to the vidhi.. He tells everyone to make the kavach siddha this way.

Besides recitation, the speaker gives a way to wear the Kavach. Write it on BhojpatraBirch bark, used to write a mantra or a person's name with a pomegranate-twig pen and red sandalwood ink for Tantric applications, such as placing a name upon a Shivlinga's base for a honey Abhisheka. in a shubh kaal, a parva kaal: he names Shivratri, the AshtamiThe eighth tithi of a fortnight, held especially favourable for shakta rites. tithi in Navratri, and the night of Diwali. Write it with a pen made of pomegranate wood, in AshtagandhaA fragrant paste made of eight substances, applied as a tilak before vermilion (sindoor) in remedy and worship rites. ink, devi ashtagandha ink. Then fill it into a kavach of silver or gold and wear it at your neck. Done so, he says, you are protected in many ways and you progress in every way.

While giving the rules of the kavach siddhi, the speaker states a lamp rule that he phrases as general: whenever you light a DeepakThe lamp lit for worship, of ghee or oil according to the vidhi. for Bhagwati Shakambhari, light it along with the Kuldevi's lamp. That is, there should be two lamps. His reason is that Bhagwati is the giver of every kind of sampada. In your family she will give wealth, grain, many sons, everything. Therefore, he repeats, light her jyot together with the kuldevi's.

The speaker adds a companion rule: whenever the pujan of Bhagwati Shakambhari is done, pujan in the name of Batuk Bhairava ji should be done along with it, yathashakti, as far as one can. He makes it concrete for the kavach purashcharan. If you are doing 1008 paths of Bhagwati Shakambhari's Kavach, then at least at the time of the Havan you should give 108 Ahuti with Batuk Bhairav ji's name mantra too. He ends by saying: make the kavach siddha in this way and use it, and all of you will certainly benefit.