Siddhi of the Durga Ashtottara Shatanam Stotra (108 Names)

The speaker frames the question: someone says he wants to do daily upasana of Bhagwati Durga but does not have much time, and asks for one stotra, stuti or mantra path by which all his wishes are fulfilled and in the end he also obtains moksha. For that, he answers, the best, most accessible and simplest vidhi vidhan is the Durga Ashtottara Shatanam Stotra of Bhagwati Durga, composed and described by Bhagwan Sadashiv in the Vishwasara Tantra — that is, the glory of the 108 names of Bhagwati Durga. This path of the names is composed by Sadashiv himself, he says, and it has been said by Sadashiv that the one who recites this stotra obtains every kind of the four purusharthas — dharma, artha, kama, moksha — and wealth, grain, sons, grandsons, elephants, horses, everything. Nothing in this life remains unattainable for him. From time to time, and especially in Navratri, when one does its anushthan, he says, one must also do kumari puja along with it, and after that one does its mantra path and so on, and obtains many, many benefits. There is no work that is not accomplished by it, he says; kings and the like also come under one's control.

The speaker says one more vidhan of this stotra comes down, in which it is told that a yantra of these 108 names is made and that yantra is worn. For this a tithi and a nakshatra are specially given. When it is a Tuesday and the Amavasya tithi falls, and on that day the Moon is with Shatabhisha nakshatra — if the yantra is constructed at that time and worn on the right arm, he says, the wearer obtains every kind of wealth. This holds whether it is worn on the arm and the path done, or the yantra is made siddh and then worn. According to the tantra granths, he says, that yantra is described in three kinds. He says he will discuss it in detail some time; the vidhan is a little complex, because the constructions that have to be drawn in it are quite large. His main subject on this occasion is how to make the stotra siddh and how to use it.

The speaker says that if the sadhak makes this stotra siddh in Navratri, it will be very simple for him and will give its effect very quickly. In Navratri, he says, begin from Pratipada. If one goes to do it in any other month, he says, then do its anushthan from the Ashtami up to the Chaturdashi tithi, of either the Shukla paksha or the Krishna paksha.

The speaker says that first of all, before the puja of Bhagwati Durga, do the puja of guru, Ganpati, the Navgrah and so on. Then do the puja of Jagdamba as the vidhi lays down and as one is able; if one does kalash sthapana, complete all those vidhans. Now first take the sankalp, he says. The clothes to wear in this are red. The direction will be towards the east or the north. The asana will also be red. And on the forehead, he says, one must apply the mark of rakt chandan. Before Bhagwati Durga, he says, keep at least 50 grams of the tilak made of pure ashtagandha, or made of kesar, in one place, in a good box. Along with it keep haldi and kumkum as well, in separate vessels. After this, he says, take the sankalp, and after taking the sankalp begin the path.

The speaker says that in Navratri, every day, 108 paths are to be done. In this, he says, the opening portion with which the stotra begins — Ishwar uvach, shatanam pravakshyami, all of that — is to be left out, and one begins directly from the first name: Sati Sadhvi Bhavaprita Bhavani Bhavamochani. Beginning from Om Sati Sadhvi Bhavaprita, one keeps reciting up to the 108th name, Savitri Pratyaksha Brahmavadini — up to the 15th shloka — from the first name to the 108th name. When reciting the last time, that is, during the 108th path, he says, also read the phalashruti. For the path, he says, have eight, or at least eleven, red flowers. Take one flower in the hand, do ten paths, and offer it to Bhagwati; going on like this, on the eleventh flower do eight paths and offer it to Bhagwati. If this work is done after 9 o'clock at night, he says, it is ati uttam, because it is the time of Navratri and the night time has special importance in it. The akhand deep keeps burning for as long as one is reciting.

Every day, at night, the speaker says, the sadhak must give the bali of a pomegranate. How is the bali of a pomegranate given? Only one pomegranate, a new one: arrange flowers and so on on a plate, place the pomegranate on it before Bhagwati, and when the path is complete say to Mai: O Bhagwati, accept the path and puja I have done today, and as bali I offer this pomegranate to you. May Jagdamba accept this bali and grant me her blessing, protect me, and give me success in my sadhana. Whenever, with whatever wish, whatever good wish, I use these name-mantras of yours, may it be fully fruitful. If the pomegranate split open on its own in the middle of the puja or after it, he says, then it has been fully accepted by Jagdamba, by Jagdamba's yoginis — and know that at that moment the presence of some devi shakti is fully there, and her whole gaze is upon the sadhak. That pomegranate is not to be eaten, he says. Let it stay overnight. In the morning feed it to any cow. This is to be done for the full nine days.

If the sadhak does the havan on Navami, the speaker says, then he should do the paths within the Ashtami tithi itself. On Navami, early in the morning, he does the havan — and on the day of Navami, he adds, first do the path early in the morning, then the havan. Now see, he says, the whole path is to be done at least 1,100 times. If one does 108 paths each day, 100 paths are counted in that, so in eight days it comes to only 800. So 300 paths remain, he says. On any tithi between this Pratipada and Ashtami, try to do 300 more paths at any time during the day, in the afternoon, so that the 1,100 paths are complete.

The speaker says one must take special care of the samagri the havan will need, because this is a paushtik karma — that is, the stotra is being made siddh in its pushta form — so, for making it siddh, men give ahuti with ghee. Into the ghee, he says, mix honey and a little guggul. Write the 108 names of Bhagwati out separately in the form of a namavali, he says, so that the havan is easy. For example, the first name is Sati, so the first ahuti goes in the name of Bhagwati Sati; Sadhvi, so the second ahuti in the name of Sadhvi; Bhavaprita, so the third ahuti in the name of Bhavaprita — and so on, 108 ahutis. Since 1,100 paths have been done, he says, eleven ahutis are to be given from each name: that is, roughly 1,100 ahutis will fall into the havan kund from this whole stotra. He says the namavali is given for the havan only, not for the path — for the path there is the stotra, done in full as Sati Sadhvi Bhavaprita Bhavani Bhavamochani; for the havan each name is written separately. At the beginning, he says, all the ahutis of guru, Ganpati and Bhairav ji are given first; the ahutis of Bhagwati Durga come after that. Then the purnahuti is done.

Before doing the purnahuti, the speaker says, the sadhak needs a little havan samagri. What is in the havan samagri? The fragrant dhoop wood: at least half a kilo of dhoop wood, and in it 250 grams of black til, 125 grams of jau, a little rice, panchmeva, honey and ghee. All of these are mixed together. Along with it, he says, take at least two good red pomegranates, remove their seeds, and mix them into that same havan samagri. After mixing, when the havan of the names is complete, he says, with the first mantra of the Argala — the mantra Jayanti Mangala Kali Bhadrakali Kapalini, the whole of that mantra — give 108 ahutis from that havan samagri.

The speaker says that sadhikas do their havan with the very havan samagri he has described — the dhoop wood, black til, jau, rice, panchmeva, honey, ghee and pomegranate seed mixture. Sadhikas, women, should never give ahuti with ghee, he says. Therefore, if a woman is doing this sadhana, she gives the entire 1,100 ahutis with this same samagri — that is, eleven ahutis from each name, from this alone. In between, to keep the fire burning, he says, she can put ghee into the havan kund with a spoon, without any mantra, so that the fire stays lit, or she can put in camphor. In this way the havan is completed.

In this way the havan is complete, the speaker says; now tarpan is to be done. He says the method of tarpan is in a separate video on the channel. Here the tarpan will be a little long, he says. Why? Because the havan was done eleven times from each name, so tarpan is to be done once from each name — that is, tarpan will be done with the 108 names. Then marjan, he says: marjan too with the 108 names, that is, once from each name. Once the purnahuti has been done, he says, the tarpan and marjan as described are to be done.

The speaker says the purnahuti had still to be explained: when the havan is complete, before the purnahuti, ahuti is to be given with jaiphal. How is the jaiphal ahuti given? Take nine jaiphal, he says, and dip them in ghee. Taking one jaiphal, give one ahuti in the name of each of the Navdurga, one for each Durga: for Shailputri, saying Shailputri Durgaya Swaha; for Brahmacharini, saying Brahmacharini Durgaya Swaha, the second jaiphal — and so on, giving ahuti with all nine jaiphal. Both men and women, he says, are to give the jaiphal ahuti.

After the jaiphal, the speaker says, the bali of lemons is to be done. Two lemons are kept for it: one in the name of Durga ji, the second in the name of Bhairav ji. How is it done? The lemon is cut standing upright and put into the havan kund. When both lemons have been put in, he says, the sadhak stands up and does the purnahuti. The vidhi of the purnahuti: take the gari, the dry coconut, cut it, fill it with curd and jaggery, wrap it in red cloth and place it on a paan leaf. If the sadhak can make puris, he says, make five puris of ghee and set them there, put kheer or jaggery on top, and after that read the purnahuti mantra, place it in the middle of the havan kund, and complete the purnahuti. In this way, he says, this vidhan is complete; after it the tarpan and marjan as described are done.

After the tarpan and marjan, the speaker says, nine kanyas are to be worshipped. At the time of doing the nine kanya pujan, he says, since this Ashtottara Shatanam Stotra will by then have become kanthasth to the sadhak, he is to keep reciting it throughout. In this way, he says, the stotra becomes siddh completely.

The speaker says this anushthan should be done again and again. If possible, do it at least eleven times without fail. Over a year, he says, four Navratris will come — two gupt and two prakat — so four anushthans one does that way. Besides those, in the remaining months, from Ashtami to Chaturdashi, if one keeps doing its 1,100 paths, havan and so on, then within the year this will change the sadhak's life completely. It is an extremely divine thing, he says; do this anushthan and see — he hopes it will bring many benefits.