When a Deity Begins to Mount the Body — Confirmation, Guru, Sadhana and the Rules of the Darbar

Asked what a sadhak or sadhika should do when the sawari of any devi or devata, of any auspicious shakti, begins to come upon the body, the speaker begins with confirmation. For those jataks and sadhaks on whom sawari has begun to come, he says, the people of their family must first of all get 100% confirmation of this one thing — that the sawari coming on the body is the very one it says it is. When a devi or devata's sawari comes, it will give its own introduction. So the first thing to find out is whose sawari this is. Is it of a devi or devata of your kula (Kula Devata), of some devi or devata of your own region and sthan, or has some shakti followed you from a tirtha kshetra you visited, so that her avesh has begun to come on the body. Only when this is fully established, he says, can you do anything further.

Once it is known whose sawari is coming, the speaker says, the next step is this: if that shakti is already present in your house, if her sthan already exists, then no new puja is to be made. If some outside shakti has come, or a shakti of some tirtha kshetra, or a shakti worshipped in some earlier time who has now awakened — and she may well be of your own kula (Kul Shakti) — then it will be told which sthan should be built for her, at which place she is to be given a sthan, what her puja vidhi will be, and in what manner her pujan will be done. What pujan and bhog and so on will be in her name, what the tithi will be, what the time will be. Of all of these, he says, you should have detailed knowledge.

The whole matter, the speaker says, is whose sawari it is and whether they are to be given a sthan at home or not. Along with that, the family members' support is necessary on whether the arriving shakti is to be given a place in the house or not. Over this subject, he notes, arguments break out among people — why should we worship them, these are outside shaktis, let them be given visarjan somewhere. So this thing must be fully confirmed beforehand: what the seva and puja vidhi of the arriving shakti will be. Only then, when you are taking the help of some knowledgeable person, tell them that you wish to give her a place in the house. Or, if you do not wish to, then give her respectful Visarjan at some devi tirtha sthan or the like, give her a sthan there, or have performed the vidhi vidhan by which she returns to her dham — so that she does not trouble you, and no Dosha attaches to you either. This should be done respectfully.

Once it is confirmed — yes, we will give this sawari a sthan, we will do her seva and puja, and through her we will bring welfare to our family — then, the speaker says, you should make a guru through some capable knowledgeable person. Having made a Guru, all these vidhi vidhans should be learned through him. For that, the most fitting thing is that if there is any guru of your own kula (Kulguru), that is the very best. Otherwise, some right person upon whom you can place trust, who will not cause you harm of any kind — before such a person this subject should be opened. It should not be broadcast about, he says, that sawari has begun to come on my body, that I possess this shakti and capability.

Even if you do not go to a guru, the speaker says, that shakti will certainly bring you the attainment of capability — but it will be unbalanced, and the effect of her energy upon your mind will be such that you will not be able to understand. It will seem to you that you are the strongest person in the world. Because of that you will commit a great many small mistakes, which in time will produce a very great loss in your life. Therefore, he says, go into the shelter of a capable guide — some particular person whom you adopt as guru — and after adopting a guru you should first of all walk on the path he has shown.

The guru being the correct one is very necessary, the speaker says. If you do not obtain a fitting guru, and in haste you make anyone at all your guru, that too is a difficulty. If he gives wrong guidance, then the shakti who is coming along with you will also face difficulty and will suffer distress — and then she will certainly, certainly give you distress in return. So the whole most distinctive point here, the most sensitive point as he puts it, is that the selection of the right person must happen here.

If no one is being found, if a guru is not obtained and sawari is coming upon your body, then, the speaker says, you should never do this — that there is a great deal of energy, so we will do this, we will do that. Even if that sawari is speaking, you should keep all these things secret and begin sadhana. Without sadhana the balancing of all these shaktis is not possible — know this 100%, he says. Unbalanced energy is the kind that destroys everything one day or another. So if there is no guru, then you must yourself take knowledge of all these subjects and perform sadhanas.

For the initial sadhana, the speaker says, if there has been a guru parampara (Guru Parampara) in your house, if anyone has been initiated (Diksha), has been a sadhak, then do it according to whichever parampara they were in. Otherwise, the upasana of any Mahashakti; or Bhagavan Dattatreya, who is the guru-form — the most capable guru of the whole world is Bhagavan Dattatreya, the divine guru. Beginning with his sadhanas, thereafter you go on to do Ganpati (Ganesha) sadhana, Bhairava sadhana and so forth, and then all these things one by one. This, he says, is what you will have to do if you want the companionship of these shaktis in life in a correct manner, in a balanced way.

When a guru is obtained, the speaker says, the mantra granted by him is to be made chaitanya. If one is not obtained, then by yourself take the shelter of some Mahashakti as guru — Guru Dakshinamurti, Bhagavan Dattatreya, or Bhagavan Shiva in any of his forms — and do their upasana in the guru-form. The mantras are to be made ChaitanyaFull consciousness and living presence of the Divinity, awakened by reciting the specific hymns that were recited before that deity first manifested.. Do five AnushthanaAn extended ritual observance — such as 108 recitations of a scripture — carrying its own strict rules.s of the guru mantra, of sava lakh each. Performing anushthan for a year, make the guru mantra chaitanya in good fashion. Once a chaitanya mantra has been received and some other mantra is to be done — some mantra of Bhagavati, of Hanuman ji, of Bhairav ji — do their anushthan in order first. Do the anushthan of a raksha Kavach and so on. That is, first of all make yourself fully secure. This is necessary.

Only when you move forward after this, the speaker says, and if you have obtained a guru, then after having some AnushthanaAn extended ritual observance — such as 108 recitations of a scripture — carrying its own strict rules.s performed, when the balanced siddhi of the trinetra (Divyadrishti) and so on has been correctly obtained, the guru seats himself at his own sthan and acquaints you with your shaktis. There is not only one shakti. If some Bhagavati, some Yogini is coming, or some devata is coming, then along with them there will be many other shaktis who walk in their whole retinue, and many veers. All their details are given to you by the guru ji — yes, this devi is with you, these are the Veers who go ahead as her escort, these are the veers who walk alongside. Wherever you send anyone, these very veers go and carry the information. These are the shaktis of her company. And the forebears in your kula who died in a particular manner also walk with them and remain in their service. Knowledge of all these subjects, he says, is given to you by your guru — that the shakti is of this whole kind.

Thereafter, the speaker says, it will be told about their bhogs — that bhog is to be given to this one in this manner. There are many such shaktis to whom khappar is offered on the day of Poornima, to some on the day of Amavasya; to some a stream of liquor is being poured, to some plain liquor, to some kachchi — all these subjects will be told there. To some, bhog is to be given outside the house; to some at the Chaukhat; to some in the pujan sthan; to some at the place where you keep your water; to some at Tulsi ji; to some by going to the bank of a river, the bank of a lake. If you wish to walk by the proper vidhi, he says, your guru ji will tell you all these subjects — at what time, and at times such as Diwali, when and to whom and in what way bhog is to be given. If there is a whole army of Yoginis, how bhog is to be given to them. All this subject will be told to you.

Thereafter, when all this vidhi vidhan is done and you have obtained siddhi by Japa of the mantra and the rest, the guru ji will ask this, the speaker says: do you wish to remain limited to the welfare of your own house, or do you wish to hold a darbar and so on. If it is your wish that people should come to your sthan and that you should hold a darbar, then what your profession is, whether you are pursuing your studies, what you have to do onward in life — only after seeing all these things should the decision be taken. How far the people of your house are going to cooperate in this; and whether you wish to do this work correctly and properly, or only for becoming famous — as with all these present-day things of whirling the head about, saying we will do this, we will do that, we are this shakti, this is my capability. That is not it, he says.

If it is to be done by the proper vidhi, in the correct manner, then tell the guru ji that yes, we wish to learn well and do all of this, the speaker says — and he will teach you the vidhi vidhan. And in that there is a nishedh of at the least sava saal, of up to five years, or of twelve years, during which you will only awaken the shakti.

One thing to remember, the speaker says: people play at it on the body every single day. When the shakti is awakened and is taken into a vachan (Vachanbaddha) — when sawari is coming on the body — the gurus have this vachan made: that she is not to come every single day. If sawari is coming daily, then, he says, brother, you are absolutely at level zero. If you can call her whenever you wish and the sawari arrives, then things are very badly wrong. This should never happen. For this reason, at the time when the vachan is made, it is told at that very moment: yes, once in a month on Ashtami, on Chaturdashi, on the day of Amavasya or Poornima the darbar is to be held, and on that day the devi will come upon your body, or the devata will come. They will come at the time of their Parva Kala and the like. All these things will be fixed, and only after that will the subject move forward — becoming balanced in this way.

After that, if some work is to be done, if there is the presence of some disease in someone's body, the speaker says the guru will tell you in the name of which devata and in what manner the Utara of the disease will be performed. Not this — that the devi came, whirled about and threw a lemon, whirled about and took it off just like that, doing anything at all. No, he says. If the chief devi, the king herself, begins to do the work, then what is the use of all her servants and attendants? How low a kind of practice are you performing, that the very devi who comes upon your body is also doing the utara and also doing the kaat (Tantra Kaat) — then what work is left for all the other shaktis who accompany her? When does a king ever do the work himself? This is wrong, he says. You do not have the knowledge, and so you are bluffing; it is a plain matter. Your guru will tell you that the utara is to be given in the names of these accompanying shaktis. If someone has a money problem, which shakti will work there; if it is a matter of seeing and hearing, which shakti will work. The chief shakti will only command. The chief shakti of the sawari is not always seated upon the head. If you are under the delusion that the shakti comes onto the body, onto the head whenever you call, and you are playing at it — then, brother, you are absolutely at zero level, deceit is being done with you, and today or tomorrow you will certainly fall into the pit.

The guru alone will further tell you, the speaker says, in what manner, in order to hold a darbar, there will first be mukh bharai and the gaddi will be tied — that is, a sthan will be given. At the sthan where you hold the darbar, in what manner will its protection be done; when people come there, what will be their rule, in what manner are they to come, in what manner will their vachan be taken. When all their Utara or whatever else is to be done has been done, how is your sthan then to be emptied? Now, the taint of people — you are yourself taking off the Preta and keeping it at your sthan, or sending it away; that thing will remain right there and it becomes your difficulty. For that too the guru alone will tell you how the cleaning is then done, how the nikari (Kshetrapala NikariA dispersal ritual offered to the territorial guardian Kshetrapala — requesting protection and the pacification of malevolent entities (Dakinis, Shakinis, Bhutas, Pretas, Pishachas, Vetals) residing in the territory, clearing domestic malevolent energies across the threshold for at least 24 hours.) is performed, how protection is to be given to your sthan, and at the sthans of which deities the utara is to be deposited. And after that, the protection of your family — that its ill effect should not fall upon anyone. All these things, he says, will be told by your guru.

On the coming of sawari, the speaker says, attention should be paid to all the subjects that have been discussed, and only after learning all these things accordingly should the further process be carried out. Not this — that today sawari began to come, there was a clamour that such-and-such devi has started coming, and you began to play at it; and after four days, five days, a month, you are holding a darbar, doing jhaad phoonk (Jhada), people are getting relief, your name is made, and you are doing anything at all. When this whole matter has already gone bad, when wicked shaktis have already overpowered you, when the auspicious shakti — because of impurity, because of some other cause — has already gone far away, and your ruin has already fully begun, then you start searching for where you made the mistake. So do not make the mistake, he says. Whenever shaktis begin to come, proceed with these vidhans by the proper method, keeping to the rules, managing it, protecting yourself and protecting your family, so that you can move forward in life with this purpose in a protected manner. He closes by hoping that all sadhaks and sadhikas will take benefit from the subject.