When Pitambara Sadhana Makes Life Worse — Skipped Beginnings, Missed Niyams, and the Tarpan That Cools an Ugra Shakti

The speaker opens with the complaint he has been sent. After doing the sadhana of Bhagavati Pitambara"The Yellow-Robed One" — an epithet of Bhagavati Baglamukhi., quarrel and strife began to grow in the questioner's family. After that sadhana, both in the middle of the anushthan and after its completion, new and newer enemies arose, and the old enemies became far more fierce. Troubles of various kinds began in the field of work. The questioner, who used to stay quite calm and gentle, has now become extremely UgraThe fierce mode of a rite or deity, as against the saumya or gentle mode.. Put in a single sentence, he says, it comes to this: before the Pitambara sadhana we were quite happy and life was quite good; for some reason we began this sadhana, and after it the troubles increased and the situation has become quite bad. Why is this happening, and what should be done about it? That, he says, is what he will try to explain in detail.

The speaker starts from motive. Whenever we move toward sadhana there is some purpose behind it, material, spiritual, or to obtain some devi kripa, and there must have been a turning point for the decision. When you decide to do the sadhana of Bhagavati Pitambara"The Yellow-Robed One" — an epithet of Bhagavati Baglamukhi., he says, you will certainly have decided it after hearing some person's experience: of some svarup of hers, some mantra, some sadhana, you heard or read something that made you extremely enthusiastic, and in that excess of enthusiasm you began. But which sadhana did you go to do? If a hundred people who did a Pitambara-related sadhana and then ran into trouble are asked, he says, take it that eighty-five of them will say they did the Bagla Mahapratyangira sadhana first of all: right at the start they recited the Kavach and so on of the Pratyangira svarup of Bhagavati Pitambara, in anushthans of 1100, 3600, up to 11000. Asked what sadhana they did before that, the answer is: brother, before this we did no sadhana at all. Not a Hanuman Chalisa, not a Durga Chalisa, no dhoop and deep morning and evening, no temple visits; at the very most a Hanuman Chalisa on Saturday and an occasional Tuesday at the temple. Then trouble came in life, they searched YouTube, the internet, Google, read magazines, heard someone's account on YouTube and related to it: his trouble is just like mine, whether we are afflicted by a shraap or something else. So they picked up this sadhana. That person had said that after so many days such and such experiences came and such a result; but for us, they say, everything is going the exact opposite way. Why? The first and most particular cause, he says, is that you never did UKG and LKG and sat down straight away with the syllabus of the tenth class. That is the single biggest cause.

The speaker asks what tantra means and why it is said that tantra is a jagrat vishaya. It is, he says, something that gives immediate effect. Vaidik things are different; tantric things, tantrokta things, are a field of their own. But it is not, he says, that if you make a mistake over there no Dosha will attach, and if you make it here dosha will attach quickly. Dosha attaches everywhere. For a mistake there is dosha in every field, whichever field it may be, so do not nurse the illusion in the mind that if we make a mistake somewhere we will be let off.

There is bhav, the speaker says, and there is kriya. If you are doing things from bhav, then bhakti should be done from bhav. But tantra is a matter of bhav later; the matter of kriya comes first. When you are doing the path and seva of the Mahapratyangira svarup of Bhagavati Bagla, the tattva of the eight shaktis that are spoken of in Pratyangira has its effect first of all on your own form, your body, your Aura: on your Sukshma Sharir and on your gross body. Now, is the capacity to digest that energy inside you or not? Is it inside the members of the family in the house where you are doing this sadhana and upasana? On that, he says, it will depend. If in your house no Rudrabhishek of Bhagwan Sadashiva was ever done before today; if a ShivlingThe aniconic form of Lord Shiva worshipped at home and in temples. was never installed in the home (the small shivling that is kept at home, which he says should be in the house of every person of Sanatan culture); if Shiva pujan never happened, if you never kept a Shivratri vrat, never did kalash sthapana and pujan in Navratri, never did any special sadhana or puja in Navratri, not even an aarti; and you went straight off to do the upasana of the Pratyangira svarup of Bhagavati Bagla, having heard something and become over-enthusiastic, then what will the energy that forms, and the effect it has, do?

Are you keeping the remaining niti-niyams or not, the speaker asks. Why is it said that in the sadhana of Bhagavati Pitambara"The Yellow-Robed One" — an epithet of Bhagavati Baglamukhi. yellow cloth alone is necessary? Why was it not said to wear green cloth or bhagwa cloth? Why was she given the name and form Pitambara? Do you do it wearing a pitambara, a pitambari dhoti? Do you know how to wear a dhoti? Do you know how the lang is tied in a dhoti? Have you kept the asana yellow? Have you ever done archan of Bhagavati with haridra-samskarit materials, with haridra? Have you ever done archan of Bhagavati Pitambara with her SahasranamaA recitation of a deity's thousand names — a devotional text genre used across many deities, not one single fixed composition.? With her shatnam? Even keeping a photo of hers and doing archan with the 108 namavali? Have you ever done her abhishek? Bhagwan Shiva is her Bhairav; have you ever done his abhishek? You have not, have you? Look at this first, he says: if trouble is coming, this is the root cause behind it. There may be many other causes too, but this is the root one. The sadhanatmak things are what should be looked at first of all. Did you consider the TithiA lunar calendar day — some idols (like a Shivling) need daily bathing regardless, while others only need it on their dedicated weekly day or tithi., the NakshatraOne of the 27 lunar constellations used to time rituals — certain occult procedures, such as acquiring a cremation Handi, must be performed within a specific Nakshatra's window. and so on? Since you did it a first time, a second time, did you ever consider these things: how and what is to be done, and when it is not to be done? Instead, he says, you came in bhav-pradhan mode and picked up a tantra sadhana, and that too went straight to do a Pratyangira sadhana.

There is a written matter here, the speaker says: if you read, and are doing the practice from reading, then it is written there that for the shaman of the Dosha which arises from wrong mantra uccharan, that is, to destroy its Tiryak Prabhava, the upasana of this svarup of Bhagavati Pitambara"The Yellow-Robed One" — an epithet of Bhagavati Baglamukhi., the Mahapratyangira svarup, should be done, by which that tiryak prabhava itself is destroyed. So, brother, he says, look: a svarup of Bhagavati whose sadhana holds the power to destroy the tiryak prabhava of another mantra, will it itself give an immediate effect? It will not. That is what we are thinking, is it not? It will not. Therefore the trouble that is coming into our life should not have this as its cause; yet it is happening to you. The reason behind it, he says, is that when you are going to do a sadhana of this kind, the plain fact is that one should always begin with the arambhik sadhanas, and those arambhik sadhanas you never did.

What has Bhagavati said, or what do any devi-devta say, the speaker asks. First of all, Ganpati: Guru, Ganesha, Ma SharadaThe Goddess of learning and speech.. This much sadhana at least should be there. See whether you ever took a guru mantra or not. How much Japa of it did you do, even if it was Ajapa Jap? By rule there should be at least sava lakh japa. Leave Haridra Ganpati aside; the ordinary Ganpati ji, did you at least do the sadhana of his svarup, or the path of his Kavach and so on, or the japa of his dwadash naam? Which path or puja of the VighnahartaGanpati as the remover of obstacles, worshipped first so a rite proceeds unhindered. did you do, which anushthan? Was there ever even a ten-day anushthan? Did you ever offer ModakThe sweet dumpling offered to Ganpati. to Ganpati ji or not? How can you think, he asks, that you will get success and trouble will not increase? The Vighnaharta himself will be the first to become the Vighnakarta if you do not do his sadhana and upasana. So these things should be looked at first and all of them done first. The proportion may be more or less for someone: one person's trouble may be greater, another's less. Someone will get success after only a three-day Ganpati sadhana and suffer no distress; someone else will do even ten days and still meet trouble. That proportion can be less or more, and one must go accordingly, but the order must be the same. If you go straight to the sadhana, he says, you will have trouble.

Not only this, the speaker says; there is more beyond it. What is your sadhana sthal like? Who are the devi-devta of your kula, your Kula Devata? What is their bhog, puja and bhent? Have they given the adesh that you may do the sadhana of Pitambara, or that you may not? That too has to be seen. You went straight to the mool mantra, the shat-akshari mantra, and began doing it. Do you have AdhikaraThe eligibility or readiness required before attempting an advanced ritual — without it, even a correctly performed rite risks serious harm to the practitioner. for it or not? That has to be seen. You are taking Diksha: what is their Guru Parampara? Who is your kula guru? How much knowledge does he have? These days, brother, he remarks, diksha is being distributed, distributed online; diksha is happening online too, or whatever is happening. So are all those things correct? Is there a vidhi-vidhan behind it or not?

At least, the speaker says, go for the basic things; then go beyond the limit. According to desha, kaal and paristhiti things change, they get thoroughly upgraded, and they should be upgraded. But even within that, what is basic, what is mool, cannot be left out, because it gives its effect in that same measure. So it must be honoured in that way. Therefore, he says, only after looking at and knowing all the beginning things, and after doing the arambhik sadhanas, should you ever do the sadhana of Bhagavati Pitambara"The Yellow-Robed One" — an epithet of Bhagavati Baglamukhi..

If you have done all these things, the speaker says, and after that trouble is still increasing while you keep repeating the sadhana, then first of all do the sahasrarchan of Bhagavati Pitambara"The Yellow-Robed One" — an epithet of Bhagavati Baglamukhi. and her TarpanaA libation offering of water or other substances made to a deity or ancestor, typically performed alongside Havan and Marjan.. Do the tarpan of the Yantra. When a shakti begins to turn UgraThe fierce mode of a rite or deity, as against the saumya or gentle mode., she is made shant and saumya by means of tarpan. Haridra mixed into raw milk, he says, of a single-coloured cow if one can be found; your guru will tell you this, he is only giving a small general outline. If you are a genuine sadhak and trouble is still coming, take the raw milk of a single-coloured cow, and keeping the NakshatraOne of the 27 lunar constellations used to time rituals — certain occult procedures, such as acquiring a cremation Handi, must be performed within a specific Nakshatra's window. in view do it in your own janma nakshatra, which is best of all. Whenever your janma nakshatra falls, the paksha does not matter; it must be the nakshatra, and in that nakshatra the time can be anything. Even if you keep only a picture of Bhagavati Pitambara, it should be one that does not spoil on getting wet. Suppose the tarpan is to be done with 108 names of Bhagavati Pitambara: bring and place 108 BilvaThe sacred Bael tree associated with Lord Shiva — sadhana is undertaken beneath it, its wood is used as fuel for Havan offerings of ghee and sesame seeds during a release ritual, and its trifoliate leaf (Bilvapatra) is the offering proper to Him. patra, take the cow's raw milk and mix haridra and KesarSaffron, used in ashtagandha inks and in offerings to the Goddess. into it. Then, taking one name of Bhagavati at a time, first dip the bilva patra in the milk, lift it so a little milk stays on it, speak Bhagavati's name and, saying "tarpayami namah", do her tarpan. By this, he says, her ugrata, her energy, becomes quiet; that is, our atharva, our Aura, which is not able to receive her energy, turns saumya and gives a good effect. Even if the cause was something else, a mantra dosha, a devi dosha, a Shraap, a Pitru Dosha or various other doshas, and we are doing the sadhana as well, then by this means, through this kriya of tarpan, we make Bhagavati shant and saumya, and her energy and the mantra japa we are doing become givers of auspicious fruit for us. The various kriyas of this kind, he adds, your guru will explain properly as your guide. Keep all these matters in mind, he says, and the trouble will not grow; otherwise it begins to grow.