Sheetla Mata
Every question on the site tagged Sheetla Mata, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
A goddess traditionally associated with protection from disease, especially worshipped by mothers.
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What determines whether daily clove offerings to the Devi are required, versus just on Purnima?
Daily clove offerings (Dhaar) are primarily for practitioners bound by traditional vows or a specific family deity (such as Shitala Mata); otherwise, offering on Purnima (full moon) is sufficient.
At Kade Dham a sawari came upon a woman and her own brother struck her
The questioner writes that they had gone to Kade Dham, of Sheetla Maa, which is in Uttar Pradesh, and at that time a sawari was coming upon his mother; and his mother's brother, his mama, struck his mother. It happens, he says: you will all have seen it, that a sawari is coming upon someone and a member of the household or family will get angry and scold, will abuse, will call it play-acting — beating with a slipper, striking with the hand. Even baba ji people do it, he says, and mentions that a video of one such astrologer had gone very viral: a very great jyotishacharya, one whom people greatly respected, and he too himself; but from the day he heard that matter, brother, this one too turned out to be the same.
A daily jyot is lit in the name of the household devi and of Sheetla of Kade Dham
If there is knowledge that yes, in our house she used to come upon someone, or there is some such matter, then first of all, daily in the house, in the name of the Maa whose swaroop you worship; and since the insult was made at Kade Dham of Bhagavati Sheetla, in her name — in the name of both, kindle at least one jyot each. And recite the Tantrokta Devi Suktam.
What should be done if the gotra is not known?
He says to do puja keeping a photo of Bhagavati Durga, if one has not kept a photo of the Sheetla Maiya of Gurgaon. And if the gotra cannot be fully known, then proceed taking it as the Kashyap gotra — to find it out, it would only be known through some older person; in today's time there are a great many households that have forgotten about the gotra and the like.
Which forms of Bhairav go with Sheetla Bhavani of Kade Dham?
Asked which forms of Bhagwan Bhairav go with Maa Sheetla Bhavani of Kade Dham, the speaker says that with Bhagavati Sheetla there is the form of both Batuk Bhairav and Kaal Bhairav. These two are what chiefly go with her.
How is Sheetla Mata's grace obtained?
If she is the Kuldevi, do it by whatever the Kula's tradition is. If she is not, then recite the Ashtak of Bhagavati Sheetla in particular. In the same stretch the speaker adds that Bhagavati Parvati is the principal form in all forms — she is the one called the Mula Shakti.
In what order are the goddesses of Gurgaon worshipped?
Asked about Gurgaon's Sheetla Mata, the speaker confirms the listener's account: before her, Gurgaon's Kaushambi Mata are worshipped, and after Sheetla Mata the Masani Mata of the same place is worshipped. He says the rule of that place is as the listener describes, and that the kuldevi is indeed Sheetla Mata.
What should the daily puja be when three kul devis are involved?
Asked by a listener who keeps a vigreh of Durga Mata at home and worships her most, the speaker says that so long as you have not kept a Shri Vigreh it is not necessary to keep one; worship upon whichever you are worshipping, in their name. After keeping a vigreh the rules change — Gurgaon's Masani, for instance, cannot be kept at home, though Sheetla Mata may be.
Who is the kul Bhairav where Sheetla Mata is the kuldevi?
The speaker says that with Sheetla Mata the kul Bhairav are Kaal Bhairav. If it is the Gurgaon one, then you can see that place's own; when you take from a Shakti Peeth, you should then proceed accordingly.
Who is the Bhairav of Mata Sheetla of Banaras?
The speaker says the Bhairav of Banaras will be Kaal Bhairav alone.
What is at the shamshaan ghat leg of the brihad trikon?
Coming back from there, by way of Bhairav Kund, Machhindra Kund and Mangala Gauri, one reaches the shamshaan ghat: at the shamshaan ghat, Shamshaneshwar Mahadev, the Mahashamshan Bhairav of Shamshaneshwar, and the devatas present there — performing the pujan of Bhagavati Jagadamba Mahamai Tara — and then one returns, having darshan of Sankata Maa, of Sheetla Maa and of Bade Hanuman ji, to Bhagavati Vindhyavasini on the summit of the Vindhya mountain.
Is Deeh Baba a Bhairav?
Asked about the puja of Deeh Baba done in the village, and whether, being alongside Sheetla Mata, he is Bhairav, he answers that Deeh Baba can be anyone. It is not necessary that Deeh Baba should be Bhairav alone; Deeh Baba can also be Hanuman ji, can be the local veers of that place, can be some pahalwan baba. What is necessary is who has been given the sthan and seated in the deeh. Whether he is the Bhairav who accompanies Sheetla Mata is also not necessary — he may be one who accompanies her, and he may also be independent.
Which Bhairav is worshipped where Sheetla Mata is the kuldevi?
He says both Bhairavs are worshipped alongside Sheetla Mata. Go into the region of Chhattisgarh and it is Kaal Bhairav there; go into the region of Bihar and it is Batuk Bhairav. Go into the region of Uttar Pradesh and the two are in different places, different Bhairavs. So you will have to see which of them are worshipped in your own place, and do accordingly.
What is actually seated where Kali is worshipped in abhichar?
Now, whether in the negative or in the positive — ninety-nine per cent of people raise it up only to run it in the negative, he says. Then, when they set it running, they will give it the name of Kali ji. The puja of Kali ji is indeed being done, but where is Kali ji there? It is a churail sitting there and taking it, if it is spoken plainly. They gave it the name of Kalika. And in exactly the same manner this Bhavani business runs: they said Bhavani, and now to the dead one itself they said Bhavani — Mare hi Bhavani. What is Mare hi, brother? Find that out. Since when did she become Mare Bhavani?
What is called the prakop of Sheetla Maa is the devi leaving the body and Visphotak entering it.
The reality, he says, is that in tirtha regions too, when the prakop of Sheetla Maa Bhagavati occurs, people say it is the wrath of the devi. Wrath there is — but what is it? Whatever is Visphotak, or whether you call it chhoti mata or badi mata, does not enter someone's body; rather she has left the body and gone. When the devi will leave the body — however sinful you may be, however meritorious — but when a dosha attaches, when a dev dosha attaches, when she leaves the body, then Visphotak enters into the body. Visphotak was a daitya. When a man commits some insult of the devi, then it is held to be so: he enters into the body, she leaves the body, the sharir tattva goes, the devi tattva is removed.
What does it mean to see yourself sweeping and gathering rice in a dream?
To Meenakshi ji he says: do the puja of Lakshmi ji. If you are seeing yourself sweeping or gathering rice, there are two kinds of thing — either, if your kuldevi is Sheetla Mata, do her puja well; the grace of Bhagavati is somewhere present and you should offer her the bhog that is offered, the rice bhog, on Ashtami. In every month, the Ashtami of the shukla paksha is called Durga Ashtami and the Saptami is called Sheetla Saptami; whichever tithi is accepted in your place should be done. Otherwise you should do the seva of Bhagavati Lakshmi well.
That shakti is a very ugra swaroop associated with Sheetla Mata, and is kept secret
To Shiv Kumari ji, who has written the name of a shakti, he says that not everything can be placed before people. She too is a swaroop of Bhagavati, and a very ugra swaroop. In some places she is held to be one among the swaroops that go with Sheetla Mata. Her control is of a very different kind. She is quite famous in the field of the Bhagatvaal and of Bhagavati, and she stays very hidden; so that subject he would not wish to tell here.
How is Sheetla Mata worshipped when she is the Kuldevi?
It is done differently in every region — three or four ways within UP and Bihar alone, differently again further north, differently in the Purvanchal, differently in Chhattisgarh. Only you can say what your own region's way is. The common element is the Naivedya; everything else changes.
The chowki of a shamshaan, and the seven devis who come in it
Suppose that people in the tantra kshetra have made siddh some kshudra shaktis — as many devis are worshipped in a shamshaan. When a chowki is made siddh, that is when a whole group of some shakti is made siddh together, then seven devis come in it. According to the region they are different devis: somewhere Masani is chief in it, somewhere Kalika, somewhere shaktis related to Sheetla Maa.
What time should be chosen for Ma Sheetla and Masani?
Choose whichever of these three times suits you, the speaker says. What their disposition is, what kind of puja takes place in your house — you will have to look at that, and only then will it be settled.
Who are the seven sisters of Sheetla Mata?
Asked about two others alongside seven sisters — which would make nine — he names the seven sisters as Sheetla Mata, Sayar Sheetla, Phulmati, Angar, Panesa and these. If there are two others besides, then it is not so in general, and the questioner must be speaking of some particular region.
Who are the Bhairavs of the Vindhyachal Shakti Peeth?
Know that in the Vindhyachal Shakti Peeth there is not one Bhairav, he says. Your taking darshan of Lal Bhairav is a very good thing; Lal Bhairav too is Bhairav. Just outside the Vindhyachal temple, Bhagavati Sheetla is on one side and Batuk Bhairav ji on the other — he is the Mai's chief son, whom we call Chandi Hriday Nandan. And on the road directly opposite the temple, the one that goes towards the kotwali, you will find the world's only temple where Bhairav and Bhairavi are together; it has its own mahatmya, and is of the Pauranik age — held to be from the beginning of creation. That too is an old peeth, and it is he who is chiefly worshipped there as Bhairav.
May Ma Sheetla be worshipped at a neem tree?
Asked whether the puja of Ma Sheetla can be done at a neem tree, he says he will not tell anyone to start something new. If it has not been done before, then do it after asking the elders of the house.
A sadhak of Punjab living beside a large Sheetla Masani temple reported it
The speaker names Verma ji of Punjab, whom he calls a very great sadhak. He lives in some region of Punjab where there is a very large temple of Sheetla Masani; the sevaks and sadhaks there have built everything right beside the shamshaan. The speaker says he is relating that man's own experience, told to him, and that he is telling it in the live — he is speaking it as told, not claiming it as something that happened with himself.
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