Holi
Every question on the site tagged Holi, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
22 Mar: Bhadra covered the hours after sunset on the day that would otherwise have been kept, so it moves to the day the tithi ends on.
Computed for New Delhi. Sunrise decides which tithi a day belongs to, so these can differ elsewhere.
The festival of colors, preceded by Holika Dahan, marking the triumph of devotion over ego.
56 notes from our sourcesNotes from our sources
Coconut deepdaan on every Purnima and parva kaal
Asked whether the coconut Deepdaan taught for Deepavali may be done on every special parva, the speaker says yes — he has said so. The 108-wick deepdaan in a coconut is overall in its effect: negative energy is destroyed, dhan is obtained, and both the Pitr and the devatas are satisfied. So do it every Purnima and on every parva kaal as it comes — Saraswati Puja and Magh Purnima had just gone; certainly on Mahashivratri as Shiv Navratri comes; then Falgun Amavasya; then Holika night. To "this is Holi, you're telling us a Diwali thing" he says do both, the fruit will be the better. He also mentions sadhikas who do a full Bhairav deepdaan every Krishna Paksha Ashtami — do it fully if you have the means, otherwise a little.
New Sadhanas wait for the night of Holika, though the Kali Tandava Stotra may be recited at any time
New Sadhanas are generally prohibited during Holashtak — it is preferable to continue existing practices and begin new ones on the night of Holika instead; the Kali Tandava Stotra, however, can be recited at any time.
How a marana prayoga showed itself in one family: voices, blood splatters, madness and two deaths
The speaker recounts a true case from a village near Dhanbad, Jharkhand, where a very intense Marana Prayoga was worked on a prosperous family of three brothers. For about three years there were night-time voices calling from inside the house, which the family ignored as they did only ordinary puja; then the eldest brother began going mad, local healers gave relief that lasted only two or three months, the middle brother fell ill the same way, voices came every second or third day in family members' own voices, and blood splatters appeared on walls and near the main Chaukhat. A tantrik worked at the house at great expense and things stayed fine for four or five months; then, near Holika Dahan, the eldest died on the spot in an accident and the middle brother died in another accident within ten days, before the shraddha was even complete. After that the surviving brother's wife could not put her swollen right foot on the ground though doctors found nothing, and the two dead brothers' voices began calling. Because the family was wealthy, he says, it had many enemies and no idea whom to suspect.
Why a siddha mantra stops working, and who should do the Holika-night remedy
The speaker says a mantra one has awakened — a Sabar Mantra, a mahashakti mantra or a Kamya Prayoga mantra — can stop working either through one's own mistake or through a malicious person who uses a keelan-type Prayoga to bind its power. He says the mantra itself can never be bound; instead an obstruction is placed between the practitioner's Aura and the mantra's own energy, so the mantra gives no result, cannot be used, or even causes pain when chanted. For this he prescribes a prayoga done on the night of Holika Dahan, and says it should be done even on a mere suspicion that some carelessness has put a Dosha into the mantra, and also when a mantra chanted for a long time still gives no effect in use.
Holika-night dahi vada offering that restores a siddha mantra
The speaker's vidhan for the evening of Holika Dahan: prepare at least nine urad dal dahi vadas, set them one each on nine leaf-plates (sal leaf best; banana leaf, market dona-pattal or small clay pots will do), top each with dahi and a little Gud, and do it after the daily Guru–Ganesha smaran, ideally without garlic or onion that day. For a Sabar Mantra, lift each plate and speak the mantra over it at least nine times (three or five if it is very long); for an Ekakshari or deity/mahashakti mantra, hold each plate in the left hand and do one Mala with the right, nine malas in all. Cover everything with a large sal or banana leaf, carry it to the Holika Dahan site, tell Narayan that you offer this siddha mantra as Havya into the holy fire and ask him to make it fully effective, offer it all and come home. He says the timing should be worked back from the Holika Dahan hour according to how long the mantra is.
Holi-day follow-up by deity after the Holika-night mantra offering
The speaker says that on the day after the Holika-night offering — on Holi itself, without fail — the mantra's own deity must be given its favourite flower or leaf with the mantra spoken over it nine times. For a Bhairava mantra, a Bilva leaf recited over nine times is offered to Bhairav along with his puja; for a Hanuman mantra, a Tulsi leaf recited over nine times is offered and puja given at a Hanuman temple; for a Durga mantra, a bilva leaf with the mantra is offered to her at home and her puja given at a temple, with shringar included. After this, he says, the mantra gives effect again whenever it is used in whatever way it was used before.
Times of year when marana prayoga bears most fruit
The speaker says that many of the deaths around Holi and within a day or so of Diwali are unexpected deaths, because that is the time when such prayogas bear the most fruit. He also says marana is at its peak on Tara Chaturdashi: in the Bengal region, whatever marana prayogas are to be done happen then, and even big people, traders and businessmen with mutual enmity, get them done at that time.
Which two festivals see the most tantric strikes?
Holi and Diwali, says the speaker, are the two parva kalas in which the greatest attempt is made to strike tantrically by using the most degraded vidyas. At such times, cases of akal mrityu — accidental death or the like, as at the time of an eclipse — almost always have an abhicharik presence somewhere in them.
Can a big sadhana be done after a father's death, and until when not?
Asked by a listener whose father has passed away whether he can do no large sadhana, and until when, the speaker says: until the Holika Dahan takes place, after which in the new samvat you will again perform a new anushthan. Until then you can do as many recitations of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita as possible — do the repetition of any one adhyaya; it will be very good.
Prerequisite for making a sabar mantra siddha on Holika night: it must already be in japa
The speaker says a Sabar Mantra one plans to awaken on Holika night must never be a mantra recited for the first time that night — that brings no special benefit. It should already be memorised and in regular japa. A guru-given sabar mantra is already fully potent, and a repeat Purashcharana on Holika night makes it unfailing; a mantra taken on one's own from the internet, YouTube, Facebook or a book must be started at least four or five days before Holika, or from Ekadashi, one Mala daily at a fixed time.
Japa setup for the days before Holika: cloth by deity, seat, direction, lamp, mala and daily count
The speaker says the japa method follows the deity of the mantra: red cloth for fierce deities like Bhagwati Kali, red or yellow for Hanuman, yellow for Pitambara, yellow or red for Bhairava. The seat is wool or Kusha Asana, the direction always east or north, and a single lamp stays lit for as long as one does japa; a Rudraksha mala is best. One remembers Bhagwati Sabari — a form of Durga, from the time of Shiva's Kirateshwar avatar and Parvati — and one's Kuldevi and family deities, then does at least one mala (108) daily, so that in the three or four days the mantra is memorised and its japa already under way.
Timing of Holika-night japa: midnight and the local Holika Dahan must both fall inside it
The speaker says two things about the Holika-night Japa: whenever one starts, midnight must fall within the session — whether the local dahan is at 7, 9, 12 or 2 — and one must also be doing japa at the time the Holika Dahan is actually held in one's own locality. If the dahan is at 9, sit from 8:30 and continue till 9:30 or 10. Best of all is to sit a little apart near the dahan itself, where people cannot see you, and keep doing japa as long as the fire burns; then no count of malas matters — one, ten or a hundred — and the mantra's capacity increases greatly and becomes unfailing.
Offering the home-cooked meal into the Holika fire: the mantra turns nourishing and the harm of fierce mantras is blocked
The speaker calls this the most important point: whatever food has been cooked at home for that evening's meal must be offered as Naivedya into the Holika fire — before or after the japa, whichever way the dahan time falls — and the sadhak doing the japa must carry it there with his own hands. Then, when he sits for japa during the dahan, the mantra becomes poshak, nourishing and increasing pushti. He adds that this also stops the Tiryak Prabhava, the oblique ill effect, that japa of fierce mantras otherwise brings: no food-related distress, no such loss of wealth, no loss of Shri, no poverty — because one is satisfying a purifying fire that is of Narayani nature and increases Shri, and doing the japa in front of it.
Applying ash from the still-burning Holika fire so the mantra settles in the subtle body
The speaker says that when the Holika Dahan is complete but the fire is still faintly burning and has not yet fully turned to ash — the last flames that will go out any moment — one should be watching it with one's own eyes. While the fire still remains, Bhasma taken at that moment is applied to the forehead, the heart, both sides of the chest, the navel and the rest of the body, remembering God or doing japa of the same mantra. This, he says, establishes the mantra with full power in the sadhak's Sukshma Sharir.
Caution: no ash from the Holika fire once it has gone out
The speaker says divinity is present at the Holika only as long as the fire is present. Once it is out, people cast their household Utara there — which one is indeed meant to do — and various totke, Vidveshana rites, discarded utara and household troubles are also left there; some even pour liquor. If the sadhak was not watching, and takes Bhasma from the quietened fire on which someone has left such a thing, it attaches to his body and costs him dearly. Ash is taken only from the burning fire, the way a little is lifted from the agni corner at the end of a Havan and applied to the forehead with Hunkar mantras. If the fire has died while the mala is unfinished and someone has done something there, he says, do not do it at all; done with purity, it certainly benefits.
What is wrong with taking the daridrata lamp for gambling?
It turns out that the very lamp of daridrata is lit again — because on the ghoora-par ki Diwali an old lamp is burnt; a new lamp is never lit there, he says, remember that too. If that same lamp has been lit and set there, if the lamp of daridrata has been placed there, and you have brought it away to win at gambling — then what all it will make you win in life you will not be able to understand. Like the totka of bringing the ash at the time of Holika, by which people are ruined, and the stealing of lamps at Diwali, and bringing a lamp from beneath a peepal — do not do these bad works, brother.
Like the nights of Holika and Diwali, this time works in both directions at once: special pujan is done, and attacks by enemies also multiply.
That they work in both directions at once. On the night of Holika and the night of Diwali we perform special pujan and path, and around that very same time attacks by enemies are also made in greater number. In exactly the same way, this Chaturdashi and Amavasya of Bhadrapada is extremely awake for all these things, and people perform prayogas.
Are the local goddesses given a pua bhog forms of the kuldevi?
Asked about a household where, besides Bhramari and Mahishasura Mardini, a bhog of pua is given at Diwali and Holi, and when a child is in the womb, to the outer Baharali, to the shakti of the chowk and crossroads, and to Basanti Mata — and whether these devis are forms of the kuldevi — the speaker says that this is a thing that goes by region, and it should be done according to what is in prachalan there.
What preparation does he announce for Holika?
From today onwards, he says, we shall begin preparing you for Holika: that on the night of Holika we must stay awake through the whole night and perfect a mantra — choose the mantra. There, ten men will perfect ten kinds of mantra; and we too will be seated here doing our own.
Is there an upay for a husband who drinks heavily?
Asked for some upay to get a husband who drinks a great deal to give up drink, he says that a vidhi of Holika had been told; at present, when such a time comes, it will be told again.
A death falling on Holi, Diwali or a Purnima changes what becomes of him
So the matter is this, he says: if such a boy dies an untimely death, but by chance his death occurred in some special parva kaal — Holi, Diwali, suppose a Purnima, Kartik Purnima and so on — and you are a sadhak.
How is something fed to a victim in a tantra prayoga?
Asked how to restore a body that has become stiffened and weak at a young age from tantra and illness, and how kayakalp is done, the speaker explains that when a disease attaches to the body through tantra, the first thing is that something has been fed — and the feeding is not done just once. It is done at some special nakshatra, at some special time: as in Durga Puja, at the time of visarjan, when the kalash and so on leave the house for visarjan, if something has been fed at that time on the pretext of sweets. Or after the dahan of Holika — he says he made at least ten videos at the time of Holika explaining each thing clearly. Or if something has been fed on the night of Diwali, calling it a sweet, calling it prasad, then it becomes very difficult.
The Tantrokta night periods for Anushthan before an ancestral object
The Nishadhi Kaal nights held to be Tantrokta: Diwali night, Holika night, Raksha Bandhan night, the Bhadrapada Amavasya, the Chaitra Amavasya — and the eclipse period. Perform even one night's Anushthan there and something will be experienced without fail.
How is the Chaukhat worshipped, and when?
Wash it with Gangajal; mix the orange sindoor with ghee; then, remembering the Kuldevi first and reciting an auspicious mantra, the Kulvadhu of the house applies five tilaks in an upward direction. This is done at Holi, Diwali, Navratri and Vijayadashami — Diwali without fail.
The first Holi is not spent at the in-laws' house, and the Holika ashtak as a time when avesh intensifies
The speaker recalls the rule that a wife is sent to her parents' home before Holi, because the first Holi after marriage is not to be celebrated at the in-laws' house. In the case, the bride was due to go around Holi anyway but was sent a month or so early because her trouble had grown. When the eight-day Holika ashtak set in, he says, her problem began to increase at her parents' home, and around a day or so from Holi she became fully possessed and began to "play", that is the Avesh came out openly.
A mantra remedy has limits where a husband is fully addicted and neglects the family.
Asked by a listener whose husband drinks daily, does not look after the children, is in government service, gives no money at home and creates great strife, the speaker says he will discuss the whole subject of drink separately in a live and a video. For the present he says only this: some prayogas given at the time of Holika did work for many people, but for those who have fallen into full addiction it is not possible at once — even if it is released by mantra bala, the body begins to suffer, one habit goes and another takes hold.
What ordinary observance is owed to the gram devata?
One should go for the ordinary pujan: one should go at the time of Holi, one should go at the time of Diwali and place a lamp there, and when a wedding or other auspicious mangalik work takes place in the house, an invitation should certainly be given there. The mistake people make here is not giving it. What will happen if we do not give it? Difficulty arises there, and afterwards there is much trouble; so this mistake you should not make. Bhairav ji has some form — his seva and puja should never be abandoned.
What should be done in the periods of Navratri and Holi?
The speaker says he repeats again and again that at the time of Navratri and Holi you must remain more alert than necessary; you must do vidhi for your own protection, you must do vidhi vidhan for dhanagaman as well, and along with that you must stay motivated.
The night of Holika is the supreme parva kaal and siddha kaal of tantra, and listeners are unsure on which of the two nights their mantra japa should be done
The speaker says the supreme parva kaal and siddha kaal of tantra, the night of Holika, has arrived; but many listeners keep asking whether Holika dahan falls on the night of 6 March or of 7 March, and when they should therefore do their mantra japa. In most places the dahan is happening on the night of the 7th, so people are asking whether nothing is to be done on the night of the 6th.
Which Purnima should the Holika parva-kala worship follow?
The clear answer, he says, is that whatever pujan and japa are to be done for the sake of the parva kaal should be done when the Purnima is ratri-vyapini, nishchit-vyapini — because the Rangotsav belongs to the Pratipada tithi, and Holika falls at Chaitra Pratipada, meaning when the Purnima has almost ended. This year the Purnima remains until between 5:00 and 6:00 in the evening of the 7th, so the udaya-vyapini Purnima falls on the 7th.
Both days are available for sadhana because the Purnima of the 6th begins around 4:40 in the evening and remains all night, making it a complete nishchit-vyapini Purnima
Because for the sadhana that is to be done, one good thing is that both days are being obtained. On 6 March the Purnima will remain all night — it begins at roughly 4:40 in the evening — so it is a complete nishchit-vyapini Purnima.
What is done on each of the two Holika nights?
On the night of the 7th, whatever utara is to be sent from your house into the Holika and whatever materials are to be sent, all those vidhi-vidhans will be done, and after that the sadhana is done through the night. On the night of the 6th one gives one's sadhana firmness and does the sadhana well.
What should be done first among the Holika practices?
First of all, complete the sadhana of Holika dahan — that of the Daruna Ratri — in this interval, on both the 6th and the 7th.
May the ash of the Holika be brought home?
The speaker recalls that he has already put out a video saying the ash left after Holika dahan should not be brought home, and that the reasons, the ruin it causes and the affliction it begins to give have all been made clear in that video.
What should be done with Holika ash already kept at home?
The new question is what to do with ash already brought home in the years before one knew. He says to immerse it in any river, lake and the like — but do not keep it.
Where is the ash of the Holika actually beneficial?
Where the whole vedic method and full vidhi-vidhan are followed by knowledgeable people and elders — as at the Mahakal temple at Ujjain, and around other temples where pujaris and sadhaks perform the danda sthapan of the Kshetrapal a full month beforehand and then the complete vidhi and pujan of Holika dahan — the ash of that place may be carried home, because it has been burnt in the full manner and will be beneficial.
Why must ash from an ill-conducted Holika never be brought home?
Because at places where no rule or vidhi-vidhan is followed at all — where people burn whatever they bring, tyres, shoes and slippers, cots and bedsteads, and where the whole thing has become a matter of joking — people will certainly have done their utara in it. Just as you are going to act on what you hear, thousands of others will do the same. So never bring that ash home.
What is said of yantra archan done on a mountain peak on the nights of Holi and Diwali?
Against a whole year of effort: if on this night of Holi, or the night of Diwali, one goes to the peak of a mountain and performs yantra archan and avaran pujan, the shaktis being pleased grant kripa at once to those whom we take as our aim and make our sankalp for. The kripa of the Vidyadhars especially is obtained swiftly.
On which day is the Holika vrat, and when is the havan?
The Holika vrat, the tithi of the Purnima vrat, is on the 6th. The Purnima of the vrat is on the 6th, that of snan and daan is on the 7th. The time of the havan is on the morning of the 7th. And if one is fasting, in vrat, then it can be done on the evening of the 6th.
Are the Holika vidhans still performed in cities today?
A listener says the vidhans he describes have stopped happening in the city, where people merely cut grass in the name of Holi. He answers that if people wish to know, then as they are now listening — those who organise it, since Holika dahan is now organised — they can, having learnt all these vidhis, then perform them.
Is the utara put into the Holika before the burning?
Asked whether the utara must be put into the Holika before the dahan, or whether it may also be put after dusk and before the burning, he answers that it is to be put only before the dahan, and that it may also be put after dusk — it is not necessary to put it in the morning; it should be put only after evening.
What is the vidhan for perfecting the Hanuman Janjira on Holika night?
He says the vidhi of the Hanuman Janjira has been given on the channel. On Holika night, at the time of day, invite Hanuman ji and perform his pujan, offering rot, langot, dhvaja, paan, supari, laddu, tulsi patra and a garland of paan leaves; then at night do 11 malas of japa of the Hanuman Janjira and one mala of ahuti with gugal. The mantra will become chaitanya. From the next day onward keep doing one mala of japa each day, for as long a time as possible.
May the Datt mala mantra and the Hanuman Chalisa be perfected on Holika night?
Absolutely, the Datt mala mantra can be done on Holika night. As for the Hanuman Chalisa, the method of perfecting it has been given in great detail on the Siddh Sabari Vidya channel, and the siddhi of the Hanuman Chalisa may be done by that vidhan. He tells the listener to search for "Hanuman Chalisa Siddh Sabari Vidya" on YouTube, where the whole vidhan will come up.
Should different mantras be done on each of the two nights, or the same mantra on both?
No, do not do different mantras. He has said to do a single mantra for both days — the questioner perhaps did not hear at the start. He said for both the 6th and the 7th, maximal japa of one single mantra.
How long should japa be done on the night of Holi?
Asked how much time to do maximal japa on Holi night, he says one should do such japa that at the least a stretch of "paune se sawa" — from three-quarters to a quarter past — is reached, and the more one does beyond that, the better. He also confirms that the Hanuman Janjira can absolutely be done on Holi.
How many repetitions of the Pitambara Sitaram anushthan on Holika?
Asked in what number the anushthan of Pitambara Sitaram can be done on the day of Holika, he says do a minimum of 108, and as much beyond that as is possible.
May japa be done during sutak at Holi?
No — do not do japa during sutak at Holi.
Why is travel forbidden on the day of Holi?
The greatest difficulty, he says, is the utara: the tantra prayogas of that day are very many, and people place their utara here and there along the roads. The uprooting of a great many things takes place on that day, and this is chiefly why travel is forbidden.
On which nights are tantra prayogas such as utara typically laid out?
The night of Diwali, the night of Holi, the night of Ashtami.
May something be thrown into a Holika that is already burning?
No — it is not put into a Holika that is burning. It is to be placed beforehand, and one is to come away.
Is the time of Holika dahan right for Dhumavati tantra?
Asked whether the time of Holika dahan would be right for Dhumavati tantra, he says that such a thing simply cannot be said.
What should be done where Holika is not celebrated at all?
Where Holika is not celebrated and no Holika dahan takes place, do naam jap and mantra jap and the rest. The guru mantra, he adds, will become more effective by japa.
When during the Holika dahan may one do one's own path?
Whenever the Holika dahan is happening there, you may do it the whole night: you may do it before the Holika dahan, you may do it after, and you may do it while the dahan is going on. But it is not to be done seated in front of it. The vidhi that is done seated in front of it should ordinarily never be done by a householder at all, unless it is a very great emergency; those who wish to perform siddhis are a separate matter, in which the Veer Vetal siddhi and more besides come in.
The Holika dahan is set after 1:00 at night, and in many places of the Vindhya kshetra it is done at 3:00
The time of Holika dahan is for this reason set after 1:00 at night; in many places in the Vindhya kshetra and elsewhere it is happening at 3:00. By the English calendar, he notes, that means it will fall on 7 March.
With what should the coconut of the Holika utara be consecrated?
He tells a questioner that the path she is doing is correct, that for the utara to be sent into the Holika she should do the vidhi given on the channel, and that the coconut should be consecrated with the Shiv Raksha Stotra itself.
If one is already in an anushthan, may another be taken up at Holika?
Asked in English whether, if one is already working on an anushthan, one may pick up an anushthan specially during Holika dahan, he says: since you are doing an anushthan, at Holika he would tell you to do that same anushthan again and, if you wish, in a maximal form. If you take up some second anushthan there is no benefit from it. Give more speed to the one anushthan you have been doing all along, and try to perfect that very one.
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