Fundamentals
Every question on the site tagged Fundamentals, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
Notes from our sources
Why Sadashiv sadhana must not be neglected in any practice
Whichever deity's story or Purana you open, the speaker says, Sadashiv is always there, because without Mahadev the world cannot run. The special point about him: whatever yagya, karmakand, tantra-kand or puja-paath we do in life, if the Sadashiv-related sadhana is not done fully — is done thinly, or left out — the fruit that should come ordinarily does not.
Panchayatan pujan: why every deity is worshipped, not only one's ishta
The supreme acharyas of the Sanatan parampara — held to be avatars of Shankar himself — directed Panchayatana pujan: worship of all the devi-shaktis, not one alone, since for us Bhagwan is in every particle. The speaker shows this bhaav running through the whole Sanatan morning: on waking, pranam to the Bhagwan within one's own hands (Karagre vasate Lakshmi); kshama from Dharti Mata before the feet touch the ground; pranam to one's parents; arghya to Surya Narayan; pranam to Tulsi, Aparajita, Shami and the dev-vrikshas; roti to the cow and the dog; then the bath and shringar of Shaligram, Narmadeshwar Shiva Lingam and the household deities. Nowhere in this do we bow thinking "small Prithvi Mata, my aradhya is bigger" — and a teaching that forbids even taking another deity's name is one to stay away from.
Parva kaal is for charging mantras, not for prayoga
Those already doing a sadhana should repeat it in these nine days, the speaker says — not do its prayoga. People do one 11-day sadhana and immediately ask for the prayoga vidhi, then say nothing happened: if ₹10,000 is in your bank you cannot spend more; if 100 malas are deposited, 1,000 cannot be spent. Your enemy is no raw player. Repeat the anushthan again and again until at least kripa-siddhi comes, and only then does a prayoga give effect. In parva kaal like Mahashivratri, Shiv Navratri and Holika night, attend to making mantras chaitanya rather than to prayoga — only wicked, foolish people use these times to harm others, and though such a prayoga strikes at once, if the target's ishta and tapa-bal are strong he falls ill a few days and recovers, and his own sankalp against all known and unknown enemies then finishes them.
Why does a protective ritual sometimes fail to overcome an attacking dark power?
A protective ritual fails when the attacker's power is greater than the defender's own ascetic power (Tapobala) — one side's strength must change for the outcome to shift.
What is Sandhi Puja in Navratri, and when does it fall?
The speaker says there is one time in Navratri when puja, path and prayer to Bhagwati through a special vidhi-vidhan — for destroying enemies, Abhichara, Preta, Pishach and other negative forces — bears fruit without fail: the transition when the Ashtami tithi ends and the Navami tithi begins, the Sandhi Kaal, announced in Durga Puja pandals as the time of Sandhi Puja. He says this window is so divine and supremely effective that in it Bhagwati Chamunda is held to pervade the entire world in her direct ugra form, and by that fierceness every negative force in the whole world is eclipsed, bound and pressed completely beneath her feet.
What Sankalpa should be taken before undertaking mantra practice dedicated to national defense?
Take a formal Sankalpa with water in hand before beginning, dedicating the merit generated to the protection of soldiers guarding the borders and the elimination of anti-national forces.
Vyatipata Yoga is an astrologically potent period that exponentially increases the efficacy of any ritual or mantra practice undertaken during it.
Vyatipata Yoga is named as an astrologically potent period that exponentially increases the efficacy of spiritual disciplines, rituals, and mantra practices undertaken during it.
What is the scriptural basis for combining spiritual practice with active defense rather than passive non-violence alone?
Krishna's teaching to arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita — 'Klaibyam ma sma gamah partha naitat tvayyupapadyate' (do not yield to unmanliness) — is cited to argue that peace is unattainable without the capacity to check hostile forces, so scriptural knowledge must be paired with defensive strength.
What a samput mantra is and how it is chosen
The speaker says a Samput means binding one mantra in the middle of another, fencing it in. The mantra used for the wish being pursued is the samput mantra, and it is recited around each root mantra of the text being read. Which mantra becomes the samput is therefore decided by the wish, not by the text.
What is the difference between Bhakti and Tantra Sadhana?
Devotion is personal sentiment and is accepted if the intent is clean; Tantra Sadhana — Shakta, Shaiva, Aghora, or Vaishnava — carries explicit rules that must be strictly followed, and cannot be waived by calling the practice "mere devotion."
In hardship, enlarge the anushthan of the same deity instead of changing deities
The speaker says: do not change the deity, the murti or the form — do the big anushthans of the same deity in the same form. If five malas a day for ten years seem to bring nothing, increase them. On good parvas — Navratri, Shivratri, the good months where some tithi of the deity is already fixed — do their big anushthans, get them done by calling sadhaks, or learn and do them yourself; it is no rocket science. Do not live in delusion, and do not put deities out of the house. Just as parents cannot be swapped when life brings suffering — one has to serve them — hardship may simply be coming by Prarabdha. He sums up: do not, under the spell of today's "great scholars", throw the deities and pindas worshipped by one's kul out of the house; a clay pinda you dismiss may end up "laying your pinda", and then you will go about giving pind. Home deities must be worshipped daily and remain worshipped generation after generation; only then is there welfare.
Three kinds of practitioners on the tantra marg
The speaker says guru parampara matters greatly on the tantra marg, whose meaning is adopting tantra pravrutti to draw near a mahavidya or mahashakti, doing sequential sadhana per the tantra vidyas. Some go on to do lok kalyan and keep increasing their shakti; some bind shaktis but never use them, staying content in their own nityanand and moving on toward paramanand; and some householders, living an ordinary social life, develop a particular interest in vaam-margi or lok-prachalit sadhanas — siddhi of a lok veer or a lok yogini.
Kul devi-devta's aadesh before binding any shakti at home
For a householder sadhak whose puja sthan sits inside the home, the speaker repeats a rule he says he states again and again: whenever any sadhak brings any shakti to siddhi, the importance of his kul shakti matters most of all. He should first see whether that shakti will bring the family trouble, and whether the kul devi and kul devta are giving their aadesh for it or not. Very often, he says, people set aside this question entirely and go straight to awakening the shakti and giving it a place in the home under vachan.
How a shakti becomes bound by its word through sadhana and japa
The speaker says that in tantra, and in the bhakti path too, when we do the sadhana and Upasana of a deity with bhav, with kriya and with the principles of upasana as a daily and occasional rule, dedicating every moment to that deva shakti, the shakti is nourished by the bhav-energy of our one-pointed love, is pleased, appears before us, and gives its word: "whatever you say, we will accomplish; we are under the sway of your love." Where kriya is foremost, he says, a shakti is compelled to act by the very mantras through which it was made siddha. He calls this a part of paralaukik vigyan: repeating one mantra again and again, which is Japa, creates an energy that is aimed at and offered to a divine shakti of unlimited strength, and in return we obtain an Anshatmak Shakti, a portion of its power, to use well or misuse for our own ends. That, he says, is the reality of what is called vardaan, kripa or blessing; the shakti so bound by its word is then given a seat, served and worshipped, and used or misused.
God and negative shaktis are both under the sway of their devotee
The speaker sums up: just as Bhagavan is under the sway of his devotee, so too the shaitan and every negative energy and shakti is under the sway of its devotee's mantra, its devotee's kriya and its devotee's bhav, and it is for this reason that they cause harm. Understand the matter this way, he says: it is all a play of energies.
Tantra vidya as the conversion of energy, powered by tapobal
The speaker says that how energy is converted from one energy into another is itself tantra vidya, and that any sadhak uses or misuses this vidya through his Tapobal. Tapobal, he says, is the energy by which all these things succeed: protection will come from it, destruction will come from it, punishment will come from it; that is, it is possible only through tapobal. Every other kriya besides tapobal, he says, is momentary: an utara, an upay or a kaat done for someone will help for 24 hours, two days, up to ten days, and after that it will not hold for long.
Why are Tantric practices like Mudra display and Patra Sadhana kept secret?
Tantra is inherently esoteric — numerous procedures, including the display of Mudras, are explicitly instructed to remain confidential, because uninitiated observers misinterpret and ridicule what they don't understand.
Kaula practitioners stay wholly secret, because a public that cannot grasp these states labels authentic practitioners, Brahmins and Tantriks hypocrites
Because a false belief spread that Tantrik practitioners never attain liberation and instead wander as spirits, genuine Kaula practitioners stay entirely secret to avoid ridicule and disdain from a public that cannot comprehend these high spiritual states.
Why don't critics' 'violence' objections to Bali hold up in Tantrik philosophy?
Wherever Bali is prescribed for a deity's manifestation, that form is specifically associated with the annihilation of negative forces; critics calling it violence typically ignore society's own widespread commercial slaughterhouses, and genuine understanding requires study under a competent Guru rather than public debate.
Stay steadfast in your own worship without disrespecting or forcibly altering another's — disrupting a consecrated temple's established offering carries severe karmic consequence
Practitioners should remain steadfast in their own worship without disrespecting or forcibly altering the prescribed traditions of others — disrupting established offerings at consecrated temples like Shyama Kali incurs severe karmic consequences according to scriptural principles.
Tantra as a subject of energies: collect, project, obtain the result
The speaker says the whole subject of Tantra is a subject of energies, and it has only three parts: collecting any one energy, projecting that collected energy according to one's wish, and obtaining the fruit. He says an ordinary person who sees a creature being offered in Bali only thinks the animal is being killed and that no deity is pleased by blood, and that the one offering it, who thinks only of his own wish, is just as limited. He says both views stop at the surface and the real matter behind Bali has to be worked out on this energy frame.
Can a tantrik really bind a deity?
The speaker says that in the Ramayana era Indrajit bound the panch devas — Agni, Varuna, Yamraj and the others — with his powers, and got his name because he bound Bhagwan Indra himself with a Pasha and carried him off; so such powers certainly existed then. Asked whether anyone today can bind a deity, he answers that binding of deities is possible and people do it, but what gets bound are lok shaktis, the partial (anshatmak) attendant powers — never Mahadev or Mahakali in person, because nobody today has the capacity even to hold such a power. He adds that Bhagwan Shankaracharya, whom he calls Shankar himself, did Utkilana of fierce shaktis at many places so that people of Kali kaal could not misuse them; anyone that capable today would neither do such a thing nor ever appear openly. Binding happens in this limited way, he says, and its cutting happens the same way.
Tying the Devi's grace to worldly demands drives her attendant powers away
The speaker says that once experiences begin, a sadhak either tries to understand them alone — scriptures, YouTube, magazines, other people's accounts — and reaches no conclusion, since these things differ for each person, or goes to someone who knows the field. A right person, he says, will tell him plainly: do not get stuck in the experiences, keep doing the practice, Bhagwati's grace is clearly with you — but do not bring it down into material things. The moment the sadhak starts saying "if grace has come, let my debt clear, let me get divine sight, let the one I love love me back", he stops being nishkam and starts classifying what he wants; when it does not happen he reproaches the Devi about wasted seva, havans and money. The ishta feels no pain from this, but her Paricharikas, who live in our atmosphere and respond fastest, get angry and punish him — experiences fall away. This is not binding, he stresses; it is distance forming between the two sides.
Why do kul pitrs come at weddings, births and deaths?
The speaker says that at a mangalik work the family calls its Pitrs, and they come pleased because a wedding means the line will grow. He gives the reason: it is held that a kul pitr of the seventh generation who for any reason has not attained gati attains it when the seventh generation is born, so the pitrs rejoice that the wedding will grow the line and free them. At a child's birth the kul pitrs likewise come and go to give their blessing, and at a death the kul pitrs are moving to and fro to take away the one whose body has dropped. He calls this the simple way of understanding the matter.
What is abhichara karma?
The speaker explains that Abhichara karma means negative forces have been projected onto a person's body or family, causing some big disruption for which no treatment and no solution can be found. He says the signs differ from person to person; the same experience and the same possibilities do not come to everyone.
Why are Tantra and Bhakti complementary rather than opposing paths?
Tantra and Bhakti are not separate domains but complete each other — every Shakti is worshipped across both traditions under different forms and names, and the common reduction of Tantra to mere sorcery (Maran, Mohan, Vashikaran) is a misconception.
What is the essential difference between the Bhakti path and the Tantra path in reaching a chosen deity?
Bhakti is complete surrender that leaves the outcome entirely to the deity, while Tantra follows strict Guru-directed disciplines meant to establish two-way communication, so the worshipped deity actively responds rather than the devotee only expressing devotion.
Sankalpa is compulsory in daily puja, not only in multi-day anushthans
The speaker says that after svastivacana comes the Sankalpa, and it must be taken in daily puja too. It is not the case that a sankalpa is needed only for a 40-day or 9-day observance; in nitya pujan it is very necessary. His reason: without a sankalpa the goal does not stay clear, and there must be a goal even if you are doing something for one day. So the sankalpa of daily puja is compulsory.
Why is Sadhana during Gupt Navratri especially potent, and who traditionally observed it?
Sadhana performed during Gupt Navratri yields far greater results than on ordinary days; historically, only families with an established lineage of practitioners were aware of it, and it was traditionally undertaken by Tantra practitioners for specialized Anushthans rather than ordinary householders.
Marana prayoga: what it is and its two types
The speaker says that just as a person can be killed by giving poison or by striking with a weapon, there are certain kriyas done with combinations of mantras which, merely by being performed, cause the death of the person they are aimed at. This is Marana Prayoga. He says the first thing to know is that marana prayoga is always of two types: one that kills at once, and one that works slowly over days.
Why should a practitioner not envy the path another person has chosen?
Because each birth carries its own purpose, and the merit or fault of a path is known only to the one walking it. A soldier killing in war incurs no fault and attains the deity's realm; the same applies to teaching, to administration, and to this work.
Should a householder eat free at the Kumbh food halls?
No — a householder should offer some Dakshina after eating at an Anna Bhandar. Eating without giving is for Sadhus and Sannyasis; the same principle applies to accepting Prasadi at any camp.
Digesting the grace rather than being carried into arrogance
Ten days of disciplined practice alone raises a person's energy and confidence sharply, and someone unable to absorb it is carried away by it — into the arrogance of thinking nobody can touch them.
Answering those who discourage the pilgrimage
By pointing out that such a person is not going themselves, will only make the listener negative, and has no standing to decide whether another's mind will change. He tells them to offer to perform the charitable act instead.
Why must the sadhana path be walked alone?
Because a person is alone at the summit, at the cremation ground and on the throne. The speaker tells practitioners not to form groups for sadhana, though a group of equally dedicated companions is a different matter.
Why should a returning practitioner give neither blessings nor curses?
Because it spends the practitioner's savings. They should remain silent and let the auspicious powers present in their aura extend grace themselves, rather than pronouncing that something should happen or not happen.
Staying surrendered afterwards and keeping divine experiences secret
Where visions and changes begin, the practitioner should remain humble and keep the matter as secret as possible rather than displaying it — otherwise, the speaker says, they will not be able to advance further.
Merit increases by inspiring others to make the pilgrimage
The speaker says that if someone who was not going reaches the Kumbh after hearing him, his own name is recorded in the register of Prayagraj — because merit increases when we cause others to increase theirs.
Does a person's rashi restrict which Mahavidya they may practise?
No. Asked whether a Scorpio may perform Ma Tara's sadhana, the speaker says rashi has nothing to do with sadhana, and nothing to do with the sadhana of the Mahavidyass in particular — it is considered only for the subsidiary and limb shaktis within the great powers.
The warning against strangers offering instant Siddhi
Do not follow anyone offering to arrange instant accomplishment through some Baba. If something is placed on a practitioner that way, he says not to write to him concealing it — nothing takes effect without something having been done.
One-night Masan siddhi: real, but uncontrollable without a guru
The speaker says Masan is a tantrokta shakti that many rural households now install when they have troubles. The one-night siddhis advertised on YouTube are real, he says, but such a shakti is highly uncontrollable: gaining a shakti able to control it takes years, and if it is invoked and appears without that control it causes total strife and tandava in the house. Whoever gets a one-night siddhi or a quick shakti-vachan has a Guru behind him doing the basic work and standing by to save him; without that knowledge, putting one's hand in directly means loss.
Switching between sadhanas: the biggest mistake that blocks divya drishti
The speaker says Divyadrishti definitely comes, and the biggest mistake sadhaks make is changing too much — a year of Ganesh upasana, "nothing happened", then on to whatever baba they saw on YouTube. Do the new sadhana if you like, he says, but do not abandon the old one. If one holds only Ganapati Atharvashirsha for a long time, one will need nobody: at some point the shaktis come on their own and the information one wants starts arriving. As evidence he cites two or three people who have kept up the Atharvashirsha since he first posted it nearly a year ago; one has recited it thousands of times, and whenever the speaker sees him his Aura has become remarkably strong and full of capacity.
Why is the Ashtami of Sharadiya Navratri important?
Asking on which day the darshan of Sadashiva took place, the speaker points to the Ashtami tithi in the month of Navratri — the Sharadiya Navratra we observe — whose mahatmya, he says, will be found in every purana.
Where do the yamala and tantra granths come from?
It is here, at the point where vairagya arose, the speaker says, that all the tantra granths we read arise — Rudrayamala, Vishnuyamala, Brahmayamala, Bhairavyamala, all the yamala granths, and all the sixty-four granths, the mahagranths, connected with tantra. In some you will see Shakti uvach; in some Parvati uvach; in some Bhairavi uvach. All of these are Bhagavan Shiva in different swaroops giving the knowledge relating to tantra to Bhagavati Sati, or Bhagavati Parvati, or Bhagavati Bhairavi.
What else did Shiva teach Sati besides bhakti?
In this manner Bhagavan Shiva explained bhakti very well to Bhagavati Sati, with all five angas, together with tantra shastra and yantra shastra; and thereafter all the other shastras — vaidya shastra, jyotish shastra, samudrik shastra. He described all of them. It is on account of these very things, the speaker says, that wherever we read them, there appears Shiv vach, Sati vach, Durga vach, Parvati vach, or Bhairav-Bhairavi vach.
Is tantra a matter of craft or drawing yantras?
Do not do this drawing craftsmanship, he says. There is no craftsmanship in tantra; there is no drawing.
A practitioner's rule-book begins the moment they wake, not when they sit down
Because the rules start from waking, not from the seat. The practitioner who folds their bedding first thing carries order into everything; one who flees rules flees them everywhere — in a job, in business, and in sadhana alike.
Not everyone can digest every subject, and one who cannot begins to disparage it
Because not everyone can digest every subject, and one who cannot begins to disparage it — incurring a fault. Sometimes a negative framing is deliberately put forward to keep a secret closed, and the secrets open of themselves once a practitioner becomes fit.
What is offered to a practitioner who will observe no discipline at all?
100 to 121 malas of the Panchakshari daily on a Rudraksha mala, reaching four to five lakh — a Purashcharana. No fixed hour, no dhoti, no Havan, no purity rules; only a bath, taken whenever they like.
What can be done by someone whose family will not permit any practice?
Memorise the twelve, sixteen or eighteen names of their chosen deity and repeat them while going about the day, from after the morning bath until sleep — with Brahmacharya observed and no meat eaten through the Kumbh.
A completed count is to be forgotten and increased, not carried about
Remember it and then forget it. A practitioner repeating daily that they have done 5,100 is not moving from 5,100 to 5,200 — the count is being spent as it goes. The instruction is to increase it, and to take up the anushthan of one's own chosen deity.
The same Goddess appears both as an independent Mahashakti and within a Yogini Mandala
Both, and there is no contradiction. Vajreshwari is the direct form of Jagadamba and also stands in the Yogini form; Kali is an independent Mahashakti and is also found worshipped within the Goddess's Mandala and among the 64 Yoginis.
Do household deities become unable to stop abhichara during Pitru Paksha?
The belief is that auspicious powers depart during Pitru Paksha, leaving household deities unable to block an enemy's abhichara. The speaker takes up this question directly, noting it surfaces every year when people fall ill or face sudden trouble in these sixteen days.
Should daily worship be given up during Pitru Paksha?
No — unless it is a settled family tradition. Those who genuinely suspend it are households performing the full sixteen days of Tarpan, and even they keep their Nitya Karma; someone adopting the practice on hearsay is advised against it.
What kinds of bodies do ancestors take after death?
Not only the airy body people assume. According to their karma, Pitrs move through every kind of birth — airy, divine, plant and tree, insect, animal and human — and the speaker notes that we ourselves were somebody's ancestors in a previous birth.
Does performing Shraddha at Gaya end the yearly obligation?
No — the speaker calls this a widespread misconception. Even after a Gaya Shraddha, the annual rites should be performed each Shraddha Paksha at minimum according to the tithi, and the obligation cannot be dropped.
How does an offering reach an ancestor who has already taken another birth?
It reaches them in the form appropriate to wherever they now are — as food in a human birth, as poison for a serpent, as fragrance in the divine realms, as whatever that creature eats in an animal birth — and the merit of having performed it returns to the one who performed it.
What should someone do who cannot afford to perform Shraddha?
Perform whatever is within reach — at minimum serve living creatures. One day's full earnings spent on the rites is held up as the measure; failing that, vegetables offered with a spoken word; failing even that, raised hands facing south and a spoken plea are accepted.
Why does abandoning daily worship expose a person to an enemy's abhichara?
Because the daily practice is itself the shield. Give it up and the Kavach breaks somewhere, some harm follows, and a cause is created through which an enemy's abhichara can take effect.
How should the Bhagavad Gita be read across the sixteen days?
One chapter a day with its Mahatmya, which completes fifteen chapters in fifteen days; the remaining three are read together with their Mahatmya on the final day. Hindi is explicitly acceptable — Sanskrit is not required.
How should charity and Jiva Seva be given during Pitru Paksha?
By one's own capacity and with genuine devotion, not by counted numbers. The speaker rejects the counting of two or four rotis prescribed as totke, and says a grudging offering yields no fruit at all.
Why should rites for the ancestors not be publicised?
Because what is done for display satisfies only the performer. The speaker recounts seeing a man distributing sweets at a Ganesh immersion whom he had earlier watched humiliate a poor man over ten rupees, and says God attends to the second act first.
Repeating a basic sadhana: five eleven-day cycles, or three twenty-one-day cycles
At least five times if performed in eleven-day cycles, or three times in twenty-one-day cycles — roughly 108 days of basic sadhana. It builds Tapobal, counters previous karma, and secures the means for future practice.
The channel exists for householders, and Bhagavati and Mahadeva in their householder aspect proceeded wholly along sattvic lines.
Because the channel is named Grihastha Tantra and exists for householders. The speaker states that Bhagavati and Mahadeva in their householder aspect proceeded wholly along sattvic lines, and tamasic method cannot be given alongside that.
What are the debts a person is bound by from birth?
Five debts are recognised. The ancestral debt exists because this life and body came through the Pitrs; the rishi debt because the sages gave every branch of knowledge. They are discharged through the Panchabali Mahayajna, worship, and service to creatures and nature.
Why does killing a snake incur Pitru Dosha and Sarpa Dosha?
Because serpents consume the poisonous gases emerging from within the earth, which is what produces the venom in their glands. Without them the earth's poisonous gas would rise sharply and its oxygen fall — this is given as the principal reason.
Can offerings be made to the ancestors of the maternal line?
Yes, and the speaker says it should certainly be done — water, sesame, barley and flowers may be offered to the ancestors of the maternal line, whose Shraddha is performed when it falls due as well.
Can tantra diksha be taken by oneself where there is no guru?
It cannot be done — tantra Diksha will not happen that way, though the Dev Diksha procedures already described can be. For upasana of Bhagavati as a householder the speaker directs people to the Shankaracharya parampara, taken together with one's wife, remaining a householder.
Does repentance alone destroy accumulated sin?
No — repentance must be accompanied by right action, or new sin simply accrues alongside. Even then only the accumulated interest is destroyed; the principal must still be borne, though the blessing of served creatures eases it.
Where satsang teaches the glory of the naam, the tantra kshetra promises moksha and advancement through shatkarma
Everyone is acquainted with the glory of the Bhagavan naam through satsang, through elders and through saints. But in the field of tantra it is said that here, especially if you perform shatkarma, moksha is possible through tantra, spiritual advancement is possible through tantra, and the unobtained object can be obtained by this path. There is capability in it; whether there is capability in you is what you have to see.
How should the worship of Mahishasura be understood?
Mahishasura's pujan is happening already, he says. That we may take it in a negative way is a separate subject; the form of tantra is a separate subject, the siddhi of Bhainsasura is all a separate subject — leave it. The one who produced all is Mahadev alone; tantra itself is the source of every energy, Mahadev alone is the source of every energy, and Bhagavati alone is present in the nuclear circle of every energy. Nothing will remain positive or negative for us once we go that far up.
It is given for information alone, so that surrender has depth when one worships in these days — even if all that is kindled is a single lamp.
For information alone — that you may understand your own Sanatan, know about those shaktis, that knowledge may arise within you and ignorance be removed; so that when you perform the upasana of Bhagavati in these two or three days, there is a depth of surrender in your mind, and you remain extremely surrendered towards Jagadamba. Only then can her grace be obtained by you — even if all you kindle on that day is a single lamp.
Order of the first sadhanas for a new sadhak without a guru
The speaker says that whatever brings a person into sadhana — tantric attack, enemies, debt, illness, family strife, or simply the wish — coming in is the best thing, and for one who has found no Guru the order is fixed. First the basic vidhi-vidhan of sitting at one's place, which is compulsory before every sadhana; then the guru sadhana, done on the one form that exists chiefly for the guru, since no direct guru or Diksha is there; then, once the guru Mandala's Kripa is obtained and the Dev Deeksha vidhan is done, the Ganpati Vinayak mandala; and only after both are complete, Bhairav — the Batuk Bhairav sadhana. He says all of these must certainly be done, and that lamp-lighting basics are also essential for a new sadhak.
Of the four Purusharthas, Moksha comes only after Dharma, Artha and Kama — so practice aimed at material relief is not a fault
The speaker answers that of the four Purusharthas, Moksha comes only after Dharma, Artha and Kama — and that a person granted a boon in the Goddess's presence would ask for material relief anyway, because the desire for liberation is not present at that level. Be a partisan of principles, he says, not of persons.
A man who can swim is never satisfied by any depth of water — desire for wealth has no natural limit once one has learned to play with Maya
A man who cannot swim drowns in ten feet of water, while a swimmer keeps swimming however deep it is. Someone whose desire for wealth serves a legitimate Purushartha is satisfied by a finite amount; someone who has learned to play with Maya is not satisfied by ten crore, twenty or a hundred.
A kavach is ten percent — the wearer's own effort is ninety; it protects and opens a path, it does not do the work
A Kavach is meant for the person drowning in trouble — with spirits (Preta) disturbing the house, illness, or Abhichara — not for someone who lacks nothing. And even there, the speaker says, the kavach is only ten percent: ninety percent is the wearer's own year of effort and eclipse japa. The kavach gives protection and thereby growth; it only shows a path.
During an eclipse it is the Rudra Gana, not the Rudransh Gana, whose sadhana is done
The Rudra Gana. The speaker corrects the questioner twice on this: it is the sadhana and Anushthana of the Rudra Gana that is performed, not of the Rudransh Gana.
Should the Tripund tilak be applied during the puja or before sitting for it?
Apply the consecrated (Abhimantran) tilak before you sit, ahead of beginning the worship. If your discipline requires applying it in place, keep a mirror at the seat and apply it from there.
Can a menstruating woman perform japa during an eclipse?
No — a woman in the Rajasvala state does not perform japa during an eclipse or similar occasions. The speaker states elsewhere in the session that doing so brings her bodily distress.
What if the woman of the house becomes ritually impure as Pitru Paksha begins?
The speaker calls this the questioner's private matter and declines to rule on it. If procedure is to be followed strictly, the rule is that she should not cook — you cook in her place and serve her too, so that no fault attaches to the food.
One level must be satisfied before a vaster one is taken up — a practitioner of under a year asking about Avarana gains nothing from more procedure
Because less than a year has passed since the questioner began, and he is already asking about Avarana (Aavaran Puja). Satisfy one level before moving to a vast one, or no benefit follows and the complaint becomes that nothing is working. Become capable first.
Is a guru in Tantric initiation always a Brahmin?
The speaker says no such answer can be given, because in the path of Tantra this matter becomes somewhat different from the general rule.
You have a right to know about a guru only when one is offering you initiation
You have a right to know about a guru only when one is offering you Deeksha — and he does not consider himself capable enough to offer it. Take whatever is divine here, apply it, and do not assess his appearance, means, diet or associates.
Where Sokha Baba is the Kuldevta, he is Bhagavan Veerbhadra, and Bhadrakali may be worshipped as the Kuldevi — after asking the elders
If the family deity is Sokha Baba, who is Bhagavan Virabhadra, then Bhagavati Bhadrakali may be worshipped in the form of the Kuldevi — but ask the elders of the family first.
Is the custom of avoiding auspicious work during Pitru Paksha correct?
The speaker refuses to give a judgemental statement on whether the custom is right or wrong. What has been handed down to him is what he will do; the listener may act according to their own wish.
A divine experience is never to be made public — least of all one received in the Kamakhya region
The speaker declines to interpret it and instructs the listener not to disclose it. Such things should never be made public — least of all an experience received in the Kamakhya region.
Are Vinigyoga and Nyasa needed for the daily namavali recitation?
Not needed. Adding Viniyoga and Nyasa moves the practice into formal procedure, and once it is that formal you will not manage it daily — which is the problem.
Where he has not performed a practice himself, the questioner is told to do it and report back — and why he makes no disciples
He has not performed every practice himself — Sokha Baba is not his family deity and he has not done that japa — so the questioner should do it and tell him, and he will pass it on. Today's disciples take offence too quickly to sustain a real guru relation: neither become a guru nor make a disciple, and fall at a guru's feet only once pride is finished.
Do not hunt for errors in the names of God — "Murari" or "Murare" makes no fault; and Pitru Karya is compulsory even where Dev Karya is not
Do not look for mistakes in God's names or contemplate it so much. A slight transposition in a divine name is no fault and needs no worry — the speaker invokes the well-known account of Valmiki in support. Separately: whether or not Dev Karya is compulsory, Pitru Karya is compulsory for every person.
Is there a sadhana for acquiring land or a field?
If it is to be done properly and only for that end, identify the lord of the fourth house in the Lagna chart, which Nakshatra it sits with, and perform the sadhana connected to that. There is also a provision for an Anushthana of Mangal Dev and Bhagavati Bhumi.
Which form of the Devi should be worshipped according to one's own region?
Those living in the Purushottam kshetra may worship Bhagavati Subhadra; those in the Delhi region, Bhagavati Yogmaya; those of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Bhagavati Ashtabhuja. At least this much should be known, so that you can tell it to your own children.
How should pride after a successful Tantra work be dealt with?
The Tantra work succeeded by the deity's grace; you and I only become the instrument. If you take pride in it, the next time that work will simply not happen. For repentance, ask forgiveness of the deity connected with the operation you performed, and do a Havan and japa and a Prayashchitta in their name.
Why do the dreams stop once you begin worshipping properly?
The speaker's answer is that God behaves the same way we do. When we are not loving him, or are moving away from him, he calls us to himself. When we become attracted and go toward him, he holds back — you stayed far from me a long time, now I will show you. No dream, no coming near, no growth of attraction. Stay restless in the separation.
Who is worthy of pranam in Sanatan culture: the criterion, and the lok-veers and regional deities
The speaker says a sadhak believes in shakti, a mass of energy, which can be positive or negative; that energy is established in the vigraha of our aradhya, present among us through the deity's conduct, behaviour and leelas — so the only vigraha or shakti worthy of pranam is one through whom the welfare of our world and the uplift of Sanatan culture came about. Besides Ram, Krishna, Jagdamba and Mahadev, that includes the temples of their bhakts: the lok-veers and regional deities who were once human devotees of Mahadev, gained such shakti through bhakti that their samadhi sthal became a jagrat place, some even riding on people; bhandaras, seva, hospitals and schemes run in their name. What we bow to, he says, is their conduct and thought.
Is it possible for a household to have only a Kuldevi and no Kul Devta, or the reverse?
Worship whichever you know of by custom — but internally it can never be that a paired power does not exist. Even where the worshipped power is a Kumari, there will be some greater power alongside her; she simply may not hold the authority to receive your worship directly.
Why has annual worship become the ceiling for family deities?
A taboo has been planted that once a year is enough and no more should be done — but no deity ever forbade daily remembrance of the Kuldevi. Alongside it runs the old warning that too much worship attracts spirits, which the speaker traces to people frustrated with their own deities.
A lineage loses its knowledge when it neglects and abuses whoever actually holds that knowledge
The neglect of whoever in a society actually holds the knowledge — a person of any birth who knows the deities, the Puranas and the tradition, and who tries to explain it. That person, the speaker says, is the one who receives the most abuse.
Sadhana answers only after years, and the ease it brings is what ends it in the next generation
The generation that is beaten down — by enemies, by Tantra, by debt — keeps itself motivated and worships. The speaker says the response in his own life began only after about ten years of a practice started in 2002-03. Then the Kul Shakti grants health, wealth and progeny, and what that generation hands on is ease rather than practice.
What should a child actually be taught at home?
Brahma Muhurta, Svasti Vachan, Ganapati's Stotra, the Sahasranama, how a Rudrabhishek is done — the things parents decide the child does not need because studies come first. The child may still refuse the path, the speaker says, but not making the attempt is the parent's own lack.
Merit reaches the child but Sanskara does not, because the capital of sadhana is never given
The capital of your own sadhana. Merit passes to children as surely as fault does, so they inherit health and means — but they inherit no Sanskara, because the one thing parents are miserly with is the practice itself.
Why should Sri Chakra and Kamakhya mantras not be taught openly?
Because whoever teaches them that way does not know whether the worship of the Sri Chakra or a Kamakhya mantra is to be told to anyone at all, or in what manner. The speaker says households have already been ruined by it, and others will be ruined imitating them.
Why is worldly success called the lowest of the Siddhis?
Because of the three kinds of Siddhi, the material successes of human life — a good car, a good house, wealth, sons and grandsons, a life free of debt and anxiety — are held to be the lowest. It is still divine grace, but of the lowest level, and it stops short of Moksha.
Does merit earned by worship cancel the fruit of a misdeed?
No. The speaker says the Shiv Mahapuran states it plainly: merit earned after a misdeed will certainly bear fruit, but in the spiritual world and the next world, not in the material one. The misdeed committed here still has to be borne here.
Why do transgressive subjects always find the largest audience?
Because people enjoy subjects that produce confusion, and flee from ones that demand labour. Talk about Pashupatastra, Brahmastra, Khadgamala or Shri Chakra Archan and the live goes viral at once — the price, the speaker says, being paid across a hundred births afterwards.
Mockery of the capable comes out of frustration, and is followed by borrowing their devotion
Because the mockery is an attempt to cool a mind that knows it cannot match that capability. The same people then begin worshipping whoever the successful person worships — hoping the same Siddhi will come to them.
Who may eat the Saptami Prasad, and who may perform the worship?
Only the household. Where a family's rule is that daughters do not take the Prasad or touch the Kul Devta, or that only the men of the house cook, worship and eat it, that rule is to be kept — do not have it transgressed on the strength of modern preaching.
What if no man of the house is available to perform the family worship?
Ask the elders of your own family, not him. He refuses to answer because a wrong suggestion could wreck your life — he cannot even say to call a Brahmin, since worship by an outside hand may not be accepted there, and he does not know which deities yours are.
The person you consult may lack either the capability or the humility to tell you the truth
Either he cannot — his power is a hundred years old and yours is ten generations old — or he will not: he will evade and give half-true or wrong information. He tells you only if he wishes your welfare, if the matter is between equals, and if he is humble.
How should the Bel leaf be prepared before it is offered?
Break off the stalk at the top, where the knot-like part forms, before offering — do not offer it whole. Offered whole it pricks the mouth, and the speaker's reasoning is that what causes us pain will cause pain to the deity it reaches.
Why is the subject of tantra not found entirely in books?
There is one thing he always observes: those who are entirely systematic bookish tantriks, who go by the very letters of the book. What has been said of shruti and smriti — the subject of tantra, the agam-ukta subject, is a subject of shruti and smriti, of hearing and giving in one's own parampara. The written came later. There are thousands of things not in writing, and even those in writing are preserved in one's own parampara.
Past karma is no excuse for cowardice; the mental capacity to sit in japa
The speaker says that although everything that happens to us is our own past karma, in the present situation one must not sit impotent and bound; life cannot be lived in impotence or as a coward. When one has the capacity, when the body can sit five or ten hours, or even two to four hours, doing mantra Japa, one should use it. But bodily strength is not enough: a person may sweat four hours in a gym or run ten or twenty kilometres, yet the mental capacity to sit even an hour, half an hour or fifteen minutes in japa must also be there. That, he says, comes by Bhagavati's grace and only if one can concentrate the mind.
In what form is Bhagavati Kamrup Kamakhya worshipped there?
Everyone listening knows in which form Bhagavati Kamakhya is worshipped there, the speaker says. It is the region within which the limbs and constituents of every being that takes birth — not merely of humankind — are formed, from which we take on a body to undergo our prarabdha, and on which we lean the most; and it is precisely that thing which is called the most contemptible in society.
Why is the form in which Kamakhya is worshipped regarded as contemptible?
Your mentality and mine, the speaker answers. We call contemptible the very thing on account of which our birth on this whole earth took place, because we do not have the kind of self-control that would let the truth be spoken about ourselves — and control cannot be there when that kind of knowledge is simply not given in our society.
Does the mahima of these kshetras ever diminish?
No, the speaker says. Whether it is a tantra kshetra, or the Kamrup Kamakhya kshetra, or the Chhinnamastika kshetra of Rajrappa, the mahima of all these kshetras always remains in every kalpa and every yuga; no diminution comes into it. In Satyug the first period at Kamrup Kamakhya is held to have been the time of the origin of the tantra kshetra there.
What is a shamshan actually held to be?
The shamshan is called the maha shunya kshetra, the speaker says. Just as we take birth from a mother's womb, the breath we are drawing within the mother's womb before that birth — exactly that condition of breath is held to be the maha shunya condition in the shamshan. And you cannot see your own mother's womb after a certain stage.
Why is there such attraction in the Kamakhya kshetra?
All are beautiful, and the women of the Kamakhya kshetra are also very beautiful, the speaker says. Today one sees women of other regions on YouTube and on internet sites; in earlier times that did not happen, so those who went to that kshetra — whether for puja-path or for anything else — could not remain without being enchanted. Somewhere in this there was both the tantra-predominance of that kshetra and so great an attraction of the women; and the scent of that kshetra, called kaam gandh, would enchant outsiders who went there.
What is given importance in tantra — and are there only two paramparas?
After the age of fourteen or fifteen, whether a man or a woman, importance in tantra has been given to bhavas, the speaker says. There is the Kaul parampara, called the Vamamargi parampara, and the Dakshinamargi parampara — but you should know that the parampara is not only this much. The acharas of which you hear, Dakshinachar and Vamachar, have been classified, and in that classification importance is given to the bhavas.
What are the three bhavas, and what is pashu bhav?
Three kinds of bhav have been spoken of: pashu bhav, veer bhav, and divya bhav. In pashu bhav the state of a sadhak is the state up to fifteen years of age — because up to fifteen years there is not very much kaam bhav in the body, nor do you know how to be very envious of anyone, nor do you know right from wrong; in a manner of speaking you have no knowledge of worldly affairs, and so the state up to fifteen years is called pashu bhav.
Which paths are held to belong to pashu bhav?
In that very state of pashu bhav, according to the Kaul parampara, the Vaidik paddhati has been held; the Vaishnav parampara has been held, the Shaiv parampara has been held, and Dakshinachar has been held. All these four acharas have been placed in pashu bhav, the speaker says, because the person situated in that bhav has no kamanas within him — what desire would there be up to the age of fifteen? No particular desire, so it was held.
What are veer bhav and divya bhav, and which is required at Kamakhya?
The stage from fifteen years to forty-five or fifty-five years is called veer bhav, because in it a woman or a man has a great deal of shukra and raja within, whose emission is considerable, on account of which shakti remains in the body; within this, Vamachar and Siddhantachar have been held. After that comes divya bhav, the stage past fifty years, in which we have already enjoyed all the bhogas — and it is this divya bhav, the speaker says, that has been held at Kamrup Kamakhya: that only with divya bhav can Bhagavati's seva-puja be done.
If so many preliminary sadhanas are required, is the fruit not divided?
This is the great confusion among practitioners: Guru form first, then Ganapati, then Bhairav, then Hanuman, then the Kula deities, then the grahas of the birth chart — who will do all this, and by the time the principal sadhana is reached, has the fruit not been divided among them?
Why does a Guru insist on steps the student finds burdensome?
Because he is looking at you from the other side. The speaker's comparison: as a child you resented your teachers and hoped they would fall ill; many of you are now teachers yourselves and cannot bypass what you know a student needs. Once Purnabhisheka is done and the right is given, you will not bypass it either.
Who should be told about your sadhana?
Only those close to you who are in distress. The point at which people cause you difficulty is exactly the point at which confidence begins to form in you and you ask someone about it — and they will pin you somewhere, saying nothing comes of it. Take guidance only from someone who wishes you well.
How many powers should be worshipped as the principal one?
One. The speaker says he puts this into five of every ten lives: we will worship only one power principally, and the preliminary sadhanas have to be done only for some days. Practitioners stay stuck exactly here, distracted from one thing to another, unable to get out of it.
What does it mean to be principled rather than person-led?
That you follow a principle and a Shastra proof, not a person. Running blindly after someone because of their popularity, unable to tell the true from the false, will leave you nowhere. Oppose things, change within yourself, and try to walk the right path — but oppose in a proper manner.
Keep the practice secret — but from whom exactly?
Keep your own sadhana and Upasana secret, but certainly spread awareness among people. Not by force — among those dear to you, those who regard you, those in need or in distress. People go so secret, he says, that they will not even tell the members of their own family who need it.
This guidance holds only until Deeksha; after it, surrender to one's own Guru must be total — which is why Deeksha is not taken in haste.
Until your Deeksha has been performed by anyone, follow this guidance. Once it has, the speaker's own advice is that your surrender must be a hundred percent toward your Guru. This, he says, is exactly why Guru Deeksha is not to be taken in haste.
How can you tell a capable Guru from one who deflects?
By what comes back. Ask a capable Guru one question and he will answer ten properly, tell you new things, and himself tell you what you should study next. Whoever has done nothing himself will tell you to do nothing either.
What is the biggest error people make with a permitted alternative?
Bringing it into the main current. The speaker calls this the greatest irony among Hindus. The alternative given for a difficult time — washing only the toe where there is no water, or only Abhishek, Naivedya and Aarti where full worship is impossible — becomes the whole of the practice.
Ganpati sadhana as the precondition for success in any anushthan
The speaker says that without the sadhana of Bhagwan Ganesha no one can obtain complete success in any special Anushthana or in any field of life, so Ganpati sadhana is extremely necessary. In tantra, he says, it has various stages: a very step-by-step vidhan through beej mantras is given for the ashta-vinayaka and Maha Ganapati swarups. The sadhana he presents here is instead for an ordinary sadhak or ordinary householder, to cross every difficulty that comes in life.
The tantra marg as the Kalikaal alternative to vedic sandhya
The speaker says that for those with no time, the people who walk the vedic, vaidha path are few in today's age anyway; it is not possible in Kalikaal, and Bhagavan himself has said vedic karma will not succeed quickly in Kalikaal. For this reason the tantra marg was made as the alternative. People think tantra means ghosts, jadu-tona, cutting throats and killing by tantra, and that is where their mind is stuck. The tantrokta path is the Agama path: through the pauranik and tantrik paths one can do a tantrik or pauranik Sandhya, and the turiya sandhya is also prescribed there.
What are the two parts of tantra?
Tantra has two parts. One is the philosophical part, called tantra darshan, in which every kind of shakti is expounded according to a doctrinal principle. The other is the tantric or operative part, which has no philosophy in it — it has shatkarma, mantra siddhis, purashcharan and the darshan of one's own aradhya.
Why is it wrong to explain the Dasha Mahavidyas as body channels?
The speaker says a widely viral video explained the fifty-two or fifty-six kalvas as the different knots and nadis of the body. That, he says, is a philosophical principle, not the operative side. To seize on it and insist that no such things exist and they are merely names given to our nadis is, in his words, foolishness beyond limit.
How secret should a sadhak keep his practice?
The subject of tantra is extremely secret, the speaker says. It is said that the vidhans of your ishta and aradhya — whether a mudra, a bali vidhan, a mantra or your mala — should be kept concealed like the kulavadhu. Just as the kulavadhu is kept concealed, just as the private parts are kept concealed so that everything may be seen but not those, so are all these things kept secret.
What should you do when people taunt you for an elaborate puja?
When you do your puja and seva in Shravan, your basket of flowers will be full and people will see water, milk, curd, honey and ghee in your vessels, and out of envy they will ask why so much show is needed. It is for this that it has been said that bhakti is not a matter of display — it generates envy in people. Ignore it and complete your work.
Why do tantra's critics reject tantric pramana while defending the Vedas?
When they are questioned in that way, he says, they answer that not everyone can understand the Puranas, that the subjects of the Vedas and the Upanishads are not like this but like that. He accepts that too — but then they will not treat tantric matters as proof at all, saying straightaway that this subject is not proper. Agamokta subjects, he says, went on being modified along with time and parampara, and went on being removed.
Were the practices of today present in the Dwapar Yuga?
In the time of Shri Krishna, in the Dwapar Yuga, he says, there was no sokha and ojha work anywhere — a sokha catching someone whom a bhoot had seized and removing it by jhaad-phoonk. That subject did not exist there; the tantrics of that time were of a different, more powerful kind and their capacity was of another level. Those things changed slowly with the present age.
What did Bhagavan Shiva tell Bhagavati when giving her the knowledge of tantra?
The speaker refers to a clip shared in the Telegram group in which Bhagavan Shiva, giving the knowledge of tantra to Maa Bhagavati, says: accept me as guru — but as soon as you accept me as guru, our husband-and-wife relation will stand suspended. After that we will not remain husband and wife. Bhagavan Mahadev proceeds on this subject and accepts this condition.
What is being done to tantra today?
He asks listeners to look around at what knowledge is being given about tantra in the world today. Where Shiva is saying this path is not for everyone, that those who walk this path must have very clear rules and follow them with great strictness — here tantra is being simplified for everyone all at once, as though rule and discipline were not needed at all. Tantra is not like that, he says; tantra is truly not fearsome, but not every tantra is for everyone.
Why does spreading the practice of deepdaan earn punya?
Certainly do deepdaan and have others do deepdaan too, the speaker says. Understand this subject: the more you spread the name of Bhagavan and spread the practice of his deepdaan, the more punya will come to you without cause. To do deepdaan alone and tell no one, to go quietly to the Manikarnika ghat and vanish after doing deepdaan, to give our puja to Bhagavan by stealth and tell no one — that has become a matter of tantra. But if punya is to be earned, that is a sadhanatmak matter: in punya we will tell everyone, yes, you do it too.
Should a pujan or a bali be shown live?
Display should not happen, the speaker says. He recalls commenting to one Chandan ji, who had put out an entire live video of his bali on Facebook, telling him not to do it live: post something afterwards, the next day. How many seconds is the video you people put out — two seconds, three seconds, ten or fifteen at the most, a small clip. If you have to post something to show somewhere, post that much, and post it after it is over. Do not post the immediate thing, that a puja is going on right now and we are showing you live that we are doing deepdaan. Do not make this display. If you want to encourage people, encourage them with your old videos.
What should be done about a dream of reciting the Ganapati Atharvashirsha?
A listener says that many times he sees Ganapati darshan in a dream, seeing himself reciting the Ganapati Atharvashirsha, and asks whether it is good and whether there is some indication. It is good in any case, brother, the speaker says — but this is not a subject to be told. All these things are not to be told publicly: delete the comment. Everyone will have heard it in any case, but these things are not told.
Why are people unsettled by the number of devi-devatas, grahas and nakshatras?
Those who become very agitated at this — "so many devi-devatas, grahas and nakshatras" — are that way, he says, because from the start a person has no ordinary information and no ordinary knowledge. When someone does not have the basic knowledge connected with Sanatan Dharma, he will of course be bewildered.
Once these subjects are understood, one's own sukh becomes visible inside the suffering itself.
When you begin to understand these subjects, he says, then even within that suffering you will begin to see your own happiness — how that happiness is going to be obtained. The way is always given there; the way is never closed, he asks listeners to remember.
How is the third bhava connected to siblings, and how is this known?
The third bhava relates to brothers and sisters, he says. However negative any matter concerning your brother or sister, or anything related by blood, may have been — if you go into what is connected with tantra there is a most excellent subject here. This is why it is said that tantra and the kundli are related to each other; you will be able to relate it when you go into experience. The more you talk with people and the more you analyse in silence, the more you will know these things. You will not know them by writing and reading.
The teaching is general and experience-based; the speaker's experience may not be yours.
It may be that his experience is not yours, he says, which is why he says he is speaking of a general subject; there may be a different experience for you, and he is sharing his own. Whether you accept it or not is your own affair. He cannot force anyone, nor can he say that he alone is right. He is not discussing right and wrong, only speaking generally and from experience; you may agree and you may certainly disagree. If it feels a little bad to anyone he asks pardon in advance — it is a subject connected with tantra, so look at it only from that prospect and do not relate it to negative thoughts.
Should a sadhak run after experiences?
If you run only behind experience, then the subject becomes something else altogether, he says. He always says: do not run after experience, however many thousands of experiences there may be. Remain firm of mind. Keep yourself very nourished in the matter of experience. He mentions having put out three or four posts on the subject of experience the day before last and asks listeners to read them on Telegram, where he had put the whole subject.
What should one do when the fruit does not come?
One is not to weep about not getting the fruit either — that the fruit is not coming, that so-and-so said such a thing, that the mind was not in it, he says. Ignore that. It is not to be stopped; one has simply to keep doing it.
What does the Ambubachi period do to a power being worshipped?
Understand that the time of the Ambubachi Parva is the centre-time for making distinctively effective, for awakening, and for making fierce, every power that people are awakening and serving. If you are reciting a Kavach — set the Tantric side aside; each has his own tradition and we need not go into it.
What does the Parvati Gita say about the shortness of time?
In the Parvati Gita Bhagavati says that life is momentary — like a drop of water, a dew-drop, upon a leaf. When it will slip and go down will not even be known. The leaf is time and the drop upon it is us; we may slip at any moment.
What if putting clothes on and off an image feels wrong?
Then do not do it — there is nothing to be offended about here. The reason it can arise is the Shringariya Vigraha now in fashion, which has no garment carved at all, so that removing the cloth makes it seem the deity has none. Take a Vigraha in which the garment is made, so that your feeling is never wrong in any condition.
Why does a beginner become restless during a Pratishtha?
Because you have not performed a lakh and a quarter Purashcharan of any mantra, and the deity simply does not give that kind of patience. Sit to consecrate a mala bead by bead and by the fourth or fifth bead — by the tenth — you will be asking when it will end.
What actually animates the Pratishtha?
The heart. When we read the Pran mantras it is from the heart that it throbs — the heartbeat that is beating is generating the electromagnetic waves, and it is those waves that go and make the object conscious. If it is not within you, the object stays merely physical.
When twenty recitations bring no response, the reason is to be looked for within oneself
The speaker says he does not know how to answer such a comment at all. Look within yourself; that is why the response is not coming.
Why does sadhana stop when the enemy quietens?
The speaker agrees with the listener who put it: when an enemy makes enmity we perform much sadhana, and when the enemy quietens our worship quietens too. It is rightly said that we remember God when hardship comes — and if we kept up the sadhana we do then, the matter would become wondrous.
Veer rasa in sadhana: why a practitioner cannot be passive
The speaker says every dev shakti a person worships has a heroic character — no shakti without strength is ever served — so a sadhak who sinks into meekness after worship, staying silent where fierceness is called for, is not doing sadhana but pretence. He calls "jahi vidhi rakhe Ram" a line people use selectively, only to dodge standing up for the wider Sanatani community. This heroic capability, he says, is granted by every deity alike — Dattatreya, Krishna, Narasimha, Shiva — not only by the Bhairav forms.
Kavach siddhi and the deity's power manifesting in a crisis
From his own experience, the speaker says that when the mantras of a Kavach are made siddh — he names Kaal Bhairav's — the deity's own tattva enters the sadhak, to the point that ten men together cannot beat him. The condition is that the mantra's Purashcharana is done by its vidhi, with full dedication. Then, when calamity comes — an attack, an attempt on the family's honour — that tattva awakens tenfold; he calls this Kundalini awakening, and says the same capability is given whether one worships Batuk Bhairav, Kaal Bhairav or Mahakal.
Passing veer rasa to the next generation: ancestors' courage and the hymns to teach children
The speaker says that being able to sit peacefully today doing bhajan-pujan rests on the boil in one's ancestors' blood and the kripa of the dev shaktis they earned by it — and that blood must not be allowed to go bad. Do not wait for calamity to cry "Ram, save us"; that bhaav is not for everyone. Prepare now, and sow capability in your children: teach them not only shringar stotras, which are necessary, but hymns of Veer Rasa too — Mahishasura Mardini, Aigiri Nandini, and the Tandava stotra of the family's own ishta, since a tandava exists for every deity.
Shiva lets his own Ganas fight and lose to break the pride of service — "we have done crores of japa, so many anushthans"
To break the ego of service. If someone serving Bhagavati or Shiva or any Mahashakti comes to take pride in it — we have done crores of japa, we have done so many Anushthans, these Siddhis have come to us — the Lord performs a Lila of this kind to break that ego.
Read merely as a story, the Purana stays a story — the message hidden behind the story has to be taken
The Purana is not everyone's to grasp. Read and recited merely as a tale, it stays a tale. The speaker notes that many have completed the whole Shiv Mahapuran and, having read it as story, understood nothing and felt no difference — where would a difference come from, he asks.
What attitude should one keep on the path of tantra?
Never to assume one has come to know everything. The speaker says the path of tantra is such that however much you learn, subjects will keep arriving that make you feel you know nothing yet; so long as one is in the world, one should walk it like a disciple, like a student, and keep the curiosity of a jijnasu.
These subjects are known only by doing them and letting the experience come.
The speaker says these subjects are known only when you do them and the experience comes. Merely levelling the accusation that this is rubbish, that it does not happen — in his view such a person should not read or listen to these things at all.
Was Raktabija's vamachari worship outside the Veda?
The speaker says Raktabija performed tapasya of Bhagavati for a long time as a rakshasa and by the vamachari vidhi — what is called avaidik puja. But avaidik is separate from the Veda only in name, he says; it is Vaidik as well, and is not outside it. Even so, Raktabija did not simply take anything at all: prasad is treated as prasad, and beyond that his whole conduct was samyam.
What happens when a person with means deliberately skimps on the worship?
Bhagavati will certainly forgive it — but that forgiveness serves you in the next world only, not in this one. Where you create a deficiency in material substance, a deficiency in your material life is certain to follow.
The punishment for a deliberate offence in worship is borne by the offender and his descendants.
The comfort you enjoy today is the fruit of how lavishly your forefathers worshipped; that merit does not decay quickly, but when it ends yours begins and gives fruit in proportion to your own shortfall. The speaker identifies those who plant the idea of skimping with the Mundis of the Shiv Mahapuran.
Where means are genuinely absent, a Manas Stuti offered with Bhava satisfies Jagadamba and is held the highest worship.
The genuinely poor practitioner. Where Jagadamba has not made someone materially capable, a Manas Stuti offered with Bhava satisfies the household deities and Jagadamba alike — mental worship has always been held the highest, and is best of all for one without means.
A practitioner who has moved to Advaita incurs no fault in performing only Manasopachara worship.
Because he is not performing pretence. Having obtained Dharma, Artha and Kama and become satisfied, he has no material desire left, so his Manasopachara worship carries both fruits — and no fault attaches, because a capable man performing no ostentation is not the same as one skimping.
Why should a divine person's later state not be imitated directly?
Because you cannot imitate divinity itself. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa cannot be followed at the point where he cut Kali with a sword — you can follow the sadhana that came first. Vama Khepa sat continuously for days under a Semal tree; that part nobody wants to imitate.
Shortfall that happens by accident, not by intention, is forgiven through the Aparadh Kshamapan.
Where you are performing the service and trying to leave no gap, and something is missed by mistake — something brought but not offered — there is no difficulty at all. The Aparadh Kshamapan already asks the Mother to forgive whatever happened more or less through negligence, and it is certainly forgiven, because you did not do it knowingly.
Returning to heavy or tamasic food the moment the fast ends is the first mistake.
Eating heavily the moment the fast ends, and especially turning to onion and garlic on Dashami itself. The body's heat rises abruptly, and the effort you made to avoid that trouble begins to be spent from that point.
What does the Navratri fast do to the Annamaya Kosha?
It purifies it — and only when the Annamaya Kosha is pure does the Aura become white in colour. As whiteness rises, the quantity of Satvik energies in the subtle body rises, and no lesser or negative power can establish dominance over it.
Why does negative energy come towards a practitioner right after Navratri?
Because these energies can see it. They cannot tell what Siddhi you hold, only that this person has performed japa and austerity and has mantra capacity — so they come asking for their own onward motion, or saying they are hungry and you are capable of feeding them.
Most of those who dispense knowledge neither practise themselves nor wish others to, so their advice produces loss.
The ten people who dispense knowledge, in the speaker's account: 99% do not wish to practise themselves and also do not wish others to — so the knowledge they give is exactly the kind that produces loss and decay in whoever takes it.
Application should be kept within strict limits, and Anushthan is what the speaker actually presses.
The speaker says a phase is running in which people fire one mantra after another indiscriminately, with nobody examining what the back damage or back loss will be. His request to his own listeners is to apply within very strict limits and with much thought — he stresses Anushthan over Prayoga.
Limited sadhanas can be done without a guru, but Pratyakshikaran and Siddhi require an embodied person.
For the limited sadhanas that go up to a point and obtain Bhagavati's grace, the speaker says there is no issue without a guru. For Pratyakshikaran and for Siddhi and Buddhi — if you want to accomplish a Mundi-katwa, for instance — he always says you need an embodied person.
Why does Maya operate most strongly at a pilgrimage site?
Because if everyone who came to her received grace, the Kali age could not run. Vindhyachal is the earth's Manidvipa and she is seated at Aravind Achal — but Maya is spread around the principal shrine, and she does not grant the piercing of it to all.
A Pishachik power that poses as a goddess first grants enjoyment for years, and only then starts taking.
While it is giving houses, cars and pleasure, the man cannot accept it is a Preta — otherwise how would its name spread as this or that goddess. It grants enjoyment for five, ten or twenty years; the day it is satisfied and comes to its real standing, it begins to take, and then people ask how this could happen.
How does the punishment of a sub-deity differ from that of a deity?
A deity will not punish you for one day's missed or half-hearted worship — because a deity is a deity. The Preta and Pishachik powers seated as Upadevatas punish a single day's offence at once.
Why must a devotee of Shiva still hold faith in Krishna?
Because the Gita records that Shiva recited it first, before it reached Nara-Narayana and then Arjuna. Faith fractures only where information is absent — that is when people start ranking Durga above Krishna or Krishna above Durga.
Is there any Prayashchitta for Guru Droha?
The deities may forgive one who betrays a father; one who betrays a guru is never forgiven, and that offence has no Prayashchitta at all. Whoever is not his own guru's will never be yours.
Does a woman's Gotra change on a second marriage?
No. A woman's marriage happens once, and once the Gotra Daan has occurred it will not change — not through a Sankalp with 11,000 Mahamrityunjaya recitations, nor by any other means. The Gotra of the first marriage remains for all time.
Does advancing in sadhana leave a practitioner isolated?
It follows what you yourself wished for. If you want solitude, Bhagavati will certainly begin giving it; and truly, the nearer you come to your Ishta the further you go from the world. If the distance troubles you, take your Sankalp accordingly instead.
The many options exist for your convenience, not because one bears fruit and another does not
Because whatever seems manageable to you, you should be able to do. It is not that doing the thirty-two Namavali brings you fruit and doing a Kavach does not, or that your work will not be accomplished — Jagadamba's form is the same everywhere and the same at the root; it will be completed from there too.
What does a white owl seen twice on the road mean?
Without delay, in this Navratri, perform the Archana and worship of Bhagavati's sixty-four Yoginis again and do the Anushthan. It is very auspicious if you are having the Darshan again and again. And, the speaker adds, you have discussed it here — but do not go on speaking of this subject.
What should be made of doubt after completing an Anushthan?
Know and accept this: if you performed it duly, then grace has already come upon you. How you now bring them into your life, and how they manifest, will depend on your own deeds. It will not be that you did it today and she appeared today.
No separate puja, dhoop or deep is required — the arrangement is a system of tantra already built
No. He says no separate puja-paath, dhoop, deep or batti is to be done for them and nothing extra is required — this is a system of tantra already constructed beforehand.
Should the old images be removed when a practitioner says the shrine must be cleared?
No — never make this mistake, whatever their psychological or other reason may be. Where trouble is taken to be diagnosed, people are often told that a particular thing in their house is worshipped and must be removed; some are told every old image must go before sadhana will work properly.
A household whose deities had been removed, and the diagnosis that followed
A listener told the speaker that when trouble began at home and they went to have it examined, they were told before anything else that the household deities had been removed and their place was no longer there — the small image of Bhagavati having been replaced with a large one at a new bride's wish.
Should a daughter take her maternal home's deity with her when she marries?
In the speaker's view she should not. Whatever Bhava she worshipped with, taking that power away empties her maternal home — she is about to become the Grihalakshmi of another house, and she would be emptying out the cause of her parents' good fortune as she goes.
Does a plain stone become awakened simply by being worshipped?
Yes. Even a stone, if worshipped for five years, becomes conscious and awakened. The speaker sets Bhava against Kriya — feeling is feeling, action is action — and points out that Tantric operations seat negative powers into charcoal and pebbles precisely because small objects hold them.
Why is Muhurta observed at all?
Because there is a system, and the deities have their own timings. There is a Muhurta for buying land, for worshipping it, for the foundation, and for Griha Pravesh — because divine powers go with you into the house and are satisfied with Havishya at the appointed time; go at the wrong time and there is trouble.
What should be done with a snake slough or similar object found by chance?
Give it to someone in the Tantra field who can do something with it. A snake slough, a cat's placenta, a Jad Mohra — even if you obtain them, how will you keep them and what will you do? The one who gives such a thing has rules and a procedure attached.
May women perform Dandavat Pranam and Mahamrityunjaya japa?
The speaker says no to both: Dandavat Pranam is prohibited for women by the scriptures, and the Mahamrityunjaya is a Vedic mantra whose pronunciation only a Dvija may undertake. Where a vow was already made and fulfilled, speak to the priest of that shrine.
Sadhana exists so that consciousness can know past births and cross Prarabdha, not to secure money, a job or property
Sadhana exists so that consciousness develops enough to know one's past births and cross Prarabdha rather than stay stuck. What people actually perform it for is money, a job, a good spouse and property — and by the time the body is old, only then the four Dhams.
Who performs the Prayashchitta where the Upanayana was never done?
The very Brahmins you approach for the Upanayana. Those who give you the Yajnopavita again and conduct the Sanskar will both perform the Prayashchitta procedure and have you perform it — they take a Sankalp and do part of it themselves, since it is not possible alone.
What happens to a festival where a death occurred on that day?
Scripturally it is three years — where a death occurs during a festival period, that festival is not observed for three years and may be observed from the fourth. The local custom of waiting until someone is born on that day is a separate convention; ask your own priest which applies.
Can Avarana worship be performed on a Bal Gopal image?
Absolutely not — Bal Gopal has no Tantrokta description at all, and the speaker calls it a fancy worship. He distinguishes the Santan Gopal form, which does have a scriptural description, from the Laddu Gopal form that people actually keep.
Which sadhana brings success in stock market trading?
The speaker does not name a sadhana. First have the birth chart analysed — the position of Rahu, the position of the fifth house — and only then go into any of this. And even then, he says, it is difficult to claim the prediction will be a hundred percent exact.
Philosophy and bhakti-bhava have no place in tantric matters
The speaker says this is not a psychological matter, nor a matter for airing philosophy. Those who push philosophy into tantric subjects should stay away from them — it is not their subject — because people who hear their words then commit senseless acts and mistakes with such texts. The philosopher loses nothing, but the poor listener's life is ruined, as this man's is being ruined. Keep bhakti-bhava and philosophy away from the matters of tantra, he requests.
Careless tantric work brings a self-inflicted dand that cannot be reversed
The speaker asks the listener to judge whose fault it is when the man, his family or society now curse Jagdamba, the Saptashati and her devotees: who failed to do vidhi-bound karma, who transgressed the Durga Saptashati, and why he did it without knowing clear pronunciation. People set out to do tantric work, do senseless things, and pile a bigger mistake on the first — so such punishments (dand) are the fruit of their own acts; he accepts being called heartless, but the man is responsible for himself. Once such events happen no one can reverse them; argument and abuse change nothing. Do not be afraid, he says — remove the fear by building the yogyata to read the Saptashati, which means learning clear Sanskrit pronunciation; his own experience of the dand for unclear uccharan he leaves for another time.
What is the Vainayaki Navratri?
Asked about doing ten days of Ganpati, he introduces the Vainayaki Tantra and the Vainayak Navratra — nine days is a navratra, so it is held to be that. Listeners should know, he says, that however many tantra granthas we have, they are not all present in manifest form everywhere even today; and leaving the tantra granthas aside, in the puranas too a great many things have been altered.
What is the Gupt Kalpeshwar Tantra?
Among those granthas is the Gupt Kalpeshwar Tantra. This, the speaker says, was written in medieval India, perhaps in the Vindhya region or the Kashi region or the Prayag region — in some one of these three regions — by some particular sadhak, and contains various subjects connected with tantra.
What then is the Vainayaki Tantra?
At that time Bhagavan Shri Ganesh had assumed the Vainayaki svarup and gone upon the Vindhya mountain; and the tantra he gave as upadesh to however many of his devotees were present there is called the Vainayaki Tantra, some portion of which is described in the Gupt Kalpeshwar Tantra. Under it a great many vidhi vidhans are told and a great many subjects included.
What kind of vidya is the Bhoot Damar Tantra?
It is an altogether separate kind of tantra — Bhoot Damar. In the manner that there is the Rudrayamal, that there is the Uddish, in that same manner there is the Bhoot Damar. It is chiefly said to have been composed by Ravana.
What must be done for full knowledge of tantra?
Asked what must be done for full knowledge of tantra, he answers: for full knowledge of tantra, first obtain the beginning knowledge. As you become fit, of themselves such people will come into your life as will carry you into that field. Tantra, he says, means jaadu-tona, indrajalik vidya, kautuhal vidya — this alone is the meaning of tantra he can see in today's time, whatever people want. Siddhi like that of Dhirendra Krishna Shastri ji of Bageshwar Dham Balaji: this alone has become the meaning of tantra's siddhi today, that some person comes and we tell him everything without asking anything about him. Beyond that there is no meaning. Tell him, and after that how he is to be set right, whether he will be set right or not, what his gati will be — there is no interest in that at all; they are just telling. That alone is held to be siddhi in today's time. Then all the sixty-four principal tantras are useless; only this one siddhi, of doing kaal gyan siddhi — and it is not even kaal gyan. For full knowledge a whole life is too little. Begin.
Why is Shiva given no importance in the present time?
He says that in this state of delusion about one's own aradhya, people today give Shiva ji no particular importance at all. One has to tell sadhaks that brother, Shiva ji himself is the originator of tantra — that it is he who speaks of tantra to Bhagavati Parvati. But who is asking after Parvati ji, who is asking after Shiva ji? They are asking after Bhairav ji.
What is the most basic rule of tantra?
He says that what he is receiving now is the fruit of his good karmas, and that these are not wrong deeds — they are good karma done for the protection of a jiva and of society; they have harmed nobody and are performing no maran prayoga on anyone. But, he says, the most basic rule of tantra is kriya-pradhanta. Here it is not a matter of bhav-pradhanta — keep it in mind, kriya-pradhanta.
Traditional people are safe as they are; the rest will have to undergo it themselves
Who is doing it in the present time, he asks. Those who are traditional are safe as they are, brother; they do not have much to do. And those who are not required to do it are doing it with great enthusiasm, putting this out daily, showing that. Who will suffer that? They themselves will suffer it, in this very manner. They will then take birth in the second or third generation. There will be no gati, because this is a matter of kriya-pradhanta, and it cannot be destroyed.
What about the argument that a devi's bhakta is protected?
If we say that no, a bhakta of the Devi is like this, or such and such, then that is being said in bhav-pradhanta, he says. She did not tell you to achieve. This subject was to be kept limited to oneself; and for it the guru should give you guidance at the very outset, according to whichever parampara it is: that you are to do such and such on such and such a day.
Why must the dakshina be taken?
One way of putting it, he says, is that we are taking our wage — because if you do it otherwise, then the relationship with them from before the marriage and the present situation are two different things. The subject of bhav-pradhanta becomes one thing and the subject of kriya becomes another. So do as much as you wish, whatever you wish; but even a hundred rupees in the month, having told them that for the sake of the japa and tapa we have done — and then let them give it, and it will be deducted from your share.
Jyotish and tantra as complements, each with its own limit
The speaker says jyotish and tantra are complements, though online sadhaks and astrologers keep calling each other frauds. Through the janma kundli jyotish analyses the trouble born of past karma and what harm is still to come; the shanti karma that follows is done either by vedic or by tantrokta vidhi, and for afflictions like bhoot-pret one has to move on to tantra. Tantra in turn cannot claim to know everything through its siddhis and dispense with jyotish — every vidya has a limit, and no one is Mahakal or Mahadev who knows all.
Tantra too runs on the nine grahas and the 27 nakshatras
Turning to the other side, the speaker says astrologers greatly underestimate tantriks, saying nothing happens through tantra and everything comes from the nine planets. His answer: your vidya comes from the nine planets, and so does the vidya of those who went into tantra — nothing runs without the nine grahas and the 27 nakshatras. They were made to give the fruit of our karma and keep life in balance: wrong karma brings its punishment and good karma increases our punya, in this birth or the next, and it depends on us.
Why a long sadhana bears no fruit: tantra check first, then the kundli
The speaker says jyotish can tell why a person doing sadhana for a long time is not getting its fruit. A tantra expert who really knows will look and give one of two answers: either a tantra effect is on you and he tells you how to remove it, or there is no tantra effect and he tells you there may be a graha dosha, so get your janma kundli analysed once — where you may learn, for instance, that Shani's sade sati is running by your lagna.
What should a householder aiming at moksha keep primary?
But if you are a householder and have kept as your life's purpose that you must go towards moksha, towards mukti, then here keep bhav primary, the speaker says; here kriya will not be primary. He says again and again that in tantra kriya is primary — bhav is not primary, bhakti is not primary — and there, if anything goes wrong, trouble comes at once.
How far can a kundali take you, compared with sadhana?
From what he has seen of many lives, the speaker says a kundali can support you only up to a limit. He allows that he may not know how to look at it in very great depth, but says good astrologers who walk the path of bhakti and tantra sadhana say the kundali stands on one side and the effect of your sadhana on the other.
Why is tantra called a double-edged sword?
It is for exactly this reason, the speaker says, that tantra is called a double-edged sword. He says that for the use of brihad mantras they always set a limit — do this much, do it in this way — and then it begins to be understood what the effect is and is not.
Can a sadhak defeat prakriti by will alone?
If it is suppressed for that long, where will it go, the speaker asks — you cannot win against prakriti. Read, or know, or observe the state of the Naga sadhus, he says: in what manner they try to walk contrary to prakriti, how they practise, what their state is, in what manner they go into hatha yoga and do all those things — and it is then that they gain victory over it. If they leave off their practice, they will return to what they were before; the condition of their body will become as it was.
Should so many vrats be kept in one life?
So many vrats and upvas are not done in life in this manner, the speaker says. Any one vrat should be done by you with its complete vidhi-vidhan, according to your kundali or according to your ishta-aradhya. If you hold Mahadev to be everything, then according to that do only the Pradosh vrat. If you are keeping two vrats, doing Pradosh as well as Trayodashi, then where will the completeness of even one vrat come about? Where will the whole rule of Pradosh be followed?
Is it acceptable to keep the same vrat in both pakshas?
Do any one vrat, the speaker says. If you keep Ashtami, then which one — Krishna Paksha or Shukla Paksha? If you keep both, that too is all right. If you are doing Pradosh in both, that too is all right. But carry one along. Those who do Ekadashi do only Ekadashi, of both pakshas. If you are doing Chaturthi, both Chaturthis or one — that is fine. But having done Ashtami, Pradosh, Trayodashi and Purnima, four vrats each — then what mistake have the remaining tithis made? Do theirs too, and the grace of all will be obtained by you.
Whose form is Kaal Maheshwar Bhairav?
If it is a form of Bhagavan Bhairav ji, then the root is Bhagavan Shiva's alone. It belongs to no one else; they remain established in the form of Bhagavan Shiva himself.
Should a Deva-darshan in a dream be described publicly?
Never. Ask privately if you must ask at all. A Deva-darshan should never be a matter for display; a mantra given in a dream should never be asked about publicly; a prescription for a mantra's use that reaches you should not be asked about publicly either.
How does a practitioner in the state of Shunyata complete a dualistic worship?
The speaker points to the whole dialogue of Totapuri and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, available online, and says it will make the matter clear. What follows Shunyata differs from person to person — for one who has become Advaitavadi, the one who is in many forms is known to be established in one.
Is Durga merely the aggregate of the Devas' Shaktis?
No. She emerged from the assembly of all the divine Shaktis at the killing of Mahishasura — but the root principle in Durga ji is not merely the aggregate of all the Shaktis. She is the one who gives Shakti to all of them. This, the speaker says, is a thing to be understood.
If India was so rich in tantra, how did the Mughals and the British come to rule it?
Even the writers of tantra texts, the speaker says, put a question mark on this — he had read it himself once and spoken of it in a live: when our India was so rich in tantra, how in the end did the Mughals and the English come to rule over us, and where had the vidya of the tantriks gone at that time? Working in this field in the present time, he says he understands that their shakti had not gone anywhere. But the people themselves were duplicitous. There is no shortage of those who learn things from you and then turn them against you.
The tantric heritage survived undestroyed in every field, but those practising duplicity can still harm a few through influence
Even so, thank those forebears that this heritage has remained alive to this day in every field, the speaker says: the most fierce regions of tantra, everything, still stands everywhere; it was not destroyed. So in the present time too, those doing duplicity at a high level will not destroy things by their duplicity. But it is certain that, taking two or four or ten people into their influence, they will become entirely capable of doing them harm.
What does the word tantra mean?
The very meaning of tantra, the speaker says, is to keep every single thing secret. In the household, from birth right up to death, there are a great many things in Sanatan culture that are connected with tantra — things we perform whether or not we knowingly have any information about them.
How does sutak at a birth belong to tantra?
When we take birth, sutak kaal falls first of all. If a child is born in a mool nakshatra — there are four or five nakshatras of the mool — then on the twenty-seventh day, what is called satiisa in common speech, when that nakshatra comes round again, the pujan of that nakshatra is done and only from there is the sutak kaal held to be concluded. That too, he says, is a subject of tantra.
What did the father formerly do before looking at his child?
In earlier times, until the nakshatra pujan had been done according to the nakshatra, and in some cases the daan such as chhaya daan or oil daan, the father would look at his own face first by seeing it in the oil, complete all that daan, and only after that look at the face of his own offspring. In the present time, the speaker says, all these things have thoroughly ended.
Does Lakshmi increase in the house after an elder passes away?
In exactly the same way, the speaker says, when some elder attains death, after their going there is a considerable increase of Lakshmi in the house — those who are satpurush. And very often it happens that after certain deaths accidents begin to increase in the house and there is a very great loss of Lakshmi in particular. In this too there is tantra somewhere.
Which deity should one hold to be the greatest?
Asked by Keshav Singh ji how one is not to become confused when it is said of every deity that he alone is the greatest, that he alone made everything and will unmake everything, the speaker calls it a very good question and answers: first of all place your trust upon your own ishta and aradhya, and take them alone to be everything — that they alone are the creator and the destroyer.
Is it the devatas rather than Bhagwan who can be prevented from receiving?
It never happens that what we do by way of pujan and path is not reaching Bhagwan, he says — all things are within his sight. That it is not reaching the devatas is a subject of tantra; that the devatas are becoming incapable of helping, that they have been bound by tantra vidya, is a separate subject. To Bhagwan it is absolutely reaching, and he has knowledge of everything about what is happening to us and what will happen. And he is the one who shows kripa, when the time for this too comes.
Tantra is a jagrat vishaya, and dosha for a mistake attaches in every field
The speaker says tantra is called a jagrat vishaya because it gives immediate effect; Vaidik things are one thing, and tantric or tantrokta things are a field of their own. But he warns against the illusion that a mistake made elsewhere carries no Dosha while a mistake here brings dosha quickly: dosha for a mistake attaches everywhere, whatever the field, so no one should think they will get away with an error somewhere.
Practice may be upgraded with desha, kaal and paristhiti, but the mool cannot be dropped
The speaker says at least go for the basic things, and only then go beyond the limit. Things do change according to desha, kaal and paristhiti; they get upgraded and should be upgraded. But even so, what is basic and mool cannot be dropped, because it gives effect in that same measure, and it must be honoured accordingly. Only after seeing and knowing the beginning things and doing the arambhik sadhanas should one ever do the sadhana of Bhagavati Pitambara.
Why is tantra not written down word for word?
Because tantra is a subject of anubhav. In Agama, every single thing is not written word to word and you will not find it written word for word. It is an experience that a guru gives his shishya, and that shishya gives his own shishya, and so the vidyas keep running in sequence.
Why must the asana, the Pavitri and the Achman vessel be treated with such respect?
Because all these things — the Achman vessel, the Pavitri, one's own asana — are held to be the Parshads of the Aradhya whose sadhana we are performing. The respect is not for us: it is for the power we are invoking into our own body, whose energy will be projected onto us and who will be present in our aura.
Being asked to observe Brahmacharya and to mind the asana and Pavitri is what people call torment
The speaker names the complaint directly: that he torments people. What they mean by torment, he says, is that he asks them to go by the rules — observe Brahmacharya, mind your asana, mind your Pavitri. Had he simply said stay as you were, eat and drink and enjoy yourself, that would have suited.
A Guru advances a disciple who arrives already prepared, on the one condition that the knowledge is never displayed as pride
Because a Guru is obtained by fortune and so is a disciple. If you have learnt this much when you go to him, he will see that his disciple knows well and will find it easier to shape you, and will advance you quickly. The one condition: never display it before the Guru as pride — it must be submitted, not paraded.
Should the merit gained from a pilgrimage be described publicly?
When Punya is obtained, its description should never be made publicly at any length. Keep to yourself what you are doing and what has been obtained. And there is no need to think in terms of best, middling or least — even one step walked toward a tirtha carries its Punya.
Whose fault is it when years of japa produce nothing?
The speaker's analogy: if we keep failing the exam we cannot blame the teacher for not teaching properly. If ten children pass and top by the same teaching and we fail every time, some fault of ours must be occurring. That fault is to be corrected, and our own application and effort increased.
What is done when a Shakti Peeth image becomes worn or broken?
Never. The Shri Vigrahas of self-manifested images, of a Shakti Peeth or a Siddha Peeth, however worn they become and whatever condition arises, can never be removed. What can be done is to have a layer of gold applied for the Shringar, or silver in the case of a village deity.
Why does a real Tantrik keep himself hidden?
Because Tantra's greatest rule is to remain secret. If a Tantrik were genuinely doing Shamshan sadhana and such things, he would never describe them. Give a discourse and show your face; be a Kathavachak and show your face — but a practitioner walking the Tantra path should keep himself entirely hidden.
What is the purpose of a phalashruti?
Do not do it out of this greed, though, he says. This phalashruti, this mahatmya, exists only so that your mind engages well in this shraddha and in that mantra, and so that shraddha increases — not so that if you do this much, that will happen, and if you do that, this will happen. That is going to happen anyway; keep it secondary. Keep this first: that your mind become fully surrendered.
Can one speak with the rishis of one's own parampara?
Asked what there is in tantra that is not, he answers that whether it be speaking with Vashishtha ji or Vishwamitra ji, or with anyone else whose guru parampara it has been, one can certainly speak with one's chief gurus through one's divya sadhanas. The foremost rishi of the Vindhya kshetra, foremost in the kula parampara, is Maharshi Agastya.
What does the word "tantra" actually mean?
"Tantra" comes from the Sanskrit root tan — to stretch, weave, or form — and has come to mean the systematic body of knowledge governing devata upasana (deity worship); tantric allusions appear as far back as the Atharvaveda and some Vedic Brahmana literature.
Do tantras carry the same authority as the Vedas?
The author cites Kulluka Bhatta, commentator on the Manusmriti, as holding that tantras stand at the level of shruti (the core Vedic texts, considered the ultimate spiritual authority) — not as a secondary or lesser category of text.
Why do tantric texts say tantra is the primary spiritual path in Kali Yuga?
According to the chaturyuga framework the author lays out, each age relied on a different guide to dharma as human capacity declined — Vedic ritual in Krita Yuga, smritis in Treta, Puranas in Dwapara — and in the present Kali Yuga, tantra shastras hold that Shiva revealed the tantras as the means suited to a humanity too diminished in capacity to follow the earlier paths.
Does tantra require renouncing the world, or does it embrace worldly life too?
Unlike paths confined solely to moksha, the author says tantra treats bhoga (worldly enjoyment) and moksha (liberation) as equally valid, since the world itself is seen as a manifestation of Shiva's shakti in divine play (lila) — the exclusive pursuit of moksha alone being reserved for those who have formally renounced the world as sanyasis.
How does tantra's emphasis on "power" (shakti) differ from the Vedic focus on detachment?
Where Vedic/Puranic religion generally pursued peace and liberation through vairagya (detachment from the world), tantra shastras expressly affirm power — spiritual, mental, vital, and material — as shakti, treating it as equally divine and necessary for a fulfilling existence that includes both worldly engagement and liberation.
Why is the Shakta path said to bring faster spiritual experience — and what caution comes with that?
Because Shakti is always immediately present and active in the world (unlike the abstract, detachment-oriented purusha of the Upanishadic path), the author says spiritual experience tends to come faster on the tantric path — but he cautions that early experiences alone are not sufficient; they must be assimilated through purification of the ego and produce a concrete, visible change in the practitioner's life.
What is Shakti, according to Kashmir Shaivism?
The author defines Shakti simply as the executive power of Shiva, citing the 11th-century Kashmir Shaiva text Pratyabhijnahrdayam's description of the Supreme Shakti (chiti) as absolutely independent, unfolding the universe of Her own will — with movement and action as her fundamental nature.
Shakti upasana begins in duality and ends in adwaitam, where the practitioner becomes a divya upasaka — a vessel of divine energies.
The author describes Shakti upasana beginning with a dualistic approach (upasaka and deity as separate) that gradually deepens through devotion and practice toward adwaitam (oneness) — a state where the practitioner becomes a "divya upasaka," their consciousness no longer purely human but a vessel of divine energies.
What are the five kinds of mukti (liberation) described in this path?
The author lists a progression of liberations — Salokya (being in the deity's world), Sameepya (proximity to the deity), Saroopya (same form as the deity), Sayujya (union with the deity), and finally Nirvana (ultimate liberation) — each representing a deeper spiritual breakthrough than the last.
How does tantra reconcile bhoga and moksha, and why is the householder path generally preferred?
The author presents tantra as synthesizing bhoga (worldly enjoyment) and moksha (liberation) rather than opposing them — citing an Upanishadic verse on comprehending both vidya and avidya together — and states that tantric texts generally favor the householder path over early renunciation, since worldly engagement itself becomes a platform for spiritual growth.
Why does the author say tantra is especially suited to modern conditions compared to Vedic/Puranic methods?
The author argues that modern life's sensory overload, information bombardment, and eroded social structures make a purely satwik lifestyle difficult to sustain, and that tantra's philosophy of assimilating and transforming unconventional elements gives it inherent speed and adaptability advantages over Vedic and Puranic methods in this context.
What actually makes a practice "tantric" — is it the mantra or ritual involved?
A practice isn't tantric just because it involves a mantra, deity, or ritual — the author calls that surface-level imitation "decoration" — while conversely, something that looks plain or ordinary can be genuinely tantric if its underlying approach and orientation are.
What is the whole system of tantra for?
He asks what the complete system of tantra is and answers: to protect, and to advance. In the present Kalikaal it is not possible for all of us to live a Vedic life by Vedic vidhi vidhan — perhaps one percent of vipras and dvijas keep to sandhya and the rest.
Why did Shiva give the Agama vidhans?
It is for exactly that reason, he says, that Bhagavan Shiva somewhere provided the vidhans stated in the Agama. All the many different panths and sampradayas that arose are themselves divisions within the Agama.
Is a householder's ordinary pujan Vedic or agamic?
Whether you perform it after being initiated in some parampara or perform an ordinary pauranik sandhya, he says, the vidhi vidhan of the pujan paddhati itself will not be Vedic but agamic — done according to the vidhan stated in the Agama, and that is precisely what is called tantriki vidhan.
Why do people become frightened at the very word tantra?
So much revulsion, fear and confusion has been generated around the word tantra, he says, that people are frightened merely on hearing or seeing it. Several listeners have commented, messaged and mailed him asking that Grihastha Tantra not be written on the prasad he sends, because people are frightened just reading the word.
What does the speaker say must be carried together?
Everything is to be carried along, he says: the lok vyavahar of tantra is also to be carried; what is shastrokta is also to be carried; the philosophy is also to be carried. But it must also be understood which is to be applied where, and how it is to be carried. Take everyone along; nothing is to be left out. You are not to make flowers in a lamp all day; and it is not that we will not light an akhand jyot or a lamp — we will do all of it, but by the vidhi, taking everyone along. Nothing is small and nothing is great; all are to be carried together.
What is gained by searching out a mantra for yourself?
Read your shastra yourself so that nobody can answer you back, so that you become capable of answering others, and so that your faith in your devatas, your ishta and your aradhya increases. When you see some mantra on the channel, search for it: in searching, ten other things will come to your knowledge, you will be motivated according to shastra, and you will come out of confusion — after which your development follows intellectually, spiritually and materially alike.
What does the second house of the birth chart govern?
The speaker says that in the janma kundali we make there are twelve bhavas, and the second bhava is the bhava of vaani, of speech. Know, he says, that many kinds of dosha arise on account of our speech. If Rahu is in the second bhava, if there is no sthir graha in the second bhava, if there are dvi-svabhava grahas, then it is said that a difficult situation forms here.
Why do Jain tantric texts use the tantric pranav rather than the Vedic one?
A listener had asked why Jains pronounce the tantric pranav. The speaker answers that they very rarely pronounce the Vedic pranav and recite Vedic mantras very little. In the tantra of the Jains, he says, the thing used most and most prominently is the yakshas: all their tirthankaras have their own yakshas, some having twenty-four and some some other number. He says he does not have very much information and has studied only a little, but as far as the root goes, each of them has one or another yaksha.
The Jain mantras carry the tantrokta and Devi Pranav, not the Vedic pranav
He says that on reading their mantras carefully after that comment, he found that the Vedic pranav is not there at all in what is written; there too it is particularly the tantrokta pranav, and the Devi Pranav and the like are present in the chief mantras. There are mantras of such shaktis that only the name is different: read their dhyana, their mala mantras and their principal working mantras and it becomes clear that these are related to here. Only a slight change has occurred, a slight difference of form; all of it is connected with Sanatan and is not very different.
What does shakti give a person the capacity to do?
Shakti gives that samarthya, the speaker says, by which a person can develop his own tantra. And here Bhagavan is himself Bhagavan — he is not even a person — so he has given that much capacity.
The pranav and the mala, on which the whole of tantra runs, draw the fewest viewers
This subject has been put on the channel today, the speaker says. What do you think — the subject of the pranav, this subject of the mala: consider how necessary a subject it is for everybody. How many people watch it? A thousand people, two thousand people. And it is by this that the whole tantra is going to run: by this very mala and by these very mantras every single subject of yours will run — and people will not listen to it or watch it. But put out that a pir's siddhi took place, put out videos with as much experience in them as you like, and they will watch that.
What mistake do people make in turning the mala?
People do not know how mala japa is done, the speaker says: they will turn the mala this way and that, however they like. Afterwards they will say, oh, so the mala is turned like this — we have never turned it so to this day; it was simply a habit, and they would begin turning it backwards from the sumeru. When all this comes to be known, he says, it strikes him that people make such mistakes as this too, and that he had not known it himself. He repeats that it was after coming among society that he learned how many mistakes are being made.
Is there a special method for making Akash Bhairav happy?
He says Akash Bhairav cannot be made happy in that way at all — making happy has become a separate subject. For his kripa, all things are done by his own vidhi-vidhan. If you go into these forms, he says, these are tantric forms; they are shaktis connected with tantra, and here both bhava and kriya are required.
How is Mahadev pleased, and how is Bhagavati pleased?
For Mahadev there are upayas of pleasing him; for Akash Bhairav, he repeats, it is not a matter of pleasing but of kriyatmak things. Those who wish to please Bhagavati should do japa of her hundred names, sing of her state, perform her archan with her sahasranamas, do her shringar — Bhagavati will give kripa; do japa of her name. But if you must do the Siddh Kunjika, then japa in lakhs, together with nyasa and the rest, and after that it will happen.
Why should bhakti and tantrokta sadhana not be mixed together?
Because what is tantra is tantra, and there both bhava and kriya are needed. If you are to go into bhakti, then do the navadha bhakti, do the sangopang upasana, do everything — but then do not talk of tantra at all, do not discuss tantrokta sadhanas. And then do not say that you wish to perfect the Kaal Bhairav danda, or the Neelkanth Aghorastra, or the Siddh Kunjika. Two things, he says, do not go together.
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