Mandala
Every question on the site tagged Mandala, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
A sacred geometric diagram used as the basis for group or multi-deity ritual worship.
91 notes from our sourcesNotes from our sources
When a worshipped deity's fruit has stalled: a bigger anushthan, or purnima–amavasya havan by problem
The speaker says that when the deities established at home seem not to give fruit in proportion to one's effort, one should get a big Anushthana of theirs done, or first have everything examined by jyotish and tantra and then hold an anushthan at home relating to Mahadev and Bhagwati. In a Mandala puja — a Navagraha mandala, a Sarvatobhadra mandala, many kinds of mandalas — every devi-devata whose grace was stuck anywhere is worshipped in many ways and satisfied; one chandi-yajna satisfies countless devatas and upadevatas, after which full fruit begins. If one cannot afford so large a rite, then on both Poornima and Amavasya give Ahuti with the mantras of one's own established deity according to the problem. With Batuk Bhairava installed: for trouble in begetting a son, Havan with kheer or ghee; for money problems, havan with mustard oil and bel leaves using his Aapad-uddharan mantra; if someone has used tantra against you, havan with black pepper using his 108-name list. Havan, he says, is a great medium — it satisfies and strengthens the deity and cuts any vachan or tantra prayog — but it must be continued long, every purnima, amavasya, ashtami and such days.
Minimum one mandala: 41 days of joint puja of the bound deity and its helper
If the trouble is very great, the speaker says, a person should do at least one mandal of puja, taking a Sankalpa for it; one mandal means at least 41 days. In it you worship jointly both whatever shaktis are yours — the devi-devatas of your own house — and the one whose help you are taking.
Havan mix that opens a bandhan: apamarg wood, cow-dung cakes, mustard and red gunja for 41 days
The speaker says the safe paths — Mahabhairav, the Hanuman Chalisa, Bajrang Baan, Kali Chalisa or Durga Chalisa — should be used as Havan on Apamarg wood: apamarg wood, cow-dung cakes, and with them mustard (sarson) and red Gunja; mix these and give the ahutis, and bandhan and the like will open. If you do one mandal, 41 days, he says it simply cannot be that the bandhan does not break, however much Bali and the like was given to bind it. And if a laag of bali is not releasing, you will get the order again and again through dreams and the like: go to this place, this spot, and offer this bali there — and that bandhan will be cut too.
Dattatreya's worship is present in every tradition you may later be initiated into
The speaker says Dattatreya's form is the unified form of Brahma, Vishnu and Bhagavan Sadashiva. Whenever in future, by your merits, you are initiated into any kula tradition, whether Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakta, Kaula Sampradaya or Aghor, Dattatreya's worship will certainly be there in some form; and when your guru teaches you Mandala pujan and the full extended method of patra sadhana, Dattatreya will certainly have a place in the yantra pujan, mandala pujan and adhar pujan. So, he says, surrender to Dattatreya without worry and do the pujan connected to the guru tattva.
What is Naishthika Sadhana, and why do negative practitioners often out-discipline righteous ones?
Negative practitioners maintain rigorous temporal precision, such as executing midnight offerings at the exact scheduled minute, while righteous practitioners often falter through casualness — full spiritual efficacy requires strict Naishthika Sadhana: precise timing, dietary purity, and avoiding premature violations right after completing a ritual cycle like a 40-day Mandala.
Building the putla in a cremation-ground yantra
The speaker says that in this process a special kind of Mandala is made, and it is used mostly on the pyre ground, in the Shamshaan and such places. In the middle of that Yantra a Putla is made in the name of the person on whom the prayoga is to be done. The putla holds some special ingredients, some herbs are mixed in, and some tamasic substances such as the blood of a dog, a cat, a crow, or a bat.
Mandala for a sattvic lemon bali to the Devi
For a sattvic lemon Bali to any form of Bhagavati at home, the speaker says a chauk (Mandala) is drawn first: an upright triangle made from Roli mixed with Ashtagandha. The bali is given inside this mandala. While drawing it one may chant the Ishta mantra, or the mantra of the deity the bali is for. After the mandala is made, puja is done in it with flowers, the Devi is invoked into it with a flower and a spoken request to be seated and accept the bali, and only then is the lemon placed inside and cut straight down.
Mandala for a lemon bali to Bhairav: the triangle is inverted
When the lemon Bali is for Bhairava, the speaker says the triangle of the Mandala is drawn inverted, with its point downward, instead of upright as for the Devi. For Bhairav it may also be drawn with Sindoor. The lemon is then placed in the inverted triangle and the bali is given in the same way.
Worship of the blade and the closing steps of a lemon bali
The speaker says the blade is worshipped before the cut by applying Roli and Kumkum to it. The lemon is then cut while chanting the Ishta mantra, the mantra prescribed for giving Bali. After the cut, roli is applied to both cut faces, water is circled around the lemon three times, and it is left there. That completes the bali. He says the same mandala and the same procedure are to be used whenever a sattvic bali is given to one's deity in any sadhana.
What should a practitioner do about home sadhana if they travel to the Kumbh mid-way?
No fault is incurred. Surrender the days completed before leaving, keep the daily rules of Brahmacharya and diet while travelling, do what the Prayag procedure allows there, and resume at home on returning.
What happens if a practitioner performs a full Mandala at Prayag?
They become the recipient of the most divine grace available, and their level rises sharply. The speaker doubts that someone completing 32,000 of the Goddess's 32 Namavali there would even think of coming to meet him afterwards.
How many recitations make one Chakra of the 32 Namavali?
Thirty-three recitations make one Chakra. The target of 32,000 is a total of recitations, not 32,000 Chakras — so the practitioner divides to find how many Chakras that total requires.
Setting up Vindhyavasini's place in the home puja: trikon mandala, photo or Durga image
The speaker says that, if one wishes, one may make a place for Bhagavati Vindhyavasini's trikon Mandala at one's own puja place. If not, keep her photo, or regard the form of Bhagavati Durga itself as the form of Vindhyavasini and do the practice in that. He notes that her form is held to be Mahavidyas among the vidyas and Mahayakshini among the Yaksha shaktis; there are many distinctions, he says, which cannot all be brought to light.
How is Mahabhairav made siddh in a temple, and in how many mandals?
Do it in Shiva ji's temple, saying clearly: Prabhu, if ever in life, in a time of calamity, such a need arises, we will use these mantras; for that purpose we are making this vidhan siddh. Make it siddh in the temple. The most intense form is to do the puja in three mandals.
What is done in the first mandal of the Mahabhairav vidhan?
In the first mandal, japa of the Mahabhairav mantra in which the names of Kaal Bhairav, Batuk Bhairav, Bhoot Bhairav and Mahabhairav all come — four Bhairavs are principally present in it. If possible, at least 41 malas each day for 41 days is wonderful; if not at one sitting then at two, 11 and 11 morning and evening; and if even that is not possible, at least five and five. If someone does 41 malas in a day — 21 in the morning and 21 in the evening — for the full 41 days, then one mandal is complete.
What is done in the second mandal of the Mahabhairav vidhan?
If someone performs the pujan in that manner, they give the fruit in that same manner — this is the shastrokta mat, he says. If you are going to make the Mahabhairav prayoga, at the least understand, know and see that you actually need them. The first mandal being the 40 or 41 days of mantra japa and its samarpan, in the second mandal you will do the path of the Mahabhairav Stotra for 40 to 41 days.
How many paths of the Mahabhairav Stotra are done in the second mandal?
At least 21 paths are to be done daily, and if you have the capacity and can sit, then 21 and 21 morning and evening would be wonderful. Through this mandal too you are offering naivedya to the Bhagavan in the temple itself, lighting dhoop and deep there and doing everything there. The third mandal takes both of these together.
Does travelling during an anushthan break the seema?
The question of seema ullanghan arises for those who are beginning a special puja from Batuk Bhairav Jayanti for however many days: when you do a mandal pujan, the seema should not be crossed. When we are doing some long anushthan of 30, 40 or 21 days and have to go out of the city or to another place, the seema is crossed. Does a dosha attach to us from that?
What does ang pujan or ang vidya mean in an anushthan of Bhagavati?
The speaker says that in an anushthan of any swarup of Bhagavati there is mandala pujan and ang pujan. Ang pujan means ang vidya — that the other shaktis belonging to Bhagavati's family are also given anushthan.
What a specific pujan of a kavach devi means, and the Mahalakshmi mention for court cases
A specific pujan means the complete mandal pujan of that deity, the complete aavaran pujan. If that much vidhi vidhan is not available to you, you should do a sixteen-upachar pujan in their name with the name mantra and so on. As for the mention of Mahalakshmi pujan at the rajdwar — rajdwar means court and case matters in which one is caught; by doing the pujan of Mahalakshmi one obtains victory in them.
What is the sixth adhyaya of the Saptashati used for, and where should such paaths be done?
The sixth adhyaya, in which the slaying of Dhumralochana is done — where there is a great deal of dhundh in life, the Dhumralochana vadh can be done independently. But all these paaths that are done independently are better done in a temple, because on doing an independent paath a great many shaktis can become ugra; so it should be done outside the house.
Why does the Kumbh period give a practitioner a complete Mandala at home?
Because the month and a quarter it runs is long enough to contain a full 41-day Mandala, which the month of Magh alone cannot — and japa performed in the Kumbh is held to carry a thousandfold merit over ordinary festival periods.
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.
Which shorter periods should be chosen by those who cannot manage forty days?
Makar Sankranti as a single day; the Gupta Navratri of Magh, taken from Mauni Amavasya to Magh Purnima as a fifteen- or sixteen-day span with the nine-day Navratri inside it; and the Navratri of Shiva running up to Mahashivratri.
What time of day should the sadhana be performed?
All twenty-four hours are divine in this period, but dawn — reckoned from about 2:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. — is held best. Devi practitioners and Viracharis may work at night; dawn, evening and midday are all permissible.
Whatever hour is fixed on the first day is the hour used every single day
From Paush Purnima on 13 January through to 26 February the hour must not vary. A practitioner working from 9 at night until 2:30 or 3 in the morning keeps that same span daily; one who chose dawn keeps dawn.
Slandering anyone during this period costs the practitioner the fruit
Nothing will be obtained if slander continues. The speaker asks for silence to be learnt instead, noting that Mauni Amavasya falls in this very month — the more silence kept, the more merit — and that whoever bypasses the rules will find the deity bypassing them in turn.
Even the Hanuman Chalisa alone, kept daily for forty-one days
A practitioner who will do nothing else may keep the Hanuman Chalisa daily for forty-one days — best at night — and the speaker says they will feel Hanuman's grace themselves. The full rule still applies: Brahmacharya and the discipline over food.
711 or 712 a day across forty-five days — about four hours once practised
711 or 712 a day across forty-five days. At roughly 200 an hour once practised, that is about four hours nightly — from 9 p.m. to around 1:30 or 2:30 in the morning, or split across two sittings.
Those who cannot stay home throughout should fit a Purashcharana into the shorter windows
Take a window such as the Gupta Navratri and complete one Purashcharana inside it — a sava lakh where five lakh of the Panchakshari is impossible, or 10,000 where 32,000 is. The point is that the period should not be wasted.
How does a woman complete her count when five to seven days are missed?
By extending past Mahashivratri by the same five to seven days. The Sankalpa is not considered broken, and the extended days are counted within it.
Altar arrangement for the Ashtavinayak pujan
The speaker shows the arrangement for the Ashtavinayak sadhana: eight Paan leaves laid out in the form of an ashtadal kamal, with lamps set on them and every lamp turned toward the Ganpati swaroop. A photograph of the ashta-vinayaka is kept there too. Over yellow Akshat, a Supari wound with Kalava is installed as the swaroop of Ganpati.
Which of the eight Ganpatis stands in which direction?
The speaker places the eight Ganpatis in eight directions: Mayuresh Ganpati in the east; Chintamani Ganpati in the agni kona; Maha Ganapati in the south; Siddhi Vinayak in the Nairitya kona; Vighneshwar in the west; Girija Atmaj in the Vayavya kona; Ballaleshwar in the north; and Varad Vinayak in the Ishan kona. This, he says, is how their sthapana is to be done.
Supari for the Gauri Ganesh mandal; ashtagandha, kesar, kumkum and gorochan for the ink; a silver wire and two kavach khol.
Supari and the like should be with you for making the mandal for Gauri Ganesh. Then ashtagandha will be needed, along with kesar, kumkum and gorochan for making the ink, one silver wire, and two kavach — the kavach khol that is worn around the neck. After arranging all these materials, the speaker says, you will begin this sadhana.
Three heaps of flowers are laid — Bhagavati Anusuya, Dattatreya in the middle, and Maharshi Atri — each marked with kumkum and given a lamp.
Now the pujan of the chief Mahamuni, Maharshi, Mahashakti Bhagwan Dattatreya is done. Before his place three heaps of flowers are made: the first heap in the name of Bhagavati Anusuya, who is Bhagwan Dattatreya's mother; the middle one in the name of Bhagwan Dattatreya; and the one beside it in the name of Mahamuni Atri, Atri Rishi. Kumkum is then put on all three heaps of flowers, and a lamp is given a place upon each.
Can aluminium foil be used on the ground for deepdaan?
No, says the speaker — aluminium foil should not be used. If there are 108 lamps, buy a mala and spread its petals over the whole ground; or buy a packet of haldi of 100 to 200 grams and spread it fully; spread roli fully; draw a figure on it if you wish, square or like an eight-petalled lotus, scatter flowers on it, and then place the 108 lamps on top.
Should complete karmakand be learned from YouTube?
Answering Chandrajeet Chauhan ji, he says complete karmakand should not be learned from YouTube; it is better to learn karmakand while staying with a competent sadhak. Yes, whatever the initial vidhi-vidhans are, you will get those. Nowadays even mandal pujan is taught very well by a great many knowledgeable pandit ji people, and their videos are there; you can learn from them too. But if you cannot become practically skilled in it, it would be better to learn while staying with someone.
Preparing the barley bed and ashtadal kamal beneath the kalash
The speaker says he is describing Ghatasthapana in the ordinary way, without vidhi-vidhan or mantras, so that a common person can do it at home with devotion. First the barley that is to be sown, the Jaware, is mixed into the soil at leisure; the soil is levelled and an ashtadal kamal or similar figure is drawn on it with gulal, haldi and the like. The Kalash is then installed on top of that.
How is an asana given to a deity in avaran pujan?
When all deities are invoked in avaran pujan an asana is given, the speaker says. In the yantra of Durga ji, in the mandala of the Saptashati, the pujan is done at the trikon, the bindu in the middle of the trikon, and Bhagavati is invoked on the bindu — but before Bhagavati is invoked, the lion is invoked. The name of Bhagavati's lion is Somnandi.
When is elaichi given upon the kapur at all?
Elaichi is not to be offered on kapur, laung is, the speaker repeats. Elaichi upon kapur is given when the seva-puja of the Gandharvas takes place — not otherwise. If in someone's mandala pujan there is a Gandharva, then it is given.
Are Nabhidarshana and Tilottama with Surya in Uttarayan and Dakshinayan?
A listener asks whether in Uttarayan the apsara Nabhidarshana Devi is with Surya Dev and in Dakshin, Tilottama Devi. The speaker says this subject has become fully tantrokta: as he explained, the Aditya of each month is different, there are twelve Adityas for twelve months, and each Aditya has his own mandal pujan. When we perform pujan with Twashta, then at that time your Nabhidarshana or Tilottama will not be there — his mandal pujan becomes entirely different. This becomes a whole subject of Martand Tantra, separately.
For whom is the pujan of other deities actually forbidden?
For anyone doing avaran pujan in a mandal. Mandal means having taken a sankalp for forty-one days that you will do the complete mandal pujan and avaran pujan of some particular devi-devata or shakti. For them there is a prohibition by guru's adesh, or in many places a prohibition, because within that mandal the shaktis of all are already being worshipped, so there is no need to worship outside it.
Swarnakarshan Padalik Bhairav is taken up, with Kalratri and Mahakalika separately
The anushthan connected with Bhagavan Swarnakarshan Padalik Bhairav, who are the chief Bhairav — chosen because the problem connected with dhan is everyone's, everyone has need of wealth and the rest, and dharma can happen only from dhan. He quotes: tum bin yajna na hoe vastra na koi pata. But it is not only that: two chief acharyas will perform separate anushthans — the whole mandal pujan utsav of Swarnakarshan Bhairav by one acharya, and the pujan of Bhagavati Kalratri and Mahakalika separately.
The many forms of Ganpati: 56 Vinayaks, sixteen Vinayaks and lineage Ganapatis
The speaker says Ganesha has many forms: 56 Vinayaks are recognised, sixteen Vinayaks are recognised, and within Kula Parampara every parampara, every vidya, every Mahavidyas and upa-mahavidya has its own separate Ganapati. Each of these, he says, has a whole independent tantra and a full independent Mandala sadhana, with worship of its upa-mahavidyas, its shaktis and its anga-vidyas.
Who is the Bhairav of the ten-armed Tulja Bhavani?
The speaker says that if you go to the ten-armed Tulja Bhavani, then the Bhairav of the ten-armed form is Nilkanth Bhairav. But there the puja of Kaal Bhairav is what predominantly takes place; Nilkanth Bhairav, according to tantra, is worshipped when the mandal pujan of that form is performed.
Who is worshipped at the door in a mandap pujan?
The speaker says that in the mandap pujan of anyone at all, of any devi, both Ganapati and Bhairav are worshipped there. At the Mahalakshmi temple the pujan of two Ganapatis takes place on both sides; he cannot give the two names, but Ganapati is what is established there in the form of Bhairav.
Which mandalas belong to the kalash sthapana of Navratri?
Kalash sthapan should be done at the right time on the first day, he says — the timings will be discussed separately and written out. The mandalas are those of the nine grahas, of the shodash matrikas, of the sixty-four yoginis, of the five kshetrapals, and of the ten digpals.
How can all the devatas be invoked without drawing separate mandalas?
Because when the mantra of the kalash is read, it states who is established in the ghata of the kalash and where each devata's place is in its kumbha — everyone comes into it, everyone is invoked. So in that same kalash in which you are invoking Jagadamba, offer akshat and pushpa by name to the navagraha, the shodash matrika and the sixty-four yoginis.
How should the jaiphal be cut, and how else may bali be given?
It is not necessary that the jaiphal will cut only if soaked in water: if you have a sharp knife, set it upon the jaiphal and strike hard with the hand in a single stroke, and it will come into two pieces. Bali may in any case be given by making a trikon and such a mandala; and otherwise it can be given by kindling fire and burning it — agni bali, he says, is the most divine and astonishing of all.
A separate video is promised on the sixteen Mondays vrat, and tantrokta objects such as the Durga Bisa yantra are to be used with understanding
Use tantrokta objects of this kind with thought and understanding, the speaker says. Asked about the best way to keep the sixteen Mondays vrat, he says he will make a separate video on it, and on the ekadashis too, telling each one separately. Asked whether the Durga Bisa yantra and the Durga tantric yantra are different, he says Durga ji has a great many yantras; the Durga Bisa yantra is for protective matters, and it is of three kinds — one for wealth, one for intellect, and one for strength. The mandal yantra is a separate thing.
What do Shiva and Vishnu say about each other's enemies?
Who is Shiva himself in the Rudra form, he asks; who is he according to Vishnu? There should be no bheda between Vishnu and Shiva. Shiva says: one who is an enemy of Vishnu is never acceptable to me. Vishnu says: one who does droha to Shiva is never acceptable to me. Both of them have said this. By Vishnu's kripa Shiva bhakti is obtained; by Shiva's kripa Vishnu bhakti is being obtained. And Hanuman is everywhere — in Bhagavati's mandala too, in Narayan's mandala too, and he is directly the avatar of Shiva.
Why is every mantra given forty days?
Because that is the minimum Mandala. The session sets out to answer why any mantra — Dattatreya, Shabar, Pauranik or Tantrokta — is given forty days, and what effects begin to be obtained within them.
What is a Mandala, and does it apply to every deity?
A Mandala means forty to forty-one days, and it is said of every deity that at least one Mandala must be done. This holds for japa of any mantra, Archana and Avaran puja of any Yantra, and abundant recitation of any Sukta or Kavach undertaken for Siddhi.
Does the discipline start on the first day of the Anushthan?
No — take it as beginning one to two days earlier. If the Anushthan starts on Tuesday, then Sunday and Monday too require full Brahmacharya and correct conduct in food and drink; and for at least two days after the forty-one days end, the same rules are held.
Can the rules be relaxed a little in the middle of a long Anushthan?
No. Anyone who tells you that the Kali Yuga excuses mental lapses, or that you may keep contact with your wedded wife once or twice midway without incurring fault, is — in the speaker's words — becoming the cause of your complete ruin. It never works that way.
What should a householder do who cannot hold forty days?
Shorten the observance, not the rules. Do five days — Monday to Friday, or Tuesday to Saturday — take a two-day gap, repeat. When five days is habitual, go to eleven, then to a full fortnight from Pratipada to Purnima. Within a year the forty-day rule can be carried comfortably.
The ordinary Avaran is learnt from Bhadrapada over roughly fifteen months, in forty-day mandalas, a beginner tarpaning all eight Shaktis with one mantra.
From Bhadrapada, at the Kalika and Tara Jayanti, the practitioner is set to learn the Avaran. The ordinary Avaran is learnt first, over roughly fifteen months, in forty-day mandalas — and where a Avaran holds eight Shaktis, a beginner may do the Tarpana and Marjana of all of them with one mantra together.
What people want instead is Deeksha over the phone and Siddhi immediately after — or, failing that, someone else's Siddhi transferred to them.
Deeksha today, over the phone, and Siddhi immediately after — and when nothing happens, the request that the Siddhi simply be transferred. The speaker's answer is to pick up your own past: five or ten years have gone in wanting everything at once, and not a straw will have moved.
What actually changes in a person during forty days?
The arithmetic of counts is only the surface. In the middle of it there will be so much connection and traffic of energies in your intellect, your thinking, your Atma-tattva and your aura that your views change — your outlook toward sadhana and toward the other world alters as you go.
A sankalp of one mandal using Aparajita brought a milestone success in only a week
He says he obtained a very great success in his life, which he counts as a milestone, and used Aparajita in it in the most divine manner, along with some most special prayogas of Bhagavati. He had taken the sankalp of one mandal, and after only a week his work was accomplished — in a field of competition he received double what those who had gone before him got.
Where in a Shiva temple should the Yogini offering be placed?
Do not place it right next to Shiva ji's arghi, where people will shout that you will burn his hands — keep it away, to the side. The whole radius of a hundred dhanush around where the shivling is established is called the Shiv Kshetra, and anywhere at the edge within that whole area you may make this offering in the names of the 64 Yoginis.
In which direction is the place of the Yoginis?
If you look at the mandal to see which side it should be on, it will be to the south. If we face towards the east, then the place of the Yoginis is towards the south. So in the southern direction, if there is a place there in the name of Bhagavati's Yoginis, kindle the 128 cloves and camphor there — after doing the path of the Yoginis.
At a new sadhana sthali near a small forest a stone stood by the Hanuman flag, and a devi was seen in dream uprooting it.
He relates an experience of some fifteen or sixteen years ago: they went for a time to a new place where sadhana had to be done, near a small forest. The people who lived there before had left; the small house, the sadhana sthali, was cleaned. A place had been made there for Hanuman ji, for a flag — there was a flag, Hanuman ji was there, and near the flag a small stone was placed, which was ordinarily taken to be worshipped in the name of Hanuman ji. A day or two passed, and this same vidhan he is describing was performed there; all their vigrahas were established, a mandala was made, and only the muhurta was awaited — he still remembers it was the day of Akshaya Tritiya, from which they were to begin sadhana. Two or three days before, at night, came a dream in which a devi, whose form he cannot say much about, was uprooting that stone and throwing it out.
How should a temple of the navagraha be built?
There are navagraha temples in mandirs here and there and that is a different matter, he says, but formerly the pujan was done through a pind and the like; deva eyes and so on were not made for everyone and worshipped in this way. If you are building a new temple, build it with thought. The vidhan of establishing a temple along with the shakti is special: if you have a temple built, then the sthapana of the vigraha with the family, along with the mandala, is the most divine. He cites the temple at Ramana Reti in Vrindavan-Mathura, where the Radha Raman Baba is: there all the navagrahas are present with their shaktis. Where a temple is built in that manner it is divine, because if a direct presence with shakti is formed and all the devatas are worshipped, the balance of energy is maintained and auspiciousness comes quickly.
Why does the household Yantra matter at this time?
Because at that time the maximum number of powers certainly become seated, in a fractional form, in their own Yantra and place. Whatever is happening at the principal Siddha Peeth, we are holding at that place in our own daily worship room, in our own house — so the same thing happens there in a subtle form.
How much does the geometry of a yantra actually differ?
Take it as almost 100 percent, he says, that the drawing — the geometrical views you will see — will be alike. There is no special change: the bindu remains in the middle, then the trikon, then the shatkon, then the ashtakon, then the kamal, the bhupurs, the vrittas. The number of vrittas can be more or less, and that depends on the mantra.
The Hanuman Chalisa havan is recommended over a costly tantric prayoga because anyone can do it
The condition has already worsened and you cannot do a great deal now, he says; if he tells you a great tantric prayoga, or tells you to go to somebody, money will be spent on everything. The most easily available thing is to try doing havan with the Hanuman Chalisa. A continuous forty days is one mandala puja — that is, for forty days do the puja of Hanuman ji alone; on Tuesday and Saturday go to him and record your presence; offer bhog and the rest to Hanuman ji. Within those forty days, he says, the situation will improve a good deal.
With the marriage this near a totka will not serve; a Saptami-to-Navami paath will
From doing a totka the work will not go on when everything is so near, he says. And if nothing else, then have even a three-day one done — of Saptami, Ashtami and Navami — and you will get a good deal of relief. If you have it done at a temple, then your expense will be less, you will save the expense of the mandala puja and a great deal of puja paath, and it will also be done quickly. Have it done in your own area, he says.
Is japa done in a trikon siddh?
Asked how to siddh the Kunjika Kavach, and whether japa done in a trikon becomes siddh, the speaker answers that japa and path — yes, brother, it does become siddh.
Why can the full vidhan not be done inside a temple?
In a temple the mandal and everything will have to be made, brother, and that is why we say that the process of tantra always happens with secrecy — so do it in solitude, the speaker says. When the vidhi vidhan is done, you may certainly do the japa of the mantra once.
How is the silver supari installed at home?
As for how it is to be installed: make a triangle with roli on a piece of red cloth and install her in the middle. Before her offer dhoop and deep in her name. The way will open, and Jagadamba will certainly bestow grace. This, the speaker says, is only for Sanjay Mishra ji.
Daily mandal avahan without havan is not the rule for a home Saptashati parayan
The speaker says the man learned mandal pujan from Acharya Shivdatt Mishra Shastri's Durga Archan Paddhati, the most widely circulated book, built a Navagraha mandal and so on as best he could, and every day invoked every deity of every mandal with the full elaborate vidhi given there — which belongs to a Chandi yaga — then did visarjan after each path. But in a yaga the avahan goes with havan-based vidhan, and in 108 paths he never once did Havan. Daily avahan and visarjan with a full mandal is simply not the rule for a 108-path parayan at home; alternatives exist, and whoever knows a thing should do that thing properly.
Is there a simple vidhan for the Bagla mandal pujan?
A simple vidhan will not be possible, he answers. In a mandal pujan a simple vidhan will not be possible from anywhere — understand that. It will remain only an extensive and large vidhan, and it will have to be understood.
How is the Durga kavach awakened?
Asked how to awaken the Durga kavach, the speaker says two videos on the subject are available on the channel — search "Durga kavach Grihastha Tantra" and both will come up. One vidhi makes a full mandala and shows how to make it siddh; the other is the simplest, easiest vidhi. Follow either one and awaken it in this Gupt Navratri.
How much Navarna japa is acceptable?
He tries from his own side, the speaker says: do Navarna, do one mala, do a mala or two — that much should be done. But you sit and do 108 malas of it daily, 108 in the morning and 108 in the evening. Do you even know how the mandala pujan is done in Navarna japa, and how many shaktis will come? At least you know that the navagraha and nine shaktis are contained in it.
How does the panchayatana arrangement change the placement?
Now if you have kept Durga ji's Panchayatana, the speaker says, then Shiv ji moves — Shiv ji comes to Durga ji's left side. So according to that it will then have to be seen where Manasa ji's place will be. And if a mandala of Shiv-Parvati ji is being made, of the Shiva family, and you are giving Manasa ji a place in it, then she gets a place on the left side alone — and her puja too is done with the left hand.
For how long should the sadhana of any deva be done for grace to be had?
Asked how long a sadhana such as the paath of the Ganesh Sahasranama should be done for deva grace to be had, he says: according to him it is to be done again and again; and if you have time, do it from Chaturthi to Chaturthi, one month — at least this much. If you wish to go into a mandal then forty-one days, and if you wish to do three months it is better still, or if you do a hundred and eight days continuously it will be very good indeed.
Where should Rudragan sadhana be done if the home temple is closed during a partial eclipse?
Akash ji asks how to do it for Rudragan sadhana when, at the time of a partial eclipse, the puja place or temple of the house is closed. It has to be done outside the temple, he answers; it is not necessary that we shall do it in the temple itself. The temple will have some area — a verandah or the like; do it there. Away from the mandap.
What should someone do who has moved house and can no longer do the full Navratri anushthan?
A listener who used to keep an akhand lamp and make a mandal in the temple beside his former residence asks what to do so that no dosha attaches now that he has moved. The speaker answers simply: do as much as is possible.
What if deeksha was received but no mandal puja was given?
There is no upaya, the speaker says; the upaya is straightforward. Suppose you have received the deeksha of Bhagavati Mahakali but you do not know the mandal puja: then make the request to your own guru for the mandal pujan — guru ji, tell me the vidhi for the pujan of the ang vidyas, in which yantra their pujan is to be done, whether it is to be done of Mahakali or of Adya Kali.
How long is a mandal, and who is worshipped in it?
Of how many days will the mandal be — will it be of nine days or of forty days? According to that you should first proceed; all this is different in each case. And chiefly, whose pujan will you carry: if you are doing Mahakali, then you will keep doing Mahakali's alone lifelong with the feeling of bhakti; or if you wish to obtain some shakti connected with tantra, then any one of theirs — a yogini, an upayogini, a paricharika — any one whose seva and puja we may wish to do separately among the ang vidyas. This you should ask.
What is the mandal pujan of the Durga Saptashati?
The mandal pujan of the Durga Saptashati exists and is done in a very vast form, the speaker says. Ordinarily, at least the pujan of the nine Durgas is done in a mandal. The Saptashati's mandal pujan is very vast and very fine — you will thoroughly enjoy it. It is such that in it the pujan of all the goddesses of the world takes place; if one were to speak of the highest, of what stands above all, then it is the Saptashati mandal. No shakti, no devi shakti at all is left out of it — Bhairav and Ganpati are a separate matter altogether.
A trikon mandal establishes Kali Khoh Mahakali, Ashtabhuja and Vindhyavasini together at home
Go to Vindhyachal dham, he says, and going there first of all give the puja of that place, and do the puja of Bhagavati Vindhyavasini. If you can, do the sthapana of a trikon mandal at home — that is, establish the three together: the Mahakali of Kali Khoh, Ashtabhuja and Vindhyavasini. Establish the trikon yantra connected with Vindhyavasini with the full vidhi vidhan, and then do their pujan.
Where is a kushmand bali offered, and where is it given?
A bali of kushmand is also done, the speaker says, and not only in Ganesh puja and Kameshwari pujan but in the pujan of Bhagavati Kali too, and in the pujan of Vishwakarma as well, the bali of sugarcane and the like has importance. The bali is given in the mandap itself; very often no separate bali vedi is constructed for the bali of sugarcane.
What must the guru supply for a purashcharan to be done rightly?
It is exactly there that the guru is needed to guide you in that manner — to teach arpan, tarpan, mandala and the yantra, to give methodical knowledge of all these things, and to say in which mudra the japa of the hriday is to be done. Only then will the thing be done rightly. If you do japa without the mudra, the energy will build so much that where the purashcharan calls for, say, 11,000 japa, your condition will be ruined in eleven japa. And the satakshari mala and the sahasrakshari mala are a separate matter altogether — leave those; many hridays already contain the satakshari, so the energy rises further still.
Should the triangle in Bhairav worship be upright or inverted?
Keep one simple thing in view, he says: if you go inside it, take the triangle only so far as that there should be a triangle, and accept that much. The reason is that the triangle at the time of giving bali is one thing, the triangle at the time of havan another; if you are doing yantra pujan the triangle in that is another; in the svarup of Bhairav the triangle is another; the triangle of the Kashi kshetra is another — a great many distinctions arise. So make the triangle; the triangle stands as the symbolic form of Bhagavati and of Bhairav. Make the triangle and do it; that much will suffice and no dosha will attach.
Is Bhairav worshipped even outside the Shaiva traditions?
He says that whichever gods or goddesses you worship, Bhairav ji is worshipped regardless. Even if you do the puja of Narayan and are a Vaishnav, or belong to some other Shaiva sampraday, Bhairav ji is worshipped. Among the shaktis and avatars connected with Bhagavan Narayan too there is a description of Bhairav ji, and in their mandal pujan the Bhairavs are worshipped. And wherever the Ashta Matrikas are worshipped, there the Ashta Bhairavs are certainly worshipped.
Where are the Ashta Bhairavs worshipped in a mandala?
The Ashta Bhairavs are extremely famous, and their samarthya and their forms are met with in every kind of tantra. In whichever tantra — connected with daivi shakti, with the Shakta, with the Shaiva, and in Vaishnav too the param Vaishnav and maha Vaishnav shaktis — whenever their pujan takes place in the ashtadal kamal, it is the Ashta Matrikas who are worshipped there in different forms; in the middle the Ashta Matrikas, and right at the front, as their eight shaktis, the Bhairavs are worshipped.
They are meant only for those who cannot do the Saptashati or the full vidhi at home
Apart from this, whatever you do yourselves — you will do your own pujan and anushthan at home. His purpose, the speaker says, is only this: that if you are not able to do the Saptashati paath at home, or if it seems to you that you cannot do it with the full vidhi vidhan — as they do the whole mandal pujan, the avaran pujan, the fifty things, the tantrokta pujan, the bali — then whatever of it you can do at home you should do, and what you cannot do you should have done. The lowest they have kept for nine days is ₹1100, and there is one lower than that as well.
What is permitted during a 41-day avaran pujan of Bhagavati Vindhyavasini?
For example, the speaker says, if we are doing a 41-day mandal of the avaran pujan of Bhagavati Vindhyavasini, then in the middle of it the special pujan of any other devi-devata cannot be done either. In it we can do only the abhishek of Shiva ji. As for the rest of the ordinary devi-devatas, whatever pronunciation occurs in the svastivachan and the like occurs. After that there is no special pujan of anybody: only and only the complete avaran pujan of Bhagavati Vindhyavasini, and her Sahasranama and Gita paath and the rest, and her mantra japa, as much as you do in the whole day. No other special pujan of any other devi-devata will take place.
What besides japa may be performed on Holika night?
Besides naam jap and mantra jap, sahasrarchan and the mandala pujan of yantras. Of the Shri Yantra in particular there is a great mahima; so too of the Saptashati mandala yantra of Bhagavati Durga, and of Mahakali together with her full fifteen nityas — sixteen nityas — when the archan of her complete yantras is performed along with the purva nityas. Of that it is said that kripa is obtained in a single night.
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