Mantroddhara
Every question on the site tagged Mantroddhara, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
The scriptural section, per deity, that lays out a mantra's correct extraction and form — the authority cited for whether a given mantra (e.g. Shiva's Panchakshari) is bound or unbound.
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Dhumralochana burnt by a hunkar: why exact mantra pronunciation matters
The speaker says that when Shumbha's ego was hurt by a woman's pride, he sent Dhumralochana to drag Kaushiki by the hair. Dhumralochana, whose smoke-like body could appear anywhere, threatened her and then lunged to seize her. Two accounts exist in the tantra texts, he says: her lion — held to be a direct form of Dharmaraja, of Shiva and Vishnu — roared, and its roar destroyed Dhumralochana's army; and Bhagwati herself gave a Hunkar, and by the sound of that hunkar alone Dhumralochana was burnt to ash. This, he says, is why mantra uccharan is so essential: people rattle off "hum hum phat phat" without knowing or hearing the mantra, and that is where trouble comes — one must know where the hum of the hunkar goes, where a makara or an anusvara goes, whether a syllable is read with anusvara or with makara.
What is the actual scriptural authority on which mantras are bound or unbound?
The Rudrayamala's Devi Rahasya chapters lay out, deity by deity, which mantras Mahadeva bound and which He never touched — the same authority this discussion draws its claims from, including for Shiva's own Panchakshari.
Which mantras must never be taken up without diksha?
The apadauddharan mantras should never be done without diksha — they are shapit mantras. The speaker says he has given the proof for this several times from the Sharada Tilak and the rest. Their shaap vimochan is obtained only after a guru ji's mantra diksha, so those mantras should not be used. This, he says, is entirely according to shastrokta mat.
From the five faces to the Panchakshara, the Tripada Gayatri, the Vedas and crores of mantras
The speaker says the separate letters that came in order from the same five faces are Bhagavan Sadashiva's Panchakshara, and from the Panchakshari Mantra the matrika varnas of five kinds appeared; the Panchakshara is held to be Shiva's own form, the one place where his full five-faced form is described. Citing the ninth and tenth adhyayas of the Vishweshwara Samhita, he says from that shiro-mantra the Tripada Gayatri Mantra appeared through four faces, from the Gayatri the whole of the Vedas, from the Vedas crores of mantras, and by those mantras different works are accomplished. So at the root stand the Pranava and the Panchakshara, and through them every work in this world can be accomplished.
How does one come to know about one's beejakshar?
Asked how one will come to know about the beejakshar, the speaker replies that it has been told in the video — if it is to be done in the makar, they have told it.
How does the dhyana mantra relate to the beej?
The form to be meditated on is the one the dhyana mantra gives. For the Ekakshari mantra of Bhagavati Durga just given, the Beeja Durga Pranava, Bhagavati's dhyana mantra is vidyudama-samaprabham — she whose radiance is like lightning. So when you do japa of the Ekakshari, it is that very form of Bhagavati that is to be meditated upon; and the beej mantra you are reciting is one beej, one small portion, of that vast dhyana form within which all the shaktis are contained.
The nakshatra charan nyasa vidhi is also found in the nyasa method of the mool mantras and in kavach nyasa
In the Ashtottar Shatnam we call this the nakshatra nyasa vidhi, the nakshatra charan nyasa vidhi. You will find it in the nyasa method of the mool mantras as well — in the vidhan of nyasa of the mool mantras too. And when nyasa of a kavach is done, in those too, and in the brihad vidhis, and in the bhoot lipi vidhan of which he speaks again and again, a great deal of time is taken in the nyasa and the rest.
What kind of tattoo does he say should not be made?
So far as the subject of a tattoo on the outer body and its water going into the drain is concerned, that is separate, he says; even so one should have the pratik chinh of God made. The full swaroop bhed should not be made, in his view. Asked how one will know that a varna parivartan has taken place, he says the questioner is probably asking according to the mantra vidhi, and that it comes only when you do the whole thing in the proper manner.
Can an anushthan be done of a mantra whose vidhi came in a dream?
Asked whether one can perform an anushthan of a mantra whose vidhi was told in a dream, the speaker says first find out which mantra it is, what it is and how it is — know the whole subject, and only then do it. There is a related video on the channel.
Mantra samputan is a whole science and is never composed independently
A listener sends a samputit mantra he has written. He answers by name that he has no knowledge whatever on this subject and therefore asks pardon. He cannot make samputit mantras of his own accord, nor can he tell the listener that this is correct; he simply does not have knowledge about it, nor can he samput mantras in this way. Mantra samputan, he says, is a whole science, and it is never done independently.
The first step is learning the mantras from your own gurus, then composing mantras of their own
The very first work, he says, is to learn the mantras from your own gurus, take Diksha, perfect them, obtain the kripa of the devi-devatas and obtain boons. And when samarthya of that grade is obtained — such that one can compose mantras oneself and give them potency — the next work is to increase one's shagirds in society.
In the Sankat Nashan stotra, is it Vighnarajendram or Vighnarajam?
You have asked this very rightly, the speaker says. In some places Vighnarajendram is also written, and there is Vighnarajam; Vighnaraj is found in most places. And if you read Vighnarajendram it is the Indra of kings, and if you read Vighnarajam then it is king — so in both of them, in both it is for the Bhagavan alone. You may read whichever of the two you like; there is no difficulty. Saptam Vighnarajendram, saptam Vighnarajam: in Rajendram too and in Rajam too, in both the Bhagavan is king.
Can a pig-skin asana be used, and what of the Mahaganpati vidhi?
Asked whether the asana of a pig's skin can be used, he tells the questioner to go ahead and use it — who has forbidden it. Asked to explain the vidhi vidhan of havan, tarpan and marjan in the Mahaganpati sadhana, he says that if it is being asked by the Bhoot Lipi vidhan then it is not possible to tell it here, because there is so much use of the matrikas in it that it cannot be spoken in this way; it would have to be written down and shown.
The devata of the one syllable himself opens the way from one to three and from three to five
So you can obtain all the secrets even from a mantra of one syllable, the speaker says. How to take you from one to three, and how from three to five, is your deity's own affair; the devata of that one syllable will himself find the way, and from that very thing you will come to know the secrets.
Are the tantric granthas available today the limit of what exists?
He repeats a point he says he has made before: it is not necessary that things are limited to whatever tantric granthas are directly available to you today as books. Beyond them there are many things that have not yet become public, and when they do become public ordinary people take a very long time to accept them, or do not accept them, because they feel the material is not authentic. One such subject, he says, is the beejatmak or mantratmak Saptashati connected with the gupt avatar Babaji spoken of in the context of Kriya Yoga.
Bhagavati manifested before Vedavyasa seated on a lotus of a thousand sahasrakshar beejas
The speaker says the subject is clarified there: when Bhagavati manifested before Vedavyasa, on the lotus seat on which Maa was seated a thousand sahasrakshar beejas were clearly visible. So Bhagavati is seated upon the beeja matrikas, and within those beeja matrikas each single independent beeja has an independent sadhana of its own.
Old tantra books held by a hereditary sadhak should be studied, not the translations of present-day commentators.
If you wish to read books on the subject of tantra, then of all the old books, try to make contact with such a sadhak as has the old books, he says. All the commentators of the present time, who are translating things from Sanskrit into Hindi, are leaving it very difficult — meaning that they are turning the meaning into a distortion. They attach such notes of their own that you will be disturbed on reading it and will feel: what is this? So either study it under the guidance of some sadhak who can tell you its correct import, or else study the old books, obtained from earlier hereditary sadhaks, read and returned to them after increasing your knowledge.
Can you add the Shri beej after Om to any mantra?
Asked whether one may do japa of some mantra by putting the Shri beej before Om, he answers that one should not do a hera-pheri of the beej mantra from oneself.
What should you do with a mantra received in a dream?
There is a separate video in which it has been explained fully, he says: if a mantra is received, how to know whether the mantra is right or wrong, whether some bhoot-pret has come and is wanting to get its own work done; at what time it was received, in what manner to know it, and what to do with the mantra afterwards. Do not search it on Google, he says, because a mantra received in a dream will not be found in Google. People immediately start Googling the mantra and then message him that Guru ji, a mantra was received in a dream and it is not being found in Google. Brother, he says, the shakti that is giving in a dream is a Mahashakti; from where and when she is pleased and giving it to you, and you are searching in Google — everything will not be found in Google.
What if the mantra you found later has more syllables than the one in the dream?
And in a mantra received exactly in a dream, add nothing of your own, he says. If you received a mantra in a dream and you remember it — it may be that you received a mantra of eight letters, and when you later search somewhere it turns out to be of nine letters — then what you have to do is exactly what was received in the dream, and not that you should add something of your own; no adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing is to be done in it. Although, he adds, if the very same real mantra is found, which you do or wish to do, then do it by vidhi-vidhan.
The mantras written in the Ravana Samhita have not yet been reached
Asked to give knowledge of some of the mantras written in the Ravana Samhita, the speaker says they have not yet reached that far.
What is seated inside the Damodara beejakshara?
Damodara is the sustaining form of Bhagavan Narayan, and in that form, in the measure of agni, the measure of brahma and the measure of the anga, Bhagavati Jagadamba Anagha Lakshmi herself is seated in the beejakshara. He is the sustainer and the maker of Shri, endowed with Shri; the agni beej is there to grant fire within the Shri; the "ra" sound is in the Rudra form; and as the anga above there is the "a" sound, the "ma" sound, or the "ga" sound, whichever you are to do japa in.
What is obtained in the gakar as against the makar?
Rajesh ji asks: if material desires are fulfilled in the makar, what happens in the gakar? See, the speaker says, the gakar becomes tantrokta. For tantra siddhi we go into the gakar. Although there is tantra siddhi in both — in the gakar it becomes one thing, in the makar it becomes another.
In which form are the beej mantras of the Datta Vajra Kavach read?
Whatever beej mantras there are, you are to read them all in the makar, the speaker says — keep this in mind. "आम शक्ति क्रोम" — so it is to be read as om, krom. The "dram" will be read in the makar. "Shreem" too in the makar, "som" too in the makar. However many have been given — "क्लाम, क्लूम्" — all will be read in the makar. Keep this in mind.
Which two mantras does the Devi Atharvashirsha discuss?
The Panchadashi first and the Navarna second. The speaker calls these the mantra-raj of the Devi, the most divine of the divine, beyond which there is nothing at all. Bhagavati has only these two as chief, and they are chief because it is these that the Atharvashirsha names openly.
What are the components traditionally associated with a classical mantra?
Mantra shastra identifies several components attached to a classical mantra — Rishi (the original seer), Chhanda (its metrical structure), Devata (the presiding deity), Bija (the seed syllable), Shakti (its active power), and Kilaka (a "lock" that some mantras carry, requiring an unlocking process before practice).
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