Naishthika Sadhana
Every question on the site tagged Naishthika Sadhana, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
Rigorously disciplined, precisely-timed practice — negative practitioners often maintain it more strictly than righteous ones, which is why casualness or complacency undermines a defensive Sadhana's full efficacy.
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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.
How should a sadhak conduct himself in society?
The speaker says dev kripa of that level requires grinding the body in service. If you are a sadhak, keep yourself at zero in the midst of society and do not fall into the state of dvesha. The more cut off you remain, the more you stay attached to the feet of your aradhya; the more attached you are to society, the more cut off you are from those feet.
What should a sadhak eat during the five days of Diwali?
Tomorrow is your Dhanteras from the madhyanh kaal, the speaker says. Since in the five days of Diwali the pujan of the evening period has special importance, sadhaks — especially those who are going to do sadhana — should take phalahar during the day. After the evening pujan is complete by eight or nine o'clock, they should take one meal. He adds that he is telling everything from his side but that listeners should act according to the convenience of their own body, and that he is not saying it must be done rigidly by the letter.
Should one stay on fruit for all five days?
It is not that people should now stay on fruit for the whole five days; that too would be wrong, the speaker says. The evening pujan means that one meal is to be taken at night. But on the day of the Diwali mahanisha — this time the Monday — whichever year you are listening in, on the day on which the Diwali mahanisha pujan will take place, you should keep a full fast and stay on phalahar, as much as the body supports.
What conduct is required while the anushthan runs?
Three things must be there — niyam, nishtha and samarpan. If you keep no samarpan and merely do it somehow, then there is no bhava and it will not happen here, because bhava-pradhanata weighs more here than kriya-pradhanata. Second, one's thought and conduct toward other beings, and toward the opposite sex and one's own sex, must be free of dvesha and kama — neither attached nor averse. Try to remain entirely ordinary and simple.
Should experiences in sadhana be shared?
Let the shaktis come from reality, he says; and if they are giving kripa on your bhava then they absolutely will, they can come — when you do so much, will those shaktis not come? They absolutely can. But do not go about beating a drum over it, do not go distributing these experiences everywhere; learn to digest them within yourself and to stay contained. And if experience is not happening, stop fretting over it. That is not your adhikara — anubhava does not come within your and our adhikara.
When do the rules of a sadhana become strict?
When you do a sadhana according to vidhi for the attainment of siddhi, the speaker says, then in those even the arrangement of the cot and bedding must be properly made. So stay at ease.
In which two places is Sati's tapasya described?
Two places are described. One is Himachal parvat. The other is her own home — and the vrat Bhagavati Sati kept at home is the Nanda vrat.
What kind of place is prescribed for such experiences?
For the sake of experiences of this kind, the speaker says, it is said to practise ekantavas and aranyavas — at a Shiva temple within twelve kos of which there is no other Shiva temple, an ek-ling kshetra, or on a mountain peak. But now, he says, where will you go to do it on a peak? Around the main peak of any tirtha kshetra, houses, shops and hotels have all been built, so no solitary region remains; you will get one only by going far from there.
A cow and dogs must be fed daily through the sadhana, and never harmed — lifelong, but scrupulously across these thirty days.
For as long as this sadhana runs, the speaker says, you should certainly feed a cow every day and should certainly feed dogs. Never at any time cause harm to cows, to gauvansh, or to dogs. Harm is not to be caused lifelong, he says, but for these 30 days you are to keep very well indeed.
What is a householder told to do on Sharad Purnima night?
On the night of Sharad Purnima, he says, if it is possible one is to stay awake — awake the whole night. One ought to stay awake on the night of Purnima, on the night of Sharad Purnima. In the same way the night of Ashtami is also kept awake, when the mahapuja takes place. There is a mahatmya in staying awake on these nights.
The collective havan is not a substitute for staying awake — sleep in the day and keep the night, at least till four in the morning.
Do not think, he says, that the whole thing is being had performed for you, that so tremendous a havan is happening, that you gave the sankalpa here and can now rest — that Lakshmi ji has come, the naivedya is ready, the lamp is burning, she will stay awake all night, so we sleep. Do not do that. Only if you stay awake will the work be done. Sleep in the day and stay awake at night — at least till four in the morning; you may bathe after four, do the morning pujan, give the surya arghya and then sleep, but try to stay awake the whole night.
The household will call it becoming a tantric, and that is yours to manage — the body gives drowsiness in Mai's seva and none at all through a night of chatting, according to what your priority is.
Now the people of your house and family will be afraid, he says — that he has become a tantric, he is doing japa at night; that you have to manage. He says sleep does not come at night when chatting with a girlfriend, one chats until dawn, chats for two whole days, and there is no drowsiness; but when one goes into Mai's seva then drowsiness comes, health becomes bad, there is headache and backache. Your body, he says, will react with you according to what your priority is.
Where Jagadamba is not given priority and nothing is attained, the deficiency is one's own and nobody else's.
You are not giving Jagadamba priority, he says, and here you weep that you are not attaining anything — the fault and the deficiency in this is yours, not anyone else's; keep that in view. So understand the importance of the night of Sharad Purnima: stay awake at night.
Let a sadhika walk the roof in payal on the Purnima night and let the neighbours be frightened — but stay awake, and the work is done.
If you are a woman, a kanya, walk about wearing payal, he says. Let the people all around be afraid — that a chudail is walking on her roof, that one must remain afraid of her, that she has made some devi siddha and roams at night. Frighten them, browbeat the world; yes, she is a sadhika, we are sadhaks, she applies a red tilak — frighten everyone by walking about at night in the Purnima, so that they know the devis and devatas were roaming in her house on the Purnima night. But stay awake, do not sleep, and your work will be done; and your enemies will die of fear like that, saying a chudail walks on his roof at night.
Nobody was told to do japa day and night: even one or two hours, from eleven to one, is the main thing.
Corporate labourers cannot do japa day and night, an hour or two, he says — and where did he say to do it day and night? He is saying only this: make the effort to stay awake on the night of Sharad Purnima. Even one or two hours is the main thing, from eleven o'clock to one o'clock. In those two hours do at least as much as can be done, as much as your body supports.
Is the full fruit of sadhana obtained only in the solitude of the night?
A listener says the full fruit of sadhana is obtained only in the solitude of the night, and that for the past twenty years he has wanted to do sadhana in the Rudra place there. Certainly do it, the speaker says, it is a very good thing; you can do it by day as well. At night you can do it in the courtyard of the temple — it is not necessary that you sit right before them, if there is room there.
What if one could not keep one's sadhana secret?
A listener says he has completed an anushthan but could not keep his sadhana secret. Never mind, the speaker says — it came to be known, that is all right, there is no difficulty. Such a difficulty will not arise; but do not make a display of it, saying that we do this path. He notes that in all the experiences he keeps, he never gives anyone's name, and that he puts up experiences so that people are motivated.
After the nyasa, rule-following comes with great strictness, whatever those who mock such austerities may say
After doing the nyasa, rule-following comes with great strictness. That, he says, is why you will see the bhakti-minded people asking pardon — and he says he asks forgiveness of those sant maharaj ji who say, so what of it, I did not eat this food for so many days, I did not touch money for so many days, what did you do? This matter is not for everybody; people come out in front and display that ego of theirs, saying we did not do it. One is not to say, brother, that we did not do it.
Those performing the complete brihad vidhi of nyasa keep the restrictions, because that vidhi forbids touching dravya
But in reality, which people do not do these things? Those who are performing the complete brihad vidhi of nyasa. They will not do it, because in that there is a prohibition on this thing: you are not to touch dravya, if you have done the nyasa method. He recalls that in some of Basant Vijay Maharaj ji's videos this was told with regard to dravya itself — that today we are telling you people to do this remedy and that remedy, but there the very touching of dravya is forbidden.
How is food taken in the kapal on the Chandrayan reckoning?
Only food is to be obtained; and if a kapal is obtained to you, then you will have to eat in the kapal itself. And in the food obtained in the kapal too — as we hear concerning the Chandrayan vrat, in which there is a vidhi that according to the tithi there is a count of mouthfuls: on Pratipada one mouthful will be eaten, on Dwitiya two mouthfuls — in exactly the same way, after the Purnima it will go in decreasing order.
Why does ego come after a hard-won siddhi?
It is after living with such strictness that siddhi is obtained. And when siddhi is obtained, then a little maya will come, a little ego — we lived with such strictness. But brother, if we set aside that little ego that came: well, they obtained something. If any yogi or sadhak obtains something and Bhagavan takes his test by giving him ego, then somewhere or other he makes him strict again for this very thing; and afterwards such teaching comes from life that they abandon that ego of theirs entirely.
What niyams apply to a Surya anushthan?
Mistakes of what kind? Brahmacharya observance first of all, the speaker answers — brahmacharya should be observed in both mental and physical form. Their puja should ordinarily be done for a minimum of twelve days, though you may do even one day if you wish. If you have brought it into your nitya niyam it is not necessary there, but if you have taken a sankalpa of an anushthan, then you must observe the niyams, along with sattvik food and the other ordinary rules.
Should I take up a new sadhana this Diwali?
He asks listeners to think once before beginning any new sadhana. Whatever prayoga you performed last year, whatever anushthan you have been carrying since last year — Kalika Yogini, for those who are doing it — his request is that you repeat that same sadhana again.
Why should a sadhana already begun not be changed?
Because new people keep arriving on the channel, and everyone's shraddha is in different shaktis, so different subjects are set out clearly for them. But if you have already taken up some sadhana earlier, do that one in its expanded form. Even if there is no discussion with him and you are doing it yourself, keep doing it.
This is settled first so nobody abandons an old sadhana on hearing a new one described
So that there is no confusion — so that when he goes on to discuss the rest, listeners do not take it to mean that they should leave their old sadhana and pick up a new one. He says this is a very necessary thing, and that he does not want to make YouTube a medium where only influencing matters, where new sadhanas are poured out and the old followers are never followed up.
Is it true that a sadhak should not sleep during the day?
There is a subject that a sadhak should not sleep during the day, he says — but that holds to the extent the body has the capacity: if you have awakened the body through pranayama and yoga and gained victory over the sthul sharir, then you can gain control over nidra. Otherwise do not think that you will neither sleep in the day nor at night, sleeping only two or three hours from half past two. Not everyone's body will support that.
Will the body not adjust to a night schedule?
It does adjust, he says, giving Navratri as the example: for the first two or three days the condition is bad, and the body takes two or three days to adjust; after that it becomes complete in that same pattern — when to sleep, when to wake, when to do what. When Navratri finishes, it again takes two or three days to become normal; sleep simply does not come. In the same way, once you begin sadhana having made a rule, your body will adjust.
When should I eat on the days of the anushthan?
After you have completed the sadhana at night, eat your food again and go to sleep. If you eat before the sadhana, sleep will come. So eat after completing the sadhana — whatever sadhana you are doing, whether it be Kalika Yogini, Mahabhairav or another.
Should I switch from Mahabhairav to Kalika Yogini?
Answering Ashish ji, he says: do not leave Mahabhairav. Do theirs. Along with it, do the pujan of Bhagavati Kali. If you want to do Kalika Yogini, he will forbid you now — stop; you have laboured this many days, do not run away. Stop.
Can sadhana be done without bathing, and can a copper ring replace kusha?
Asked whether, after working in the day, one may do sadhana in the evening without bathing, only washing hands and face, he says: heat the water and bathe. At most, do not wash the hair, if there is a possibility of feeling cold. Asked whether a copper ring can be used in place of kusha, he says you can — you can use a copper ring, and you can use a gold one too.
What harm do garlic and onion do in sadhana?
They increase heat, he says: there will be pain in the waist, pain in the stomach, pain in the liver — he notes he said liver pain, not labour pain. So there is difficulty. And the greatest difficulty from garlic and onion is that tamasik vritti certainly increases. The state of swapna dosha increases much more in men. The more heat there is, that much more difficulty; the process of spandan above the Muladhara begins to happen in such a way that a man cannot understand it. So garlic and onion do harm; garlic and onion should be given up.
It is far better to hold to one sadhana and go on with it than to take up the yogini sadhana as well.
Asked to explain the yogini sadhana of Bhagavati Durga, the speaker tells the questioner it would be far better if he held to one sadhana and went on with it. There is no two opinions that he does a great deal of sadhana and does it with great intensity, but he does not stay upon one sadhana. He says he repeats this again and again: people ask about him, and he has been doing one and the same sadhana for a long time. He gives them all so that you may choose — choose only one.
Can Baglamukhi and Kali be done together when attraction shifts?
Asked by a listener who had long been doing the Baglamukhi Ashtottara Shatanama, then the Kali Yogini sadhana and Vairi Nashan, and now feels attraction towards Kali Mata, the speaker says that if you are now doing Bhagavati Kali's, then go on doing hers alone. Do hers for some time — three months, six months. It is not that you cannot do it, but do only one; if you do the one you are doing for a long time, it will be better.
Why should one old sadhana be repeated rather than a new one taken up?
The speaker says he says again and again that one should hold to one sadhana and repeat it again and again. All the experiences they put out, he says, are nobody's immediate experience: even in the experiences of the Kalika Yogini sadhana that he is putting out, because the result came to them only now, those people had been doing that sadhana from before. Of the three videos he has put on the channel, in none is there anyone who saw the video today, did the sadhana tomorrow and had Kalika Yogini appear before them the day after. Some have been connected for a year or more, some since January or February; they have done a fixed measure of many sadhanas, and the fruit came to them only now — their japa and puja were already strong, their tapobal already raised, and this sadhana gave them fruit at once.
The four-prahar puja must be made a yearly rule, for the body is not eternal and it is this one night's puja that will be of use.
Now every year, he says, it must be made regular. The body is not eternal. This puja that you are doing, this puja of one night — it is this that will be of use, brother.
How often should the puja of Gurudatt be performed?
The vidhan of Gurudatt, he tells a listener, is to perform the same puja every day, as much as one has the capacity for.
How long does the suffering last while paap is being cut?
When our paap is being cut — when we do punya, paap is cut — there is nothing but suffering for ten and fifteen years, and we weep. The mind draws back; one feels, how much more will you give. But there are the prarabdhas of many births which begin to be cut when you start doing sadhana, when you begin havan, when you are pouring water on Shiva. Sometimes you are doing a whole month's anushthan and at that very time the suffering increases — health goes bad, debt comes — and still one does not stop, saying that surely one day the Lord will hear.
How should sadhana be increased when the good time comes?
In suffering one is already doing bhakti so that the suffering may end. When the auspicious time comes, one should increase one's sadhana further. When the capacity for good quality comes, use good quality ghee; if you did a havan once a month before, now do a havan once a week. If earlier you could go on a tirth yatra once in five years and God has now given you capacity, then go on a tirth yatra two or three times a year — and go by vidhi vidhan, not as a tourist out sightseeing.
What should children be told to become?
When the time is bad the reality is known: there is nobody to ask after you, and uncle, aunt, brother and sister-in-law all leave and go away at that time. So, he says, is there anyone who explains this thing to his children and says: grow up and become a sadhak, grow up and serve Jagadamba, grow up and serve Shiva, you have to do the bhakti of God, you have to become a devotee? Everyone says: you must become a doctor, you must become an engineer.
The more secretly these works are kept the better, since coming before people eats into one's bhajan and forces a style to be maintained.
We do not meet anybody, he says. The more secretly you do all these works, the better it is. After coming before people, one's bhajan gets eaten into. After that the baba ji becomes a model: then he will have to maintain a style, get his hair cut short, his tilak will acquire a quality of its own, he will have to wear spotless clothes, since one never knows when or where a devotee may be met, and then we shall become a YouTuber, a blogger, giving selfies all day. After that the whole punya begins to be depleted in place after place.
What harm does public recognition do among sadhaks?
After that, he says, fifty sadhaks will stand up in enmity, saying that this man does such and such, that he has this. So inwardly, somewhere, a bhav of malice will arise. Why should we become the cause of another's falling, he asks — that within ten men a bhav of envy should arise on account of me, seeing that this is the one, this is Rudransh, this is the Grihastha Tantra one. Better then that we shall not meet; stay in your own place, do the bhajan of Bhagavati, do the seva of Jai Jagadamba, the vidhi vidhan is on the channel.
What should one say to a child ten times a day?
Tell your child, he says, and speak it into him from childhood: however grown your child may already be, tell him that when you grow up you will become a sadhak; you have taken birth in Sanatan in order to become a sadhak, not in order to become an engineer or a doctor. Being an engineer or doctor is a field of karma; you have to become that anyway. It is for this body that has been received — this body is a garment and nothing more. For the soul within it, with which you took birth, you must become a sadhak. Say it to children ten times a day, and say it to yourself too, at whatever level you are, as long as the breath runs.
After the ten days: eight daily paths for life, yearly repeats, and the promise of a fulfilled sankalp
The speaker says the path is not to be dropped once the ten days end: at least eight paths daily, morning and evening if possible, for six months without a break, and in his own view for life. The ten-day Anushthana itself should be repeated every year whenever Ganesh puja comes or in any month that suits, and repeating it every month is best of all. If one keeps this up for a whole year, he says he gives it in writing that the sankalp one is doing it for cannot fail to be fulfilled, however strong the thing written in one's Prarabdha, if Ganpati bestows his grace. The wish must be dharma-yukt, not against dharma: a son, children, wealth, vidya, success in a competitive exam, continued for one year.
Niyam through the anushthan: swapaki, phalahar by day, saltless havishya at night
The speaker says the sadhak was swapaki — he cooked his own food — stayed on phalahar all day, and at night took one meal of havishya anna, that is, food without salt, keeping every rule as it should be kept in the field of sadhana. He admits this is not possible for everyone, but says he is sharing the true experience so that if Bhagavati ever gives you the chance, you do sadhana in this way — then the shaktis will truly show grace.
Deities manifest for disciplined sadhaks because they test them
The speaker says he hopes the story encourages sadhaks who want to practise with discipline. For the undisciplined, he says, it stays a matter of mere feeling that God will come; but for one who binds himself to a strict daily routine, it is not at all the case that God is absent — devi-devatas certainly manifest for such a person, because they also test. Discipline is not within everyone's power, but for the one who keeps it, however great the difficulty or daivik obstacle, the Devi herself appears, grants direct grace and departs. The sadhak, he adds, now lives an ekantik life, never discussing his attainments, only his seva-puja and Bhagavati's will.
What two things govern all twelve bhavas?
Among these twelve there is one more subject, he says: it is a basic thing for any sadhana that all this effect is obtained from certain causes — first, anushasan, and second, gopaniyata. Shani Deva is the adhishthatri deva of the gupt vidyas; remember this too. When you perform sadhana while displaying it, Shani Deva never gives that auspicious effect. Make yourself hidden; make yourself constricted — constricted meaning limit your whole circle, you are not to show it anywhere. Then see what level of fruit you get.
What becomes the daily nitya niyam after those counts are done?
Taking these two independently — forget the samput matter told before — you completed Panchakshari five lakh and Mahamrityunjay 1100 minimum. Now go on daily, as a nitya niyam, reciting at least Panchakshari and Mahamrityunjay 11 times each day; keep it in your niyam. And once the Mahamrityunjay Stotra is committed to memory you can perform the abhishek of Bhagavan Shiva while reciting it, or with the Ashtottara Shatanamavali.
Why do quarrels arise during the days of sadhana?
Within the sadhak, and especially at the time of sadhana, there will be a pariksha of all these things — which is why he raises the subject, he says. Where nothing was to have happened, even there the possibility of a beating and fighting arises; because somewhere or other a condition is produced so that you become deflected from your sadhana.
What happens to confidence after reaching sava lakh or five lakh?
Confidence will be formed, he says: once you have reached sava lakh, five lakh, there is a great difference between the confidence of today and of that time. But do not then abandon it, thinking five lakh is done and you will never touch a mala again in life, saying we are sitting here having done five lakh — then it will not take time to be finished. So it is not to be abandoned either.
What is the rule when illness interrupts the practice?
Do not let the krama break, he says. Health became bad and we were doing 100 mala — we will reduce it. We will do only one mala. But not a single day will go missing. We were doing 100 mala; now we will do only one mala until we recover.
What is the minimum act to keep the krama unbroken?
If in the morning and evening we are unable to do any large pujan at all, then we will go and just light camphor before Bhagavan Shiva, before Maiya, at our own pujan place, with purity, and come away. We will do only that much. Do not let the krama break. For how many days? Bhagavan too will bestow kripa; in three or four days you will be well, and then start doing it again.
What extra discipline is prescribed for a capable sadhak?
A capable sadhak — meaning one whose body is able — should eat one meal a day and do japa, at night or in the day. Those who cannot, because of the heat, office and work, should do as much as the body allows. But it will be good, the speaker says, if it is done while staying in sattvikta, because eating heavily makes long sitting difficult.
Whose food may not be eaten during a fifteen-day anushthan?
The speaker says that during a fifteen or sixteen day anushthan one rule must certainly be kept: do not eat the food of anyone else's house. While doing a purashcharan one should never eat food from another's house. Not even a daughter's house, nor a married sister's — one should not even go there, let alone eat.
Does the food restriction extend to a lover's or the in-laws' house?
Yes. The speaker says that if you are a lover and beloved, you may be very much bound by rule in your own place, but in the middle of a purashcharan you will not eat the food of each other's house at that time until your pani grahan has taken place; and one should not eat the food of the in-laws' house either. Whoever will not accept it, he says, need not.
Should a beginner take up the most elaborate vidhi at once?
No. He says that if you enter the elaborate vidhi brand new, there will be difficulty, because to do it with a great deal of vidhi one needs tapo-bala and a siddh asana. Asana siddhi, he explains, means that you have the capacity and the patience to sit; otherwise a beginner will do it for two or three days and then abandon it.
Can a sadhak hide his own energy from other sadhaks?
Yes. Those naishthik sadhaks who know the extensive vidhi vidhan of kavachas and know keelan in their kula parampara — as one learns of the Triskarani Durga prayoga — everyone has such Durga-related forms in his own kula parampara, and people often use them precisely so that their energy does not come before other sadhaks. About such sadhaks, he says, we will not be able to know anything.
Continuous sadhana and nitya naimittik upasana bring the same capacity to know a person on sight
That capacity comes to you too, to a degree, when you do sadhana continuously, keep doing anushthan and poshan, and perform your sandhya upasana as nitya naimittik practice — you will begin to know the person before you simply by looking. He then turns back to the nyasa paddhati, in which the parampara descends from the deity to the first initiate and onward to your guru, however many crores of years it took.
What can be done about nails and hair growing long during a long anushthan?
Reading out a listener's question — the nails grow long and disturb, what is the remedy — he answers that nails grow long, hair and beard grow long, and for men the problem is greater still. He says he has no remedy either; he too roams about like a madman, and it is cut only when the anushthan is complete. There is no remedy in this, he says: for those on long anushthans there is nothing, and we will simply look like mad babas.
What should the daily sankalpa of a sadhak be?
In the daily seva-puja, he says, keep a paushtik sankalpa: for obtaining the deity's grace, for ananya bhakti, for the quelling of the obstacles that come in the path of bhakti and japa siddhi, and for the obtaining of capacity — Bhagwan, give us the capacity that where today we are doing only ten paths, we may take it to a hundred paths daily. Give us capacity; let sleep not come to us; let laziness not come to us; when we sit, let our asana be siddha; let us be able to sit as long as we wish — make us that capable, and take our seva from us endowed with capacity. He says explicitly that he is saying this for sadhaks: ordinary people should not take tension, but take whatever rules they wish and do what is theirs — wealth, vaibhav, the obtaining of some object or some person.
How long do all ugra shaktis take?
As many ugra shaktis as there are, he says, they take sadhanas of twelve years. You may do it going into different kshetras, or do it in one kshetra. In less than that it does not happen. Afterwards there are a great many rules.
Grow the hair for a year or two without letting scissors touch it, men especially
Try growing the hair once, he says. If you are not under some compulsion, not in a service where the hair must be kept short, then grow it: without letting scissors be used, grow your hair for a year or two, and afterwards you may have it cut if you wish. He addresses this especially to men, and to those who are getting no siddhi, having no experience, whose circumstances have become poor and mean, who are always weeping — let those people grow their hair. It is not a matter of a mannat: keep it groomed, try it for a year or two, and within a year and a quarter you will understand, and there will be a difference of earth and sky.
Searching always for the comfort zone, comfort will one day take away the things that give it
Leaving laziness and comfort, he says, remain on the path of sadhana; do more and more, and you will get the effect of things. If you keep searching always for the comfort zone, then the comfort zone will one day give you such comfort that the very things by which you obtain comfort will not remain with you.
Many sadhaks never spend their tapobala, refusing to make a sankalp and expend it
Many times, he says, people do not spend their tapobala at all — you will find many such examples when you go inside this field. They could have done a great deal by their tapobala had they wished, but they simply do not make a sankalp and expend the tapobala. They say: whether she gives it or does not give it is her wish; we will only do this.
Why should one be siddhantavadi and not vyaktivadi about teachers?
This is why we say again and again, the speaker states: be siddhantavadi, not vyaktivadi — so that when you come to know something good or bad about that person, you still do not compromise with the siddhant, and do not abandon what you have been doing until now. He gives an example: almost the whole public of India was at one time following Premanand ji Maharaj very well, and he too found it very good — up to the day he did not speak crooked things about Bhagavati and about Bhagavan Shiva. On the day he spoke that subject, however many times he afterwards polished it over, saying no, it was like this, saying all of that — whatever you may say afterwards, in the arrogance in which he spoke that subject at that time, from that moment the curtain of surrender lifted, that yes, he is naishthik, he is such and such; and it did not go back up again. It may go up for other people, but the learned persons of this field who had given him a respect will not be able to bring it back.
Should sadhana ever be abandoned?
Sadhana is not to be abandoned under any condition at all, the speaker says, before greeting further listeners by name.
Does a person with much rajogun have difficulty succeeding in sadhana?
Asked whether a person in whom rajogun is greater has difficulty in the success of sadhana, the speaker asks what rajogun means and what difficulty there would be in success. Whenever you perform sadhana, you have to take up niyams at that time: complete observance of brahmacharya, sattvik conduct, thought, behaviour, food and so on. It is in this whole set of niyams, in walking while maintaining the whole discipline, that difficulty arises — that is why you say success will not come. But it is not that success will not come; the difficulty is that you will have some trouble in observing your niyams.
How does one keep one's sadhana secure?
Asked how to keep one's sadhana secure, or how to keep the energy of japa secure, the speaker answers that sadhanas remain secure by niyam. Asked separately with which devi devta japa may be done on a parad mala, he says japa of all of them can be done with parad.
When should a long sadhana be taken up?
Take up a long sadhana when you are completely confirmed that for the next three months we are not going anywhere; that there will be no trouble at all; that the vegetables and everything will be managed and you will remain sitting at home. What he means, he says, is that only if the people of the house cooperate that much should you take up a long sadhana; otherwise go on doing small sadhanas of eleven days and twenty-one days. Then there will be no difficulty either, and it will be done comfortably.
May medicine be taken during a sadhana period?
Absolutely take it, brother, he says. Only if the body remains healthy will you be able to do sadhana; if there is not the capacity in the body to run without medicine, then do not give up the medicine.
What is the prayashchitta if brahmacharya is broken?
If brahmacharya is broken, he says, then for prayashchitta do five malas of japa separately and ask for kshama, speaking it out. If it was broken at night, then do the prayashchitta the next morning. Do not abandon the sadhana — if you used to do five malas of japa, then do five malas more. This is human, it is an offence, and you will forgive it. But do not leave the sadhana, do not let the mind become uchatit; keep the continuity. There is no difficulty. You are not doing the sadhana of yaksha and yakshini, he says, that they will come and take your life.
What food rule attaches to doing three sandhyas?
Now if you do it after eating ann, he says, there is a problem here — there will be a little difficulty. So if you people wish to do it daily even for a lifetime, he will not say to do such and such; but if it is of 108 days, of a year, of two years, then keep the ann rule a little reduced: that until the evening sandhya is done, take fruit or the juice of fruits; and even if you eat ann, let your ann be wholly pure and sacred, not endowed with salt or lavana. And eat in the night-time.
Must one who fasts in Navratri sleep on the floor?
If your body has the strength then do bhumi shayan — on kusha, or on a blanket, or thicken the blanket. One should not sleep on a khat. If you do not sleep on a bed, that is best. And if you are sleeping raised because there is simply no room on the floor, or some such matter arises in the family, then there is no difficulty: sleep above, asking Bhagavati for forgiveness. But bhumi shayan is the best of all — a kusha mat on the ground, or a blanket.
What can a sadhak with very little time do during the Navratra?
Those who cannot give much time, who are extremely short of time, should for the nine days of the Navratra alone — this time the Navratri is of ten days, so everyone will comfortably get nine days — take the time of 11:43 to 11:45 each day, a quarter to twelve at night. From a quarter to twelve until 1:30, sitting continuously through that stretch, doing the continuous japa of whatever stotra, stuti, kavach or mantra it may be, without rising and without moving. For them it becomes divine.
What if guidance comes in a dream during the sadhana?
The third chief thing: if in the middle of a sadhana some guidance is being obtained through a dream or the like, saying that at this time you should do it in this manner, then the sadhana being done by you is not to be abandoned midway under any circumstances. Many people begin a sadhana, receive some new mantra in a dream, and begin doing that from the middle. This mistake should never be made.
Should a new sadhana be started in Gupt Navratri?
If a sadhana already running from before is coming into Gupt Navratri, complete that very one; do not begin a new sadhana, the speaker says.
How much vidhi vidhan should a householder take on?
So keep the vidhi vidhan only to that much, he says. Today you give bhojan four times; tomorrow you will say, Maiya, now there is a job, so be satisfied with one time only, and the rest of the time I will take phalahar. Therefore, looking at what your future is and how you wish to proceed in accordance with it, do only as much as you can fulfil later on, or as the people of your house, your wife and so on, can fulfil in your absence.
How is the dosha of lapsing from a niyam to be removed?
Asked how to remedy the dosha that attaches when one lapses from a niyam, the speaker says the dosha will depend upon which niyam you are lapsing from.
What can a man working twelve hours a day do when daily japa is not possible?
Do only two things, he says. There is a stotra of Hanuman in which his twelve names are told — commit those twelve names to memory. In the morning when you wake, do its path twelve times; or after bathing, in the morning, do the path twelve times. It will take you two to three minutes. In the evening or at night, whenever you come home, after washing your hands and feet, changing your clothes and freshening up, light a lamp and do the path of that stotra twelve times again. Do just this much.
What should such a person do when he does get free time?
And whenever you get a holiday, whenever you get some special time, do as much japa of that same stotra as you can — do 108, and if you wish to do more, do more, do an anushthan. Whenever it is possible, practise saying those twelve names in the mind again and again. At the time of sleeping, when you go to bed, fall asleep uttering that same name. Let there come a time in life when the ajapa japa of his name begins of itself within your mind.
How long should one do archan before learning the avaran vidhi?
The beginning pujan, he says, is at the least for a sava month; for some people even for a year or more. First the suktas and the rest should be memorised, and if not that, then archan by satnam and the like should be done beforehand for six months, for a year or more. Only then should the avaran vidhi also be learnt.
Why should the rules of sadhana be followed slowly?
Those who do not follow these rules and say they do it their way and this happens and that happens — you do not go and check whether it is really happening or not. Those who do not go by the rules have to suffer great grief and hardship in the course of time. He forces the rules so that whatever happens is permanent, even if slow — a cure such that we do not again get caught in the same sin. Those who get results instantly, he says, can change their path instantly: they will say they have become pure vegetarian because they had a task to accomplish, and the day after tomorrow, once it is done, they will become non-vegetarian again. But whoever had to observe vegetarianism for five years, and whose task was accomplished more than fully after five years, will think before becoming non-vegetarian again.
Is cutting hair, beard and nails forbidden in Sawan?
Getting the beard cut, the hair done and the nails cut in Sawan does remain forbidden, he says, but look at your own situation: if you are in a job, in a profession, and your profile is such that it is not allowed there, then there is no difficulty. Those who do the other sadhanas, the long ones that run through the whole of Sawan, should not have their beard, hair, nails and the like cut.
How should sleep be arranged around the time of sadhana?
The best thing, he says, is that if you have to do sadhana in the evening, sleep well for at least an hour and a half or two hours in the afternoon; if you get that sleep at midday, the evening sadhana will be entirely fresh. And if you have to do sadhana at dawn, then at 9 o'clock at night — he addresses the boys and girls, all the youth — say goodbye to your sona babu; break up if you must, do not reply at all; mobile off; if sadhana is to be done, it is to be done. Get up at dawn and do sadhana and sleep will not come. If the sleep is incomplete and the tension of the sona babu is in the mind, from where will the sadhana come?
One who reaches that state passes half the day with no capacity to speak
If we became so great a siddha, the speaker says, then he knows that we would not be able to say anything on YouTube or Facebook — the mouth does not open. When a person attains that state, half the day passes just so, and the state to do or say anything does not even arise. Those who are doing sadhana of that kind can see this themselves: the wish arises to leave it all, to stay in solitude, to meet nobody, even to leave off work and trade; a different kind of bhav manifests in the mind.
Should Ekadashi be kept while a long anushthan is running?
Whenever a person is performing some extensive anushthan, the speaker says, the question is what guru nirdesh he has received. Suppose you are doing a 41-day anushthan of Bhagavati, and you have been keeping the Ekadashi of every month, and in a 41-day anushthan two Ekadashis may fall — should the Ekadashi be kept or not? This will depend on what adesh your guru ji has given for it. As far as his own belief goes, and he states plainly that this is a belief and not an answer with shastrokta proof, upasana should be connected only with the deity whose puja is being done.
Should darshan of the deity be spoken about publicly?
Told by a listener that the bal svarup of Durga ji is being seen, he says such subjects are not told publicly in this way. If Bhagavati is giving darshan and giving kripa, that is a very good thing — keep it limited to yourself. Take the enjoyment of the sadhana.
Why should darshan of the deity not be spoken of to anyone?
To a listener describing his experience, he says that what you are saying is not to be spoken — you perform puja, and this subject should not be told; he has been saying it again and again. Darshan has been happening for a month; what are you doing? Take the enjoyment of it. It is not to be told to anybody.
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