Nirmalya
Every question on the site tagged Nirmalya, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
A deity's used daily offerings — flowers, leaves, and similar items — carrying Their residual energy; which offerings to use for a given form (e.g. Shiva's for Bhairav, the Goddess's for Bhairavi) depends on that form's own worship tradition.
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Can pomegranate seeds or black grapes recited over with the Yogini namavali be eaten as prasad?
Asked whether the Yogini namavali can be recited over two pomegranate seeds or black grapes each and the whole household can then eat them as prasad, the speaker says they can eat them; there is no difficulty in it, if you wish to eat them after doing archan.
Which deities require the tulsi patra in their naivedya?
However many param Vaishnavi shaktis and Narayani shaktis there are, naivedya should be offered to them in that manner — that is, with the tulsi patra.
What is to be done with the leftover sandhi-kaal coconuts?
Asked what to do when the coconuts from the sandhi kaal are left over and it is not possible to eat them, the speaker says they should be given to the nine kanyas. He says that when the pujan takes place in the sandhi kaal, they should be given to the nine kanyas who come for the kanya pujan, or given at the temple. Give them away.
Otherwise distribute them among devotees of Bhagavati, or make chutney at home
Now if it is not proving possible, then distribute them — what else can be said, the speaker says. Give them to such people as are devotees of Bhagavati; do not give them to just anybody. Give them away. Distribute them in the household and family and eat them; make chutney of them and eat — he says he himself goes on making chutney of them and eating. He begins to raise a further point in this and then sets it aside, saying that with the two or four coconuts he keeps, he goes on making chutney and eating.
What may be done with the clay diyas used in Navratri?
Asked whether the clay diyas that were used in the Navratris may be put into the soil and paan plants grown, the speaker answers: absolutely, you can plant them.
Naivedya to both, and on a paan leaf with its front tip cut off, supari, two laung and one elaichi offered to each separately.
As much upchar pujan as you know should be done; panchopachar may be done, or what is being done here. Naivedya is offered first to both. The speaker says paan patta could not be obtained here because of some shortage of resources, but that all of you should certainly offer paan patta — cutting off the front tip of the leaf, as shown in other videos. On the paan leaf, supari, two laung and one elaichi are to be offered separately to each. Then bhog is offered and dhoop and deep are shown.
On the paan leaf, supari with two laung and an elaichi are offered along with the bhog.
After the flower garland, bhog is offered. The speaker says you should certainly also offer, on the paan leaf, two laung, one elaichi and supari — it was left out here, and he is saying it in the video so that all of you will certainly offer it. He then repeats the list in a differing form: paan patta, one supari, two elaichi, two laung, one elaichi.
Whatever time the rudrabhishek finishes, give him his full shringar in the evening.
In the morning, according to people's convenience, whoever is completing the rudrabhishek at whatever time — after that, in the evening, at the least remove everything, have his full shringar done well in whatever five or ten minutes it takes, and then have him seated. He is not to be left like that.
How should a brass vigraha be cleaned?
Asked whether a brass vigraha may be cleaned properly with a new brush and whether curd or lemon juice may be used, the speaker says they may — but do not scrub so much with the brush, or some day they will scrub you. They should be cleaned with a cotton cloth, so that one does not have to scrub for very long.
Disposal of the bhog offered to Bhairav
The speaker says the Bhog offered should, if one is a man and takes it oneself, be taken as Naivedya right there outside the temple, on the spot. Otherwise it may be distributed to small children, given to the temple's own sevaks to eat, or given to dogs — placed so they can eat it wherever they are found. Take a little oneself and feed all the rest right there to everyone.
What is the first caution after the eclipse ends?
The speaker describes the sequence — grahan kaal completed, moksha done, Chandra darshan, snan, sprinkling pure water, Gangajal, Tulsi patra and kusha over the deities, purifying everything, then sitting for pujan — and then somebody arrives at your house saying that as it was Purnima there was a puja at their house, so here is prasad, and you take it and eat it. If anyone brings you prasad of any kind after a grahan, he says, think a little, stop and pause.
What bhog should a diabetic offer in sadhana?
In our house, the speaker says, entirely satvik food is made, and the food that is made here we do not even eat without offering bhog to Bhagavati Vindhyavasini. So offer as bhog whatever you eat: offer the pure satvik food that you eat as bhog, and then eat it. It is to her in the form of Annapurna that the bhog is offered.
What should be done if a lizard eats the prasad of the puja room?
Do not leave too much prasad. After the puja is complete, only one or two grains of prasad should be left; all the rest of the prasad should be picked up, or keep the prasad covered. Since the lizard is poisonous, either keep it covered, or pick up the whole puja prasad and leave only a grain or two.
What is done at the temple?
First of all do deep daan there — at least two lamps are to be lit in the temple. Then hand it to whichever pujari is there for Bhagavati Kali, telling him your name and gotra, that you do Bhagavati's pujan from my name and gotra and offer this akshat at Bhagavati's shri charan. He will put the mala on Bhagavati, offer the akshat, offer the bhog. Whatever prasad, and flowers kept with it, the pujari ji returns — flowers, bel patra, whatever is obtained from Bhagavati's shri charan — you are to bring back and keep at your puja place.
What should be done with the shivling first thing in the morning?
Asked whether the shivling should be lifted from the arghi and wiped after abhishek, the speaker first sets out the morning order. Suppose the seva, puja and shringar were done today; then next morning at dawn, when you do pujan before sunrise or as your state allows, the very first thing is to take off the nirmalya and give the lingam one round of abhishek right there and then — bathing away all the chandan, bhasma and whatever shringar was applied — without any of the rest of the preparation.
What must be kept on the head of the shivling after bathing it?
After the nirmalya has been removed and the bath given, the crown must certainly remain upon the head. If you do not keep a crown, then place unbroken rice there again, or a washed bilva leaf or a new bilva leaf — certainly offer it upon their head. Do not keep it bare in that way.
Is it necessary to wipe the lingam before applying bhasma?
The speaker says that if after the snan you feel they should be wiped for the lepan of bhasma, then you may lift them and wipe them — but he does not have to wipe, and does not wipe. After abhishek, applying agar, gulab jal, itra and the like on those worshipped in the home makes them fragrant by itself and very well, and the bhasma and the tripundra then form nicely and they are beautifully adorned. If they are somewhat larger, it is easier still.
What is the order of the daily sprinkling?
At the very beginning, when you remove the flowers and the rest previously offered, which are the Nirmalya, and after that sprinkle water over all of them with a tulsi leaf, a mango leaf, with kusha and the like, or with a flower, reciting "pavitro pavitro va" or the Ganga Yamuna Godavari mantra — after that, spray this scented water over all the chhaya chitras and vigrahas, over all the malas, over the copper yantras, over everything. It will become divine.
Daily temple nirmalya hung above the chaukhat against abhichaar
Along with the Shiva water, the speaker says, bring every day the nirmalya from that same temple or from any very old temple — especially of Bhairav ji, Hanuman ji, Bhagavati Kali, Durga ji, or a temple connected with the Yoginis. It should be the morning's first nirmalya: what is left after the night's shringar and found there in the morning. Hang it on the upper side of the main-door chaukhat every day; next morning bring fresh nirmalya, immerse the old one and put up the new. Continue this for at least 108 days, six months, a year — more than half the tantra running over the house, he says, stops by this alone.
Why does nirmalya above the chaukhat block tantric powers?
The speaker recalls that Pushpadanta — the Gandharva Chitraratha, the Gandharva-raj who composed the Shiva Mahimna Stotra — had his powers crippled merely by transgressing nirmalya; if that happened to him, ordinary bhoot, pret and pishach are nothing. So the powers are stopped at the upper part of the chaukhat — the nirmalya is not hung below, because everyone would step over it there — and from beneath it no power can enter. How much effect it gives depends on other things: if someone inside the house is doing it, or the thing already gets in, the matter is different; but even then the powers will be blocked, the intent checked, and the house will largely come under protection.
Must the yantra be polished every single day?
No. If you cannot clean it so well daily, cannot make it shine, and do not have that much time, there is no difficulty — it will not become dirty in one day. Sitting down even one day in a week, or one day in ten days, clean it once with sugar grit when it seems to you that it has gone yellow, and it will shine; for the next ten days it will go on shining comfortably.
The remedy is water from the bathing of a tirtha's presiding vigraha, drunk directly
Kamarupa Kamakhya, Vindhyachal dham, any tirtha sthan — such water as is connected with the snana and the rest of the shri vigraha of the principal deity of that place. Make an arrangement to drink that water directly.
It is given daily on an empty stomach for at least one paksha
Make that water present in your life, arranging for it, he says, and give it daily on an empty stomach to whichever person has such a trouble. It should certainly be given on an empty stomach for at least one paksha.
Is self-abhimantrit water the same as water from a tirtha kunda?
No. The effect of doing it having yourself made the water Abhimantran-ed, and your using directly the water of the kundas of the tirthas — between these, he says, there is a very great effect and a very great difference.
Sutak rules on a solar eclipse day: the puja room stays shut, only japa is done
The speaker says this eclipse has six hours of Sutak before it and six hours after, so on that day there is no need to do puja-path or dhoop-deep in the puja room; it is not to be done, and the whole shutter of the puja room is kept closed. In the Grahan kaal the pujan and bhog of the devatas are not done; only japa is done. Outside the puja room, at most, dhoop is not lit; only a lamp may be lit. That alone is done that day, and the bowl with the mala is afterwards kept in the puja room.
Can milk offered on Shiva be given away to the poor?
The next question is whether milk offered on Shiva may be given to anyone. Nowadays a fashion has arisen, the speaker says, of showing that one should offer milk and distribute it to the poor. In his opinion that thing is not correct, and you should not do it.
Who has the right over something offered on a Shivling?
Once something has been offered upon a Shivling, no human being has any right over it — only Chanda, one gan of Bhagavan Shiva, has the right over it. So when you offer a fruit, Chanda's right is established over it; but when you offer milk you go and give it to anyone at all to drink. Why so? This is a matter of dosha attaching, he says, so it should not be given. In the Banalinga, that is the Narmadeshwar, it is held that what is offered upon it may be given to someone — though there are differences even in this, and in his view it should not be given.
How should the silver supari be charged at Vindhyachal?
When you go to Vindhyachal, speak beforehand to whichever pandit ji or panda there conducts the darshan, and ask that this be touched at the feet of Bhagavati, or touched to Bhagavati, and given back to you. If they touch it and give it, that is excellent. Otherwise, there is the bathing of Bhagavati that takes place every day — Bhagavati Vindhyavasini is taken as a living pratimurti and Jagadamba bathes daily; even the mail comes out from her body, and that mail too has its own limitless mahima in tantra, and it is not obtained by everybody, though many people have it. That bathing water is present near the Bhairav Kund.
Why begin every undertaking with Shiva's abhishek?
Whenever you begin — whether you are working in the field of tantra or some calamity has come upon you and you are acting — certainly keep the abhishek of Bhagavan Shiva in it, the speaker says. Because in today's time it is not possible that you, entirely new, will do everything by the full vidhi vidhan; there will be a great many errors. Bhagavan Shiva will forgive all those errors in any case, and the process of vimochan that has to begin will begin from Shiva's nirmalya itself.
What should be done with a six-petalled bilva patra that has been offered?
He tells the listener Shashikant that the six-petalled bel patra he offered should, after the pujan, be picked up with a pranam, or picked up at the time of nirmalya when it is to be lifted, and kept in the Shiv Mahapuran or the like. You can worship it in the form of Skanda, he says. Mangal will be very strong and pleased — keep it.
What should actually be done about the ants and the bhog?
Yes, in that place do a sprinkling of something fragrant, he says — such as agaru, or itra and the like; by that alone they will move away. And if you offer sweet bhog, then do not offer it and leave it there. After the pujan, lift up the bhog and so on; you may let the water remain.
Where should cloves and paan leaves be disposed of?
Asked whether the cloves and paan leaf and so on should be given visarjan in a river or under a dev vriksha, he says: in a river, or under a dev vriksha.
What should be done with the cloves added each day at the aarti?
The cloves you put in for the aarti — once the aarti is done and the fire in the lamp has gone quiet and cooled, go on collecting those cloves in one place, the speaker says. Make a powder of them, mix in kesar and the rest, and apply it as tilak every day after the Navratra. Whatever has burnt in the lamps has to be emptied out in any case.
How should the sadhana asana be washed?
The speaker says the sadhana asana may be washed. When you wash it the first time, do not wash it with soap and detergent — take water in a bucket, put the earlier asana into it and wring it out entirely into that same bucket. Pour that water into some plant, and after that wash it properly. While a sadhana is running, the asana should not be washed in the middle of it.
What is done with the materials of a sahasrarchan afterwards?
The speaker asks with what the sahasrarchan of Bhagwati Lakshmi, or of anyone, is being done — fruit, flower or dry fruit. Flowers and the like will go to visarjan. Kumkum and the like you may use in the form of a tilak, and ashtagandha likewise as a tilak. If you are doing the sahasrarchan with dry fruits, then everyone may eat them in the form of prasad.
What is the rule for naivedya, and what do people offer instead?
The niyam of naivedya is that a sweet made from the milk of a pure desi cow, a Ved-lakshana cow, should be offered to the deity. Today people offer Cadbury Dairy Milk; and leaving the Ved-lakshana cow aside, what is available is made from sheep, goat or buffalo milk, or is a thing made of chemicals, and it is that which is offered as bhog.
The Marwari shopkeepers still keep the Tuesday and Saturday laddu by the old rules
The Marwari shopkeepers, he says. Having travelled to Rajasthan, to Jammu, to the east and a little to the south, he has met such people everywhere — especially of the Marwari samaj — who on Tuesday and Saturday keep a separate, entirely fresh arrangement of laddu for Hanuman's puja, and ask whether the sweet is for Hanuman before giving it.
Offering vark is a very great paap, and no scripture supports it
Consider how great a paap you are committing, he says. Factory-made vark is available today, but the factories are not showing the full procedure either — German silver and Chinese silver are named, but no authentic source is to be found. If a source can be established that it truly is 100% vegetarian and no such things were used, only then use it.
How long after the daily pujan should the bhog be taken up?
Having finished the pujan, do the whole of "pranaya, vyanaya, udanaya, samanaya svaha"; and if you cannot do that, then do the path of this mantra once — "अन्नपूर्णे सदापूर्णे शंकर प्राण वल्लभे". Drop water there five times, and after that take up the bhog prasad. That is, after completing the puja.
What may be offered when pure sweets are not to be had?
A listener says pure sweets are not available, that he buys some Amul sweet, and that he mostly offers cashew, almond and raisin in the bhog. That is a very good thing, he answers. And on being told that all this — biscuits in the packet, and the vark — goes on in the temples themselves, he acknowledges that in temples too people are offering the silver vark.
Should salted food be offered to Ma Vindhyavasini?
Each has their own shraddha, he says. There is a belief in your region and that may be so, and he can accept it. In his own place the belief is this, and he has seen it from childhood: they do not eat without offering something to Vindhyavasini Mai, and they do eat food with salt, for they cannot make a meal without salt. Sendha namak is used most of all, and ordinary salt too is used — why should he tell a lie? And the bhog is most certainly offered; they do not eat without offering bhog.
What is done with the prasad of the eight places in the Bhairav devdaan?
The prasad of the eight places is to be distributed among everybody, together with the family. And the prasad that is beneath the lamp goes to a dog.
Whose tilak should be applied to one's own forehead?
You may apply it, he says. In truth, the vidhan is that after doing the shringar of the deity, the tilak that remains is what is to be applied on your own forehead. One should not make a separate tilak for oneself and apply it. Whatever roli, kumkum, ashtagandha and so on is offered upon them at the time when you do achman or abhishek — that same thing should be picked up, gathered and kept, and that same thing applied on the forehead. Whatever has been offered on them is what it is; one is not to grind a separate tilak for oneself. This, he says, is the shastrokta vidhan.
Listeners across India and abroad revealed lamps and bhog vessels that are never washed
The speaker says that meeting people from every corner of India and from abroad through YouTube makes it clear where mistakes are being made, and as soon as a mistake is caught he makes it public so that people stop doing it. As an example: many people never washed the lamp at all, using it unwashed for a whole year, and were not washing the vessel used for offering bhog. He says he had no idea such a thing happened, since in his own house they are washed morning and evening every day, and he had assumed everybody washed them.
How should a rudraksha be handled after an abhishek of curd or ghee?
A rudraksha will indeed be spoiled if you keep it submerged in water, the speaker repeats — it will be spoiled. After doing their abhishek, when you have given abhishek with curd or with ghee and all these, it should afterwards be so that every one of the things upon it has been removed; then wipe them and install them.
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