Shaligram
Every question on the site tagged Shaligram, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
A sacred ammonite stone representing Lord Vishnu, worshipped at home with daily food offerings and ritually married to Tulsi each year.
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Can Shaligram be worshipped at home, and what does it require?
Yes — Shaligram worship at home is considered highly beneficial provided daily food offerings (Bhoga) are made, and its ritual marriage to Tulsi (Tulsi Vivah) should be performed annually on Dev Uthani Ekadashi.
Can two Shaligrams be kept in the home temple, and can a woman touch one?
On keeping the Shaligram, the speaker says the vidhi and niyams include that if you live by the niti and niyam, and especially if there is a guru's adesh, then you should keep it. He then states the other side directly: the touch of the Shaligram is in many places forbidden for a woman — but if the family is of such a state, then you may keep it. It would be better, he says, to look at your own household and family first and only then keep it; and if you are keeping a new one, take the advice of a learned person according to your family, and keep it after that.
What of a self-manifested shivling whose shape is not like a shivling?
A questioner asks about a shivling that manifested by itself whose shape is not like a shivling — what in Odisha they call a patal-phoota shivling. Asked from where it manifested, the speaker says this matter applies only to Narmadeshwar ji: the original shivlings are not of much shape. They are given a shape by rubbing and grinding, and there is no special dosha in that either; but if you wish to keep it in an entirely exact natural form, then it will never be found exactly in shape and size.
Do Shaligram bathing-water and Bhairav pujan speed up the remedial effect?
If the seva of Shaligram ji is also going on and the water in which Shaligram ji has been bathed is being sprinkled too, then it is most excellent. And alongside, if some other things can be done — the pujan and deepdaan of Bhairav ji — then depth will come faster.
The mantra sent in belongs to the Tantrokta Devi Suktam, and is not to be done much in the ordinary way
A listener writes out a mantra, and the speaker identifies it as a mantra of the Tantrokta Devi Suktam. According to him, he says, ordinarily it should not be done very much.
How many Shaligram shilas should be kept at home?
Asked whether there should be as many Shaligrams as there are pots of tulsi, the speaker says he has not heard of as many Shaligrams as tulsi pots; param Vaishnav people who can do that much seva do keep them. There should be one Shaligram shila — that first of all. And the rule is that of living as a param Vaishnav: just as a Shivling should be bathed every day, so a nitya abhishek of the Shaligram shila should take place.
What is the rule about tulsi on a Shaligram, and the days when plucking is forbidden?
The speaker says tulsi ji should be offered every day; and on those days on which the plucking of tulsi ji's leaf is forbidden — Ekadashi, Sunday, Dwadashi, a grahan, Amavasya — it should be plucked and kept in advance. If a fresh one is not available, the old leaves themselves should be washed and certainly offered upon them. A Shaligram shila should never be kept without tulsi: that is the chief rule.
Where should a newly brought Shaligram shila be kept, and how worshipped daily?
Asked by someone who brought a Shaligram shila on Tulsi Vivah Ekadashi, the speaker says to keep them at the puja place itself. If you keep a Shaligram shila outside and it is small, birds very often pick it up and carry it away, and then you will be left searching for Vishnu ji. Keep them at the puja place on a yellow cloth or a plate; just as a stand comes for a Shivling, one comes for a Shaligram too, and you may keep him on that, or else spread a yellow cloth and establish Bhagavan Shaligram upon it.
May a woman touch a Shaligram?
The speaker says she absolutely may — why would one not touch the Shaligram shila.
Is there a dosha in leaving a Shivling or Shaligram at home while travelling?
The speaker says a Shaligram carries more rules, but in present-day conditions no Dosha attaches to travelling and leaving a Shivling or Shaligram at home. No remedy is needed, only one vidhi: if going for many days, place dry fruit near them and water in a covered silver or brass vessel in which it will not spoil, and pray that until you return they keep accepting their seva and pujan from it while you remember and worship them mentally wherever you are.
Is it a dosha not to do daily jalabhishek of a parad shivling at home?
Absolutely it is a dosha, he answers. He says it again and again: if you are to keep any form of Shiva at home, and especially if you keep a shivling, then the abhishek of the shivling is the most necessary thing of all. The abhishek of a shivling and of a shaligram shila must both take place daily. It is not even five minutes' work — take one lota of water, bathe them while doing simple naam jap, apply tilak, place unbroken rice above, put on the crown, and it is done.
One who cannot give five minutes out of twenty-four hours to his ishta should stop calling himself a Sanatani.
If out of 24 hours you cannot give even five minutes to your ishta aradhya, he says, then you should stop calling yourself a Sanatani. What is the use of a human body given for 24 hours if a man is not capable of giving even five minutes? A parad shivling, he says, is held to be the shivling itself, the form of Shiva; there ought to be a great deal of vidhi and niyam for it, and you are not even giving it a bath. It is wrong.
Should one go to a Shiva temple for deepdaan if there is a Narmadeshwar at home?
The question put to him is whether, having Narmadeshwar ji at home, one should go to a Shiva temple to perform deepdaan, and whether the same fruit obtained from the temple shivling is obtained from the shivling at home. He notes first that having a Narmadeshwar shivling and a shaligram shila at home is a good thing, and that everyone should have them at home.
May a Shaligram or shivling be kept in a flower pot or garden?
A listener asks whether it is proper that some people give Shaligram ji and the shivling a place in a flower pot at home. It is absolutely improper, he answers. It goes so far that people put a shivling or Shaligram ji outside in the garden, at the side, in scrub and thicket, and go on pouring water there. This is wholly improper and should not be done — their place should be duly in the pujan sthan.
What should be done with a home shivling when travelling for months?
Asked what to do about the nitya seva if one must be away from home for seven months and there is a Narmadeshwar shivling at home, he says: if there is Narmadeshwar ji, Shaligram ji, a Devi shila, a Sonbhadra shila, a sphatik shila and so on for chakrarchan, then before going, whatever lamp is running should be completed. Many people light an akhand jyot so that it goes on burning until they return — do not make this mistake.
Do the worshipped shaktis remain behind when you travel?
If you are going, the speaker says, then your worshipped shaktis will all go along with you as well. You will make pranam there, tell them subtly, and they will go; they will walk with you. There is no subject of apujya here in the Kaliyuga, in the present time.
Who has the adhikar to worship a Shaligram at home?
Asked whether a Ganapati Shaligram can be worshipped at home, the speaker says the adhikar of Shaligram pujan is for those who wear the yajnopavit, and especially for brahmins — it is proper that it remain so, and let them alone do it. There is no dosha in the pujan of Bhagwan Shiva, but from an error in Shaligram pujan a dosha arises.
A daily path of the seventh, ninth or eleventh adhyaya of the Gita should continue for the pitr even after the karmakands are done.
And when all these karmakands have been had done, the speaker says, even after that a path should keep taking place daily for his sake — the seventh adhyaya, or the eleventh adhyaya, or the ninth adhyaya of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, any one adhyaya, in Hindi itself. Or if some Brahmin does the puja of Shaligram ji, then if he does the path by sankalp for their sake and offers it, that is exceedingly excellent. And the older these become, the more uproar they will create, the more trouble they will cause. If one wants to do it independently, do the fourth adhyaya, or as far as the stuti goes, do the eleventh adhyaya.
Why is Shaligram seva not advised for everyone?
Because Shaligram ji is not the pujan subject of everybody and for all — for them it becomes a little intricate — the speaker says he will not speak of it, addressing the questioner by name.
Can Shaligram ji be placed upon a Shivling for abhishek?
From where do all these subjects arise, the speaker asks — what kind of question is this? Who said that Shaligram ji should be placed upon Shiva ji and abhishek done? Study the Shiv Mahapuran: what have Bhagavan Shri Hari Narayana and Bhagavan Shri Brahma ji said about Bhagavan Shiva? They call Bhagavan Shiva king, that you are Rajadhiraj — on which account Bhagavan Shiva is never kept without a crown. And upon that Bhagavan Shiva you are saying Shaligram ji should be placed. He says this is where he has to open his mouth about the Vaishnavas though he does not wish to speak, because many people's emotions get hurt and then they begin to hammer in nails that you have malice toward the Vaishnavas — in which case say so first, and then we will not listen to you.
How does placing Shaligram upon Shiva violate the relation of Shiva, Narayana and Brahma?
Upon him you are saying that Shaligram ji should also be seated, who is the yuvraj, the speaker says — the one who himself says, I am the yuvraj, you are the raja, and Brahma ji is your purohit, your minister. Does a yuvraj ever sit above the raja? Shaligram ji is not a child. Where do you people undertake projects of this kind in order to take on sin? Kindly do not make a display of your unintelligence and inertness in the name of bhav; do not be inert. He tells the questioner directly that he is not saying this to him — we know this is not your subject, do not take it upon yourself; we are only firing the machine gun resting it on your shoulder.
Should rudrabhishek and Shaligram pujan be done each within its own discipline?
Doing rudrabhishek and all these subjects: let the seva, puja and abhishek of Bhagavan Shiva be within his own niti niyam, in that discipline, and let the pujan that is to be done of Bhagavan Shaligram ji be within his discipline, the speaker says. Take the charnamrit in that manner. Do not take charnamrit having seated him on his crown.
Should the four-month recitation be paused during Pitru Paksha or Navratri?
There is no need to stop when Pitru Paksha falls in between, and no need to stop when Navratri comes. You may do the Navratri pujan completely, and in Pitru Paksha you may separately perform whatever anushthan you wish for the pitr — but the niyam you take up tomorrow must be carried through in its entirety until the day of Tulsi Vivah.
Can an akhand deepak be lit near Tulsi ji, especially in Kartik?
Asked whether an akhand deepak may be lit near Tulsi ji, especially in Kartik, the speaker says that whenever you light an akhand deepak near Tulsi ji, at that time install the Shaligram shila there as well, or do it after installing the Shri vigraha of Bhagavan Shri Narayan. If you light the akhand jyot outside and rain falls, there will be difficulty, so whenever you take a decision, take it with thought.
Which images cannot be treated in that abbreviated way?
After that, he says, do their shringar and then sit for pujan. But even in that, for Shiva ji this will not do. For Shiva ji, or any stone shila you have kept — Shaligram ji, Shiva ji, Narmadeshwar or any other shivling, and besides these a Sonbhadra shila, a Swarnamukhi shila, whatever you keep — for all of them you should then have snan and shringar performed in sequence.
If nothing else, the shivling's abhishek must be done daily without fail
If you do not have it done for all of them, he says, there is no difficulty; but at least do it for the shivling without fail. The matter of Shaligram ji is according to you, how you perform his seva; but the abhishek of the shivling should be daily. The sprinkling of water and applying tilak, if done daily, should all be done together, and then sit on the asana and carry out your further programme.
How should Shaligram ji be kept and served?
The speaker says there is no separate video for Shaligram ji, but that just as Narmadeshwar ji receives abhishek and shringar by daily rule, so Shaligram ji will also receive daily shringar and pujan and abhishek — and he is never to be separated from the Tulsi leaf. Tulsi leaves will always, daily, remain upon him.
What is Krishna prishtha in the panchgandha?
Chandan, kumkum, krishna prishtha, kapur — the lepan of a shivling is done with these panchgandhas. As for what krishna prishtha is called, he says one and the same thing has different names; if it is being said in connection with panchgandha, one must see according to where you have read it. Just as the ashtagandha of the devatas is different and the ashtagandha for the devis is different, so also the trigandha and panchgandha for Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh are each different; and, more than that, according to the Puranas you will find that in every Purana some one thing or another in it changes. So without seeing it, he says, it would be a little difficult for him to say.
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.
What do pandits in Bihar say about keeping a shivling or Kali murti at home?
He reports that a listener, Ravikant Rai ji of Sasaram in Bihar, told him on the phone that the pandit jis of their region say a shivling and a Narmada Shaligram shila must not be kept in the house and a Kali ji murti must not be kept. They say that whoever has a shivling in the house will certainly face trouble. He says this situation is still running in the regions of Bihar and that pandit jis are still speaking this way, and he rejects it.
What is prescribed for a house troubled by pret, pishaach and pitr dosha?
For those in whose house there is great trouble from pret and pishaachs, from the pitrs, with pitr dosha alongside — if there is time, one more thing may be done. You will in any case do the Panchakshari japa daily and Shiva ji's abhishek daily. If there is a Shaligram shila, do its abhishek as well; if not, there is no difficulty. Whatever shri vigrah or photo of Bhagwan Narayan there is, seat him along with Bhagwan Shiva.
How can a qualified brahman perform the third adhyaya for such a dead person?
If there is a qualified brahman who does trikal Gayatri and the rest, and who also worships the Shaligram shila, then merely by installing that Shaligram shila and having him recite before it, if a repetition of the third adhyaya of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita is had done at least 27 times, or 21 times, or 11 times each day, in Krishna Paksha — or at the very least on the Amavasya — but targeting those who died an akal mrityu, then their sadgati certainly takes place. After that, however, you should do the shraddh and the rest; you should do the Tripindi and all these things. And if you do not have that much capacity, then at the least hold on to the Gita, so that their peace may come first.
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