Siddha Peetha
Every question on the site tagged Siddha Peetha, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
A spiritually accomplished, established seat of worship for a deity or Bhairava — distinct from the enumerated 51 Shakti Peethas — sought out as the nearest potent site when a household deity requires release from a binding.
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Who should stay away from Siddha Peethas where sacrifice is offered
The speaker says that anyone who finds these matters repulsive, very harsh or cruel should not read about them and should not go to pilgrimage places, the Siddha Peethas, where the rules of the Shakta tradition, Shaivagama and Aghora are followed and Bali is offered. He says the sadhaks engaged in that process, whatever qualities they carry, hold their own view which runs according to tradition. He tells people whose hearts are torn by seeing such things to take darshan of the Devi but never go to or watch the sacrifice ground, because it should not be their subject; whoever does take it up must accept that it has its own tradition.
Where sacrifice is sanctioned: ancient Siddha and Shakti Peethas, not a newly made shrine
The speaker says the harm of Bali falls in a specific place. At a Siddha Peetha or Shakti Peeth where the practice has come down from Puranic times, is discussed in the Puranas and is laid down with directions in the tantra Agamas, everything runs as it should and there is no issue. But if someone independently sets up a new peetha of his own somewhere else and offers Bali there for Pretas, Pishachs, Brahmarakshases or dakinis, he says that is harmful and will somewhere give him a wrong, opposite result.
Why a creature sacrificed at a Jaagrit Peetha is freed from its species
The speaker says that under the rules of Bali at a Siddha Peetha, the peetha is a Jaagrit Peetha where the practice has run from before, so whichever creature is sacrificed there somewhere gains release from its very species. He says goat, sheep and rooster are creatures of the Yaksha clan whose onward passage does not come quickly; it is said that after death they are born again and again in the same womb, and their passage is often obstructed. Through Bali, he says, their passage happens, and the retinue and helper shaktis of Bhagavati present there, whose satisfaction comes only from blood, are also satisfied by the blood of these yaksha-clan creatures.
First remedy for a bound deity: refuge in its sahayak shakti, with Bhairav for a bound Devi
Once you know or sense that your devi-devatas are in bandhan, the speaker says, the very first thing to do is to take refuge in the Sahayak Shakti — the helping powers — of that deity. If a Devi is worshipped in your house — any form of Bhagavati, any partial yogini, any devi-tattva — you should take refuge in Bhairava ji, do his anushthan and invoke him. If the situation is very adverse, do the anushthan of the Bhairav of whatever Siddha Peetha is near you: for someone in Kolkata, where Bhagavati Kali sits at Kalighat, that is Nakuleshwar Bhairava. Go there and pray with the Bhairav stotra, the shatnam, the kavach and deep-daan in his name. After doing this there for some time, do the same process at home too, and the bandhan will break.
Can a photograph be used instead of a trishul or vigraha?
Yes. The second way is to keep a chhaya chitra and worship with that. The third is the photograph of the shri vigraha of a Bhairav of some siddh peeth — as those of the Delhi region may wish to keep a photograph of Kilkari Bhairav. There is no dosha, no difficulty and no trouble in keeping a chhaya chitra.
Do divine shaktis visit old temples and tantra peeths?
The speaker says that in tantra peeths and in any temple whose establishment is more than a hundred years old, where morning and evening aarti is done by unbroken daily rule, if the presence of a deva shakti forms in that area then their coming and going there certainly happens daily — and at the time of a parva kaal, shaktis arriving from the divine loka certainly go there as well.
Can an ordinary temple be made into a siddha peeth?
Asked whether an ordinary temple can be made into a siddha peeth: no, brother. When that much awakening comes, then a siddha peeth is formed. If the temple be a hundred years old, and there be chaitanyata in it more than is needed, and pujan and the rest happen there daily by rule — then.
Not only those with a maran or mohini to perform: people working for the world's welfare also do shamshaan sadhana now, Tara's influence being at its fiercest.
No. It is not only those who have some maran or mohini to do, some spoiling to do, who perform this prayoga. People who are working for the welfare of the world also perform sadhana in shamshaans at this time for the good of society; and those who look for personal siddhi go to a Siddha Peeth or Shakti Peeth, because at this time the influence of Bhagavati Tara is at its fiercest.
Serving a siddha sthan in one's own area
The speaker says he chooses such experiences to show the importance of local powers: if a siddha peeth or siddha kshetra exists in your area where some sevak once lived and later accepted his sthan there, he would have accepted that place only after gaining some special mastery in the field of tantra. Serving him, or the shakti of that place, brings one's own welfare very quickly. His example is a siddha baba of 250–300 years ago with three siddhis, snakebite venom, epilepsy and other illnesses cured by Jhada, a special sevak of Shiva given samadhi at his sthan, whose grace many people still experience.
A householder's Namah Shivaya purashcharan beside a siddha's samadhi
The speaker says the sadhak began with ordinary japa and then started a Purashcharana: daily abhisheka of Bhagavan Shiva with his whole parikar and parivar, dehri pujan of the Shiva temple, bathing Shiva, applying fragrant itra, drawing Tripundra, and then at least 251 malas of the Panchakshari every day, about 25,000 japa. He sat near the samadhi of the siddha baba at that temple, away from the small garbha griha, looking towards Shiva. His Sankalpa was completely clear: that the land dispute be settled at the very earliest, that he seeks forgiveness and does prayashchit for his father's offence, and that Shiva show grace on his kul and grant him the land. Though from a farming family, he made the time for this daily.
Case story: a land dispute settled by gold coins handed over at a siddha's samadhi
The speaker says the opponents were demanding the balance at today's land rate, about ₹50 lakh (₹5 lakh at the time), before withdrawing. While the japa continued at the sthan, the opponent's son phoned, met the sadhak and told him they were dropping the case; the registry and mutation were completed and the land became his, which he took as the fruit of his japa. Six months later the former owner revealed they had been paid by a wealthy distant mama of the sadhak, who, when the family went to thank him, flatly denied it and said he was not even there on those dates. Called back, the receiver said the man simply stayed at the temple and handed him, beside the siddha's samadhi where the sadhak did about 25,000 japa daily, gold coins worth somewhat more than ₹50 lakh, insisting the gold be carried away by the receiver himself; a goldsmith turned it into money within a week.
Reading the gold at the samadhi: the siddha, a kul shakti, and ancestral buried wealth
The speaker asks the listener to decode two clues. First, the sadhak noticed that from the year the payment happened until today no one had ever again told him in a dream to go and take the gold, though the dream had come constantly before. Second, the gold was received at the very sthan of the japa, so it was possibly the siddha at whose samadhi he japed, or possibly some Kul Shakti of his own; it was never known. But something gold-related certainly lay at that place and was taken out and given; it was not produced from nowhere. The sadhak had heard from his father and grandmother that their ancestors had wealth of that scale buried on their land, and the spot he dreamed of was their old house, demolished two generations back; so possibly, by the merit of his japa-tapa, his Pitr, or that siddha, or some leela of Shiva took out that very wealth and gave it. No further enquiry was made. The speaker leaves it to the listener's discretion whether to take it as fact or imagination, but says the sadhak's dedication, discipline and surrender are plainly visible in it.
How many tantra sthans are there at Vindhyachal, and to whom do they reveal themselves?
Besides these there are about sixty to sixty-five divine places which are wholly tantra peeths, tantra sthans, he says. They become known of themselves only to one who is doing or has done purashcharan of Jagadamba's mantras to a level — whose japa has in a manner of speaking run into crores — who has completed more than a hundred and eight trikon, who has become calm of mind and is surrendered to his guru and guide, and who is without dvesha, jealousy and envy. Kaam and krodh may pass, he says, but dvesha is very destructive.
Why are the Shakti Peeths and kunds of the Vindhya region not all available?
There is some cause of the Kali kaal, he says, by which all the Shakti Peeths are not available. In the Vindhya kshetra there are many natural kunds whose description is found in the Vindhyachal Mahatmya; and it will astonish you to know that many such kunds from the beginning have become extinct and are not visible at all. The Motiya talab near Rinmukteshwar Mahadev has half dried up — the region where the siddh munis of the Vindhya kshetra go and become invisible, held to be an invisible kshetra — and it lies dry. Many kunds and springs have completely dried.
Which other places are recommended for the anushthan?
If you live in a tirtha kshetra, or there is a tirtha kshetra or some siddha peeth nearby, then if possible do this anushthan there through the whole of Sawan. If Ganga ji or any divine river is near, do it there. It may also be done at the root of a bilva tree, at the root of peepal and bargad, and at the root of the amla.
Why does the household Yantra matter at this time?
Because at that time the maximum number of powers certainly become seated, in a fractional form, in their own Yantra and place. Whatever is happening at the principal Siddha Peeth, we are holding at that place in our own daily worship room, in our own house — so the same thing happens there in a subtle form.
Why is one parikrama of Saubhagya Kund so valued?
The fruit of circling the earth is obtained by doing the parikrama of this Saubhagya Kund; a path of steps has been made for it, and at least one parikrama should certainly be done before darshan. Of all the kunds present in the Kamrup region, Saubhagya Kund is held to have the greatest mahatmya, because all the endless kunds in this world — 3.5 crore tirthas are held to be on the earth, unseen even in the Kali age — and all the tirthas of swarga, mrityu lok and patal lok, are situated in Saubhagya Kund, as described in the Yogini Tantra.
How are the ten Mahavidya pithas distributed at Kamakhya?
After the darshan at Saubhagya Kund and of Kamleshwar Mahadev, one parikrama of the whole garbhagriha is to be done. Of the ten Mahavidyas, three Mahavidyas are present in this very garbhagriha of Bhagavati, and after that three mahapithas more are present at separate places. The whole route to those is shown in this video, which is why the video is somewhat long.
What is the Kacchap Kund and what stands beside it?
They now reach the kund. This kund, the speaker says, is the Bhairavi Kund; it has many kacchaps in it and people also call it the Kacchap Kund, and there are very large turtles in it. Bananas and other things are kept for sale, for feeding the kacchaps. Here the two chief mandaps you see — one is Bhagavati Tripur Bhairavi's and one Bhagavati Rajarajeshwari's. Both are tantra pithas.
Every place at Kamakhya consists of siddha and jagrat pithas seated from endless time, with ganas and dwarapalas present
They reach Mai's door. However much of a place you are seeing, the speaker says, all of it consists of siddha and jagrat pithas, seated from endless time; at all these places of Jagadamba there is the presence of various ganas, dwarapalas and yoginis. He tells listeners to keep doing darshan, pujan, japa and tapa while they are there, and that if you sit at this place and do japa of Bhagavati Pitambara's Ashtottara Shatanama — especially if you get a way into the garbhagriha and are allowed darshan, and if you have the Ashtottara Shatanama by heart — then know it; for here there is never as much crowd as there always is in Bhagavati Kamakhya's garbhagriha, for which you must buy a ticket. At the other seven outer pithas there will not be crowd of that kind.
Is a muhurta needed at a Shakti Peeth?
No. In the Shakti Peeth territories, the Tantra Peeths and Bhagavati's Siddha Peeths where Jagadamba is daily seated — as with the twelve Jyotirlingas, the self-manifested lingas, and the Kashi-like places where Shiva has declared his daily presence — you do not particularly need to look at a muhurta at all. Not even for Deeksha.
How often should a practitioner go to their nearest Shakti Peeth?
Judging from the name, the speaker guesses the listener is from Maharashtra, and says: whichever Shakti Peeth is near you — Mumba Devi's, Saptashringi Mata's, or whatever Shakti Peeth or Siddha Peeth — go there. Recite the Namavali there and surrender it; if possible perform a Havan there. Go at least once or twice a year.
Are there places a vachan-bound sadhak may not go?
Yes. He says the sadhak is told: into these regions you cannot go. In the tantra peeths there are a great many such regions, and into those regions he cannot go. All these matters are told.
Where at Vindhyachal is the charan paduka of Guru Dattatreya?
A listener says he did not see the charan paduka of Guru Dattatreya beside Bhagavati Saraswati, though the speaker had said it was there. The speaker says he said behind Saraswati ji: today, where the sthan of Mahasaraswati is, right beside them there is a door; go behind through that door. There are two param tantra sthans, and in the middle of those two param tantra sthans the Shri Vigrahas of devi devatas are installed — among those is also the paduka of Bhagavan Datt.
What sankalp should accompany the daily abhishek at home?
Take whatever sankalp is yours, the speaker says — if you wish to take it for the destruction of disease, take it; if you have some other sankalp, take that — and offer the milk with that sankalp. You may do it at home if you do not wish to go out; whichever sadhaks have installed a Shivling at home may perform abhishek upon it, or go to a temple.
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.
Where does puja have the greatest effect?
Asked about Mahavatar Babaji and how to obtain his blessing, the speaker calls it a very good question and says he will have to make separate videos for all the siddh gurus — whether Mahavatar Babaji, Shri Shyamacharan Lahiri Mahashay, or other siddh persons such as Telang Swami. Asked at which place puja has the greatest effect, he says that in his view even when a householder does puja in his own home there is effect; when done at the guru's house there is effect too; the mahima of all is different. Doing puja in a Shiva temple more than twelve years old, whose sthapana and pran pratishtha have been done, has greater effect; and doing puja in a teerth kshetra, in the Ganga, in the Narmada region and such places has limitless effect.
What should someone afflicted by abhichar do about finding a guru?
If you want to do some mantra sadhana, or are seized by abhichar or badha of some kind, and are searching for a guru who would give you a mantra and include you in his guru parampara, he says he would still say: first of all take the refuge of Bhagavan Dattatreya. Or, according to your regional tradition, see which guru is most famous there in the sadguru swaroop and has recognition, and holding him as guru go to his samadhi sthal, go to whatever siddh peeth of his there is, and go there again and again and pray. He will show grace, indirectly; he may even come before you and you will not know it.
Does every sampraday have a guru mandal tradition?
Understand one thing, he says: whether Shakta, Kaul, Shaiva, or the Nath parampara, in all the different panths and sampradays that have formed and divided off, there is a tradition of the guru mandal in every one of them. The guru mandal is worshipped. In some places the guru mandal has nine avarans in the avaran pujan; in some places there are up to sixty-four avarans. There is a mool peeth, a siddh peeth, and a maha siddh peeth; at a maha siddh peeth the puja of sixty-four avarans is done and it takes eight hours. Those who have come to know everything thoroughly do it.
What should you do if Kali Mata appears in a dream?
To a listener who says Kali Mata was seen one day in a dream, he says it is very good; but if Bhagavati is giving darshan, then — and he says this again and again — even though you have written a wrong name here, do not tell of it publicly. When any shakti gives darshan there is a separate video on this too, which will be put up soon; everything is prepared, only the uploading remains. What should be done when a devata gives darshan, when a mantra is received — that has already been put up. What should be done when the future begins to be known in dreams, when you find yourself going somewhere and what its meaning is, what should be done when you are going again and again to a siddh peeth.
How does a knowledgeable person handle a prayoga inside one kula?
The speaker says that when such a prayoga is got done through a knowledgeable person and the shaktis of one's own house begin to come into binding — because both are people of one kula — then the shakti is invoked at his siddh peeth, siddh sthan or tantra peeth, given whatever dhaar, puja and bhog is due, and requested for this purpose.
Sadhaks who go to Girnar ji do not feel like coming back home
He names sadhaks of his sadhak family — Manoj Raj Purohit, Prasad Kshirsagar, Hitesh Gori — who, when they go to Girnar ji, do not feel like coming back. Their message from there is whether they could not simply stay, leave home and family, leave these responsibilities. Why is there no uchchatan there, he asks: that is the effect of a tirth kshetra.
Does Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh fall in a Shakti Peeth region?
Asked by Rahul Chaudhary ji whether Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh comes in the region of the Shakti Peeth, the speaker says he will have to look. As far as he knows, it should fall somewhere around Dantewada.
The knowledge sat with those inside a guru-shishya parampara, and secrecy had its cost
Those who did sadhana within a guru-shishya parampara and travelled to the tantra peeths, tantrokta places, siddha peeths and Mahavidya peeths held the knowledge of these most hidden subjects. The speaker adds that the tradition of keeping things secret has also done us much harm, because those who are genuinely fit for them sometimes never receive them, and those to whom they should be given are not given them.
How awake is a temple where narbali once took place and goat bali still does?
It will be very jagrit, the speaker says. Such temples have great capacity; but people do not use that capacity well, do not employ it, forget it and abandon it. Then it comes to an end — the chetana of that kshetra which stays awake gradually passes into a state of sleep.
What is the importance of the Ekalinga kshetra?
The speaker says to understand the importance of the Ekalinga kshetra as equal to a Siddha Peeth itself. As to how one is to know of it in the present time, he says it will be known by searching.
What is done when a Shakti Peeth image becomes worn or broken?
Never. The Shri Vigrahas of self-manifested images, of a Shakti Peeth or a Siddha Peeth, however worn they become and whatever condition arises, can never be removed. What can be done is to have a layer of gold applied for the Shringar, or silver in the case of a village deity.
How does a steady household sadhak come to the notice of a siddha?
He gives an example. Suppose a listener performs a great deal of sadhana of Bhagavati, worships Kali ji very well, does 108 malas of japa daily, does the path of her stotra and her aarti, performs the havan of Bhagavati Kali on every Amavasya, goes to her temple every Saturday, lives with much rule and restraint, in purity, serving beings, obeying his parents, living as well as he can — and this state continues a year, two years, three years. The tapobal that forms in him and the aura that forms will become extremely pure. And when he goes to some siddhas, into some tantra kshetra, into some siddha peeth or jyotirlinga kshetra, then the siddhas who have those shaktis, attracted by the radiance of his tapobal, will feel that this boy is a worthy boy and something should be given to him so that he does good work in society.
Anant ji Rawal, a sadhak of the Girnar region, had the darshan of siddhas.
You will hear a great many such things of Anant ji Rawal, the speaker says — he had the darshan of all these things. He is a sadhak of the Girnar region, and you will come to know many such things.
Why is japa on the Vindhya hill held to be so fruitful?
Because it is also the summit of a mountain; because Jagadamba has dwelt there from the beginning of time; because it is a region of siddhas from endless ages, a tirtha kshetra and a maha siddha peeth. It is in the Shiv Mahapuran, he says, that mantra japa performed on a mountain peak is the greatest and the best.
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