Teerth Yatra
Every question on the site tagged Teerth Yatra, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
Notes from our sources
Repeating a completed anushthan at an old Siddha Peeth or Shakti Peeth
The speaker's fourth task: once the temple anushthan is complete — say 11, 21 or 41 days of Dattatreya's Vajra Kavach, as one could manage — go to a Siddha Peeth, famous Shakti Peeth or other divine peeth near home that is 100 or 200 years old and locally held to be a jagrit peeth; the deity there can be any shakti. Repeat the same anushthan there for at least 3, 5 or 7 days, staying if it is far, commuting if close: 108 paths a day and a daily Havan, nothing elaborate. Seven days there, he says, completes one level: the shaktis whose kavach was recited awaken, and their yoginis, rakshikas and Bhairavs begin to walk with the practitioner.
Sudden illness just before a festival, puja or pilgrimage as a symptom of Pitra Dosha
The speaker says another symptom of Pitru Dosha is a house where everything runs normally, but as soon as a festival or auspicious work approaches, a family member, often the main member, falls very seriously ill, to the point of needing hospital or being unable to do anything; sometimes most members of the family fall ill at once. He fixes the timing: around Amavasya, or when Navratri, Diwali, any puja one is going to do or get done, or a Teerth Yatra is about to happen. Illness exactly then, he says, is counted as a symptom of Pitra Dosha.
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.
Three hours a day for the thirty days of Shravan: a golden period, especially in a tirtha
The speaker says that giving three of the day's twenty-four hours to this sadhana for the thirty days of Shravan destroys the sins of many births. For people living in Kashi, in Ujjain (Avantikapuri) or in any tirtha kshetra, this is a golden period that can liberate them. People elsewhere receive Shiva's special grace when they do the sadhana — parents love the children who live far away even more; those who are near have the full opportunity to please their parents, and whether they use it is up to them, but when the distant ones remember him, Shiva is all the more pleased.
Ancestral impurity from readmitting a daughter who left the lineage tradition
The speaker's second cause is a son or daughter marrying into a kula wholly opposed to the family's tradition. His example: a daughter from a Sanatana house where puja follows Vaishnava or Dakshinachara vidhi goes off with a Muslim boy, and the family later takes her back out of pity or attachment — then, he says, it is more than 95% certain the Pitrs will be angered by impurity, because her character and body are wholly impure from what is done there against dharma, and when she crosses the Chaukhat with that aura the impurity falls on the children and descendants. His rule: do not let such a person back in; if you feel compassion, meet her outside. If she truly wants to return, take her first to a tirtha where the Ganga is pure — Haridwar, Rudraprayag — have Brahmins conduct Prayashchitta (he mentions Ganga sand being fed for seven days), and keep her there in vidhi-vidhan puja for at least a month and a quarter before bringing her home; then no dosha attaches.
Ancestral impurity picked up inadvertently on travel or pilgrimage
The speaker adds a special cause that happens unknowingly: a family member on a journey touches some forbidden thing without knowing, someone else touches such a thing to their body (unknowingly or deliberately), or at a tirtha they step over the wrong kind of Utara that people leave behind — and then walk into the house. The Pitrs are impurified unknowingly, and the biggest sign, he says, is that skin-related disease starts increasing sharply in the body. His rule: whenever someone comes back from somewhere and a family member develops heavy skin trouble with no particular cause found, do pitr-related remedies.
Strengthening the Shani Maha Mala Mantra at teerth sites: Navagraha and Kali temples, Krishna's land and Shani shrines
The speaker says that at any teerth with a Navagraha temple or a place of Bhagwati Kali — Mahakali, Kali, Bhadrakali, any form of Jagdamba — take a red flower, recite the mala mantra over it and offer it at her feet, and the mantra gives still more effect; likewise at a Navagraha temple, and especially where Shani is enshrined with his mother Chhaya. Krishna is Shani's guru, so doing the mantra's japa in Krishna's city, as during the Govardhan parikrama, gives immediate benefit, though Krishna's own seva comes first there. At Shani's own places, Shani Shingnapur or Kokilavan near Vrindavan, doing the 5–6 km parikrama while chanting the mala mantra brings his special grace.
Vindhyachal as the one complete Shakti Peeth of the universe
The speaker says that if there is any dham, any Shakti Peeth, any place in the entire universe that is a complete Shakti Peeth, it is one alone: the Vindhyachal dham of Bhagavati Vindhyavasini on the bank of the Ganga, where Jagadamba has been present since the beginning of time. For that reason, he says, every person must go to Vindhyachal at least once in their lifetime, and should serve Bhagavati Vindhyavasini for life.
Visiting Vindhya dham with family: once in life, and yearly for a Sanatani
The speaker says that after the Chalisa is awakened, when Jagadamba herself becomes gracious she shows the devotee the further path. If one has the means, one must at some point in life go to Vindhya dham together with one's family; and if one is a Sanatani and willing, then at least once a year one should go to Vindhyachal dham on the bank of the Ganga.
Vidhi at Vindhyachal: darshan, trikon yatra, 100 Chalisa paths and an Argala-mantra havan
The speaker says that at Vindhyachal, after darshan of Bhagavati Vindhyavasini and the Trikona Yatra, one should stay a day and do 100 paths of the Chalisa, and have ahutis offered through purohits in the Havan kund with the first mantra of the Argala Stotra. By this, he says, Bhagavati removes many diseases, sorrows and afflictions, all the doshas of the house, and many sins: she is fully able to devour every kind of sin, and to grant every kind of happiness and then moksha. So everyone must do her seva, puja and aradhana in their lifetime — for life, if possible.
Is the Mahakumbh a matter of going around a fair?
No. He says it is a matter of the utmost necessity for human life and not a matter of visiting a fair — though in today's time, he says, every tirtha kshetra has been left as nothing but a tourist spot, with people going there only and only to enjoy themselves, so that the tirtha kshetra has become a synonym for pleasure.
What should a sadhak feel towards the affliction that turned him to tirthas?
Gratitude. Whatever the affliction by which you came onto the path of sadhana, pujan and paath, and by which shraddha towards tirtha kshetras arose in your mind, that affliction should certainly be thanked — because by making you its instrument it is about to obtain for you some divine punya, and not a little but something extremely special.
How does the Kumbh show the difference between a jeevan-mukta and a grihastha?
He takes the coming Mahakumbh as the example. An ordinary householder who learns from a saint, from shastra and purana, from reading or from satsang that one should bathe at the Kumbh — that even going there for a single day destroys all his sins and confirms his ticket to the loka of his aradhya — will become eager to go, and a longing will stir in his heart to reach Prayag and bathe at the Sangam.
What if someone has to take a loan to go to the Kumbh?
If he has no money and cannot go on that account, he can go by taking a loan; and the one from whom the loan was received also obtains the fruit of that punya. If he returns the money in time, the speaker says, then it is a very good thing.
Can one leave the family behind to go on a tirtha?
Whenever we go on a tirtha, he says, one must look at the circumstances of one's family; to go without looking is somewhere or other to be an offender, and what punya would then be obtained? If there are elderly parents at home with no one to care for them, and inspired by some sant or mahapurush you leave them and go and bathe, and something happens to them behind your back, then that tirtha will never bear fruit for you but will instead bring punishment and affliction.
May even such a person abandon his responsibilities to go?
If they have become jeevan-mukta, then even if they go in such a state, it will do. But to go leaving family members behind without being released from one's responsibilities, or without putting some alternative in place, whoever they may be, would be improper. Their arrangement, he says, must be made.
The Kumbh is being sold as entertainment, down to fifty-one kinds of paan shop
Because, he says, whether or not any punya is gained, the Kumbh is to be enjoyed. On YouTube, Facebook and all social media it is being shown that fifty-one kinds of paan shops are being set up, that such sweets are coming, that some gola is coming from the Himalaya, that many kinds of things are arriving — and people are going especially to take that enjoyment, thinking they will bathe of course, that takes no time, but the fair is to be seen and an adventure trip is to be made.
Which three places are called supremely divine?
After the temple and the sarovar comes the tirtha kshetra — the peak of a mountain, the region of the Triveni Sangam, the kshetra of Prayag; the place where Ganga ji meets the sea, and the source of Ganga ji; and the place where the three great rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati have met, that is, Triveni ji; and third, Ganga Sagar. These three places, he says, are called extremely, extremely, extremely divine.
Does the multiplier work for sin as well?
Yes — for that very reason its mahatmya is so great, and so, he says, if you go to such a kshetra and there commit sins, consider how many times more the fruit will be. Go to Prayag ji right now and see, he says: the government is spending a great deal there, but people have created nuisance everywhere, the paan and gutka habit is not leaving them, and the government can put no rein on it because there is no fear inside you.
Why do people say their anushthan gave them no benefit?
You say there is affliction in your life, that you do anushthans and have them done, that a brahmin came to your house and performed the anushthan but you got no benefit from it. How will there be benefit, he asks — whatever punya was received from the anushthan you did yourself, or the mala japa you did, or what you had a brahmin do, you have only to eat one Rajnigandha or tulsi and spit it near Prayag ji, and all of it is loaded on you many times over. Where will you get it from then?
Since many are going for other reasons anyway, the minimum ask is to commit no offences there
Because, he says, the aim of many is not to go and earn punya, the aim is something else altogether. He knows people will go and will eat and drink; so at least do not commit an offence, if you want to earn the punya of a tirtha. Then, if after coming back from the tirtha affliction falls at home or trouble comes to you, at least you can be certain within yourself that no offence was committed by us knowingly — if something happened unknowingly, that is another matter.
What should one carry back from a tirtha?
That you have come having earned punya, and there should be satisfaction in your heart. He says he may not have the capacity to give upadesh, but even so he is speaking in his own words as far as he can: go to a tirtha kshetra, but remain within maryada, do not transgress your maryadas, so that the punya to be gained there is gained well.
Fear comes from affliction, and the strength of wealth keeps it away for the time being
Fear comes from affliction, he says; but because there is the strength and capacity of wealth just now, they have no fear. When such people hear views like his, they will say that nothing happens by his saying so, that it is written nowhere — tell us where it is written that having eaten Rajnigandha and tulsi one may not spit; there is thook in our body too, there is mal and mutra in our body too, so what does it mean that going there we shall incur some dosha? Nothing of the kind happens, they say — do not spit inside Ganga ji, but on the bank one certainly may.
He has recorded people rinsing their mouths at Rajrappa and performing the morning shatkarma in the Ganga
He says he had even uploaded a video of people rinsing their mouths in the river — it was at Rajrappa, in the Damodar river. And go to Prayag ji, he says, and you will find it in abundance. Leave aside rinsing the mouth: people perform the entire morning shatkarma there, putting their fingers down their throat and doing all of it in Ganga ji, while the same brothers are bathing on the other side. This, he says, is the wretched condition.
Why do people say that Triveni and Prayag gave them no punya?
So brother, how will punya be received, he asks — why are you defaming Ganga ji, why do you say that Triveni ji does not give punya or that Prayag gives us no punya? You speak only of the punya, that there is punya in bathing in the Ganga; but you do not say that committing an offence in that same place carries a paap of exactly the same measure. A crime will be committed, and it will surely count.
Is it permissible to wash your clothes in the Ganga?
If you have travelled two days by train and not bathed, and go there, remove your garments and bathe — that much is accepted, that will do. But taking your dirty clothes, even your inner garments, into Ganga ji and washing them thoroughly with soap is not. Saints too have said in satsangs that clothes you have worn, any soiled cloth, should never be dipped and washed in Ganga ji or in any tirtha river. If you must wash them, take water in a vessel a little away from the bank and wash there — but not in that flowing water.
Seven or eight residents of Prayag had never heard the Veni Madhav katha
He had recently put up a video of Shri Veni Madhav ji and made the subject clear in it. What astonished him, he says, was that not one or two but at least seven or eight people who live in Prayag messaged him saying: we live in Prayag, our whole life has passed in Prayag, but we did not know anything particular about such a katha of Veni Madhav ji. It has become, he says, like the proverb that the household hen is worth only lentils.
Who is Veni Madhav ji held to be?
The place of Veni Madhav ji is in Prayag; he is the rakshak of Prayag, the nagar devata there, the rakshak of Triveni ji. The responsibility of protecting that place, the responsibility of the Magh mela held there and the responsibility of the Kumbh, is said to rest upon Veni Madhav Sarkar — that is, it is he who protects that kshetra.
Are there really divine sants at the Kumbh?
You will always have heard that at the time of the Kumbh there are many divine sadhus and sants present there, and that, he says, is a true matter. But know one more truth: a certain trend has begun to appear, in the Kumbh kshetra, in the Prayag kshetra. Those who do their daily bathing at Triveni ji can see this subject very well whenever they get the time.
What is the most special thing to be careful about among the sants there?
The most special point, he says, is that there is also an abundance of people of a second and third sort who take shelter, somewhere or other, of the divine sants and siddhas. These are to be avoided, because listening to the talk of such people you unknowingly commit some offence. This time the administration is very strict, he says, and he had seen that it is being done well, so that no disorder may occur; but even so, one should keep in mind what things happen in this.
How is that consecrated water to be used, and what objection is raised against it?
Mix some quantity of this water into the water you bathe with, and bathe with that. Now, he says, someone will go looking for the shastrokta view and vidhan in this, and you may find someone saying that it is written in shastra that if Gangajal is mixed into any other water, then that water no longer remains fit even to be touched.
If Gangajal is already siddha, why recite a stotra over it?
The objection runs: who is to japa a stotra and satnam — Gangajal is siddha in itself, what need is there to make it siddha? Who is saying to make it siddha, he replies; it is our bhavana that is not reaching that level. We are not saying there is any lack of capacity in Gangajal — there is absolutely no lack; the lack of capacity is within us.
Prayagraj is Narayan himself, so the Vishnu Sahasranama or the Gita's eleventh adhyaya follows the bath
The third thing is Prayag ji. Prayagraj is said to be Narayan himself, Bhagwan Shri Hari Narayan. So after you have bathed, do the stotra and satnam of Bhagwan Narayan, or the Shri Vishnu Sahasranama, or whatever is possible for you, of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. If you are one who recites the Bhagavad Gita, then recite the eleventh adhyaya; endless fruit is about to be obtained. The punya of Ganga snan has already been got, and the punya of Prayag ji will be got from here, because he is of the form of Mahavishnu.
What is said about someone who lives at Prayag and bathes daily?
It is said that snan has endless punya, he says, and if some person merely bathes continuously, this is the punya. Now if a person living in the Prayag kshetra bathes daily, then brother, the mahima has become endless indeed — he will assume the very form of Vishnu and go to Vishnu loka; and not only he, even the forebears of many generations of his will go; you will deliver them all.
Must the Kumbh bath be taken on a parva day?
The question is whether one should bathe at the Kumbh on a parva, or whether one may bathe at Haridwar at Makar Sankranti, or bathe at Prayagraj on any date. He answers: at a tirtha kshetra, whenever you get the time and the opportunity comes to you, you should bathe. In that, those who live nearby have more options as regards the parva-kaal — that is, brother, we bathed on Makar Sankranti; but for those who live far away, jump in as soon as you get the chance.
Is the shahi snan or amrit snan the only siddha kaal?
Second, as to what you ask about Makar Sankranti: at Makar Sankranti do it at Haridwar too, there is no difficulty; do it at Prayag ji, and there is no difficulty in that either. And in the forty-five days of the Kumbh, come at any time and bathe at Prayag ji; it will be most excellent, on any date. As for what is running — the shahi snan, and what is now being called the amrit snan, that at that time there is siddha kaal and at that very time divine siddhis are obtained — see, he says, that is not a matter of that time only. Keep in mind that it is a matter of the whole forty-five days, as already discussed; so you may bathe on any day with an untroubled mind.
Prayag is not insisted on, so that sadhaks unable to go do not lose heart
He says he is not insisting very much on Prayag, because what would happen is that the morale of the sadhaks would somewhere fall short and they would be dejected — that arre, we are not able to go, we will not get the fruit. It is not at all so, brother, he says; he has written on this before. We cannot go to Prayag. We do not have the capacity — and he says "we" deliberately, else people will say, ah, you yourself have gone and you are telling us that no, you will not be able to go.
Does one reach a tirtha only by one's own punya?
Going to any tirtha kshetra at all is possible only on account of the rising of one's punya; this is a true matter, he says. So long as the mahashaktis of that place do not wish it, and your household mahashaktis, the kula shaktis of your home, the pitrs, and your punya are not strong, you will not be able to go.
A man arrived at Vindhya in a Defender and could not set foot on the first step
Many times you will see, he says, that crorepati people — and this is a thing he has seen before his own eyes — in the Vindhya kshetra could not set foot on the first step. A person who had come in a Defender car did not set foot on the step, got down, made pranam from right there, said, all right, come on, come on, Bhagavati should be within the mind, and went off in front, having sat down. Think, he says: he had so much pride and ego that Bhagavati did not let him set foot on the first step. It is the matter of the old VIP road, and the whole barricade had been removed for him when the Defender came; it is a matter seen from the front. So one's punya karma, prarabdha and dev-kripa all work in it, and only then does it happen.
What is the value of even a single day's bath at Triveni?
If even one day's bath at a tirtha kshetra is obtained, even for one day at Triveni ji, at any time — this is not only a matter of the Kumbh, but at any time in life. Many people's lives pass by, he says: they were born in Prayag and will die in Prayag itself, but have not bathed in Ganga ji. It is a wonderful thing — people who call themselves of Allahabad do not know which is the way to Triveni ji, where Triveni ji is; leave aside the bathing in the Ganga. So it becomes a wonderful matter, that one who took birth in Prayag has not bathed in Triveni ji. This too, he says, is a matter of punya.
How much greater is the Kumbh bath than the Magh bath?
The importance of bathing at the Kumbh, he says, is held to be a thousand times, a lakh times more than the month of Magh; there is a whole calculation of it too, which he will put out separately. But it is not that if you go and bathe right now you will not receive punya. Bathe at any time; if you cannot go at that time there is no difficulty, do it now, do it later. But as many times as possible in life, go and bathe.
How much time should be given at a tirtha, and what should be done in the water?
We always say, he says, that one should pass a night there. Do not go to a tirtha kshetra so that the train arrives at 8 in the morning, we bathe by 10 and catch the train at 12 and are gone. If you go only to bathe, that is a special circumstance and is a different matter; but go with enough time. At the least, having reached and bathed, according to the capacity of your body, sitting in the water or standing in it, do japa of the mantras of your aradhya to the utmost of your strength — half an hour, an hour, fifteen minutes, whatever is possible for you. Let one laghu purashcharan happen in it, because the fruit is held to be koti-guna: if you do a thousand japa, that japa has become equal to a crore.
What if you take three dips and leave at once?
Now if you went in a rush, took the three dips and ran off at once, he says, then those who are coming will say, arre, arre, now we learn of it — your pitr devs, one had gone ahead and the second said, wait, wait, we will just do one thing and come, the child is outside and we will see him home, we have to protect him. You went there, took three dips and got out at once. Now this one arrives late; the one who arrived first says, brother, you are late — why are you late, brother? Arre, this fellow took a dip and got out at once; he did not even do the japa, did not even do the tarpan. So one has to give a little time there.
What is the minimum stay he prescribes at the tirtha?
At the least it should be so, he says, that one night pass there. Otherwise the bhoots and prets will be delivered, and the pitrs will be left arriving; and the bhoot will say to them that this is how it happens here — take three dips at once and get out. Whatever is to be got in it, arre, it is right that this punya is obtained by remembering Ganga ji; but so long as you do not do even a little there, then what benefit will there be?
Should a sadhak look for lodging near Triveni during the Kumbh?
For the sake of residence near Triveni and for the sake of sadhana, he tells the questioner, it will be more excellent if you see to the option of shelter yourself — because in this matter of crowds sadhana will simply not be possible. Many people have put out their whole subject, saying come, absolutely stay, there is no problem; but so many people will reach there that where will there be room? We may call someone and then nothing be able to happen.
The same photograph has stood at his puja sthan some twenty-one years, its lustre still increasing
The photograph of the Mai kept at his puja sthan, he says, is going on for about twenty to twenty-one years — nearly twenty-one years; that same old photograph is kept to this day, and the countenance has exactly the same increasing lustre. So this swaroop of the Mai is extremely divine, and if ever the opportunity to go is obtained, one should certainly go once to Munger and take her darshan.
Should one practise sadhana only because abhichar has been done?
No. If you are conscious of these subjects for any reason, the speaker says, do not think you must do sadhana only because abhichar has been done on you. The older and stronger the abhichar and the newer you are, the longer it takes — but take the benefit of these divine periods, of parva kalas and of tirtha sthanas, and those things will break and be removed.
What should be done on the day of Ganga Dashahara?
Try to earn punya, he says. He said it yesterday and says it again: on the day of Ganga Dashahara certainly go to Ganga ji. If Ganga ji is near you, then leaving a hundred tasks, leaving a thousand tasks, go to Ganga ji that day. Do not go to the office that day — the boss will scold, that will pass; your customers will be spoiled that day and you will earn ten thousand rupees less, but the punya obtained that day is not equal to your ten thousand rupees.
How should the Ganga Dashahara snana and japa be done?
All the people of the Kashi region and others who live near Ganga ji, or near any divine rivers, should certainly bathe in those divine rivers that day, and sit in the water in the river itself at least up to the navel — the edge here meaning that one must sit in the water. The water should come up so high that our navel is submerged; the navel should be within the water. That is where our life is from, and that is what has to be strengthened; from there the shaktis are nourished. So to increase the capacity of that manipurak chakra and for the attainment of devi shakti, certainly sit in the river that day and do japa and tapa.
May a small lake be used instead of a river?
Asked whether it may be done at some small lake, he says: if the sarovar is clean, then go — but with the heat as it is, mosquitoes and the like will bite there; let there be no dengue or malaria. Do not go and do all this where water is stagnant. Even at Ganga ji's bank, if water is standing and you cannot find a ghat at all, do not harm your health — just bathe somehow and come away, and do not then get caught up in doing japa.
At what hour should the riverside sadhana be done in summer?
Where the river is flowing, healthy and clean all around and the environment is healthy, sit there and do your anushthan. It is the hot season and the sun is so strong, the temperature going to 45 or 50 degrees — do not go at midday to give up your life. Go at dawn; complete whatever sadhana you can by 7 or 8 and come home. If you go at 10 your health will fail, and the next day a message will come saying you told us to do the Batuk Bhairav anushthan and now we are on saline.
Monthly Purnima and Amavasya observance: why it is prescribed and the temple rule
The speaker says one may or may not do a big anushthan at other times, but on the monthly Purnima and Amavasya a special Anushthana and path should be done. The reason he gives is that most people's charts carry Grahan Dosha and Pitru Dosha, and when they do, trouble will surely come at exactly that time; so do more japa and path then, and if a tirtha kshetra or an old temple is nearby, go there that day, register your presence and take refuge. He asks the listener to make it a rule to go to the temple of Bhagavati Kali, or of whoever their Ishta Devata is, on every Amavasya and Purnima, from which they will receive considerable strength.
The Sati Khand opened with Kamdev's origin, Mata Arundhati, the rise of the Chandrabhaga, and Maa Sandhya's tapasya
How Kamdev came into being, the katha of Mata Arundhati, the katha of the Chandrabhaga river which is situated in Maharashtra and how she arose, how Maa Sandhya performed tapasya there, and how the pratah sandhya and sayam sandhya came to the devatas and the pitrs and work our welfare through them.
The speaker's own experience of receiving instruction from deities in dreams
He tells his own experience: when this thing began with him there used to be extremely powerful experiences, and it starts especially when travel begins, when one has gone to some place and done some archan and pujan. It is natural that if fifty matters are running in the mind, how will they be remembered — half will be remembered and half forgotten. Only a few days ago he had so powerful an experience that everything was shown and told before him, yantras and certain specific vidhis were shown; after waking, half remained remembered and half he is still trying to recall.
The first mantropadesh: Sadashiva in the Panchanan form, at the site in Arunachal
The speaker says the Shiv Puran describes Bhagavan Sadashiva manifesting in his five-faced Panchanana form after the boons, and giving upadesh through those five mouths to Brahma and Vishnu. The Shivling in which he appeared for them is said to be situated in Arunachal Pradesh, as described in the Purana, and that is the place where Sadashiva gave mantropadesh to Vishnu and Brahma for the first time.
Are there places where one should not stay on that night?
The speaker says that in the region of Himachal and of Uttarakhand there are many temples where it is current that on this night, after a certain hour, no ordinary human should stay at that place. Joshimath and Kalimath carry a great deal of such well-known matter. At those places, at that time, deva tattvas come whom an ordinary person, on seeing, would become frightened by — because even seeing them lies outside our capacity.
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.
Why would a person who stayed the night at Kalimath be disturbed since?
A listener says a relative of his stayed the night at Kalimath and is to this day afflicted with mental disturbance, does not even come home and wanders about here and there. The speaker says he does not know the person who has commented, and cautions that people should not think listeners were told to comment this — and then confirms: this matter is true. If you travel and go into such regions and make your presence there, then when the shaktis are affected by your mantra japa they will be agitated and will make you experience a great deal of divinity.
Are mountain peaks not full of wild animals?
Answering a listener, the speaker says no, it is not the case that wild animals keep coming and going on a mountain peak. Go to Vindhyachal — Ma Vindhyavasini is seated upon the very highest peak of Vindhyachal, so where is the jungle left there now; hotels have been built on either side. So sit anywhere around the temple of Bhagavati in the Vindhyachal precincts and do it; it is a mountain peak itself. Solitude you will not get, but the divinity is there, and the whole fruit that is to be obtained will certainly be obtained.
Is it acceptable to do night japa in a hotel room at a tirtha?
A listener says that at a parva kaal he takes a room in a hotel in the tirtha kshetra and does his japa at night, and that no other option seems available. The speaker says he agrees with this, but that you should go into the precincts of the temple itself and do japa there; you should not do it in the hotel.
Where should the Kamakhya Kavach japa be offered afterwards?
Once the whole Navratri is complete, let her go once to Kamakhya ji — Devi gracing her and calling her — or else come to Vindhyachal. Of the two, at least one place: either come to Vindhyachal or go to Bhagavati Kamakhya ji. The third is Mangala Gauri at Gaya ji, one of the eighteen chief Shakti Peeths.
Why must the kshetra's Bhairav be worshipped before leaving?
Because when energy is obtained at that level, then as you relinquish that kshetra and come out of it, its imbalance begins. So whenever you have gone into any tirtha kshetra and done japa there, you should certainly perform the pujan of that tirtha's Bhairav again at the end, obtain his adesh, and only then leave — so that he keeps with you only as much energy as you can handle, and the rest stays with him, to be obtained whenever you invoke it at need.
What is the rule of order at Kamakhya?
The rule of the Kamakhya kshetra is that you take darshan of Umananda Bhairav ji first, and then, ascending the Nilanchal, take darshan of Bhagavati. Umananda Bhairav, then Pandu ji — Pandu, who is Bhagavan Narayana, where the creation began after the slaying of Madhu and Kaitabh — and after that, ascending the Nilanchal, you take darshan of Bhagavati.
How is that pranam compared with tirtha yatra?
Hundreds and thousands of tirthas are not equal even to the sixteenth kala of a pranam to Mahadev ji — that is, one who makes pranam to Bhagwan Shiva gets so much fruit that even tirtha yatra cannot obtain that thing.
What should be done about pujan while travelling?
When one goes on a journey, then naam japa and the rest, the speaker says. And there is a video on how, when going on a journey, pujan-path and so on should be done — listen to it, and much help will come to you from that too.
Shakta people now carry Durga ji off to Vindhyachal and Narmadeshwar to Kashi, in imitation of what they have watched.
Now, by watching them, it has caught on among Shakta people too, the speaker says. Shakta people also go travelling and carry Durga ji off to Vindhyachal; who told them to bathe her there in the Ganga? People are bringing Narmadeshwar ji from their homes, giving him a bath in Kashi ji and taking him back. What is the need, he asks.
What should one actually do on visiting a tirtha?
It is not that on going to the Vindhya kshetra you must repeatedly have it touched to Bhagavati Vindhyavasini, the speaker says. You are to go there and only take darshan and come back. This business of having the vigraha touched there, of bathing it in the Ganga ji — all this in the name of bhav gives birth not to one's own satisfaction but to distortion.
What do repeated dreams of bathing in the Ganga call for?
Answering Gajshankar ji, who repeatedly dreams of bathing in the Ganga, he says: then go and bathe in Ganga ji, and at the right time perform some anushthan there — at least a week, or three days, as much as you can manage.
Days on which a householder should go to a temple
The speaker says that on any auspicious work or auspicious day of one's life, going to a temple is certainly enjoined. He names three: one's birth Tithi as reckoned by the Hindi panchang, the tithi on which one's marriage took place, and any auspicious day of any member of the family.
The shmashan restriction binds only ordinary local cremation grounds, not the great tirthas
The speaker says he is not speaking of the Avimukteshwar kshetra of Kashi and the like, or of the Chakra Tirtha Shamshaan kshetra of Ujjain — he is speaking of ordinary kshetras. Going to Ujjain Mahakaleshwar or to Tarapith is not covered by the prohibition; for tirtha kshetras it does not apply. It applies to the shmashan bhoomi of the ordinary areas around one's town, village and city.
First step when a deity begins to mount the body: confirm whose sawari it is
The speaker says the family of the person on whom sawari has begun must first obtain 100% confirmation that the sawari coming on the body is the one it claims to be. A devi or devata's sawari will give its own introduction, so the first thing to establish is whose sawari it is.
When an arriving shakti needs a new sthan and pujan vidhi
If that shakti is already present in your house and already has a sthan, no new puja need be made. If an outside shakti has come, or a shakti of a tirtha kshetra, or a shakti once worshipped in the past who has now awakened, then which sthan should be built, where she is to be given place, her pujan vidhi, her bhog, the tithi and the time must all be known in detail.
What should one carry when visiting Kalka Ji?
Asked what to take when going to Kalka Ji on 24 December, the speaker says one should take a rose flower if it can be got and a garland of gudhal flowers for Bhagavati's shringar pujan, the chunri and the garment of shringar, and whatever bhog is offered there. And if 24 December falls on a Saturday, make a nimbu mala with your own hands — of 27 lemons, or 54, or 108, as many as possible — putting marigold flowers in between so it looks more beautiful and attractive. The pujari will put it on, and as long as it remains around Bhagavati's neck a special grace will come to you.
Sheshnag and the Panchshool of Baidyanath Dham are deferred to separate videos.
Asked to speak about Bhagavan Sheshnag and his shakti, the speaker says he will tell it about Sheshnag separately. Asked where he is from, he says Baba Baidyanath Dham, Deoghar. On the Panchshool he says he had earlier put the whole thing on Facebook and written it, but had to delete it because of copy-paste and quarrelling; he will make a video again and tell what the rahasya of the Panchshool standing atop the Baba Baidyanath temple is, and why there is a Panchshool at Baidyanath Dham and not a Trishul.
Where may Daan for the Pitrs be given during Pitru Paksha?
Go anywhere in a tirtha kshetra — a Ganga kshetra in particular is the more accepted. You may go to Gaya, to the Vindhya kshetra, to Kashi, to the Pushkar kshetra. Go wherever you wish and do it.
Where is a Brahm given a place?
In a Brahm kshetra, in a Brahm Dham, or upon a Peepal tree — but in two ways. Either bound and left in a deserted place by a Tantric operation so that he cannot return, which gives great trouble if he ever gets loose; or given a place on a Peepal duly and by rule, and then worshipped regularly.
Utara in the name of a deity's vahana when abhichar strikes on a journey
The speaker says that if, on a journey, on some road or ghat, it seems a prayog has been done and trouble has begun, the best remedy is an Utara in the name of any deity's Vahana — Nandi ji, Som Nandi ji, Kaal Kantak Maharaj, any of them. Best of all, if a living creature is found, feed the utara to it or place it in front of it.
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 right to carry one's deity about in a dolchi while travelling?
One subject he has always spoken of is this business of taking one's devi-devatas about in a dolchi. Our body, and the travel we make, can never be of the level of purity that such a thing would require — people carry Kanha ji, or whichever form of their aradhya, from place to place and bathe him there. This, he says, should never be done in this manner.
Why is travelling with a deity treated as an offence?
When these aparadhs attach, he says, there will be much difficulty. In the train, bus or aeroplane in which you travel, in the place where you set them, there is no knowing who has brought a chicken into it, who has brought fish, who is bringing meat and such; of what level anyone's body is, what wrongdoing someone may be coming from whose body will touch that seat, who has sat there.
What should a sadhak carry with him to a teerth in Navratri?
When you perform sadhana or an anushthan during Navratri in any manner, the surrender you take and whatever japa and tapa you do — understand that it goes with you when you go to a teerth sthan, to those divine kshetras; and it is to be offered there in exactly that manner.
What does darshan of the Devi actually mean?
When you do darshan, she will descend within you; her darshan, her philosophy, will descend within you, and you yourself will take on that form — only then will release come. Looking superficially and saying we have seen and will be liberated, he says, will only bring the reply from there: now we shall watch you specially, and see what you do.
What follows from once setting foot in her dham?
Once you have gone there, understand that her gaze is always upon you. Whether you see or not, you have set foot in her dham, which means you have come into her sight — and if you are moving forward with rule, faithfulness and discipline, conducting yourself according to dharma, she will never let harm come to you.
Residence in a dham such as Vrindavan is obtained by great punya, so prayer there must reach beyond one's own suffering.
Living in Vrindavan, he tells her, it will not do merely to think about all these things. Residence in a dham is obtained by great punya. If even because of some suffering a man begins to live in a dham, and in such a dham as Vrindavan, then what is there to think about. Go to 84 Khambha and perform deepdaan there, and pray to God — not for your own suffering only. If his gracious glance falls, the suffering is wiped out at once.
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 be done when years of practice have borne no fruit?
Analyse yourself. Ask how many days of sadhana you actually did to your own liking rather than to the rule. And the speaker's own counsel to those in regular contact is not to change the practice — do the same thing, with a Deepdaan or a pilgrimage added alongside.
May pilgrimage be undertaken during Kharmas?
Yes. Places of pilgrimage such as Vrindavan may certainly be visited during Kharmas; there is no difficulty in it. In the same exchange, the Sankat Nashan Ganesh Stotra Anushthan may be begun from a Chaturthi.
Should a cap, hat or pagdi be worn before one's aradhya?
In his view, he says, one should never go before one's aradhya wearing a pagdi or a cap. If you wear a rudraksha crown with the bhava that you are wearing rudraksha on the head, that is a different matter. But going with a pagdi tied, wearing a cap, wearing a hat — people wear hats in tirtha kshetras and even go inside for darshan at Kamakhya wearing a hat. Nobody stops them, but this is an offence.
How should women cover the head for darshan?
Women, mothers and sisters should go with the pallu kept over the head; they should not go bare-headed. For a man, covering the head with a gamcha is a separate matter and is also not necessary everywhere. But no kind of crown or such article, and no hat, should be worn.
Why do some people say a tirtha yatra brought them harm?
This is exactly the offence that attaches, he says, and only afterwards does it happen that people say we went on a tirtha yatra and then this happened and that happened, that it is useless, false, that you spread deceit. He answers that people like that spread it — those who do not travel properly and do not observe the rules and prohibitions, and afterwards blame the devis and devatas and those who speak of rules.
May a bald man wear a cap during puja and darshan?
A listener writes that he keeps his baldness inside a cap while doing jalabhishek of Baba in the morning and wears it all day, and that on asking, his pandit ji said covering during puja is necessary and called the cap proper. The speaker says he will not say more than to hail the pandit ji — and points out that in a jyotirlinga kshetra, at Mahakal, at Vaidyanath, they get your head bared at once, and in the kshetras of Bhagavati they immediately tell you to go with the head bare and not to wear a cap.
What can even one day of sadhana at such a place do?
Because the mahima belongs to the kshetra, the speaker says, in even one day of sadhana some deva may have given his kripa and become anga sang. Whether he walks with you directly or not, we have no drishti to see him — but our karmas improved, our thoughts changed, we became good, we began to walk according to the form the deva wants.
Is a sadhak obliged to have an anushthan done at a tirtha?
No. The anushthans that happen at tirtha kshetras and the like — you are not obliged, the speaker says. There is capacity within you, so do it yourself. Which subject, which parva kaal is there about which there is no extensive video on the channel, no discussion? Do it yourself. Why are you troubled about why it should be given or not given — do not do it, do it yourself.
What does a person actually carry with him at death?
He has shouted himself hoarse many times about the importance of a tirtha, the speaker says: when we die, neither we will take a crore of rupees nor will you take ten crore. The snan you are doing at the tirtha kshetra, in the parva kaal, the daan you are doing, the japa you are doing, the tapa you are doing — that is what you will take with you.
Is it enough to have a puja done for you at a tirtha while you sleep?
No. He always points out, the speaker says, the cleverness of thinking there is plenty of money, so let us send ten thousand rupees and have a puja done for me, while here on the Margashirsha Purnima we lie asleep with a sheet pulled over us, get up at twelve noon, wander about, eat chowmein and come back to sleep, and the puja has been done anyway. He says: do not get it done here, but do it yourself.
Does having a path done at Vindhyachal or Kashi suffice by itself?
If you are thinking that a path is being done for me at the tirtha, at Vindhyachal, that it is being done for me at Kashi, so we shall ride up on the vimana to swarga — you will not go, the speaker says. It should happen by your hands too. Only if it happens there will the ten times, thousand times, crore times fruit that is to be got be got; otherwise it will not be got.
What is the mahima of Kurukshetra for the pitrs?
The mahima of Kurukshetra is infinite, the speaker says, and the greatest mahima there is this: that if one performs tarpan there for the sake of ones pitrs, or does pind daan there, then they certainly attain swarga. Such is the vardan of Bhagavan there.
Can pind daan still be done eleven years after a death?
A listener says his father passed away eleven years ago and the pindan has not been done. It can absolutely be done, brother, the speaker answers: have it done at a tirtha kshetra. Go to a tirtha kshetra and have it done there.
What should be done for a departed relative whose gati is not accomplished?
If you perform shraddha and the rest for them a little vidhivat at tirtha kshetras, he says, and their gati is accomplished, then very good. If gati is not being accomplished, then know at once that they become your helpers — because you are doing satvik sadhanas. Keep this straight and clear, he says: not by doing shudra sadhana.
Why does Shani in the fourth bhava give a vehicle and a house to a sadhak?
If they are giving you a four-wheeler, he says, they are giving it so that you may go and do tirtha, wander and do tirtha with this vehicle, obtain your own moksha and liberate too the creatures caught in that vehicle at the tirtha. But if you got the car and are now driving around with your boyfriend or girlfriend, fallen into other affairs and into prapanch, then it is limited to just that much and is going to end. If the lord of the fourth is giving you the sukh of a mansion in his dashantar dasha, it is so that you may become free of all these things — so that a good puja room may be built with every facility, and where you used to do ten malas you may do a hundred.
How does Shani in the fifth or ninth wash away papa?
With Shani Deva in the fifth and ninth bhavas especially, and once you have begun sadhana well, the moment even a little of his effect begins he opens the way for tirtha yatras at once, he says. He will get tirtha done, or such karmakand, and such opportunities will come before you that your papas will decay — whether a way opens to help someone, or by your intellect, discretion or wealth you help someone and obtain their blessing. He gives such buddhi that your bad prarabdha may be destroyed at the earliest, and quickly clears the path of your progress.
How was Shani traditionally worshipped through a shila, and which dham is recommended for Shani darshan?
For this very reason there is a vidhan of worshipping a shila and the like, he says. Of Shani Deva's divine dhams, of those he has been to — he says he has himself been to very few places — the one called Kokila Dham, near Vrindavan, is exceedingly divine. If you are afflicted by Shani, then certainly go and see there: they quickly clear the path of your progress. They give their effect there very swiftly, because there he is present in the form of a bhakta, and so he at once understands the bhava of a bhakta, in Kokila Van.
What should be done about dreams of Shakti Peethas one has never seen?
Priyanka Chauhan ji says she has darshan of new places every day in dreams, and when she searches the internet some Shakti Peeth of Ma always turns up, and asks what to do. First of all, do not make experiences of this kind public, the speaker answers; delete this comment and never tell this subject to anyone. When yatras of the divine lokas begin, understand that it has been said that in the very initial stage of siddhis all these things happen — divine experiences occur, devi-devatas are met in their own kshetras and grant darshan. This is divine, and it should never be discussed at all. Do not be fed up asking what to do; entirely without anxiety, keep your sadhana and puja continuing, and wherever the opportunity to go arises, go there in person as soon as time permits and have darshan and pujan done.
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.
Birth in a tirtha kshetra with no Shiva pujan is worse fortune than remembrance in a mlechchha region
There are people in the world so unfortunate that their birth takes place in a tirtha kshetra and even so they stay averse to Shiva pujan — they are maha-durbhagyashali, he says. Fortunate is the person who is in a mlechchha region and even there does the remembrance and pujan of Shiva ji: because by mere remembrance Bhagavan Shiva certainly arrives there — where is he not — and his presence and his energy become present there, in accordance with the environment and circumstance of that place.
Rudraksha is not given in it, and the Dattatreya temple must be reached by four in the morning
To Anita Shri ji he says no, rudraksha will not be obtained in that; those things have been kept extremely strictly. Asked by what time one must reach the temple of Bhagavan Dattatreya on the 10th of July, he says reach in the very early dawn, by 4 o'clock — if you reach by 4 it is most excellent, because in the way the level of Ganga ji is rising, if there is rain the water is bound to fill up to the temple. The earlier in the dawn you reach and complete your vidhan there, the better.
What happens if an initiate does not do japa of his mantra at Kamarupa?
If a person initiated by any Panth, in any manner, in any Sampradaya or any Guru tradition goes to the Kamarupa region and does not perform the japa and Purashcharan of that initiated mantra there, then his Deeksha is wasted.
What should be done for the Pitrs and Kula deities at Kamarupa?
Worship there for your own Aradhya, your deity, your Kula's powers and your Kula's Pitrs, all of them. Give Daan for the Pitrs; if you can have Pind done in the Brahmaputra, do the Tripindi. If not, sit there and scatter grain for the fish, or give a Daan, or perform a Tarpan as capacity allows.
What may be done at Kamakhya apart from the Mahamudra darshan?
You may absolutely go to the Kamarupa region. Take the Shikhar Darshan, perform the parikrama of the temple; apart from the Mahamudra Darshan, the water that is for drinking may be given to you by a Guru-brother or an elder with you. Go with the information about how you are not to take Darshan.
What happens if someone goes to Kamakhya only to sightsee?
If your Bhava is one of surrender toward Bhagavati and you have gone for sadhana and are doing mantra japa, then there is a forgiveness for you there, a protection, a victory. If you went to sightsee, then when a mistake occurs there will be no feeling within you even for asking forgiveness — and there the difficulty begins.
What does merely going to Kamarupa accomplish?
By merely going near the Nilachal mountain, merely going to the Kamarupa region — it is a Siddha kshetra, and the paths to obtaining Siddhi are opened. Kamakhya means the fulfilment of desires: in Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, she is the Kama that precedes Moksha, and only after it does she open the path of Moksha.
Darshan of the Kamakhya pind by the unmarried: what lineage gurus prescribe
The speaker says that if one is married, or has a guru's order to go to the Kamarupa Kamakhya area, one goes; and going to the area is not forbidden even for the unmarried. What is forbidden is touching the pind in which Bhagavati resides, and if the original darshan does happen, which he says mostly no longer does, it should not be done with that bhavana. He tells listeners to ask their Guru Parampara or Kulguru rather than today's people who say nothing happens: those with lineage gurus forbid it. Their rule is that the unmarried may go, but when they enter for darshan of the original peeth and pind they should not turn their eyes toward it; they should look at the feet or at the adorning articles, and not take darshan of the pind itself. Take shikhar darshan, do puja and pradakshina there, but keep the mool darshan for after marriage, or for when the guru orders it and one has risen above all such things. One can still stay in the area and do tapasya, he says.
Worship still allowed in the year before Varshiki: mental puja, Surya arghya and shradh at a tirth
The speaker says that while worship is stopped for the year because the Varshiki has not been done, one cannot offer dhoop, deep or Naivedya, cannot bathe the deities, cannot do Havan or yajna, and cannot celebrate festivals in full. What one can do is Manasika Puja (mental worship), offer arghya to Surya, and, when visiting a tirth, skip darshan at the main shrine and instead perform the Shradh vidhi there for one's parents. He adds that where the varshiki has not been done this is generally forbidden, so one should follow the tradition of one's own region: do it if permitted there, otherwise do the tirth darshan itself for the sake of the ancestors.
Parents as a son's greatest tirtha and the husband as a wife's
The speaker says the Vedas and dharma shastras state that whoever worships his parents and circles them obtains the same fruit as circling the entire earth, and that a parent's lotus feet are a son's great tirtha — other tirthas are far away, this one is at hand. For a son the parents, and for a woman her husband, are the best tirtha within the home; a wife gains the fruit of tirtha by serving her husband and a son by serving his parents. He adds the text's warning: one who leaves his parents at home to go on Teerth Yatra incurs the sin of killing them both, so if the parents are able, never go without taking them along. Tirthas come only after serving one's parents with body, wealth and intellect as far as one can.
What is the full Phalashruti (fruit of hearing) of the Ganesh Akhyan?
One who hears it restrained becomes possessed of every auspiciousness. A son to the sonless, wealth to the poor, a wife to one who wants one, subjects to one who wants subjects, health to the sick, good fortune to the unfortunate, sons to one whose sons were lost, wealth to one whose wealth was lost, and her husband to a wife he abandoned.
Kamrup Kamakhya, the most awake and ugra Shakti Peeth of Kaliyuga, can be visited mentally when the journey cannot be made
The speaker takes the listener on the yatra of Bhagavati's most important Shakti Peeth, Kamrup Kamakhya, and asks that it be made mentally, with a prayer that Jagadamba call one soon to that divine dham. Its mahatmya is described in many tantra shastras and Puranas; in the Kali age it is the most excellent, awake and ugra Shakti Peeth. The video covers its mahatmya, how the Nilachal parvat should be ascended, and in what order.
In what order should the darshans at Kamakhya be taken?
In the order for the darshan of Bhagavati Jagadamba's form, one first goes for the darshan of Bhagavan Umananda Bhairav — but before even that there are two chief darshans: first Urvashi Kund, where bathing has its importance, and second the Brahmaputra Nad Lohit Kund. Of Urvashi's kund it is held that on an island in the middle of the Brahmaputra, Bhagavati Urvashi brought amrit from swarga lok and placed it there, and it is with that amrit that the devatas offer naivedya to Kamrup Kamakhya.
Akshat and pushpa are offered into the Brahmaputra for Urvashi Kund, and the Brahmaputra is Brahma's son born of Shantanu and Amogha
For their sake one offers akshat, pushpa and the like into the Brahmaputra Nad, and then salutes the Brahmaputra. The speaker says the current is very swift and the river extremely deep, and that the origin and mahatmya of the Brahmaputra are endless and ought to be known — without knowing the mahatmya, the complete fruit of a tirtha yatra is not obtained. Its mahatmya is that it is the son of Bhagavan Brahma, born of a muni named Shantanu and of a mother named Amogha.
What connects the Lohit Kund with Parashuram?
On the Kailash parvat there is a kund named Lohit, where Parashuram ji went after the killing, since the dosha of the killing of Bhagavati Renuka had attached to him. Because the dosha had attached by lokachar even though he was Bhagavan, he went to that kund for its removal, and on bathing at the source of the Brahmaputra Nad he was freed of the dosha. It is then held that he made a way with his parashu, forming the Brahmaputra's path through the whole Kamrup region up to the sea.
Which days carry special merit at Umananda Bhairav?
On Chaitra Shukla Ashtami all the devi-devatas come and stand present on both banks of the Brahmaputra Nad, and all the tirthas in the middle of the Nad, so on that day bathing there and eating the leaf of the ashoka carries great importance. And if an Amavasya falls on a Monday, coming that day for the darshan and pujan of Umananda Bhairav ji carries great importance.
Akshat and pushpa are also released for Brahma Kund and Pandunath beside Umananda Bhairav, where Madhu and Kaitabh were slain
After the darshan of Urvashi Kund, the Brahmaputra Nad and Umananda Bhairav ji, if you wish, at that same place also release akshat, pushpa and the like in the names of Brahma Kund and Pandunath, right there near Umananda Bhairav ji. Take darshan of both and receive the command from there. The killing of Madhu and Kaitabh, the speaker says, was performed at the place of Pandunath ji, by Shri Harinarayana.
How many paths lead up Nilachal, and who guards the eastern one?
The ascent of the Nilachal parvat has begun by the eastern path. There are eight paths, by which the journey is made from all eight corners, and in the eight paths there are different dwarapalas. The dwarapalas of this eastern path are Ganpati ji, Manohar Agni Baital ji, Ghantakarna ji, Hanuman ji and Nandi ji. So the first darshan in the order of ascending the Nilachal parvat is that of Bhagavan Ganpati ji.
Stay in Guwahati first and take adesh at Urvashi Kund, the Brahmaputra, Umananda Bhairav, Brahma Kund and Pandunath before the ascent on foot
Make the journey on foot; whenever you come, first stay in the city of Guwahati itself, and from there first take darshan of Urvashi Kund, the Brahmaputra Nad and Umananda Bhairav ji. Thereafter you must obtain the command at every one of those three places — ask for the command at Urvashi Kund too, that we be given the command and the capability; and at the Brahmaputra Nad, at Umananda Bhairav ji, at Brahma Kund and from Pandunath ji as well. Leave akshat and pushpa in all their names in the Brahmaputra Nad or beside Umananda Bhairav ji and take the command.
What should one be doing while climbing Nilachal?
The speaker notes that although the path shown here was filmed from a vehicle for the sake of the video, they themselves made the ascent on foot, and that all of you should go up this path on foot. First one goes to Bhagavati Kamakhya's main temple and there takes darshan of Saubhagya Kund. And whenever you begin the ascent of the Nilachal parvat, go forward only while doing the nitya-naimittik japa of whatever your ishta-prada mantras are, whatever mantras have been granted by your guru.
Which path are householders in particular told to use?
It is especially for householders, the speaker says, that they should go by this very path, the one you are seeing now, and should not particularly go by any other path. One should ascend from the Ishan kona or the Purva kona. Going by this path, you reach straight to the summit of the Nilachal parvat.
Nilachal and Bhasmanchal are for Shiva, Brahma and Bhagavati, and the summit opens at Bhagavati's eastern entrance gate
The mountains such as Nilachal and Bhasmanchal are for the sake of Bhagavan Shiva, Bhagavan Brahma and Bhagavati — those three chief forms. Reaching the summit of Nilachal, one arrives at Bhagavati's chief entrance gate, the one on the eastern side, and it is from there that one enters within.
What is Saubhagya Kund and how is it divided?
After reaching the summit of Nilachal, before entering the garbhagriha one must first go to Bhagavati's Saubhagya Kund — this is her kreeda sthali. It is divided into two parts: the part in which people are seen bathing is for human beings, and the side where the sadhu is seen bathing and doing tarpan is the western direction, on which side bathing carries a particular mahatmya, though you may bathe on any side.
Enter Saubhagya Kund as one enters the Ganga, with sankalp; the Yogini Tantra promises devi lok to those who bathe and do tarpan there
Whenever you bathe in a tirtha kshetra, make a sankalp. The rule for entering the kund is as for entering the Ganga: first apply the water to your forehead, and only after that, having obtained the command from Bhagavati, go towards the inside. It is said in the Yogini Tantra that those who bathe with vidhi in Saubhagya Kund and perform the archana of Devi Kamakhya and the tarpan of their forebears — that is, tarpan of the pitr — obtain devi lok comfortably.
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 many days should be kept aside for the Kamrup yatra?
Whenever you come to the Kamrup region, come with at least one or two extra days in hand. You should have three ahoratra — three nights — to spend in the Kamrup region. Nothing will happen in a single day in a hurry; one whole day will go simply in taking darshan. First you go to Urvashi Kund, then by way of the Brahmaputra Nad to Bhagavan Umananda Bhairav, after that the whole ascent of the Nilachal parvat, then the bath at Saubhagya Kund, and only then does the darshan of Bhagavati take place — and the ticket has still to be bought.
The newly built paths at Kamakhya cause confusion, so the whole route is shown along with the directions given in the kavach
Everything is newly made now, so some confusion does arise, and other devatas are also seen along the way. It is this same path one must walk straight on, with the steps that have been built, and that is why the entire video is being posted, so that you are not confused. The speaker hopes it will not be broken until the corridor is built; until then go and take darshan by it, and after the corridor is built it will be Bhagavati's wish how and where darshan happens. He repeats the point about the kavach: whichever devi protects in the Agneya direction, whichever in the east, that pitha is present at exactly that place here.
From the Tripur Bhairavi mandap the steps climb past Dhumavati to the rear of Kamakhya, completing a trikon parikrama
The mandap of Bhagavati Tripur Bhairavi is below; from there one climbs upward, going now to Bhagavati Dhumavati. Dhumavati is in the middle and Bhagavati Kamakhya above. These steps go straight to the rear of the Kamakhya temple, to the back of the door where they were lighting lamps. One can also go for the darshan of Tripur Bhairavi from this side; and going from the front means that a whole parikrama is completed — a trikon parikrama takes place here.
How does one reach the Bagalamukhi and Bhuvaneshwari pithas?
From the entrance gate one goes outward. That side, where the temple was seen in front, is where Dhumavati and Tripur Bhairavi darshan happened; now you go to the outer side, past the exit at the Chhinnamastika temple, to where the pitha of Bhagavati Pitambara Bagalamukhi and the pitha of Bhagavati Ma Bhuvaneshwari are. The road goes straight to a crossing; do not go straight after that and do not go towards the bus stand — turn left, and go absolutely straight along that road without entering any lane. Going straight, Bhagavati Bagla's pitha will begin to look all yellow, so you will know it is Bhagavati Pitambara's pitha.
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.
The bhog carried to the vigraha is often accepted in an assumed form and recognised only later
His example: on the last day of a Bhagavati sadhana you were taking the bhog to offer. This is heard especially in tirtha kshetras and Shakti Peeths — that at that time, assuming some form, she herself accepted it and you did not even understand. Ordinarily, if you are carrying bhog made by your own hand to offer before Bhagavati's Shri vigraha and someone says, brother, feed me, I am hungry, the maximum chance is that you will say: wait two minutes, let me offer the bhog, and after that you shall have it first of all. And you will certainly wait two minutes. But when that shakti comes before you, a person deluded by maya will never be able to say no, I shall offer it first; he will be entirely overcome and infatuated with her and will say, you eat it. And when she moves away from there and disappears, then it will be understood: this was our aradhya.
What should a sadhak keep in mind before travelling?
Asked what to keep in mind before undertaking travel, he says that if you are a sadhak there is already a separate video made about what things should be carried along and what should be done. Even so, if you are doing sadhana in a sattvik manner, then: first, if the yajnopavit has been done, let there be no lapse in the rules connected with the yajnopavit; you should have all your things separately, to take care of purity. Second, you should also pay attention to where you eat your food. Third, you should pay attention to the purity of the place where you will rest and sleep. And you should also keep in mind not to carry along on the journey any such thing on which the effect of chhoot-chhat may fall.
A pure Hindu's worship at such a place transfers his punya straight to what is seated there
He says these old things of theirs are seated in all those places by mantra bala, and afterwards, when a Sanatani, a pure Hindu of pure blood performs pujan there, they are at once nourished and at once pleased. When a pure Hindu bathes in Ganga and goes to such places, all his punya is offered to them — so they will be nourished. If they are being nourished today, he says, the cause behind it is Hindus themselves.
The share you keep back comes back as an illness and eats you
What you eat up, he says, then comes back as an illness and eats you. Those people will take their share come what may; the cut has to be given. This is compulsory, because you are a human being, their blood is inside you, and you were born on account of them: it is a rin. If you want release from that rin, do tirtha yatras and live and move according to the vidhi.
Whose mantra does one do at a tirtha or a kunda?
If tomorrow you go to Kamakhya ji, he says, then do there whatever is written in the video for the sake of Bhagavati Kamakhya — but whose japa will you do everywhere? In the kunda, whose japa is to be done? Going to the tirthas, for the sake of siddhi, which one? Only that of your own ishta-aradhya. Not differently in each place — that having gone to Pitambara Mai you are doing Baglamukhi japa, dushtam vacham mukham there; having gone to Dhumavati, Ma Dhumavati dhum dhum dhuma there. Not that. In all ten kundas his japa alone will run, because the root is the same.
After the house and the temple, the tirtha dham comes next, undertaken for the kula pitrs
So the house is done and the temple outside the house is done, he says; after these two, advance towards the tirtha dham. Think for the sake of the kula pitrs. If you want the samarthya and awakening of the mantras completely, then the responsibility of restoring all those whom you have destroyed in your life, your kula and your ancestors, is this generation's.
When should one begin visiting tirthas, and how often?
When you have done the purashcharana of the mantras for a year, or for six months, properly and in sequence as far as possible, he says, then begin coming and going to the tirtha kshetras near you — a Shakti Peeth, whatever kshetras there are of the twelve Jyotirlingas. Go every six months, every year.
Ask to be called to their dham as readily as you ask for wealth
They alone will give you the samarthya, and you will have to ask, he says. Just as you always ask for wealth and possessions and all the rest, so also tell them to call you to their dham.
How should one conduct oneself at a dham?
When you go to their dham, he says, do not go only to wander about — going and wandering and coming back, going and making reels and coming back. First of all, the dham should be gupt. Reels and photographs should be only for yourself, that yes, we had gone; they should not be for showing.
What japa should be done at a dham, and how much?
Second, he says, when you go there, certainly perform the purashcharana of the mantra — and only if you have the practice will you be able to do a purashcharana. If you do a hundred malas of japa daily, then going to the dham you will be able to complete a japa of a sava lakh and return.
Where in a tirtha may one sit to do japa?
You will not get to do havan there, nor darshan, he says — you will get shikhar darshan; search out a place for japa and do japa anywhere at all. You will not get to sit in the garbhagriha and do japa. Whatever place of the tirtha there is in a tirtha kshetra is suitable for you. You have come from outside; you are not a resident there.
The Devi Bhagavata, the Ushanas Purana and the Durga Kalpadruma are cited but never followed
Whatever the subject may be, he says — be it the subject of the Srimad Devi Bhagavatam, the subject of the Ushanas Purana, the subject of other tantras such as the Kalpadruma and the durga-kalpadruma-tantra — these people will be foremost in giving the reference of all of them in writing, but they will not accept the thing itself. This, he says, is the irony; it is the maya of Bhagavati.
A viral sant claims a pig's touch in Vrindavan carries the merit of Ganga
He describes a viral video of a sant who was asked about pigs touching one during the Vrindavan parikrama, which makes one feel glani and impure, and who answered that even the pigs of Vrindavan touching you is as meritorious as Ganga. This, he says plainly, is not maryada.
What is the proper reading of the saying that tirtha residents are divine?
There is a subject about the human beings of the tirthas, he grants — that the human beings of a tirtha are of that kind, are these in person, are that; all of it is fine. But if they begin doing wrong deeds, or are fallen into ashuchita and are drinking madira, he says, they are not carrying that much with them in the present time.
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.
Trouble given by a father or mother is better discharged as a rin than removed by tapa for parivartan
The speaker says his own opinion is a little different: he believes more in the rin and believes less in parivartan. If the father is giving us trouble, he would never want to remove that trouble by doing tapa for its removal — he would want that rin to be discharged. If the mother is giving trouble, he would want to become urin. If a brother gives trouble, he would want to become urin — because if today we make him favourable to us through some kind of prayoga, tomorrow it will come back multiplied many times over. But if, doing japa for his sake, doing tirtha for his sake, doing daan for his sake, we are pacifying them, and in reality they become favourable to us, and in fact our circumstances become favourable and they become supportive to us, then that is the most correct thing of all.
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.
How is a one-day anushthan of the Shakambhari Kavach done at a Shakti Peeth?
The speaker says that once you have the practice of the Shakambhari Kavach, then when you go to a Shakti Peeth — say you have arrived today — today at your ease find the place, look around, wander the whole place and see where you will sit and do the japa. Then the next day, at first light in the early morning, the darshan is to be done; it should happen in the bhor itself, and before sunrise is most excellent. After that sit at your ease on your asana and do at least 108 path of the Shakambhari Kavach.
What should a pilgrim doing the three-day trikon parikrama at Vindhyachal prepare for?
The first guidance, the speaker says, is that it is very cold — come having made arrangement, because when you go up on the hill the cold will feel double and treble. As for bare feet, he is in favour of doing the parikrama barefoot even in the cold, since he does it himself; but he will not say that now — do it wearing paduka according to the condition of your body. If at the level of sadhana you are dependent upon your aradhya and have very great faith in him, then do it barefoot. About bathing in Ganga ji too: if you do it, it will be good, since he is doing it; but if the cold feels too much, then sprinkle the water only.
Where is it best to do an anushthan of Ma Saraswati?
A listener asks whether it is better to do a Saraswati anushthan at Kashi or near Ma Vindhyavasini and Trishabhuja, saying he has already once done a sava lakh of Saraswati at Prayagraj. All the places are supreme in themselves, brother, the speaker says — do it wherever you have the wish. There is no subject of more or less in this.
What should people living in a teerth kshetra do, and what about the Shiv Mahapuran?
Besides this, the speaker says, those who live in a teerth kshetra should do the sadhana and puja of whatever form of Mahadev is at that place, according to that place. And the paath of the Shiv Mahapuran, if you recite the entire Shiv Mahapuran in the Shravan month, gives wondrous benefit.
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.
Go once on the final day and make the samarpan in sight of the shikhar
On the last day, when the purnahuti of the japa and so on takes place — if you are doing a havan, or whatever you are doing — then after the samarpan, for the sake of samarpan, go once without fail if you wish. Do the samarpan looking at the shikhar. As at Kamakhya ji, he says, the shikhar will be visible from your own asana there itself; do the samarpan right there.
Increase tapobal at these kshetras and strengthen your own devata instead
Going to these kshetras, he says, increase your tapobal. Going to these kshetras, making the tirtha yatra, doing japa and tapa, doing parikrama, bathing, giving daan, doing a good purashcharan of the mantras — increase your own capacity and strengthen your own devata. Do not keep changing devatas again and again.
Where is there a temple of Shakambhari Durga?
Asked whether a temple of Shakambhari Durga is established anywhere, he says yes — in Madhya Pradesh. As far as he remembers it is Sambalpur; he asks anyone whose kuldevi is Bhagavati Shakambhari to comment. It may perhaps be around Narsinghgarh as well, or Sambalpur — it is at one of these two places, because the people there are connected and keep speaking with him. And the mahants and so on there are sadhaks of the Adi Guru Shankaracharya parampara itself.
Is a khappar offered to Bhagavati Saraswati at Amarkantak?
Told of Bhagavati Saraswati at Amarkantak, at a place where she is mounted on a lion, he says that then the khappar will certainly be offered, it certainly must be offered. He adds that he is not writing the temple here.
Why does the mind become uchchat even after continuous puja?
The speaker says this comes into almost everyone's life and happens to everyone, and that this is why he repeatedly says that if you only do mantra japa there will be trouble. Along with mantra japa one should also sing stotras, and if time permits and one is able, one should undertake tirth yatra.
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.
How often should a householder undertake tirth yatra?
Doing puja-paath is very good, the speaker says, but if it is possible one should certainly undertake tirth yatra at least once in the year, by which doshas such as uchchat simply end of themselves.
Which Bhairav and Ganpati should be named when bathing at a sacred river?
The speaker agrees to try to publish the nameless list, but says the better course is this: in whichever region you are performing the act, do it in the name of whatever Shakti Peeth is nearest to that place. That will be the very best.
What order should a first visit to Kamakhya follow?
Do not go straight to Kamakhya ji. Stay in Guwahati and, a day earlier, take the Darshan of Umananda Bhairav ji — the water in the Brahmaputra is lower now, so you can go comfortably by steamer. Only then begin the Nilachal ascent.
Why should anyone who goes to Khatu Shyam do the Kamakhya Kavach?
Because Khatu Shyam, seen truly, was himself a sadhaka of Bhagavati Kamakhya — Barbarik ji — and was all that he was by her grace. So those who worship him or go for his Darshan should certainly do the Kamakhya Kavach.
Should an Anushthan be done at home or at a tirtha?
We will not say go for every Parva Kala. But if there is some special Parva Kala, or one in which a crowd is unlikely, then go and do it there. The rest of the time, do it near your home.
What should be done where an energy has been attached since childhood?
You should take the help of a practitioner who can separate that energy properly from your Prana-urja; doing it yourself may cause difficulty. If you do it yourself, do it at a tirtha. The best would be to bathe at the Triveni at Prayagraj and then take the Darshan and worship of Veni Madhav ji.
Why does knowing a kshetra's Mahima matter?
Because the benefit only comes to those who know it. If you know the glory of Tirtharaj Prayag, of the Kashi kshetra, of the Ganga and Godavari, of every great tirtha, then you can take its benefit and get clear of these things. Otherwise spend a hundred years in Kashi and nothing will happen.
If one must travel during an anushthan, can the japa be done there?
The reality, he says, is that an anushthan can be done in two ways as things now stand — though this is not shastrokta. The first, the shastrokta thing, is that you will do the anushthan staying in one place; that alone is the correct vidhi-vidhan of an anushthan. But in the present time, because jobs are as they are and people have to go from one place to another, take the sankalp in that manner: at the very time of taking the sankalp, say clearly to whichever devi or devata you are doing it for that wherever we may be, we shall go on doing this many malas of the mantra and have to complete it in this many days — and that will pass.
When does an anushthan become khandit, and what saves it during travel?
If you leave it off when it is to be done, then the anushthan will be held to be khandit. But one more thing has been told for this: suppose you were doing eleven malas of japa daily and have gone on travel — then there, after bathing, sitting in some holy place, if possible one mala, and if not possible then at least five times, or eleven times, keep doing the japa of that same mantra properly. If this is possible daily through the whole period of travel until you return, then the anushthan is also not held to be khandit.
A listener dreams of a temple he has stopped visiting, seeing the place broken — what does it mean?
The listener says he used to go to a temple and no longer does; in his dream he sees that same temple, the time of rains, the murti of the Devi, and some function too, but the place appears broken though in reality it is not so. Start going at once, Parth ji, he answers. If possible — if you used to go daily — then instead of going daily, go once a week, or go once a month, but go there.
At a temple over twelve years old, regular weekly visiting joins the deva shaktis to you
He gives this as his own life's experience. Ordinarily, take it that any temple has become more than twelve years old — a Shiva ji temple, a Hanuman ji temple, twelve years complete since the pran pratishtha — and you go to that temple regularly. Daily does not mean every single day; you may have made it weekly, that we will go to Shiva ji's temple every Monday, to Bhagavati's temple every Saturday, Tuesday to Hanuman ji's temple. When you begin coming and going there, the deva shaktis do grace very particularly and join themselves to you.
The ang devatas, the Kshetrapal and the Digpal wait for the visitor too
And they too have this hope, that my son will come today. However many ang devatas there are of that place, the Kshetrapal, the Digpal — even if you only light a lamp there — they remain in the hope that the son will come today. So you should go, he says; this is his own experience. Those who have obtained divya drishti and are in the tantra kshetra will also know all these things particularly, because when they go somewhere, they too have the sensing and the experience of things there.
After a break of a week or a month, make the attempt to reach that place again
So wherever you go, whichever temple you go to — even if for some reason you cannot go for a week or two, or for a month or so — you should again make the attempt to reach that place.
How is the trikon parikrama to be done?
Go yourself with your family — nothing particularly difficult now stands in the way of going into the trikon; it may comfortably be done in one day.
What is the very first thing to do in Kartik maas?
Deepdaan is the most necessary, and before even that, the morning bath. Bathe up to an hour or an hour and a half before sunrise — if the sun is to rise at 5:00, bathing by 4:00 is held most excellent. Bathing in a sarovar or a river carries wonderful mahatmya; at home, still the water in a bucket and invoke all the tirthas into it, not under a shower.
What is the value of going to a tirtha during Kartik?
He says that if possible, going to some tirtha even for a single day in Kartik and bathing in the tirtha's water brings many punyas; and if it is Ganga ji, then most excellent of all. In the kshetra of Bhagwan Badri Narayan, of Badri Vishal, and at Prayagraj, all the devatas dwell perpetually, but in Kartik it is said that the Lord himself is present there in the form of Tirtharaj.
Where does the fruit of tirtha bathing actually fall?
He says that if one goes and bathes at the Sangam then it is wonderful — the capacity to bear the very form of Vishnu. But, recalling what was said in earlier lives, all this is a paralaukik matter and its fruit is obtained there. Here we shall suffer our own mool without knowing it. It is not that a desire for material happiness will not be fulfilled — it certainly will, but one will have to remain conscious.
What else may be done for the pitrs and for one's own ishta in Kartik?
Besides that there is the resort to a tirtha kshetra — if a path can be done for them near Ganga ji, or you have it done by someone, even one day's path and puja in Kartik for them is most excellent and the path is opened. And reading the purana relating to whoever you are a bhakta of, in Kartik, is also most excellent — the Srimad Devi Bhagavat and the Mahapuran for a Bhagwati bhakta, or a sahasrarchan daily if possible.
What is the prayashchitta where offences have been made against several deities?
The speaker says that if offence has been committed towards different forms of the Lord, take Shiva ji's sharanagati, bathe in Ganga ji and perform the prayashchitta vidhi there. Prayashchitta here means that you do japa of any mantra taking the sankalp of prayashchitta; do daan and the like, and ask forgiveness there from the heart — the Lord will certainly forgive.
Does boating or river rafting incur the dosha of walking on a river?
The speaker says that from boating and river rafting too this dosha will attach. If you go into the river, then the dosha will not attach; it is when you are going along over the river. If you touch it and apply it to your forehead, the dosha will not attach.
With ashram land sold off in crores and corridor work under way, that area must be entered warily
I simply cannot say at present that you should go there, he says. If you go into any such area of that place, go warily in the present time. Darshan and pujan and the like you may do; but whom you should meet on going there is quite difficult to say now, because if I send you there — and I know this much, that this very kshetra is in disarray there at present — where will you perform the kriya karma? The Vindhya forest, which at one time used to be entirely secret, in which places there once used to be ashrams, has been sold for crores.
Which sadhana should be done at the Pushkar tirtha?
Look, in the Pushkar kshetra you may do any sadhana, the speaker says — but there, such sadhana as relates to moksha, in which you wish that mukti or moksha be obtained by you. If there is dosha and the like connected with the pitrs, then for its removal you may do sadhana there particularly; you may also do sadhana connected with Bhagavan Narayana, or connected with Shiva.
Why does suffering come when we know of no sin we have committed?
Understand it this way, he says. You do japa at the time of a grahan; it is said that japa of any mantra at the time of a grahan brings a thousandfold fruit. In the same way, in any birth and at any time, when you do some punya work at a special time — doing japa while on a teerth yatra, doing it at the time of a grahan, on a river bank, in an ekling Shivalaya — your punya increases a great deal. Now, having increased, it too must be undergone. So you obtained the manushya yoni, your karma of punya is in udaya, there is happiness in your life. And you have at some time also committed paap. What we do first is exhausted, its punya is exhausted; then the paap runs for some time; that is exhausted, then punya runs. When the paap rises, when the time comes for its fruit to rise, that is when the troubles come into life.
What should be done when the mind will not settle in puja at all?
If uchchatan is happening a great deal, leave the pujan-path for some days, he says. Do naam japa and the like. And do the yatra of some teerth if possible — it is not necessary that you must go far off; there will be some good place in your own neighbourhood, go there, give puja there. If a Shakti Peeth is near and it is possible, go there and give puja. The uchchatit mind will become calm.
How does one reach that Bhairav temple at Vindhyachal?
When you have taken darshan and come out, you come down the stairs; the road that goes straight from there — ask anybody where the kotwali ke Bhairav are, and go that way.
Japa of the Krishna kavach on tirtha yatra
The speaker says that whenever one goes on yatra to Shrimad Dham Vrindavan, Golok, Mathura and the like, to any swaroop of Bhagavan Narayan such as Gaya ji, to any of the puris — the Saptapuri — or to Ganga ji, Yamuna ji, the Triveni Sangam and the rest, then while wearing this kavach one should certainly do as much japa of it there as possible, even while walking about. The effect of the kavach, he says, increases greatly. Remaining lifelong in its shelter, one can obtain the kripa of Bhagavan Krishna and Bhagavati Radha.
What is the mahatmya of Ganga darshan and snan according to the Devi Bhagavat?
For bathing in Ganga ji you will find a mahatmya in every Purana, he says. Quoting the Srimad Devi Bhagavat, Mahadev ji tells the mahatmya of the smaran, darshan and snan of Ganga ji: by the darshan of Ganga ji and by merely touching her water she destroys the mahapap of beings and grants moksha. And a man who on rising in the morning remembers Ganga even unwillingly has no fear of any inauspiciousness in the three lokas.
For one who desires moksha, the Ganga herself comes to dwell in his sannidhi wherever he remembers her
He says that wherever a man desiring moksha remembers Ganga ji, Ganga herself comes to dwell in his sannidhi for the sake of his mukti. Ganga purifies all desires and wipes out all inauspiciousness — and therefore, if by the Purana-given word the tithi and the rest are being obtained by us, we should make the effort and certainly reach Ganga ji.
The Ganga is Para Prakriti herself made manifest, and her smaran gives what all tirthas, tapas and yajnas cannot
It is said, he relates, that Para Prakriti herself — that is, Bhagavati — manifests in the form of Ganga ji and grants swarga and moksha to beings. Some people have such misfortune that even after going to the bank of Ganga ji they cannot bathe; their life itself is in vain. The punya that is not obtained from bathing at all tirthas, the pujan of all devatas, all kinds of tap and yajna, is obtained from Ganga smaran and snan.
What is the fruit of travelling to the Ganga for a bath?
He reads that the man who travels with the purpose of bathing in Ganga ji obtains the fruit of an ashvamedha and of hundreds of vajapeya at every single step. The pitrs of one who knows the snan of Ganga ji become pleased and begin to dance, and his most condemnable sins flee from far off. And seeing a man of approaching death who makes the Ganga yatra, the Yamdoots take fright and go away.
Does death on a Ganga yatra or in the Ganga give mukti?
He says that if one sets out on the Ganga yatra and on the way, for whatever reason, the body is left, then his mukti should be understood; and on death in Ganga ji mukti certainly occurs. But it must be the kind of death that is natural. If someone goes and commits suicide, he does not get mukti. Someone who deliberately kills himself does not obtain mukti even by going into Ganga ji.
Hosting a traveller bound for the Ganga earns the full fruit of Ganga smaran, and some tirthas require a Ganga or Narmada bath first
He says that when people are going with Ganga ji as their purpose and someone on the way offers them atithya, that person too receives the full fruit of Ganga smaran and the rest. He adds that without the snan of Ganga ji there is never release from brahmahatya and the like, and that several tirthas require a bath in Ganga ji or Narmada ji before one goes there.
Why is Ganga Dashehra called Dashehra, and what is its yoga?
As described by Mahadev ji in the Devi Bhagavat Mahapuran, when Ganga ji came upon the earth the time was joined with Jyeshtha Shukla Paksha Dashami tithi, Mangalvar and Hasta nakshatra. That same tithi and the entire same yoga is being obtained this time on the Tuesday. She is called Dashehra because she carries away the sins of ten births.
How can the fruit of Ganga snan be had at home?
For the fruit of a Ganga bath at home — mix Ganga ji into your water and take your bath while doing the smaran of Ganga ji.
What should those living outside India do for Ganga snan?
Those who are not in India should, for Ganga snan, mix Ganga ji into the water at their own place and bathe, and do the smaran of Ganga ji.
What should one do after returning from Tarapith having been insulted?
Ajay ji, having been insulted, returned — a mistake occurred. Go again to Tarapith now, he says. She is the Mother; she will relent.
Bathing with Gangajal in Canada, or wherever one is, serves for Ganga snan
Yes, in Canada take your bath with Gangajal, he says. Whoever is wherever, they can do it there too.
Those near the Ganga and able should make the effort to bathe in her in person, while the far-off need not overspend
He says that some cannot come to that state; and that more money than necessary being spent is a separate subject. But if you are in the surroundings and have the capacity, then all of you should make the effort and certainly do the Ganga snan in the region near you.
What can be done when a mantra is not being accomplished?
Yes — there is a prescription of Siddha Kala as well, of a Nakshatra and tithi falling together in a particular way. One example: where a mantra is not being accomplished, if this same procedure is performed mentally at a place where at least two rivers meet, the mantra becomes one that gives fruit immediately.
Should the merit gained from a pilgrimage be described publicly?
When Punya is obtained, its description should never be made publicly at any length. Keep to yourself what you are doing and what has been obtained. And there is no need to think in terms of best, middling or least — even one step walked toward a tirtha carries its Punya.
Why does japa done only at home give a limited effect?
However much japa you do at home, you will get a very limited effect. If you have been performing sadhana a long time, only at home, and no effect is being obtained, it will not happen at home. Go to a temple, go to a tirtha kshetra, bathe and give Daan — at Prayag, at the Triveni, our strongest Prarabdha is cut at once.
What makes a mantra that gives no effect finally work?
The prescriptions for a mantra that gives no effect: stand navel-deep in the Ganga and do at least one mala — one mala if it is a long Mala Mantra, a hundred mala if it is an Ekakshari, Panchakshari or Ashtakshari. Or stand in a flowing river and do japa from the beginning of an eclipse to its end.
What should a kanwariya keep in mind on the yatra?
Those who are going to a Jyotirlinga kshetra, carrying a kanwar to offer water to Baba, should follow the niyam of the kanwar, and should keep in mind that there be maximal japa of whichever mantras they have done sadhana of till now. Do not merely create a rowdy commotion. Wherever you go to do the abhishek, at that time the water and your body should both be clean and pure, and the mind pure as well, and abhimantrit along with it. Old sadhaks, especially of astra mantras, will keep this in mind when they go.
What flower must a kanwariya carry, and what is done with it?
Those going on a kanwar yatra, carrying water, on whom Baba's kripa especially rests, should be sure to carry an aak flower. Taking the aak flower in the hand while walking with the kanwar, that flower itself is to be made abhimantrit with the astra mantra — do it once, do it eleven times, or do it a hundred times while walking on the road. And offer that very thing, wherever you go, along with the water.
What should Mahabhairav and Bhagavati sadhaks offer on the yatra?
Those doing the siddhi of Mahabhairav, or doing maximal japa of the Mahabhairav stotra and his mantra, will likewise make the aak flower abhimantrit with that and offer it upon Baba, at whichever place they are going. Those who have done sadhana of the mantras of Bhagavati for so long will do maximal japa of Bhagavati's mantras themselves and will offer the flowers and the rest, having made them abhimantrit. Bilva patra too can be made abhimantrit.
Kaushiki of the Durga Saptashati and Atas: her emergence from Parvati, her first complete form at this spot, and why she too is Vindhyavasini
The speaker says the ashtabhuja Bhagavati of Vindhyachal — Mahasaraswati, Brahmani, Kaushiki, described in the Durga Saptashati — manifested her complete form for the first time at Atas, and wherever a shakti suddenly takes on her complete form with all her kalas, the energy of that spot is divine and extraordinary. In the Saptashati's Uttam Charitra, when Shumbha and Nishumbha attacked the gods and the gods praised her, a fair-complexioned Devi emerged from Parvati's body while Parvati remained on the Himalaya as Kalika; that form became famous as Kaushiki, and Brahmani, the ashtabhuja Mahasaraswati and Vindhyavasini are that form. The principal Vindhyavasini shakti peeth is on Vindhyachal mountain, but this form too is called Vindhyavasini, better known as Yogamaya, and she took her form here before going to Vindhyachal. The Saptashati's eleventh chapter records her own declaration that she will be born in Nand Gop's house from Yashoda's womb and, dwelling on Vindhyachal, destroy the two asuras.
What else is at Sita Kund, and how did the kunds of Vindhyachal come to be?
There are other chief places near Sita Kund, the speaker says; he will make a video sometime and tell how they are — those whose kuldevi she is will understand in what forms the kshetrapals stand there and where darshan should be done. It is a very small place, but it is there. And Sita Kund is that very place where, in Vindhyachal, every deity who went there made his own kund in Satyug; so it is with Bhagavati Sita too, that in Treta Bhagavati Sita established the Sita Kund below the Ashtabhuja hill.
What should those entangled in court cases do on Holika night?
Those caught up in court, cases and lawsuits, or with old doshas of that kind that are not being cut, should all perform a special anushthan on this night; swift benefit occurs. And if you live in such a kshetra, you should do parikrama on whatever the parikrama path of that tirtha is.
Why are more people seen on the parikrama path on the day of Holi?
You will see more people than on ordinary days. The cause, he says, is that you cannot recognise them, but they are there: akashchari siddhas and divya siddhas, all of whom come at these times, on these days, to do parikrama and the rest.
May sahasra archan be done with the water of a tirtha?
Asked whether sahasra archan can be done with the water of a tirtha, he says do it — do the sahasra archan by pouring water. That, he notes, has become tarpan.
Should parikrama be done by day or at night?
Asked about doing the Govardhan or Vrindavan parikrama at night, he says that by the rule as he understands it the parikrama always keeps going on there, but the rule of Govardhan ji's parikrama as stated by the saints of that place should be followed, and if you are initiated into some panth, then as stated there. Among his own people, he adds, the trikon parikrama begins from the time of dawn; for the night-time it has been prohibited, because at night the parikrama cannot be completed — darshan has to be taken at every place, and darshan can only happen in the morning.
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