Varshiki
Every question on the site tagged Varshiki, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
The annual death-anniversary rites for a departed family member — before their completion, major ritual Sadhanas are restricted, though lighter practices like reciting the Devi Gita or Bhagavad Gita chapters remain permitted.
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What spiritual practices remain permitted during Sutak or before Varshiki rites?
During bereavement (Sutak) or before the annual death-anniversary rites (Varshiki), when major ritual Sadhanas are prohibited, one may light a lamp for Kshetrapala or recite chapters from the Bhagavad Gita or Devi Gita, which bestows merit and elevates the departed soul.
When is the pratishtha of a vigraha or yantra considered complete?
Answering Rahul Sharma ji on pratishtha: when we do praan pratishtha in a shri vigraha, in a yantra, in a danda, or in any other physical substance, then with their seva, puja and aarti going on by daily rule — so long as the pujan and paath is happening well — if one annual puja takes place within the year, their pratishtha is held complete. Even so, if you have done puja by rule for three days, then their pratishtha is done; that too is a belief. But if you have done the pujan by rule for the whole year, then they become fit for worship in the kula and there remains no lack of pratishtha in them. In tantrik pratishtha, however, the subject comes differently.
What does the Kulaarnava say about a silver vigraha?
In later times, according to the Kulaarnava and the rest, this view too comes, he says: that if you wish, the rule is that if you have kept a vigraha of silver, then once in twenty-five years — when the twenty-fifth year is complete, in the twenty-fifth year — their pratishtha vidhi should be done again, a mahotsav and the like should be held, and the full vidhi of pratishtha, the whole process of vigraha snan and so on, all of that should be done. But all that becomes a very separate subject: for each deity it is separate again, and separate according to which metal it is.
Can a havan be done at home when a death in the family is less than a year old?
Asked by a listener whose grandfather-in-law has passed away less than a year ago whether no havan at all can be done at home, the speaker says that for a havan he too cannot say, because it is not known whether their varshiki has been done or not. But paath, deep, daan and the like can certainly be done.
The devatas do not ask for meat all year — it is the greed of your own tongue
In the greed of the tongue you are giving it to the devata, he says, but the devatas do not ask for it all year round. He grants that he too knows the annual pujan runs and that the bali of Dashami runs. But you keep bringing and giving it always, and to the same devatas: you are giving nothing to those devatas, you are pacifying your own tongue's greed and then putting the name on the devata — and when the trouble increases you blame the devata too.
Does the Kalika Yogini sadhana cut the tantra in the house, and what about varshiki?
Asked whether doing Kalika Yogini sadhana will cut the tantra vichar of the house, he says it absolutely will — but do not leave off doing Mahabhairav. Asked separately whether Hanuman ji's sadhana does not exist, he replies that of course it does, why would it not. And to Monika ji he says: if the annual pujan is done, only then should you do it; if the varshiki has not been done, if the barsi has not been done, then do not do seva-puja now, and do not take part in any anushthan.
Can an anushthan be done when there has been a death in the kul?
He tells Snehal ji to first see what relation the person who died in the kul was to her, whether their barsi has been done, and what the custom of acceptance is in her kul. If you people have been relieved of the sutak and you have nothing to do with their annual rites, only then perform or have performed the anushthan; otherwise, if you have to observe a year's sutak now, or if the varshiki has not been done, then do not have it done at all.
Why is the worship of kul shaktis so similar across regions?
The speaker says that wherever you go — Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Bihar, these eastern and northern regions — the way the shakti of the kula is worshipped is almost the same everywhere, with only a nineteen-to-twenty difference. At most the name is known, and very often not even the name; Chhattisgarh is the same. The swarup changes slightly and the name changes, but the method of puja becomes almost identical.
Why is the varshiki done one year after a death?
The speaker says that when someone in the family dies an Akala Mrityu, no Narayana Bali, no Tripindi Shraddha and no Varshiki is done, because nobody waits a year. Yet for the Jivatma the fifteen days of Krishna Paksha are day for the pitrs and Shukla Paksha is their night, so one of our months is a single day for them; the twelve-day journey to Yamlok takes twelve of our months, and that is why the varshiki is done after one year. Now people do the varshiki on the thirteenth day itself or forget it, nobody does the monthly rites, nobody goes to a tirtha for narayana bali after an akal mrityu, has a Srimad Bhagavat done, goes to Gaya or gives daan; the dead are gone, and who watches whether they come for the water?
Can a Savan anushthan be done in the year of a death in the family?
A listener says his father passed away in May 2024. The new samvatsar had already begun, so the death occurred in this same samvatsar. Only if his varshik shraadh has been done should you perform the Savan anushthan, the speaker says; otherwise there is no bar upon Shiva ji's abhishek — do Shiva ji's abhishek, give arghya to Surya Bhagwan, and recite the sahasranama and the like.
What if a mistake occurs in the Sharad Navratri bali?
Keep in mind that in the bali worship and Deepdaan you perform in Sharad Navratri, if some error occurs, Bhagavati never gives you punishment for it — because at that time, truly speaking, it is the Bhava she sees. He is not speaking of those who commit an offence knowingly.
Can a new vrat be taken within a year of a death in the family?
A listener whose husband's grandfather died less than a year ago has already taken a sankalp of eleven vrats of Ma Lakshmi in the Shukla Paksha of every month and has completed three. The speaker says that when there was doubt, at that very time she should at least have asked whatever learned person or pandit ji was near — some purohit will be there in a nearby temple and would have told her; it is a very ordinary matter that no new vrat is to be done within the year. An old vrat that you have been doing — Pradosh, Ashtami, Ekadashi — will not stop, that will continue. It is simply that nobody is to do a new one. And now, he says, we will not get it stopped by saying so either: ask your own purohit ji about that.
How often should the Sankatnashan sadhana be repeated?
And if possible, in any one paksha of every month — be it Shukla Paksha, be it Krishna Paksha, any one paksha — repeat this sadhana again and again. Do it for one year and see: your whole problem will be solved.
Once several stotras are made siddha, must all be recited daily?
To Mohit ji he answers with an example: suppose a person made the path of the Argala Kavach siddha, made the Dattatreya Mala Mantra siddha, made some stotra of Hanuman ji siddha, made the Hriday Kavach of Kali ji siddha, made the Hriday Kavach of Batuk Bhairav siddha — so now four or five stotras are siddha. If you cannot get time daily, then take the names of all the devi-devatas whose kavach or stotra you have made siddha, and certainly do the path of each one on some one day in the week. If Bhairav ji's is to be done, do it on Sunday; the Dattatreya Mala Mantra on Thursday. It should be done once in the week, and a yearly havan should certainly be done at some time.
When does a mala actually have to be re-consecrated?
Where a Sutak has attached and six or seven months, an Ayana, have passed — you did japa through the Uttarayana and have now come into the Dakshinayana. Not immediately, and not at a change of season. Those who do japa of Shatkarma mantras must do all of it; for Vedic and Maha mantras the mala only grows more consecrated.
Can an anushthan be done when an aunt died a month ago?
If in the following moment the varshiki has been completed, and the matter of sutak does not apply in your household, then it can absolutely be done, the speaker says. If the varshiki has not been done and you had to observe the full thirteen days of sutak, then take the full information about the further matter according to your own custom, there, and only then decide whether it can be done or not.
Can the vrat and full pujan be kept when the varshi has not been done?
You may keep only the vrat, the speaker says; as for the full matter of pujan and paath — with Ekadashi and the like, even when the varshi has not been done, Ekadashi cannot be given up. If you keep the vrat of a tithi then you cannot abandon it; that you may do.
What should be done on a child's birthday for bal, buddhi and vidya?
First, it should be done on the janma tithi — by the tithi system of Sanatan culture, not by the English calendar. On that day two or three things are done for the whole year. The first and best is to have special puja performed of the adhipati devata of the child's janma nakshatra. The second is to have ordinary Shiv puja performed.
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