Vigreh
Every question on the site tagged Vigreh, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
The physical idol or image form in which a deity is worshipped.
226 notes from our sourcesNotes from our sources
Why does energy retention differ between a paper photograph and a solid metal idol?
A paper photograph can hold worship energy for only about 12 hours before turning neutral, while a properly established metal idol accumulates and retains it for years — the core reason a physical idol, not just a photograph, is recommended for serious home worship.
The deity figure itself must be cast solid throughout; only the base and the vahana may be hollow
A worship idol's main body must always be solid metal — hollow idols (common with modern mold-casting), and idols made of marble dust, resin, or stone, should be avoided or respectfully replaced.
About 12 hours in paper, 11 years in brass, 25 in silver and 100 in gold
Energy retention scales with the material: about 12 hours in a paper photograph, roughly 11 years in a mobile-consecrated brass idol, about 25 years in silver, and about 100 years in gold — with regular daily worship continually extending it.
Switching deities out of changing desires drains the stored energy over 1 to 3 years
Abandoning consistent worship of a deity idol in favor of another, based on shifting desires, causes its stored energy to fade gradually over 1 to 3 years — though a basic subtle divine spark always remains in any previously worshipped idol.
Can Shaligram be worshipped at home, and what does it require?
Yes — Shaligram worship at home is considered highly beneficial provided daily food offerings (Bhoga) are made, and its ritual marriage to Tulsi (Tulsi Vivah) should be performed annually on Dev Uthani Ekadashi.
A consecrated rudraksha at the deity's neck carries the accumulated energy over to a replacement idol
Establishing the deity's Yantra, Astra (weapon), and a consecrated Rudraksha bead alongside the main idol means that if the idol ever breaks, its accumulated spiritual energy stays intact in the Rudraksha and transfers to a replacement idol.
What is the correct ritual procedure for disposing of a broken idol, or replacing an intact one?
A broken idol is ritually released in water while seated in the Samhara Mudra, after a final worship and forgiveness and a rock-salt donation equal to its weight; an undamaged idol may only be replaced under real necessity, submerged for 3.5-4 hours while chanting its mantra, and retrieved by an unrelated person.
Seated on a lotus, an elephant or Garuda — never standing, which marks wealth as unsteady
A seated Lakshmi — on a lotus (Kamal), an elephant (Gaj Lakshmi), or Garuda — is preferred for home worship; standing (Chanchala) forms should be avoided, as a standing posture symbolizes the instability of wealth.
Where Batuk Bhairav is placed in the home shrine
The speaker says that if you do seva-puja of Bhagwati, Bhairav ji's place must be on the left of Jagadamba — that is, on your right when you sit down to do puja. If you worship other deities, Batuk Bhairava ji's place should be given according to their Panchayatana, or next to Shiva ji.
Which idol or symbol to use for Batuk Bhairav at home
For Batuk Bhairava ji, the speaker says, you can keep a Trishul as a symbol, keep a beautiful framed picture of him, or, if you wish, keep a small shri vigraha of him — under six inches. It may be of brass, or of silver; but the vigraha should be solid, and Batuk Bhairav in it should be in the blessing mudra, that is, granting blessings — like the one shown in the photo in the video.
Establishing Batuk Bhairav as a betel nut when no picture or idol is possible
The speaker says you may install a photo or a shri vigraha; if even that is not possible, you can keep a Trishul in the form of a Supari, and if you do not keep a trishul, then wrap kalawa around a supari, bathe it with milk and the like, and install it there in the Batuk form of Batuk Bhairava.
Taking up a new deity form the right way: alongside the old, or as a fixed anushthan
The speaker says that when you move to a new form and leave the old ones, the trouble is not solved there — it is a delusion of maya that things get solved, and such "experiences" exist only for marketing. If a new form is taken up, it is done alongside the old, never by leaving it. Or the new form has a fixed term — say a sava-lakh (125,000) Anushthana of that form — during which the old form's dhoop and deep continue; the new form is worshipped for so many days and then Visarjan is done. Never install a new form, pick up the old one and immerse it in the river, and worship the new: troubles will then begin to come in a different way. Everything has a process.
When replacing a home idol is acceptable and when it is an insult
The speaker says a devi-devata established at home is never to be removed, whoever tells you to, however great — he compares it to today's habit of sending parents to an old-age home when a wife arrives, which sanatan culture does not sanction. No sanatan tantra text and no tantra path of any Guru lineage says that when you install a new deity you must immerse the old one. What is allowed: if the murti is khandit, the Shri Vigreh has some problem, impurity or dosh has set in, you may re-establish a good form of the same deity; bringing a finer or bigger "upgraded" murti is a separate matter. Changing the deity's form altogether and installing a new one, and doing it in an insulting manner, is wrong. Even if not removed, the home's vigrahas must never be neglected.
Welcoming and establishing household deities at the new home
The speaker says the puja spot at the new place is decorated as one welcomes a new guest: at least a Toran of mango and Ashoka leaves with a few flower garlands at the main door, banana-trunk or banana-leaf pillars on both sides if available, and a little Rangoli for the deities' avahan. The deities are then brought carefully from the old house, all are bathed and established, and puja is done as per capacity by oneself or through a Brahmin, with abhisheka and snan of the main vigrahas.
Fierce Devi forms a householder should not install at home
The speaker says an ordinary Grihastha should not install at home, as a vigraha, the Mahishasura Mardini form (the ten-armed Durga), or any form of Kali with no hand in Varada Mudra — especially Shamshan Kali or Bhadrakali — or a ten-headed, twenty-armed, twenty-legged Dasha Mahavidya-type form. These forms are extremely fierce, all of them are tantrokta, and if a mistake is made in their worship there is no remedy. He raises the subject, he says, not as superstition but so that anyone who has made this mistake, or inherited it from ancestors or elders, and is suffering kalah-klesh or anishta at home can correct it.
A Mahishasura Mardini idol at home cannot be served by worshipping Durga alone
The speaker says that when the Mahishasura Mardini form is kept at home as a vigraha, the Devi's vahan Som Nandi, the great lion, is there with her in his fierce battlefield state, and so are two danavas, Mahisha and Mahishasura. Even counting the two as one, a negative energy is present that received the Devi's boon and attained sayujya with her — Jagadamba herself gave her word that "with me, you too will be worshipped". So if one worships only Durga, the puja gives no complete satisfaction and does not bear fruit; instead two kinds of shrap fall: one becomes the object of the Devi's anger, and the daitya's presence keeps widening the field of negative energy in the house. The Devi cannot help here either, he says, because this is not a matter of bhav or bhakti.
Saumya forms such as Ashtabhuja Durga are for home devotion
The speaker says that if what one wants to do is bhakti-bhav, one should install and worship the eight-armed Ashtabhuja Durga or the other forms of Jagadamba that are saumya (gentle), and do the puja vidhi with those. The Mahishasura Mardini form, by contrast, is a Tantra-led, kriya-led matter.
Home pratishtha of a metal idol with ghee, raw milk and the Devi Suktam
The speaker gives a simple home method for the pratishtha of any deity's Vigreh — Hanuman ji, Shiva ji, Bhagavati Durga, Kali, any devi or devata — for households that will not call a pandit. His rules: for Lakshmi-Ganesh puja do not bring clay idols; install solid metal ones, small or large, and never change them. Do not merely wash them and set them down: when seating the idol in its place, smear the whole idol with cow's ghee, and while pouring a stream of raw milk over them recite the Tantrokta Devisuktam. He says the pure sattvic shaktis of the Ganesha and Lakshmi tattvas then enter and the pratishtha is done; the samskaras, including the agnyuttarana vidhi, are taken as covered in brief by this. He notes a fuller, simplest-Hindi murti-pratishtha vidhi with a PDF exists on his channel, but this too is a simplest method.
What should be done if an unscriptural idol or portrait was mistakenly brought home?
It should not be desecrated, but respectfully immersed in flowing water wrapped in yellow cloth, with offerings of fruits and sweets.
Can a family deity's temple (Kuldevi Mandir) be relocated after moving residences?
No — consecrated immovable shrines (Achala Pratishtha) cannot simply be altered or relocated casually without specific scriptural procedures.
Which trunk direction is auspicious for a home Ganapati idol, and how many idols may be kept together?
Both right-trunked (Dakshinabhimukhi) and left-trunked (Vamamukhi) Ganapati forms are auspicious for domestic worship — the fierce-versus-gentle distinction applies only to specialized Tantric Kamya rituals; two idols in a home temple are permissible, but three should be avoided.
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 other day may be used to repeat the pratishtha?
Or on the day of the jayanti of the chief deity of your kula parampara, on that day the pratishtha should be repeated. It will be in the same way for the yantra mandala too, and in the same way for the tantrik mala your guru ji has given you. Besides that comes the process of shodhan, whether of vigraha shodhan; but in that three or four things have to be kept in mind — the metal has to be kept in mind. In that, for gold the subject becomes different, for silver different, for copper and kansa different again.
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.
A Kali vigraha was installed in a village but daily puja is not done — what now?
The questioner writes that in the village there was earlier a than of Kali Maiya on a chabutara, and eight years ago his elder father had the praan pratishtha of Maa Kali done and an image made, but daily puja and aarti cannot happen — what should be done? There is simply no alternative to this, he answers; it will have to be done. Either you, or whoever had it made — it is then his responsibility for life; at least so long as he has the capacity in the body, it is his responsibility to make the arrangement. Merely doing praan pratishtha does not make everything done, especially in a temple.
Can her displeasure be read from her image?
If seen directly — even if you have kept her photograph, the shringar one in which the Maa is in her full shringar, with the ornaments and jewels by which she is seen — then you will see that if some offence has been committed by you, then merely by looking into her eyes it will be understood that Bhagavati is displeased. If it is going on, then the aura of the countenance itself remains changed.
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.
What should be done if there is no vigrah of Lakshmi in the house?
The speaker says he has written and said many times: keep in the house, from this Diwali, a vigrah or a beautiful picture of Bhagavati Lakshmi, the shakti who is the complete Shri form endowed with the Shri tattva. And if even then there is no wish for it, then do the pujan of the form of the Devi that you already keep, endowed with the Shri tattva. There is no difficulty.
On which forms should the Mandar Vidya rudraksha mala be placed instead?
Put it on the saumya shakti — the form of Bhagavati, of the Devi — and especially, if there is a vigrah or a picture of Bhagavati Lakshmi ji, put it on that. If there is none, nothing has to be brought; there is no difficulty. Seat her in a beautiful vessel, or in one of the copper tiffins that are available, spreading a red cloth in it, and show dhoop and deep daily. Even this much is a great deal.
Worshipping these forms opens the way to obtaining a great deal — and where a vigrah exists, the mala is placed on it.
By performing the pujan of all these, the speaker says, the way opens for you to obtain a great deal. It is not necessary, but if there is a vigrah, then put it on them.
A yellow, red or white asana, facing east or north, before the established Batuk Bhairav swarup or else before Mahadev.
The speaker says the asana should be yellow or red, and white may also be kept. The direction should be east or north. The swarup will be Batuk Bhairav — the photo or Shri Vigraha already established, or the trishul, all of which he has explained before; and if not, one may also do it before Mahadev.
What of Lakshmi yantras and vigrahas already installed in a house?
Along with this comes a further matter, the speaker says: the earlier installation in your house of any kind of yantra connected with Bhagavati Lakshmi, the installation of a kalash, the installation of a Shri vigraha — not necessarily one you set up yourself through Grihastha Tantra, but one your parents may have kept from before. He gives as an example the people who do the puja of Gupt Lakshmi in the Kamakhya kshetra: on the night of Diwali, Lakshmi ji comes out only once in the whole year.
Are there Lakshmi forms beyond the Ashta Lakshmi?
In the same way, the speaker says, in other regions the pujan of other kinds of Lakshmis is also done; besides the Ashta Lakshmi there are forms of other Lakshmis too, and their pujan takes place according to the region. Since this is a night connected with Shri tattva, on this night the vigraha of Lakshmi ji — of silver, of gold, or whatever you may have kept, a gutka and the like — should be seated at night or at dusk in the pujan place, and her abhishek should certainly be done.
How should the family be seated, and how is the vigraha bathed?
Suppose there are five people in the family — all five may sit comfortably, the speaker says; the only thing to watch is that nobody's face should be towards the south direction. First give Bhagavati her bath and do her shringar. If you do not know the mantras there is no difficulty: bathe her while reciting the Mahalakshmi Ashtak.
Is Kali seated on a lotus asana a valid form?
Asked about Mata Kali seated upon the asana of a lotus, the speaker answers that this is absolutely a form of hers.
Should the archan be done on a panchakshari yantra or on the vigraha?
Asked whether the archan of Bhagavati should be done on a panchakshari yantra or on her Shri vigraha, the speaker says: do it on the Shri vigraha; do it on the Shri vigraha for now. If the form whose nitya japa and the rest you do is the one connected with which you wish to perform archan on the panchakshari yantra, then there is no question in it at all.
Is the Lakshmi of Bengal who holds a sindoor-dani a distinct form?
Told that in Bengal there is a Lakshmi ji who holds a sindoor-dani in her hand, the speaker says yes, absolutely. It is these very ones who are called Lakshmi Ma; all are the form of Lakshmi Ma — and just now the puja of Mai will take place in the Kojagari.
How are yellow flowers used in the Baglamukhi Ashtottar Shatnam path?
When you do japa of Bhagavati Pitambara — if you are going to do 108 paths of the Ashtottar Shatnam — then keep at least eleven yellow flowers beside you. And having performed the Ashtottar Shatnam path eleven times, or ten times, upon each flower, offer it on the kalash, or on Bhagavati's vigraha, wherever you wish.
Why does sutak make touching a vigraha forbidden, rather than the devata itself becoming untouchable?
Consider, he says, that nine or ten hours before an eclipse falls, sutak sets in — and in the time of sutak the touching of Shri vigrahas stays forbidden. In the time of sutak the devatas do not become untouchable; the sutak attaches in our body. We do not remain fit; this body of excrement and urine does not remain fit that we should touch a deva vigraha. It is for the sake of our own welfare, because that is a maha-urja endowed with countless tattvas, and if we touch in such a state, we will have the difficulty.
Which Batuk Bhairav yantra should be bought?
A listener asks whether to take the yantra with the Tantrokta mala or the yantra that comes with the Tantrokta murti of Batuk Bhairav ji, the two being separate. One is enough, the speaker answers — the one that comes with the Shri vigraha; that alone is plenty, everything will happen in it, and no separate need will arise. If you want everything separately, and want to do the whole of Batuk Bhairav ji in krama, then you certainly may take them.
A photo or Shri Vigraha of Dattatreya, as large as means allow — he is being taken as Sadguru for life, so it must be there.
A photo of Bhagwan Dattatreya, decorated with as many flowers as are shown. The speaker says you may keep the photo as large as your capacity allows, or keep a Shri Vigraha. Since he is being taken as Sadguru for the whole of life, he says, his Shri Vigraha or photo must certainly be there.
A small, lovely Manasa Maa murti was called ashastriya by ten different places.
A Chakravarti babu who makes beautiful murtis made a very small, lovely murti of Manasa Maa and sent it to ten places. Everyone said it was an ashastriya murti and that worshipping it would bring this and that. The speaker asks what the difficulty is — he made it with bhav-pradhanata; he is not asking Bhagavati for the siddhi of flying or for a sarp mani.
How should a brass vigraha be cleaned?
Asked whether a brass vigraha may be cleaned properly with a new brush and whether curd or lemon juice may be used, the speaker says they may — but do not scrub so much with the brush, or some day they will scrub you. They should be cleaned with a cotton cloth, so that one does not have to scrub for very long.
A listener may have the mudrika made himself — only the pratishtha would then have to be done separately, by the murti pratishtha vidhi.
He says he thinks at least fifteen or twenty people joined the anushthan last time and received one. A listener can also do it himself; the only point is that he may not be able to perform the pratishtha, and the vidhi of murti pratishtha or vigraha pratishtha would then have to be done separately. It can be done, he says, with a little patience.
Can one visit and worship at a temple on the way home from a hospital?
Why not, says the speaker — for an ordinary hospital visit there is no issue at all and pujan may be done. What should be avoided at that time is offering prasad and mala before them; and if the person was himself ill and is returning, he should bow with bhav from outside, not touch the vigrahas and not enter the garbhagriha, though he may go into the courtyard.
Can a murti of Batuk Bhairav be installed at home?
Yes, absolutely, the speaker says. The whole vidhi for doing it is published on the channel, with its PDF — search for the vidhi of Shri Vigraha Pratishtha, Grihastha Tantra, and you will get it; in it the pratishtha of Kuber ji has been demonstrated. There was also a separate video for the pratishtha of Batuk Bhairav ji, but everything in both is the same. But the shri vigraha should be of Batuk Bhairav ji only — take care that it is not of Kaal Bhairav ji.
Does dosha attach if home puja of a shivling stops while one is away for a month?
The speaker says the matter is plain and clear: when you go, go having prayed mentally that your devatas go with you. Wherever you are, you will keep doing their seva and puja mentally. No dosha at all is going to attach in that.
Learned people say bhav predominates everywhere else, then bring in the predominance of kriya only in this one place.
People who are called learned forget bhav in exactly this place, he says. Everywhere else they say bhav is what predominates; and in this place they bring in the predominance of kriya, and start travelling around with the shri vigraha and all these things, worshipping them here and there. Here bhav does not work — here their intellect turns straight into the opposite.
Why must a household's shri vigraha never cross the threshold?
We cannot make them transgress the kshetra, the speaker says; we cannot make them transgress the chaukhat, the dehri of our house. If the shila of Jagdamba or the Narmadeshwar were to cross the threshold, then all the shubhra shaktis gathered there, all the energy of our japa and tapa that is gathered, is destroyed.
How secret should a shri vigraha under one's seva be kept?
The devatas of your house should never transgress the threshold of your house, and the shri vigraha of another's house devatas should not transgress your threshold — they will neither come in from outside nor go out from here. And as the real matter, know that the shri vigraha served by you should be so secret that no outside person ever sees it.
Famous Vaishnav saints also teach that full kripa comes when seva is kept entirely secret and seen by nobody.
Leave me aside, the speaker says — famous Vaishnav saints are also saying that if you want full kripa, then do seva keeping it entirely secret so that nobody ever sees them. The video was viral on Facebook. He says he cannot recall the Maharaj ji's name but shares his videos often. So they too accept it, he says; but their followers do not accept what they say.
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.
A family that lets its own threshold be transgressed brings its own destruction, then asks what sin it committed.
By having their own threshold transgressed they cause the destruction of the family themselves, the speaker says. And when the tandav breaks out they say, what sin have we committed that this is happening with us. Brother, this is the sin — and they will not accept it.
What about a family custom of touching a mukhauta to a mool vigraha?
Where a paddhati exists, where there is a custom, the matter there is different, the speaker tells a listener with the handle Bhagavati Upasak. We are never forbidding that; that is to be done. If the rule in your place is that your kuldevi's form, a mukhauta or some other thing, is to be taken to some place and touched, then there is no prohibition on that.
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.
Why should a large murti not be kept in a house?
He says there is a shastrokta reason behind not keeping a large murti at home: our shastras, which give the direction as to what kind of Shiva vigraha should be kept in a house and how large it should be, say it should not be larger than six inches. For keeping large vigrahas at home, a dosha is stated afterwards — the possibility of pranghat and of the increase of the lineage being stopped, and difficulty may occur.
Should a Narmadeshwar Shivling be taken to a temple?
He tells Surya ji to keep Narmadeshwar ji at home itself; there is no need to take it to a temple.
Can pictures placed in a temple five years ago be brought back home?
Asked whether pictures put from the home mandir into a temple five years ago can be kept back in the house, he says no — what you took out of the house and placed in a temple, do not bring it back.
How many Ganpati should there be in a house?
Asked about three Ganpati having accumulated in the house, he says there should be only two Ganpati.
What does a form with khadga, mudgar, narmund and khappar indicate?
A listener describes a form with khadga, mudgar, narmund and khappar, with Shiva ji at the feet and the left foot upon Mata ji — that is, Bhagavati has placed her left foot upon Shiva ji. He says that if it is khappar-bearing Kalika then she is ugra; had it been Dakshina Kalika there would have been only the narmund and the khadga.
Touching the Shri Vigraha of Bhairav is barred without diksha and guru's adesh
The speaker says the Shri Vigreh of Bhairava ji is not to be touched if one is not initiated. Only someone initiated in a panth, sampradaya or Guru Parampara where this is done, or initiated in Bhairav's mantra with the guru's adesh to touch the Shri Vigraha, should touch it. Otherwise one may touch a Shivling instead; Bhairav's vigraha is not for every person to touch by simply walking up to it.
Can a woman do the seva of Bhairav?
Yes. Asked about the stri sadhika who is told first of all that a woman cannot do Bhairava ji's seva, the speaker answers: absolutely not so. The prohibition is on touching the Shri Vigreh, and that is forbidden for men too — nobody is to touch the vigraha. Beyond that, a woman may go and do the seva.
Ugra vigrahas are worshipped from the side, never face to face, by a householder
The speaker says the Ugra shaktis — the shmashan forms of Mahakali, Shamshan Kali, Shmashan Bhairavi, all shmashan Shri Vigrahas, and any vigraha made in an ugra form — are not worshipped from in front. A Grihastha must not stand before their eyes, meet their eyes and do mantra japa; those detached from household life may, but the listener should not. So at a Kaal Bhairava temple where he is installed in an ugra form, worship is done standing right beside the Shri Vigreh, not in front of it.
How is a chola applied to a brass murti of Hanuman ji?
A chola should always be applied from below upwards, the speaker says. The orange sindoor that is Hanuman ji's should be prepared in pure ghee or in chameli oil upon a paan leaf, and it is most excellent to apply it from below upwards with that same paan leaf.
Can the Bhairav pashan be awakened in the absence of a trishul?
Asked whether, as the Bhairav trishul is awakened, the Bhairav pashan can also be awakened in the absence of a trishul, he says yes, absolutely, it can be done. But whenever you keep a Bhairav pashan, it is not kept without applying sindoor. If you have established Bhairav ji at home in the form of a pashan — a black stone, triangular, however you have kept it — always keep it with a chola of sindoor applied, coated in it, just as Hanuman ji is kept.
A brass vigraha or trishul form is kept with ordinary or special shringar, with a crown
For the rest, the speaker says, if it is a brass Shri vigraha, or in trishul form, then you can keep it with ordinary shringar or with special shringar done, putting a crown and so on upon it.
When does the sutak begin, and until when should a vigraha not be touched?
As for the pujan that is to happen in the morning, the sutak is beginning from 8:20, the speaker says — so whatever pujan-path there is should be completed before 8:20. The touching of a deva vigraha should not happen after 8:20 on the 8th; you will touch again only after 6:20 in the evening, after your Purnima grahan has been completed.
Should a Sai Baba murti be kept in the puja room?
A listener asks whether a Sai Baba murti, which was formerly kept in the puja room and is not now, was accepted in worship by the devi-devatas in earlier times or not. That has become a separate subject, the speaker says. For the rest: do not keep them.
Should sindoor be applied to a silver trishul?
It can be applied on Bhairav ji's trishul, the speaker says; on Shiva ji's trishul, bhasma and chandan can be applied.
Is it right to coat Bhairav ji in black kajal?
A listener says he has applied a coating of black kajal to Bhairav ji. Ah, so you have made Bhairav ji entirely black, the speaker teases, naming him. Very well, he says — if it is done in your region, then it is all right.
Do I need an image of Kali ji for this?
In this you have to do the pujan of Bhagavati Kali ji. Any small chhaya chitra of Kali ji, or her shri vigraha and the like, will also do; and if there is none, there is no difficulty either. If you wish you may make a new arrangement and keep one — doing it with one placed there is fine and good, your bhav will be built more; but even without it, it will do.
How is the one-by-one avahan and snaan done?
Just as with four or five children in the house you catch one, bathe him, set him down and take up the next, so here too with the chief shaktis or chief vigrahas: if you wish, one by one, with full bhakti bhav, do the avahan of each — Gajananam Bhutaganadi Sevitam for one devata first — if you know the mantra; otherwise simply place akshat and flowers before them, then bathe them with milk and the rest, with panchamrit, bathe them with pure water, wipe them well, and seat them in their garments.
Can I worship a Mahakali with weapons in all ten hands?
Answering Rahul Rana ji, he says he has clarified this before in a live and there is a separate video too: it is fitting to do the pujan at home of a shri vigraha in which at least one hand of Bhagavati is in the ashirvad mudra, in Bhagavati's saumya form, because our own bhav is formed accordingly. And if it is that ten-faced Bhagavati, she is the form of the ten Mahavidyas — you may keep her photo and do seva-puja, that will do; if she has a khappar, then keep madhu in the khappar, and it is fitting that one hand be in the ashirvad mudra.
Should I buy a new Lakshmi-Ganesh idol every Diwali?
Stop bringing the murti of Lakshmi Ganesh ji every Diwali, he says. People bring a clay murti, a chinese-clay murti, and worship it for the year; shopkeepers especially — in every shop there is a Lakshmi Ganesh murti of chinese clay with the coloured kalash. Next year a new murti comes, the pandit ji too has puja done on the new one; the old one is carried off and kept beneath a peepal, or thrown into water, or found broken somewhere in the house. You do puja for a whole year and then this very shraap attaches to you. Stop committing this offence, he says.
Why do people fear installing Lakshmi-Ganesh at home?
Bring a shri vigraha, good and solid — the vigraha of Lakshmi Ganesh ji should not be hollow. These are never given visarjan and never given a farewell. What is done in this is chal pratishtha, not achal, so you need not be troubled about how pratishtha will happen at home. He says everything has been wrapped up into one: he would say that at home you are not to do Dhumavati sadhana or keep her vigraha, and that there are rules if you keep a Baglamukhi vigraha — but people have publicly explained even that as permitted, while people's nerve fails at having Lakshmi Ganesh ji consecrated. And to those who say the shastra of vastu says there should be no temple in the house, he says they should be beaten with a slipper.
What size vigraha, and is the standing-Lakshmi rule real?
Bring metal shri vigrahas into the house, solid and not hollow, according to your means — as small as looks right to you at minimum, and at the larger end a murti up to six inches. If you have a business establishment, there too the murti should be solid. As for the totka running that at a business establishment there should be a standing Lakshmi ji's photo or vigraha and at home a seated one, because customers come and go there while at home Lakshmi ji should sit — is there any logic to all these things, he asks. There is no logic.
Which form of the vigraha does he recommend?
In his view: Bhagavati Lakshmi seated on a lotus asana, Bhagavan Ganesh seated on a lotus asana; or Lakshmi ji and Ganesh ji seated on a good asana; Bhagavati Lakshmi seated upon a gaja, or Ganpati ji seated upon a mushak — though a mushak one is hard to find. But a Bhagavan Ganpati seated upon a sinhasan, and a Bhagavati Lakshmi seated upon a sinhasan or a lotus asana — such a beautiful shri vigraha you should consecrate permanently, both at a business establishment and at home.
Does an older murti become more energetic?
The older this murti is, that much more energetic it will be, he says. It is not that a murti established by your father and grandfather is now to be removed. But this removing of the murti every year and keeping a new murti is a very great foolishness of yours. Establish such beautiful shri vigrahas in the house permanently — that is all; never remove them. Every year you will bathe them and dress them in new clothes; and at the parva kaal that falls in between, at a grahan and so on, you will change their clothes and the janeu, the upavita, and do the pujan.
Vigrah or photograph of Annapurna for the home anushthan
The speaker says a shri vigrah of Bhagavati Annapurna may be kept at home, with one caution: it should be no larger than 6 inches and not hollow inside. Otherwise a photograph is used. Snan and the other upacharas of Shodashopachara can be done on a vigrah but not on a photograph, so a flower is set before the photo, the Avahan mantra recited into the flower, and the pujan then performed on that flower in Bhagavati's name.
Which Ganapati is invoked before beginning the katha?
Shri Mahaganapati, who has ten arms and is the adhipati of the Ekadash Rudra Vinayaka and the fifty-six Vinayakas. Every avatar and every swaroop has its own separate tantric vigraha of Ganapati, and Mahaganapati is the king of them all; by his remembrance alone every Vinayaka becomes pleased and every inauspicious act turns auspicious.
What is the shiv kshetra around a temple, and why does it matter?
The speaker refers listeners back to his previous live, in which he discussed the five tantric vigrahas and the shiv kshetra — the field that lies within a radius of a hundred dhanush from a shivling or a Shiva temple. Knowing it, he says, one understands at each step which field one is entering, whose gaze falls there and which swaroop is adhipati there.
How is a new image consecrated at home?
Never have an Achal Pran Pratishtha done; have a Chal Pratishtha. If doing it yourself: Abhishek well with milk and Panchamrita; then 108 times with raw milk by a silver spoon or bowl in the deity's name; then Abhishek with water and the Adhivas.
Which form of Ganpati suits a householder?
Any form of the Ashta Vinayak may be worshipped, and Maha Ganapati too. By the speaker's reckoning, every householder should particularly perform the service and worship of the Siddhi Vinayak form — one of the Ashta Vinayak, in which Riddhi and Siddhi stand on either side.
Where does Ganesh stand relative to Durga — right or left?
Bhagavati Durga exists in four-armed, two-armed, eight-armed, ten-armed, sixteen-armed, eighteen-armed and thousand-armed forms, and the placement changes with the form. In a Gauri-Ganpati installation Bhagavati stands to Ganpati's right; with the eight-armed Durga, Ganpati goes to her right; with the ten-armed, he moves to the left.
What should the daily puja be when three kul devis are involved?
Asked by a listener who keeps a vigreh of Durga Mata at home and worships her most, the speaker says that so long as you have not kept a Shri Vigreh it is not necessary to keep one; worship upon whichever you are worshipping, in their name. After keeping a vigreh the rules change — Gurgaon's Masani, for instance, cannot be kept at home, though Sheetla Mata may be.
Should a murti or a yantra be kept at the puja place at home?
The speaker says a murti should always be kept in panchayatan — one chief devi-devata and with them the remaining shaktis. If, for instance, you chiefly worship Narayan at home, then Narayan will be in the middle and in the four corners Bhagavati on one side, Shiva ji, Ganapati ji and Surya Narayan: that is the panchayatan.
How should the deities of the panchayatan be worshipped day to day?
The speaker says everyone should keep the whole panchayatan, worshipping one deity chiefly and the others symbolically, and performing their special pujan on their own chief day when it comes. A vigreh of Hanuman ji, one-faced or five-faced, may also be kept at home.
How large may a murti kept at home be?
The speaker says the height of a murti should be up to six inches; keeping a murti larger than six inches in a house has been forbidden, because with a larger murti your rule then becomes a daily one, and all the people of a house cannot keep a daily rule. The rule of a temple stays right in a temple; kept at home, there is a likelihood of difficulty.
What follows if you keep a large murti at home anyway?
The speaker says that if you keep a large murti, then you will have to abide by all the rules that are described in the shastra along with that murti. What you see nowadays in temples — a temple built anywhere, its rule going away, a Shiva ji temple built and a pot of water poured and one lamp lit and that taken as the puja done — is not the reality.
Where is the full nitya pujan sequence of Shiva, as described in the Shiv Mahapuran, actually performed?
The speaker says this much pujan is to be done regularly — but where is this pujan happening? It happens only where the jyotirlinga kshetra is. At all other places they merely pour a pot of water and think in that itself that the whole pujan has been done. The prescribed length of a home murti, he says, exists precisely so that you need not perform any special vidhi-vidhan pujan.
Should the lamp be burning when bhog is offered?
Absolutely, the speaker says. When you first enter the pujan place and have washed it and set everything right and are to begin the pujan, first wash the lamp, do chandan-tilak upon it, apply roli and kumkum, offer a flower, and then kindle the lamp — perform the panchopachar pujan and then kindle it. Only after the lamp is kindled should you bathe the dev vigreh, do their shringar, and light a lamp for them.
Which mala may be offered permanently to Maa Durga at home?
The speaker says whichever seems best to you — pearl, coral, rudraksha, sphatik, whichever you wish — their mala may be offered. He himself has whatever mala seems beautiful and good made in silver and offers it to Bhagavati, always doing some new shringar of hers. Offer more than one; sometimes do it with pearl, sometimes rudraksha, sometimes sphatik. There is no difficulty at all.
Can the adhivas of an already worshipped vigreh be done again?
No. Asked whether the adhivas process can be got done a second time if it was not done properly the first time, the speaker says no — adhivas, whenever it happens, happens the first time only. First of all comes the agni-taran vidhi: the vigreh is immersed well in pure cow ghee, placed upon a paan leaf, and then, while being given abhishek with raw cow's milk or with panchamrit, the path is done. After that the adhivas is done for five, seven or nine — as much as your capacity allows. A second adhivas is not done.
Is it right to worship a photo of Panchmukhi Hanuman ji at home?
The speaker says it is entirely right — why would it be wrong. Asked separately for the whole process of a havan for the Hanuman Chalisa at home, he says he will also put out the beginning process that comes before what has already been shown.
How is the shringar and seva of the Mata done at home?
The speaker says it is done as it is done: having given Bhagavati her bath, thereafter gandhanulepan is done for her; then, according to whichever proper day is running, her shringar is done in different ways — with cloth, with ornaments, sometimes with rudraksha. As the wish arises in the mind she creates, so her shringar is done; of whichever form she creates the wish, the shringar is of that form.
What if the adhivas of a vigreh was not done properly and it is now worshipped?
The speaker says that if it could not be done and the vigreh has now become worshipped, then it cannot be got done a second time. This thing is got done only at the beginning.
Does a vigreh grow more powerful with age?
The speaker says the older they become the more their effect will increase. The Shri Vigreh of one's devi-devatas, their yantra, their astra — the older it is, the more effective it is. Even the lamps of a house, the older they are, the more effective they are. Everything becomes siddha: the older a thing becomes, the more siddhis will reside in it.
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.
What does the Parashar Sutra say about the rajaswala question?
He takes the rajaswala subject as his example: many videos are found on YouTube by people who take themselves for tremendous, supreme, siddha tantriks, which shows what level their mentality is at and how much siddhi they will have. Such a person, he says, will sink the boat of one who was walking with discipline. They say there is a written principle about the rajaswala nowhere — but people have given the proof in many places that it is written: in the Parashar Sutra and the rest of Parashar Muni ji, the father of Vyas Muni, there is a full description that when a woman is rajaswala she will not do pujan and path at that time.
What happens when a woman filled with agni tattva touches a deva vigraha?
The second thing is that a woman filled with agni tattva, touching a deva vigraha filled with agni tattva, performing pujan and the archan of flowers and the rest, or doing japa and smaran of their name seated at the puja place, will suffer distress from it — because agni will increase agni, and coolness will not be obtained at all, the speaker says. For this reason too it is forbidden. Secondly, if a lok shakti is present there, then the lok shakti at once moves away from that place: as with the Mohan Ram Baba someone asked about, if such shaktis are worshipped in someone's house and a rajaswala woman goes to their place, those things at once withdraw.
What should a sadhak do at home during the Ambubachi parva?
The last thing he will say, the speaker states, is what is to be done and not done in the Ambubachi parva. Every sadhak, whether sadhika or sadhak, should at the time of the Ambubachi parva cover the Shri vigrahas of Bhagavati in your house with red cloth — as you do the puja of Bhagavati Durga, or the puja of Bhagavati Kalika — from 22 June up to 26 June. On 22 June, early in the morning, have Bhagavati bathed and the rest, quite early in the morning, and cover her wholly with red cloth. Only her eyes and face should be faintly visible. Whatever ornaments are upon her body, all the ornaments should be removed; if there are weapons to be put on and given into her hands, those should be taken out and given rest.
Which forms of Bhagavati should be covered during the Ambubachi parva?
Every person should perform pujan in this manner at the time of the Ambubachi parva, the speaker says — whichever swaroop of Bhagavati it may be, whether Kali, or Durga, or Maa Bhagavati Bagla; chiefly, whosever Shri vigraha is installed at home, they should certainly be covered. The subject has been told separately on the channel too, and he will put it up again.
Who is Sarveshwar Mahadev, and why must no Narayan be present there?
Clarifying his earlier answer, he says the questioner had asked about doing the puja of Sarveshwar Mahadev. Sarveshwar Mahadev is Sharabh Akash Bhairav; and wherever his seva-puja or his anushthan is performed, there should be no shri vigrah, photograph, symbol or the like of Narayan. Narayan is present everywhere, he says, but since here karma is principal — and what we are about to do is connected with the tantra kand — no such component connected with him should be there.
Should a vigrah of Panchmukhi Hanuman be fixed on the main door?
Asked whether the vigrah of Panchmukhi Hanuman should be fixed at the main door, he asks in return why a vigrah would be fixed there. Do not fix a vigrah; you may fix a pratik chinh, a swastika and the like. A vigrah should be kept in the puja sthan and worshipped. They stand at the door of Ram ji, he says — not at your door and mine.
What kind of tattoo does he say should not be made?
So far as the subject of a tattoo on the outer body and its water going into the drain is concerned, that is separate, he says; even so one should have the pratik chinh of God made. The full swaroop bhed should not be made, in his view. Asked how one will know that a varna parivartan has taken place, he says the questioner is probably asking according to the mantra vidhi, and that it comes only when you do the whole thing in the proper manner.
Does the direction of the cow behind Dattatreya mark a difference of form?
The speaker has neither heard of nor seen such a difference of form. In the images he has used, the picture was simply edited and placed. The main tradition regarding Bhagavan Datta keeps the cow's face to the right, as he is generally worshipped everywhere; better not to go into it.
Can Deepdaan be performed without a picture or an image of Dattatreya?
Yes — do it, there is no difficulty in having neither picture nor image. And do not bring one now. When your regard toward him has formed through proper sadhana, then give him a place. For the present, only perform the Deepdaan. Do not be in a hurry.
First-day Ganpati puja: snan, new clothes, janeu, bhog and offerings
The speaker says that on the Chaturthi one does Ganesh pujan with five, ten or sixteen upachars, as one is able or knows. If there is a murti or photo, the murti is bathed with milk and panchamrita, dressed in new clothes, and a Yajnopavita must be offered; a man who wears the janeu may put it on the murti, but a woman only offers it and does not put it on. Then a bhog of Laddu or Modak is given, Durva Grass must be offered after the bhog, and Dhoop, Bilva and red flowers are offered; a fragrant lamp, best of all one burning ghee, is lit.
Is tarpan for a devata done on the vigraha, or on a yantra?
Asked whether the tarpan done for the shanti of devis and devatas is done on the pratima or vigraha of that deity, he says it is done on a yantra too — do the tarpan on a yantra, or do it on supari. If it is done on a vigraha then the rule becomes different, and there is the question of how large the vigraha should be.
What should be present with a shivling established at home?
In the shivling established at home there should be the Shiva parivar, he says: the shivling, its arghi, the trishul, Nandi ji, the serpent Vasuki ji. Besides that you may also keep a shri vigraha of the Shiva parivar in which Skanda ji and Ganapati ji also are; and if their murtis already exist separately, then there is no need to keep them again.
What if there is nobody at home to do the puja of the vigrahas?
It is true that if there is nobody at home to do puja then there is worry about the vigrahas, the speaker says — but do not worry about the vigrahas. It should be only this much: that at the very least dhoop and deep are burning.
Can dev diksha be done on a photo if there is no vigraha of Dattatreya?
Asked by a listener who cannot keep a vigraha of Bhagavan Dattatreya because his temple is small, the speaker says it does not matter: for the dev diksha vidhan you can do five lakh japa of the ekakshari mantra and 5100 of the Datta mala mantra upon a photo. You can absolutely do it.
What is to be done when a vigraha is moved to a new house?
Whenever a vigraha is to be re-established at a new place — as when we live in a rented house and are going from one place to another — then when we leave the old place, a bali must certainly be done there too, even if it is only one coconut or one lemon, the speaker says. And a request must certainly be made there: that Prabhu, we are now going to a new place, may you all come along and be established there again; and for the sake of the sthan devi devatas and griha devi devatas of this place, we are giving this pujan separately according to our shakti, our capacity, our buddhi. In it burn camphor, offer naivedya and the like, and pray to them too that they always keep their kripa upon us, and give such a blessing that we may have our own land, our own house, in which we may do the puja of all of you. Making such a request, one should come away with gladness. And at the new place too you will give pujan, will give a bali, and for the new griha devatas, the new sthan devatas of that place, give a separate brief, simple, small pujan and bali. Great welfare comes from this, he says: the things are small, but their effect you will get for your whole life.
With the sthan devatas of a place on your side, half the obstacles of that place are already gone.
When he saw the dream, a discussion started about what should be done. Other people were present there who lived nearby in their huts and did sadhana. One of them, on hearing it, said to ask that man — it is a Musalmani thing; he was doing a Musalmani sadhana there. Asked how he knew, he said that from the way he sat it was understood that in Sanatan sanskriti it is not like that: the thing was enclosed and no one used to look, but the eye had fallen on it while coming and going; he used to sit in front of it and do japa with the reversed hand. He was told to dig it up and take it away, and that man, without any reply, picked it up and took it away. The message the speaker wishes to give from this is only this: if the devi devatas of a place come to your side, then you have become fifty percent free of obstacles just like that — they will not let any obstacle come at that new place. So when you go to a new place, give the pujan of the sthanik devi devatas.
Where should Shani Deva be worshipped on Shani Jayanti?
On the coming Shani Jayanti, do Shani Deva's seva-puja without fail at his own sthaan, he says — sthaan meaning do it in a mandir. And in general, it is entirely true that in earlier times Shani Deva's shri vigraha was not made to the extent it is being made now. One should not stand before Shani's drishti; one should not stand before Shani Deva's eyes. His eyes are called krura and his drishti always remains ugra.
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.
Should Shani Deva's photo or vigraha be kept at home?
On the current practice of keeping Shani Deva's photo or vigraha at home: if you are doing rakta pujan and are a sadhak of that level, then the subject is different, he says; if you do the pujan of Bhagavati Kali, then keep Shani Deva's and carry on. But no — according to him his place should not be kept at home in that way. If you do sadhanas of that level, or if your gurudev has said so, then the subject is different. The second thing is that the sthapana of his shri vigraha and the like should not be done at home.
How should a temple of the navagraha be built?
There are navagraha temples in mandirs here and there and that is a different matter, he says, but formerly the pujan was done through a pind and the like; deva eyes and so on were not made for everyone and worshipped in this way. If you are building a new temple, build it with thought. The vidhan of establishing a temple along with the shakti is special: if you have a temple built, then the sthapana of the vigraha with the family, along with the mandala, is the most divine. He cites the temple at Ramana Reti in Vrindavan-Mathura, where the Radha Raman Baba is: there all the navagrahas are present with their shaktis. Where a temple is built in that manner it is divine, because if a direct presence with shakti is formed and all the devatas are worshipped, the balance of energy is maintained and auspiciousness comes quickly.
Is a devata awakened in a photo frame?
Akshay Tanwar ji says a deva becomes awakened in a photo frame if pujan-archan is done before it daily. It has been said that a chhaya chitra has one day's pratishtha, the speaker answers, and by daily pujan prana is present in it until the next day, so it is absolutely awakened too. There are the five tattvas: all five tattvas are present in paper as well — we can see it. It is not solid to that level, but it is there, so they are in it too. But if there is a vigraha, that is far superior. As is said of gold: pratishtha in it lasts up to a hundred years from being done once.
How is the vigraha bathed when one's hand is cut?
Have the snan of the Vigreh done by someone else, he says; or if it is cut very badly, then water should not touch it. So follow whichever option is available to you. Otherwise leave off the daily snan and merely sprinkle Gangajal.
Must small vigrahas be bathed every day?
He says this is an authentic matter and he has put out videos on it before: for the small Vigrehs, the very small vigrahas, there is no compulsoriness of daily snan. For Yantras and the like that are kept, you can do their abhishek daily if you wish. The abhishek of vigrahas should be done at the Parva Kala.
What should be done daily instead of bathing the vigrahas?
What should you do daily? It is very good, he says, to mix Gangajal, rose water, agaru, itra and so on into a bottle that has a spray facility, and to sprinkle and spray it over all of them. This is the best: the snan of all of them is done and they also become fragrant.
What is the order of the daily sprinkling?
At the very beginning, when you remove the flowers and the rest previously offered, which are the Nirmalya, and after that sprinkle water over all of them with a tulsi leaf, a mango leaf, with kusha and the like, or with a flower, reciting "pavitro pavitro va" or the Ganga Yamuna Godavari mantra — after that, spray this scented water over all the chhaya chitras and vigrahas, over all the malas, over the copper yantras, over everything. It will become divine.
How often should the vigrahas actually be bathed?
Yes, he notes, a stain does fall on a copper Yantra. For the rest, if you bathe them every day that is a separate subject. Have the snan of the vigraha done on the chief days, once a week, or once a fortnight, or at some special time. And if you have the wish to have it done daily, then there is no prohibition at all in it — you may have it done.
Which form at home should be worshipped as Kamakhya?
Whatever form of Bhagavati you have installed and serve at home — even if it is only a photograph or a symbol, so long as your Bhava in it is of Bhagavati — perform the worship of Bhagavati Kamakhya in that very one. Because the root tattva is seated in all of them.
What is done on the first morning of Ambubachi?
On the morning of the 22nd, at dawn, before sunrise if possible: from whatever service-Vigraha you have — Mahakali's, Durga's, whichever — take off the garments already put on, all the gold chains, whatever is in the ears, the nose, the hands, the anklets, the crown, all of it.
How is the Vigraha covered?
After removing them, cover the Mother's whole body well with a new red cloth — of whatever form her Vigraha is, even Baglamukhi's — right up to the neck. Then seat her in her place, keep the ornaments together somewhere good, and light a lamp a little distance in front of her.
Should the shrine be closed for the four days?
Those in whose house the tradition of closing the worship place already runs — where an awakened Peeth is kept, or Kamakhya or Kali is the Kuldevi and the doors close for four days as in the temples — should follow their own rule. New people should not adopt this rule; they should only cover in red cloth from the 22nd.
What is done on the morning Ambubachi ends?
When the four days' worship is complete, then on the morning of the 26th, at dawn, before sunrise itself, the red cloth you had put upon Bhagavati's form is to be removed — and that cloth is to be kept safe.
What if putting clothes on and off an image feels wrong?
Then do not do it — there is nothing to be offended about here. The reason it can arise is the Shringariya Vigraha now in fashion, which has no garment carved at all, so that removing the cloth makes it seem the deity has none. Take a Vigraha in which the garment is made, so that your feeling is never wrong in any condition.
How is the Devi bathed and adorned on the fifth day?
Bathe her well with scented water — raw milk, rose water, agaru and kewra water mixed and made fragrant — with kumkum and haldi; then grind sandalwood on stone and apply the Gandhanulepan; then bathe her with water and do her Shringar beautifully, with garments and all.
May a Vigraha be moved daily during a sadhana?
If in the sadhana period you are performing a daily Avahan and a daily Visarjan, then you may move it. But if you have taken a single Sankalpa for twenty-one days or forty-one days, then during that time the Vigraha should not be moved.
Is the Vigraha bathed during the four days?
No. After covering Bhagavati there will be no daily bath for four days, and no touching of her either. All you may do in the four days is put on a fragrant flower and take it off the next day — nothing beyond that by way of touching the Vigraha.
Where should a Guru's photograph be kept?
You may absolutely keep the Guru's place in your own worship room. If you are initiated by a Guru, keep his Vigraha or photograph for worship. But if you are removing all your deities and keeping only the Guru ji — then you are making a very great mistake, and you have been thoroughly deluded.
What is the daily procedure of the Chaturthi vrat?
Bathe in the morning and make the request to Brahmins for the vrat; take the Sankalpa, worship with Durva, and keep the fast. When the first watch of the night arrives, bathe again and perform Ganesh's worship — making an image of metal, coral, white Arka or clay, and consecrating it.
What is Shvet Arka, and what else may the Ganesh image be made of?
The white Aak, white Madar plant — said to be at least forty years old. From its root the Vigraha of Bhagavan Ganpati should be made, and there is a description involving Guru Pushya and Ravi Pushya Nakshatra; it becomes a Tantrokta prescription. Or else the image is made of clay.
What kind of Durva is offered to Ganesh?
The Durva for Ganesh's worship should be a span, twelve Angul, in length; possessed of three knots; and rootless — no root in it. Such Durva alone is offered to him, a hundred and one or twenty-one of them, upon the installed image.
At the Udyapan two married women and two Batuks are fed, a night vigil kept, and only the clay image is dissolved
Two Suhagan women and two Batuks — Brahmin boys under twelve — are worshipped by rule and fed respectfully before the image. Then a night vigil, worship again at dawn, and Ganesh requested to come again and dissolved. The Visarjan here, he clarifies, is of the clay image installed for the Udyapan.
How is the jayanti of a goddess honoured if she has no place at home?
The speaker says you may do the shringar, pujan and abhishek of Bhagavati Pitambara at home where you have given her a place. If not, then use whichever vigraha of Bhagavati you have — Bhagavati Durga, for instance — and do her abhishek and shringar that day with yellow cloth. Bhagavati will certainly accept that, he says, because fundamentally this is Jagadamba's own form.
In what form may a devi be worshipped when there is no photo or murti?
Asked, since we worship Ganesh ji in supari form, in what form a devi should be worshipped when there is no photo or murti of her, he answers: if you wish to do it in a symbolic form, then in the form of a supari all the shaktis become worshipped.
How should the seva of Laddu Gopal be done at home?
The speaker says the whole niyam of Shaligram seva applies here too — if about that much niyam can be kept, it is excellent. That means daily abhishek, good shringar, naivedya of makhan and mishri, arti, and after the evening arti a night naivedya as well with an arrangement made for his sleep.
What size should the murti of Batuk Bhairav be?
Asked whether the murti of Batuk Bhairav must be only three inches, the speaker says it depends — it is not that it must be three; you can keep one up to six. At home you can even keep one up to ten, but then let the seva and puja be done properly.
Why does archan by the namavali please Bhagavati as well?
When you perform his sahasra archan with his namavali, the speaker says, Bhagavati Lakshmi too will be greatly pleased, that the Bhagavan is with shakti — his shakti is Shri. Even if a devata's murta svarup stands alone, whatever shringar and gold ornaments are on his body, whatever beauty is seen in him, that itself is his shakti, his Shri: it is the symbol of the one who is his ardhangini. So when the archan is done, both Bhagavan Shri Narayana and Bhagavati will be pleased, and the grace of both will be obtained.
Can a murti of Mahishasura Mardini be kept in the puja place if she is the kuldevi?
If Bhagavati's svarup is itself your kuldevi, then keep it — what is the matter, the speaker says. If your kuldevi is Chhinnamastika, then keep hers too and do her puja. But the vidhan of the pind ran formerly; in the pind, the pujan of Chhinnamastika used to be done, and the vidhan of the Shri Vigraha has not been there. So if the vidhan of the pind of Mahishasura Mardini too has run in your kul, has been running from before, then keep a chhaya chitra and keep a pind. Do not keep a Shri Vigraha — there is a reason behind it. And if a Shri Vigraha has been there from before, then keep it.
Can Ganesh ji's tarpan be done daily on the vigraha?
Yes you can, the speaker says, but if you have put clothing on him, change the clothing daily after the tarpan. Do not keep him soaked — otherwise you too will feel the cold.
Should the four-month recitation be paused during Pitru Paksha or Navratri?
There is no need to stop when Pitru Paksha falls in between, and no need to stop when Navratri comes. You may do the Navratri pujan completely, and in Pitru Paksha you may separately perform whatever anushthan you wish for the pitr — but the niyam you take up tomorrow must be carried through in its entirety until the day of Tulsi Vivah.
Can puja and paath be resumed during sutak and patak?
A listener says both sutak and patak have attached in his household — twenty-one days have passed for the sutak and eighteen days for the patak — and asks whether he may study the Shiv Puran in Shravan and restart puja and japa from Guru Purnima. The speaker says that if sutak and patak have attached and are not complete, then puja paath, dhoop, deep and the touching of the Shri vigrahas should be kept entirely prohibited; they should not be done.
What happens when the silver supari is bathed?
When you come into tantra: if the prayoga is being done through a silver supari, then all your pitrs and oots are being pacified through that medium. As Ganpati is bathed, as the rajat abhishek of Ganpati happens, so all the oots of your house become pleased — and being pleased they will give grace, or if they need gati they will receive gati through Ganpati. As Bhagavati Gauri is pleased they will get a path to move forward. So Gauri Ganpati of silver supari — solid, not hollow.
How is the mritika Ganesh prayoga performed?
By mritika shodhan — purifying the clay, making a murti of Bhagavan Shri Ganesh from it, giving it a formal abhishek with milk and an abhishek with dhoop, offering bhog and doing the pujan. That clay murti is worshipped in the house at the brahma sthan, and then conveyed to the sthan of the Kshetrapal. Doing this with sankalp, the oots of the house go to the Kshetrapal, and the further kriya for them happens there.
Can the eight supari be immersed at the end?
The eight supari that have been kept in the form of the eight Vinayaks — you can do their visarjan, there is no difficulty in the visarjan of those eight supari. But the principal Shri vigraha that will remain, or the photo that you will keep, do not remove them.
The Gauri Ganpati pujan is to be had done in solid rajat supari or else in one made from mritika
The most correct thing for it is the pujan of Gauri Ganpati — which, as already told, is to be had done either in solid rajat supari or else made from mritika.
What should be done with last year's Bal Gopal murti?
Asked what to do with the old murti when a new one is taken the next year for the Janmashtami puja of Bal Gopal, he answers that a murti should never be changed again and again, whosesoever murti it may be. He says he does not understand why a new murti is taken at all — if you celebrate your own child's birthday, do you bring a new child the next year and replace him?
When should a murti be bought at all?
A new murti is never to be taken. In whichever year you bring a solid murti, a murti of metal, let their seva-puja be done by vidhi vidhan; then that murti will never go, nor are you to buy a new murti. He says repeatedly that at Diwali one should not buy a murti of Lakshmi and Ganesh — you are not to bring it. Bring a fine solid, beautiful one once, in one year, and never remove it.
What is lost by replacing a murti every year?
Only if they break for some reason are they to be changed; otherwise you are not to bring one, and the whole vidhi vidhan for it has been given. If you bring a new murti every year and change the old one, then all the punya of the japa, puja and tapa you did through the year — they took it and went. What is left with you? Why do you change the murti at all?
Is there any exception to never replacing a murti?
One thing is that where there is a clay murti above six inches, eight inches, twelve inches, there is some particular sankalp of somebody — that we have to keep it for the year — and so every year a new murti is brought; that is a separate subject. But it should not be done in the manner of bringing a new murti every year and removing the old one.
Can a hollow silver murti be filled with another metal?
Asked about four-finger silver Ganesh ji and Lakshmi ji at home that are empty inside, and whether another metal may be filled into them, he answers that another metal should not be filled. If you can have it filled, have silver itself filled. But if it is to be melted, then if they have been worshipped for a long time, let them remain just as they are — small though they be — and bring a second one in solid, and let their puja also continue.
Why are ashtadhatu murtis not genuinely sold?
However much anyone may thump his chest and say it is an ashtadhatu pratima, an ashtadhatu pratima is never easily available; and if it is available, its price is at the heights of the sky. They are not made from ashtadhatu. At the maximum they are of tridhatu only.
What should be bought instead of an ashtadhatu murti?
Either take one of a single metal if you get one, or take whatever is available, in brass. Saying ashtadhatu, it is not ashtadhatu — either they will take money from you, or they will keep you in the dark; it will have been made by mixing some impure metal.
What did ashtadhatu casting once do to the caster?
He says that however much technology has progressed today, there was a time — and this, he says, is not said by him but told by the goldsmiths themselves — that whenever a vigraha was constructed from ashtadhatu, the smoke that came from it, or its effect upon the body, would give the one to whom it attached a leprosy-related problem, so that he would become a leprosy patient. So in earlier times the kings who had ashtadhatu murtis made took upon themselves the cost and responsibility of maintaining the whole family of the man who made the murti, saying that if you suffer any distress or any difficulty, I will take up the responsibility of your family.
What is netra unmilan?
After having the adhivas done, if a band has been tied over the eyes of Ganpati, then netra unmilan is done. It is done with a salaka of gold; otherwise with some kundika, or else it will be with your dub grass. Netra unmilan is to be done, that is, the vidhi of opening the eyes. If you cannot do the particular Vedic mantras and so on for it, then do it by speaking, or touch both their eyes with the netra unmilan or with the Ganpati Gayatri.
Can the house's own Ganesh murti be used for the pujan?
Asked whether the pujan may be done of the Ganesh ji murti that is in the house, he answers absolutely, absolutely. If possible, offer 1008 dub to Ganpati ji from their thousand-and-eight namavali; and if that too cannot be done, then from this same mantra, Shri Ganeshaya Namah, having taken a sankalp. Do even one puja of the year, even of one day, and Ganpati will be greatly pleased with that much; a great many things will be obtained by you.
Which way should the trunk of a Ganpati murti face?
Asked, for installing Ganpati ji in the puja room, which way the trunk should face, he answers: see, it is said that if Ganpati ji's trunk is towards the right side then it is very excellent.
Who began the practice of installing Ganpati in the home?
Asked which way the trunk of the murti should be and how high the murti should be for installing Ganpati at home, he tells Ankur ji that he has spoken of it before and put up videos too. The custom of our installing Ganpati at home, whenever it began, was set going by Bal Gangadhar Tilak; the reason behind it was to unite people. Later people began sthapana in house after house. Earlier sthapana did not take place in the home; pujan takes place at home.
The trunk may be kept in whatever manner the murti is got, but its height should be kept small
For the rest, as to the trunk, there is no difficulty — in whatever manner you are getting it, you can keep it. The height should be kept small; the murti should not be very large.
Who is Bhagavati Mangala?
Asked about a very old murti of Maa Mangala whose prana pratishtha he has heard was never done — it was simply brought and kept and is being worshipped — and whether their prana pratishtha can be done now, he first describes her: Ashish ji, Bhagavati Mangala is she who is worshipped in the direction of Rajasthan in the form of Bhuchad Mata and in Odisha in the form of Bhagavati Mangala. Her mount is upon a cock; she is four-armed; in one hand a vedha, with one hand a blessing, in one hand a trishul and in one hand a chakra.
Is a prana pratishtha needed for a long-worshipped murti?
If their pratishtha has not been done, there is no need to do it now, because they have been worshipped for a long time — so what you now need is to do puja; there is absolutely no need to do pratishtha. If the wish is very great, then leaving aside the vidhi vidhan he told above, the adhivas and the rest, do their abhishek there with the recitation of the Devi Suktam. Do 108 recitations of the Devi Suktam before them and keep dedicating it; it need not be in one day, do it over ten days, eleven days or in the Navratris.
What should be done with a plastic Ganpati being replaced by a brass one?
Asked by a listener who worshipped a plastic Ganpati for two or three years and has now brought a brass one whether the plastic Ganpati should be immersed, and if so how, he answers: see, wherever you immerse a Ganpati made of plastic, it will only pollute. So if the Ganpati is made of plastic, take them out of the puja place and keep them somewhere as a decoration; keep showing dhoop and deep. Although, being made of plastic, there can be no other use for them.
Can Ganesh havan be done daily, and is name-japa ever harmful?
Asked whether the havan of Ganesh ji may also be done daily, he says absolutely. Asked whether there is any harm in doing japa of the name of Bhagavan Shri Ram, he says there is no harm, brother — keep taking the name of Bhagavan, there is no harm; do not be so excessively suspicious. It is for beej mantras that it has been forbidden: a beej mantra or a Vedic mantra should not be muttered at will in that manner. Do name japa; it is not forbidden at all. Asked whether, during this Ganesh pujan, pujan can be done by making a murti of turmeric and whether the visarjan will also be so or the vidhi different, he tells Uday Pratap ji that the video will be uploaded the very next day telling what kind of murti is to be made and how you can make it at home too — listen to it and the whole doubt will be cleared.
How should all the deities of the household be worshipped?
Asked whether the household deities should be worshipped one by one, or first one and then the next, he takes the example of Lakshmi-Ganesh ji, Hanuman ji, Shiva ji and Bhagavati all being installed. Ordinarily in a house, if you have the snan and the rest performed for all of them daily and that whole procedure is there, then do it in sequence at your own convenience. But if you do an entirely ordinary pujan — and not everyone has that much time — then this much should be done.
What is the minimum daily procedure for the household deities?
He says one should mix Gangajal and fragrant water — rose water, Gangajal, agaru, and fragrant itra. Keep all these mixed in a good spray bottle, or in the vessel used for sprinkling water, so that it stays fragrant. Every day sprinkle it over all of them, and first wipe them lightly with a clean dry cotton cloth. Apply a tilak to each of them.
Which images cannot be treated in that abbreviated way?
After that, he says, do their shringar and then sit for pujan. But even in that, for Shiva ji this will not do. For Shiva ji, or any stone shila you have kept — Shaligram ji, Shiva ji, Narmadeshwar or any other shivling, and besides these a Sonbhadra shila, a Swarnamukhi shila, whatever you keep — for all of them you should then have snan and shringar performed in sequence.
How should one install a Vindhyavasini vigraha if the kuldevi is unknown?
A listener writes that he does not know his kuldevi and has begun to regard Maa Vindhyavasini as his kuldevi, and asks how her pratima should be brought from Maa and installed at home. He says that ordinarily you may install as Bhagavati's form a Shri Vigraha of Bhagavati that is ashtabhuja, that is solid, that is mounted on a lion, and in which the lion's mouth is closed — such a saumya pratima — if you keep such a bhav in your heart.
How should the vigraha be brought from the kshetra itself?
If you wish to take it there, have the pujan performed and bring it, he says, then you may bathe it, have Maai's complete pujan performed well, and bring it away from beside her.
Can metal be filled into a hollow Hanuman murti?
Asked whether metal can be filled into a Hanuman ji murti that is hollow inside, he says that now, if you have metal filled in, they will heat it and pour it — and a worshipped vigraha becomes pratishthit, so do not have that done. And at the outset, do the guru pujan of Ganpati ji, that of Bhairav ji, and having done the pujan of Ram ji and Sita ji, then do it.
May a murti of Hanuman ji in his child form be kept?
Asked whether a murti of Hanuman ji's baal swaroop can be kept, he says: keep it, brother — nowadays people are keeping everything, you can keep it, if your bhavana is in that form. For baal Hanuman ji you may keep it; keep his murti along with Maa Anjana.
Where can a vigraha of Mata Vindhyavasini be obtained at Vindhyachal?
Asked whether a vigraha of Mata Vindhyavasini is available at Vindhyachal, he says yes, it will be found. On the whole of the Kotwali road there are many large and rather good shops, and in them you will find a brass Shri Vigraha of Bhagavati Vindhyavasini — and the vigraha that stands there is just as Maai appears after her shringar; that very vigraha will be available to you there. If you have the bhav, you can take that vigraha too; there is no difficulty.
What should be done with an item that cannot be kept in the pujan place?
He tells the listener Uma Sut to have it made and then keep it locked. If it is not to be kept in the pujan place, then do the pujan only in the parva kala; for the rest, shut it in your almirah — there is no problem in that, it is consecrated, there is no difficulty. When you do the annual pujan of the year, at Diwali and Navratri, then keep it in the pujan place; at other times keep it as saubhagya.
Can a rudraksha mala be worshipped daily like a vigraha?
Asked whether a rudraksha mala can be worshipped daily like a vigraha, he says: absolutely you can, Mahesh ji — we do it daily. On Maai's vigraha there are nine-mukhi rudrakshas, the whole set; their abhishek and snan happens daily, and the pujan and the process of shodhan of each single bead runs daily.
How should yantras and vigrahas be maintained daily?
However many yantras there are, he says, have rudraksha malas worn upon all the yantras. The abhishek of all of them happens daily. Make a separate system for the Shri Vigraha and a separate one for the yantra. On hearing it, it will seem a very heavy process, but when you acquire the practice, when you are a sadhak and such practice has come, then make a sequence for all of it and within an hour it will be done in a flash. The abhishek and shringar process will run once, according to the vidhi; then, sitting comfortably on the asana with the vidhi vidhan, the second process, and then for all of them the avaran pujan and the rest of whatever is due. He stops there, saying he will not tell more or people will start including it.
Can a small Paras Shivling be kept at home?
People are already keeping the Paras Shivling nowadays, he says. There are a great many rules in the Paras Shivling. He speaks on this topic personally with those he speaks to, and holds that it is not right to speak publicly on every topic.
What happens at the pran pratishtha of a vigraha?
Know the vidhi of pratishtha, he says. When the pratishtha of any deity's vigraha is performed, the nyasa of their ayudhs and of each single limb of their body is done. Their avahan takes place, their nyasa takes place; and along with that there are a great many other things too whose avahan and nyasa are done.
In a temple nothing but Shiva ji should be touched; the shringar is left to the shringariyas.
His own belief, he says, is that whoever's mantras you are initiated by, if you are going into any temple, do not touch anyone other than Shiva ji. What is the need to touch the murti? The shri vigraha should not be touched: that much purity, that much divinity, is not always and forever present within us. Only those who are initiated, who have the knowledge of all those things, should do the touching and the shringar.
Within the Jagannath vigraha is established a substance said to be the heart of Bhagwan Shri Krishna.
If it is so, he says, then you will know about Bhagwan Jagannath: within his shri pratima, his shri vigraha, there is a substance established which is said to be the heart of Bhagwan Shri Krishna. If anyone were to touch it, the person would not survive. So divine is it, and there is such astonishing capacity in it — divine indeed, but the man would be finished at once. This is why one should not touch every single thing; serve without touching, since there is nowhere any need to touch in order to serve a deity.
If the shastras prescribe murti puja, may photographs be worshipped?
Whether or not to do puja of a photo is a separate subject, he says; where our bhav lies is more important than that. Of the photo, and even of the shri vigraha, you may say — what praan is in it for you? It is your bhav that is in it. He gives as the best example Raja Jaisingh and Swami Vivekananda: when Jaisingh said, why should we accept God in a photo, Vivekananda said, then do not accept it; and taking down the picture of his father he placed it on the floor and said, spit on this. Jaisingh became angry, asking why he should spit; and Vivekananda said, exactly that bhav which is in this photo — that our father should not be insulted — that very bhav should be yours toward the photo of your own aradhya.
Can a two-armed Durga vigraha receive the pran pratishtha of a ten-armed form?
Asked whether, if the vigraha of Maa Durga is the two-armed Abhay Durga, the pran pratishtha in that vigraha can be of the ten-armed or four-armed Dagdhatri, he answers that according to him it cannot be. If it is two-armed, then it will be only of two arms. Whichever form you wish to do upasana of, and whichever you wish to install — keep both the same.
How should a murti of Ma Kali and Durga be established?
Asked how a pratima of Ma Kali and Durga should be established, he says it is an achal murti; then it would only be possible to show it when an establishment is happening somewhere, and the video is recorded at the time of doing it and put up. To another listener who says he is going to establish a pratima of Ma Durga Kali so that the Mata may reside awakened in it, he says: you will do it yourself. If it is to be done by vidhi-vidhan, then everything will have to be kept in place and done — you will not be able to do the whole vidhi-vidhan alone.
On which side of Durga does the vigraha of Manasa stand?
Asked, by a listener whose kuldevi is Manasa and whose ishta is Maa Durga, on which side of Maa Durga the vigraha of Maa Manasa will stand in the house, the speaker says he will message her personally after looking — he cannot say it without seeing. It will have to be seen where Bhagavati Manasa has been given a place, on which side of Bhagavati. Because, he says, if she stays together with Shiv ji, with Shiv-Parvati ji, then she sits on Bhagavati's left side.
How does the panchayatana arrangement change the placement?
Now if you have kept Durga ji's Panchayatana, the speaker says, then Shiv ji moves — Shiv ji comes to Durga ji's left side. So according to that it will then have to be seen where Manasa ji's place will be. And if a mandala of Shiv-Parvati ji is being made, of the Shiva family, and you are giving Manasa ji a place in it, then she gets a place on the left side alone — and her puja too is done with the left hand.
What must be kept with a Narmadeshwar at home?
If you keep Narmadeshwar ji at home, Nandi ji has to be kept with him, and his Trishul. If the full Shiva-parivar Vigraha comes — with Ganpati ji, Kartikeya ji and Bhagavati — that is better still. And Nandi should be such that his sight reaches the Shivling: Shiva ji should be visible to him.
Havan prayog for the grace of the kula's presiding shakti: purpose and who should do it
The speaker presents a prayog for obtaining the grace of the adhishtatri shakti of one's own kula, and says it is entirely a havanatmak prayog done through fire. He says every person who is afflicted by the shraap of the Kul Shakti, the shraap of the Pitr shakti, or is receiving any kind of dev danda should do it. The causes he lists are a mistake in puja-path, an offence at a temple done knowingly or unknowingly, the breaking of a Shri Vigraha, something of a temple being broken, or a theft done in a temple in confusion; such acts, he says, bring the shraap of the devatas and make the kula's shaktis fully displeased.
How should pran pratishtha of a murti be done at home?
Answering Bhanu Pratap ji, he says the adhikar of pran pratishtha is not for everyone. A video about the ordinary vidhi-vidhan will be put up, but if it is possible have it done by a Brahmin, even if it be only chal pratishtha. Because in pran pratishtha the utterance of Vaidik mantras takes place, and the adhikar or the vidhan of reciting Vaidik mantras is not of the same kind as that of Pauranik mantras — they are done from the Samaveda by the singing method; they are sung in the Veda. So you will not be able to do that thing if you have not learnt it.
Can a metal murti be kept at home without pran pratishtha?
Harish Kumar ji, he says, two kinds of opinion are found: in some places it is said that if you do not do pran pratishtha and keep it in the house, the full fruit will not be attained, and therefore pran pratishtha should be done. Given the present lokachar rules, running according to desh, kaal and circumstance, he will say only this much: keep the murti of metal, and keep it solid. Do not keep a hollow murti.
If pran pratishtha is done, which kind should it be?
If you wish to have pran pratishtha done, that is very good — have chal pratishtha done, not achal; that is, at home one should have done only that by which you can take it elsewhere as well. And even if you do not have pratishtha done, whenever a murti is brought home, if you do its abhishek with panchamrit and the rest and after that, if you wish, an abhishek with milk by the hundred and eight names or by the thousand and eight names, then it is exceedingly good.
Take sankalp with akshat, do one, eleven or twenty-seven paath, then release it onto the murti
When you recite those same mantras with the sankalp that O Bhagavati, be established in this swaroop, in this metal murti — saying this and taking akshat and the rest in the hand, make the sankalp. Then, doing its complete paath, recite it once if you wish, or do eleven paath, or do twenty-seven paath, and release it onto the murti. Even this much, if you do it, is sufficient for you. He says he will one day make this vidhi better and show it, so that people can do it themselves at home with no dosha attaching and no question arising about the utterance of mantras.
If both Shiva and Durga are one's ishta, how is the panchayatan made?
Look, he says, if you will establish the panchayat of Shiva ji too, then there Durga ji's sthapana will happen. Keep Shiv-Shakti in the middle; there is no difficulty. Comfortably keep Shiv-Shakti in the middle and make the panchayat sthapana according to Shiva ji. Or, if you wish — because you will be keeping them in the yugal swaroop, that is, you will not have kept a Shivling but will have kept their Shri Vigraha — there is no difficulty; you may do it according to that as well.
What is the minimum a householder should do at home during the Navratra?
Those having an anushthan performed should certainly do something at home too — dhoop, deep and aarti morning and evening; and if nothing else, shringar puja after doing the shringar, which the speaker calls the best of all. Those who are not able to do anything, who are aged or afflicted by illness, should at least have a shri vigraha of Bhagavati in the house, a small one of about five or six inches, for whom they can do abhishek, shringar and aarti daily.
May the vigraha be lifted from its asana during the nine days?
If you have done kalash sthapana, kindled the akhand jyot and have a shri vigraha placed, then the vigraha is not to be moved for the nine days of the Navratra. If your daily rule is to bathe Bhagavati, ask your guru whether the asana may be shifted; according to the speaker's own knowledge and practice the asana should not be moved. Arrange the abhishek so that they need not be lifted from the asana. Only the first day carries the full formal bath; from the next day on they should not be removed.
What if a Mahishasura Mardini vigraha has been installed by mistake?
Absolutely do the Durga puja, the speaker tells Shivam Bhattacharya; there is no such difficulty that it cannot be done. But if even a little ugrata begins to increase in your house, then look at the further matter. If bali is offered in your house, then there will not be that much difficulty.
May a Ganpati murti be placed at the main door of a house?
The speaker says a murti of Ganpati ji is never to be fixed at the main door and the like; a pratik chinh, a symbolic mark, is what is placed. You may place such symbols before your house — a swastika, or Bhairav ji's trishul. But do not seat an adorned Ganpati ji at the main door. If you do seat Ganpati ji there, then arrange his daily seva puja there. In his own view the pratik chinh is best.
May two Durga murtis be kept in a home mandir?
Asked whether two murtis of Durga Ma, both taken in brass, may be kept in the home mandir and both worshipped, the speaker answers that they may be — there is no difficulty at all where the shri vigraha of Durga ji is concerned.
Is it auspicious to steal a Ganpati vigraha or a Tulsi plant?
Asked whether the belief in the Sirohi and Udaipur region of Rajasthan, that stealing a vigraha of Bhagwan Ganpati and stealing Bhagwati Tulsi is held very auspicious, is a superstition, the speaker says he has never anywhere read this to this day. He asks the people of those regions and any sadhaks listening to send him proof, whether it is true or untrue, whether it is a kidwanti or some such matter. According to him it is a wrong thing: it is like gold, and the dosha of stealing gold attaches in it; stealing a dev vigraha is a very great offence.
At those parvas the full shringar, from head to nails, is made abhimantrit and offered on the vigraha.
At this very time, the speaker says, where people have established Bhagwati's shri vigraha or her pind at their own place, all the ornaments there are, made abhimantrit, are offered — the whole of it from head to nails, whether the bichhiya, the payal, the articles of her hands, the bala and the rest, the kamarghani, the mangalsutra at the neck put on, the haar put on, the nathiya, the maang tika, her entire shringar will be done. But all of it made abhimantrit by mantra, in full accordance with vidhi.
Should the ornaments be left at a divya kshetra, or brought back?
The speaker says do this at home; he is not telling you to go to a divya kshetra and leave it, only to find afterwards that you never got it back. He recounts that at Kamakhya, where they had gone with the payal and the rest as shown in the video, a pandit ji said to give it to the pandits, that there was no need to offer it there and it would be forgotten. He said he would give it to the pandit ji but then it would not even be touched by the Mother. Inside Kamakhya it stays wholly dark with only lamps burning; he took up the whole set of ornaments — two payals and a gold nose ornament — and placed them all below near the Mother.
Why should the puja place not be photographed?
Suppose you do a hundred malas of japa every day and offer them to your ishta's vigraha: the energy offered to them increases your punya, and your punya increases each time you take darshan. When another fifty people take darshan of that same Shri Vigraha, their punya will increase too — and yours will be depleted, because it was personal to you, limited to you and your family, and you have put it outside.
What should be done at home for Ambubachi if one cannot go to Kamakhya?
A separate video is on the channel, Manisha Rajpal ji, in which we have told what all of us should do in Ambubachi from the 22nd of June to the 26th of June, and it is put up again on Telegram and on YouTube. In it, generally, on the first day Bhagavati's Shri Vigraha should be bathed and then covered with rakta vastra, that is, with red cloth. There will be no shringar of any kind for her. A bhog of madhu will be offered, and her seva, puja and archan will go on daily; mantra japa will be done and offered to her.
What should be done if the vigraha of Mata Kali has been burnt?
The vigraha will have burnt through your own carelessness, he says. First of all, do the abhishek of the Mata for at least nine days continuously — with panchgavya, with panchamrit and with pure Gangajal, daily, for nine days without a break, beginning today or from tomorrow. Do 108 japa daily for nine days of the whole mantra "या देवी सर्वभूतेषु क्षमा रूपेण संस्थिता ... नमस्तस्यै". Along with it let there certainly be jeev seva — feed a cow, a crow, a dog, whoever; let it go into their stomach before it goes into your own — and keep again and again the bhav of asking pardon: O Bhagavati, forgive the offence committed knowingly or unknowingly. On the last day do annadaan according to your strength.
What should be kept in mind while building a sadhana kaksh at home?
The best care to take is that the place of the devi-devatas should be in the right spot. When you sit to do sadhana, if your face falls towards the east it is best of all. Make the place beforehand according to the order in which the pratimas and the Shri vigrahas are to be kept. And if havan is to be done in that place, let there be an arrangement of a window, so that the smoke goes fully outside.
What should be done when attention will not stay steady during mantra japa?
For that you should do a little trataka, he says. Do a little practice — even fifteen or twenty days of it and it will begin to steady. Looking at the murti of your aradhya, looking at their feet, their hands, their eyes, doing dhyana and then doing the path — it will begin to happen. And for that it is necessary that a beautiful photo or vigraha be installed.
How should a Sai murti be removed from the house?
Simply take it and give it to the water, he says. Do not throw it — you will have brought it at some time out of shraddha. In the Sanatan sanskriti it has never been taught to disrespect any shakti; we have never disrespected anyone. Since you have brought them, do this: with all respect, give them a farewell — Baba, may you depart to your own place. Wrap them in a white cloth, put some sweets and the like in with them, say bye-bye, goodbye, ta-ta to them, and then immerse them.
May a Bhairav vigraha be kept at home?
Asked what should be kept in mind before keeping a vigraha of Bhairav ji at home, he says that the vigraha of Batuk Bhairav may be kept.
How does someone with no Bhairav at home install a kula Bhairav from the Ganga?
Those in whose house Batuk Bhairav ji is not established should, if they are going to Ganga ji that day, remember him from there — standing in Ganga ji, remember Batuk Bhairav ji and the Bhairav of your kula. Take along a trishul, or you may keep a photo of Batuk Bhairav ji, or a shri vigraha; in his opinion a shri vigraha is proper if it can be had, and if not then you should take a trishul.
May one make murtis of the gods and goddesses?
Absolutely, murtis of the gods and goddesses can be made, he answers.
Should one accept a relative's Laddu Gopal when they bring a bigger one?
A listener says their relatives are giving them the Laddu Gopal of their temple because they are bringing a bigger-sized Gopal, and asks whether they should take him. The speaker calls it a hypothetical question in which each will have his own buddhi, vivek and reasoning — but says it is as if, when a new child is about to be born in someone's house, the older child is given away to someone else. In his opinion this is not proper: once Bhagavan has been installed, why hand him over to the trust of another?
On what should the worship be performed?
If you have installed your Sadgurudev's Paduka, or his Shri Vigraha, or his photograph, perform the complete worship on that. Where it is a photograph, Abhishek cannot be done on it — so install a supari before it and do it on that, or on a flower.
What if there is no Vigraha or photograph at all?
Then on that day make a heap of rice with yellow Akshat — rice tinted yellow — and install upon it the large kind of supari. If your Guru traditionally has his Shakti with him, a Guru Mata, then install two supari on two heaps, the second of red Akshat.
Can Prana Pratishtha be done in a clay image?
Absolutely, you can. It is done.
Should the Panchadev Vigrahas be kept at home, and how is Kartikeya worshipped?
The Panchadev Vigrahas should certainly be kept at home. For Kartikeya, install either his Shri Vigraha alone or one joined with his Shakti, and then perform the whole Panchanga Seva by his prescription. But his worship, like Hanuman ji's, carries the strict obligation of full Brahmacharya.
What is done when a Shakti Peeth image becomes worn or broken?
Never. The Shri Vigrahas of self-manifested images, of a Shakti Peeth or a Siddha Peeth, however worn they become and whatever condition arises, can never be removed. What can be done is to have a layer of gold applied for the Shringar, or silver in the case of a village deity.
May a murti that is hollow inside be given an abhishek?
Asked whether abhishek may be done of a murti that is hollow inside, he says he has already messaged the questioner that it should not be done. Do not do the pujan or abhishek of a hollow murti, brother — he says he has been saying this from the start.
An old Rajasthani sevika who gave Bal Gopal ji the affection due a son slapped him while tying his pagdi
He recalls reading of a sevika of Rajasthan who had no son and began giving Bal Gopal ji the affection due to a son. She had grown old; one day, while tying his pagdi, Bhagavan kept turning his face this way and that, and she gave him a slap, saying you are being naughty and not wearing the pagdi properly.
Shakambhari anushthan setup and order of worship: cloth, direction, vigraha, nyas and kavach
The speaker says to use red or yellow cloth, a yellow or red asana, and to do the japa facing east or north, before an installed Shri Vigraha of the four-armed Jagadamba or, alternatively, of the eight-armed Durga, on which the archan and pujan are done. The order is smaran of Guru, Ganapati and the rest, then dhyan of Bhagavati Shakambhari Durga, then the viniyoga, rishi and other nyas, kar nyas, hriday nyas, dhyan mantra and japa mantra exactly as written in the PDF linked in the video description. Before that vidhi one may recite the Shakambhari kavach, or, if it is not available, Bhagavati's Chandi Durga kavach from the Saptashati, and then perform the anushthan of the mantra.
A sadhika was told to immerse every murti and come empty before being taught
The speaker relates that an acharya of that same group, of whom he says people take offence because his channel is now somewhat large but it is nevertheless true, told a woman sadhika who spoke with him: if you are to go by me, then in your house, whatever photos and murtis you have kept, first go and pick them up and immerse them. Only then come, wholly empty, and then we will have you do sadhana. Now consider, he says: a person who for five or ten years brings a vigraha or a photo from the heart, keeps it, performs its seva and puja, and gradually forms an affection with them all — and the man opposite says plainly, pick them all up and put them away and come, come wholly empty, and only then will we teach. This, he says, is an excessive self-absorption he has seen there, and it is why he stays very silent.
Establishing Dattatreya as adi guru and beginning the Datt mala mantra on a Purnima
The speaker says the dattatreya-mala-mantra japa is begun on the Purnima of any month; if begun on Margashirsh Purnima, that day is Dattatreya Jayanti. At home one may establish a vigrah of Dattatreya smaller than six inches, or a Dattatreya Yantra, or do the japa before Bhagwan Sadashiv without either. A sadhak with no Diksha at all who wants one in physical form should establish Dattatreya as his first, adi guru — either the vigrah or the yantra, or the yantra wrapped in yellow cloth with the vigrah placed on it. On that Purnima, he says, do abhisheka with panchamrit, dress the vigrah well, offer dhoop, deep and naivedya as one is able, and light a ghee lamp with a little haldi added to the ghee.
What should be done if one cannot do the abhishek of a Kali murti one has made?
Asked what to do when one has made a murti of Kali but cannot perform her abhishek, he says it should be done at the very least on the day of Amavasya.
May an uninitiated person perform Shri Yantra pujan?
There is so much rule for Shri Yantra pujan, he says, and people understand nothing of the Shri Yantra. One correspondent asked him in which shastra it is written that an uninitiated person cannot do Shri Yantra pujan, saying she is the Mother, everyone's puja is by seva and by bhava. His answer: if you want to do it by bhava, then do the archan of her Shri Vigraha. If you want to do the pujan of the Shri Yantra, then do it by vidhi-vidhan — learn it.
Which devi is beneath the foot of Kasht Bhanjan Hanuman?
Asked which devi is beneath the foot of Kasht Bhanjan Hanuman ji and what her relation with Hanuman ji is, he says he will tell it separately, because the subject connected with it is perhaps incomplete in his knowledge; he will get the full information and then tell them.
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