Podcast on Mahashodasi and Sri Vidya Mantras

Comment and Reflections on Podcast by Krishna Vallapareddy (Krishna@manblunder.com)

Thank you for the wonderful podcast Garreth and Santosh. I have personally known Santosh for many years now and he̍ is a very dedicated Śrī Vidyā upāsaka, a great prāṇic healer and a very kind hearted person. He met all the qualities to be bestowed a Guru dīkṣa and was one of the first devotees along with Mr. Sriram and Mr. Jayanth to be bestowed with this honor. My regular discussions with Santosh over the phone or in person run into many hours. He along with Mr. Suresh are the pioneers of migrating the Manblunder blog that was painstakingly created and maintained by Shri Ravi guruji, into the current form as a website. There are many folks who have benefitted from the healing that Santosh and his associates have performed over the years and he is also well connected with many other accomplished professionals. Santosh also has the distinction of initiating hundreds of upāsakas. Both Jayanth and Sriram hold the same distinction and are accomplished gurus with great calibre. A trip to India is never complete without a meal with Santosh and Suresh. I also had the great honor of meeting with Sriram this year and hope to meet with Jayanth soon! The onerous responsibility of running the site and managing the content continues to lie with Santosh and we are very proud of him for everything that he does for us all! Related to Śrī Vidyā, it is one of the best kept secrets of Tantra and extremely profound from a philosophical context and is also a very complex ritualistic tradition. Navigating the ocean of Śrī Vidyā without a proper guru, is completely pointless and leads us nowhere. It is a true fact that this tradition leads us to self-realization by means of an accelerated karmic burning that generally brings about a torrent of hardship and grief. The great gurus over the millenia having sensed the issues encountered in the path, took great care to hide the tradition and initiate only the most serious seekers. The gurus also prescribed various deity sādhanas and means of worship such as the worship of the coveted Śrī Cakra and various nyāsās, to help the sincere sādhakas overcome the hardship and gain success in every aspect of life. It is very important to note that even the most sincere sādhakas can go astray when the powers associated with Śrī Vidyā begin to manifest and it is therefore highly recommended to always follow the path of the Gurus and remain committed to the main goal of self-realization. The sādhaka who achieves this goal will relish the true wealth that is unlimited and full of joy and bliss. As Santosh clearly pointed out, there are many paths that lead us to self-realization and the seeker must choose what suits them the best and remain committed to it. Practically, this may be a tough call as most often we are misled by false gurus and that leads to disillusionment. This should not deter us and should make us wiser to choose the right path and the right guru(s) who can lead us forward and help us evolve. I personally have had the great fortune of knowing Shri Ravi guruji and his sincere disciples and Gurus Santosh, Jayanth, Sriram and Dan. May they continue to be the beacons of Śrī Vidyā and guide many upāsakas along this divine path laid down by Shri Ravi guruji and the Guru maṇḍalā. May all others following their gurus and various spiritual paths succeed in their efforts too.