namaste, i am looking for initiation and till now i was doing bhairav mantra but i need guidance as to which mantra is appropriate for me. can anyone help me out.

This website has helped people like us tremendously, who initially only had adoration for the mother, but lacked resources to know about her. May The Divine Mother bestow her auspiciousness and grace on us all. Today I would like to praise Her Highness as my Ishta of Devi Sri Shakambhari Maa. And I would do it in 3 parts. Introduction Summary of the Mahatyam Deeper Perspective (Her Majesty's presence in the Siddha Kunjika Stotra.) INTRODUCTION: She is mentioned in the Murti Rahasya of Devi Saptashati, Skanda Puraan and Devi Bhagvatam. Murti Rahasya sholas are: शाकम्भरी नीलवर्णा नीलोत्पलविलोचना। गम्भीरनाभिस्त्रिवलीविभूषिततनूदरी॥ सुकर्कशसमोत्तुङ्गवृत्तपीनघनस्तनी। मुष्टिं शिलीमुखापूर्णं कमलं कमलालया ॥ पुष्पपल्लवमूलादिफलाढ्यं शाकसञ्चयम्। काम्यानन्तरसैर्युक्तं क्षुत्तृण्मृत्युभयापहम् ॥ कार्मुकं च स्फुरत्कान्ति बिभ्रती परमेश्वरी। शाकम्भरी शताक्षी सा सैव दुर्गा प्रकीर्तिता ॥ विशोका दुष्टदमनी शमनी दुरितापदाम्। उमा गौरी सती चण्डी कालिका सा च पार्वती॥ शाकम्भरीं स्तुवन् ध्यायञ्जपन् सम्पूजयन्नमन्। अक्षय्यमश्रुते शीघ्रमन्नपानामृतं फलम्॥ Which overall translates to : She is of blue color, eyes like blue lotus, sitting on a lotus, and has a deep navel and shapely chest. She holds in her hand quiver of arrows, a blue lotus, a cornucopia of fruits, vegetables, flowers, roots, greens, etc, holding abundant juice. She is also as revered as Satakshi, Durga, Uma, Kalika, Gauri, Sati, Chandi and Parvati. She is without sorrows (Mahaytam refers to her as Sat-Chit-Anand), destroyer of evil, keeps away all troubles. Her sincere devotees always have the necessary food, drinks and nourishment (amritaphalam) In her Mahatyam (Part of Sri Devi Bhagvatam), her appearance is said to be the essence of all the beauty there is. She is like a huge ocean of compassion, and yet her brilliance is like a thousand suns. Her Kavacham and Sahasranaam are part of Skanda Puraan. And the dyanam that usually is read preceeding the Sahasraam compares her to the autumn moon. And interestingly this dhyana also invokes her with more hands than the usual 4. शूलं पाशकपालचापकुलिशान्बाणान्सृणिं खेटकां शङ्कं चक्रगदाहिखड्गमभयं खट्वाङ्गदण्डान्धराम् । वर्षाभाववशाद्धतान्मुनिगणान्शाकेन या रक्षति लोकानां जननीं महेशदयितां तां नौमि शाकम्भरीम् SUMMARY OF THE MAHATYAM Long ago a daitya named Durgamasur pleased Brahma with his Tapas and as a boon, asked for the Vedas. As a result, the daityas gained great power from the the ritualistic fires that were hosted to nourish and please the Gods, whereas the gods got weak, and the Brahmins also forgot the Vedas and the ritualistic procedures. Gaining opportunity, Durgam vanquished the devas from Heavens, and ruled atrociously. The lack of rituals were affecting nourishment in early plane, and as the result earth became barren and people, animals, plants died. Seeing no other option, the sages go tp the Mountains to calmly pray to and please the Parambika. Parvati seeing their pitiable condition, manifested in a beautiful blue form (dhyana explanations in section 1), and this form had innumerable eyes. Out of pity Parvati cried, and the tears nourished early plane, so that plants could grow again. In the meantime Devi also nourished the people and the devas (who had also joined the Brahmins to praise Parvati) from the cornucopia that she was carrying. Hearing of it from a messenger, Durgam goes ahead to wage war. And then Shakambhari assumes the form of Durga to kill the demon. In this Forms, she births fifteen MahaShaktis (inclusive of the ten usual list of Mahavidyas, except Dhumavati) followed by innumerable other Shaktis who fight with the huge army of Durgam, and cleans up the battle field. On the final day Durgam and The Divine Mother wage war and She kills him with fifteen arrows (nice parallel with the number of MahaShaktis, if I may.) That is how she brings back the Vedas, restores peace, and sustains creation. My biggest take from the Mahatyam is the importance of name "Durga", because (as far as I understand Sankrit) She says "One who calls my name Durga, because I killed Durgamasura...". (whereas Shakambhari and Shatakshi are coined by devas). Durga means both invincible and unreachable fortress With this word alone, She declares that: She can overcome everything, yet nothing can overcome her. The Devi-Atharvashirsha Upanishad mentions this in a more direct manner: यस्याः परतरं नास्ति सैषा दुर्गा प्रकीर्तिता She who is renowned by the name "Durga" is the being superior to whom, no one exists. DEEPER PERSPECTIVE - Feeling Sri Shakambhari Maa's presence in this stotra There is one more connection between Shakambhari and Durga Saptashati. The starting lines of Shakambhari Sahasranaam says: महासरस्वती सैव जाता शाकम्भरी शिवा । The Devi also showed herself as Chamunda (reference in the Navarna Mantra as well as Kunjika Stotra ) in the Mahasaraswati Charitra of the Durga Saptashati. If this is not enough, Chamunda is the first name used for nyasa during the Shakambhari Sahasranaam. Two other names used are Sataskshi and Shakambhari itself. The mother is always in her Trigunatmika state (She is everything), the Charitra (manifestation) is based on which guna is pradhana. Among all the spiritual texts transliterated and interpreted on this website this is my favourite because I feel Maa Shakambhari's presence in this. In her Aim manifestation as Srishti roopa, she is Satakshi, her tears nourishing the barren land and bringing back life. In this state she is Bhadra of Kunjika In her Hrim manifestation as Pratipalika roopa. Here she is Bhavani,. She is Shakambhari, nourishing everyone from the fruits she carries in her hand. It is interesting that in the third in triad of beejas, is a beeja of desire Kleem. (NOT destruction) The sages and devas desired to be saved from the atrocity of Durgam, they desired for the Vedas to be brought back, so, She took the form they desired. The fifteen Mahaskahti, the rest of the matrikas, all came out from her desire to bring them forth. But in she took to this state, to take down Durgam, hence she chose to be Bhairavi. Dhurjate Patni is a reference to her as Parvati (Shivaa) Vagadheeshwari because in Mahatyam she says the Vedas are the superior parts of her body. Kalika Rupa is again when out of desire she forms an army of terrific beings for battle, this is reference to the first mahashakti (as rest of the following shaktis) coming out of her. But Her favourite state of manifested reality is one with most auspiciousness. (शाँ शीँ शूँ मे शुभं) this is a reference to dear Sundari/Sri. (Sri Jothi ji's comment will give further insight on this) And she is giving a battle cry / warning that she will destroy anyone tarnishing it . (हुँ हुँ हुँकाररूपिण्यै जँ जँ जँ जम्भनादिनी ।) This line is also a reminder to the ones attempting to invoke her in this ugra form, that if done for the wrong reasons, destruction is inevitable, even if you are here devotee. So Creation, Sustainence and desire for Auspicousness is her stable form. But she can get destructive very destructive if she so desires. The Bhadra, Bhavani and Bhavani triad is already explained above. Now the final names. starting with Parvati, which to me represent her earthly nature of existence. the mother as Parvati is also referred to as "Poorna" which I interpret as completion of a cycle. In her form Earthly leela as Parvati, she started as Shailaputri and completed the perfection as Mahagauri, and transcended even perfection to become the given of perfection herself as Siddhidatri. And then Sri Parvati resides as the state of all knowing and all pervading being in the state of purnata (completion). And this purnata is presented Shakambhari when prayed by Brahmins. Interesting parallel might be : Shakambhari navratri starts in Ashtami, and get completed on Shakambhari Purnima. Finally , "Khechari". This represents her celestial nature of existence. Her as nothingness. The un-manifested reality. Why un-manifested ? Because the Brahmins had forgotten the Vedas and the mantras, And the mantra was devata swaroopam. Even when the sages remembered nothing, they remembered her. She is what floats/exists, unsupported by anything. May the mother forever usher in auspiciousness. Jai Maa Shakambhari ! Thanks and a lot to Krishna ji and all others who contributed to translating this tremedously beautiful stotra. And my Pranaam to Sri Jayanth Chandramouli ji who initiated me into Bala mantra and got me started on Shakti Upasana. Readers of this comment please know that this keyboard warrior is a layman. I have no education on tantra, neither am I inititated to the Chandi Navakshari. What I wrote is purely out of adoration of Maa in her Shakambhari Roopa, the obsession to see her everywhere in everything and deep emotions that stirred while reading the translation of this stotra.

Normally the Puraścaraṇa rituals are to be completed within 40 to 45 days, considered as a maṇḍala period. Practically that is not possible for most people on tight day to day schedules and so we make an allowance (not scripturally permitted) for what we can possibly accomplish. To add to this, most people do not even perform all the rituals associated with Puraścaraṇa and simply compensate with 25% extra japa over the prescribed amount. Again this is not scripturally sanctioned but nevertheless followed. Unless you are able to complete 30 to 40 mālas per day without a break, it will not be possible to complete 100,000 japas within 40 days. Also, immediately the associated rituals must be undertaken without fail for timely completion.

Dear Madam, I am very touched by your remorse towards lizards. Most of us simply loathe them and are more than happy to get rid of them by all means, but your remorse speaks of your good heartedness. I would recommend that you perform tarpaṇa for the deceased lizard and consider it as someone close to you and ask the divine grace to allow it to take a higher birth or grant liberation. The tarpaṇa documents are available online from vedicastrologer.org or you may follow any other book or guru given ritual for the same. It is best that you perform the ritual vs delegating it to a priest or someone else to ease your burden. I shall also pray to the divine to ease your pain. It is important to be aware that a soul never dies and moves on in its quest to evolve.

sir , i wanted to know the maximum duration for Maha Purushcharana, the grand invocation of the ucchistha ganpati mantra

Thank you, Krishna ji, for replying. I've decided to chant Lalita Sahasranama, delving deeper into the meanings behind each name. While I've mastered the mudras and have been studying Sri Chakra for the past month, I will focus solely on Lalita Sahasranama until I receive guidance from divine mother . Many Thanks :)

SHREE MAATHRE NAMAH THANK YOU SO MUCH KRISHNA GAARU

Sir, నా వల్ల బల్లి చనిపోయింది దాని శాంతి కోసం నేను ఏం చేయాలి. Translation - Sir, a lizard died due to my actions. What can be done towards a peace offering?

You can definitely read from the internet and study the tantras and mantra manuals. There are times when you will need a guru who is experienced with these rituals and might be willing to share the same with you. My sincere suggestion is to find a guru close to where you are, so you can visit and learn in person from them. Simple rituals like chanting the attributes of a deity etc. can be done without any formal initiation. However, understanding their significance etc. might make more sense when an initiation is sought. It is ultimately your choice and definitely dependent upon your time, resources, availability etc. It is also important to note that an initiation does not guarantee any success. There are many factors that influence success and initiation is just the first step in the spiritual journey.

Thank you for your response. I'm feeling a bit unsure about what's best for me right now. There haven't been any noticeable changes in my life . My dreams often involve goddesses, chanting Lalitha Sahasranam, and sometimes I dream about goddess temples, particularly those of Maa Kali, who is our kul devi. I don't have any spiritual mentors, and I've been learning everything from the internet. Could you please provide guidance on how to properly perform Maa's puja? I am very unsuccessful in life and am seeking respect within society. Whatever I do in life it doesn't give me any success . Finding a guru seems challenging in this day and age. Any small guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.