Which version of Agni Puram are you referring to? Gita Press version contains the above version only.

Respected sir, The Agni Purana mentions three different forms of this mantra. The ten syllabled mantra with pranava, with hrillekha and with both pranava and hrillekha. Also, the mantra has been deemed appropriate for the worship of Devi Chandika in 20 or 10 handed form surrounded by 9 chandikas. The mantra and its nyasa is given differently in agni puran. The mantra you have described here along with jaya Durga dhyana and nyasa is as per sharda tilak and tantrasaar I believe. Sir do you know the rishi and chand of these mantras? Sir, I wish to know, why these differences exist and why do they exist to such an extent that the same mantra has different dhyana and nyasa as well as rishi and cchand?

Dear All ! I still have some trouble to understand regaring the categories or better "17 States of Consciousness"... Here it is stated the following: "Yes, as well as Mahātripurasundarī (fifteen letters), which includes Mahākāmeśvari, Mahāvajreśvari and Mahābhagamālini in each Kūṭa, forming eighteen eternities or Nityās. Kāmakalākālī is related to Mahātripurasundarī. Guhyakāli is related to Mahāṣoḍaśī. Mahānirvāṇa Kālī is the last Mantra of the Guhyakāli Krama and is related to Mahānirvāṇa Sundarī. These two are beyond the concepts of Śiva, Śakti and even Śivaśaktyaikya. But do you know what is most surprising? There are many states of consciousness above even Mahānirvāṇa Kālī and Sundarī. There are varying degrees of consciousness of an intelligence that is beyond these two. But access to these higher steps was only recently allowed by the Divine. He has plans for the future that will change drastically down here. The Yoga that deals with these higher states is called Supramental Yoga." Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Shaktaverse/comments/1frstoo/a_third_installment_of_kamakala_kali_knowledge/ Question 1: So that would mean, that there are additional "States of Consciousness" other the 17 that are already known on this site ? Mahanirvana Sundari and Mahanirvana Kali would be the "18th State of Consciousness" ? Question 2: And this additional States of Conciousness would, like written above, even transcend the "18th State of Conciousness" (which should be be duality transcendence ? Question 3: So how many States of Conciousness are there in total, including these of Supramental Yoga ?? I am quite confused... Thank you very much to whatever person, that will take the time to answer this ! Sincerely, Michael

I wish to start doing this mantra , can you recommend a place that gives initiation for the same (I'm in new delhi) or can I go for self initiation?

An initiation is required from a qualified guru. It is a higher mantra and I personally would suggest against self-initiation. There are no pre-requisite mantras that I am aware of, but may possibly exist in the Kālī krama which I am not knowledgeable about. In my case, I got intiated into this mantra a year or two after the Pañcadaśī.

Ideally speaking, that would be the norm if you are considering Puraścaraṇa for each of the deities. This varies between traditions. My suggestion would be to go very slow and consider Puraścaraṇa for each of the deities and perform their Āvaraṇa pūja to the best extent possible. I would not recommend self-initiation for Śrīvidyā as there is too much esoteric information that is not easily grasped without proper guidance from a learned guru. There are many schools available where this can be learnt in person or online. In person teaching is the most ideal amongst all, especially in learning the process of worshipping the yantras and the associated mudras etc.

The mantra would no longer be 17 lettered. Please refer to the associated tantras and verify the authenticity of the mantras. By all means, please let us know if you find the uddhāra ślokas and find the associated mantras to be different from what is published here. We are ready to make corrections.

This yantra is correct. You can purchase and keep it under your mat.

There are some very good publications from Mayuresh Prakashan, Kalyan Mandir etc. in Hindi, if you are familiar with this language. Other than that, you may approach any online school that specializes in Śrī Durgā upāsana. I peronally do not have the bandwidth currently to undertake a translation of these scriptures and post in detail. The most simple thing to do, is to understand the inner meaning of the verses and recite the entire 700 ślokas. This can be done at any time and not necessarily during the navaratris. Utkīlana and śāpavimocana are different. The former is to unlock the mantra and the latter is for curse removal. Besides these, there can also be setu, mahāsetu serving as bridges and the life giving (enhancing the effects) sanjīvanī mantras. All of this should ideally be obtained from your guru and can be verified in the above mentioned books.

To the best of my knowledge, what is posted is correct as per the source that I referred to. When there is a doubt, my advice is to go for the associated tantra and look at the uddhāra ślokas for the derivation of the mantras. I don't have the uddhāra ślokas to cross-check for you and I have not practiced any of the Subrahmaṇya mantras fully.