AvadhootaDatta Peetham

śrī mahā gaṇapataye namaḥ

śrī sarasvatyai namaḥ

śrī pādavallabha narasimha sarasvati

śrī guru dattātreyāya namaḥ

 

Jaya Guru Datta. Om aim hrīm śri̅m rāja rājeśvaryai namaha

 

vināyako vighnarājo

gauriputro ganeśvaraha

māmpātu deva deveśo

bhūyo vighna nivārakaḥ

 

 

gauri śiva mahāvidyā

śriman makuṭa manḍita

vātsalyabhāva srimāta

varadā parirakśatu

 

 

satkṛta deśah caraṇāha

sabhīja nirbh̄ja yōganiśreṇyā

apavargaha saudavalabhīm

ārohamtyam bakēpi tavakṛpayā

 

Mother, Sri Mata, Kamakshi…all names are Mother’s. The Divine Mother has countless names. Very few in the world are able to worship the feet of the Guru. 

sabhīja nirbh̄ja - The great souls that are born without a seed are climbing the steps towards You with Your grace. With Your grace, they are able to face the most dangerous situations effortlessly. Those with karma and without karma are able to reach You due to Your grace. This is the special meaning here. Prostrations to You (Divine Mother).

tāmiccha vigraham devīm guru rup̄am vibhāvayet

 

The Devi Bhagavatam teaches us that we should see Sadguru as Mother Goddess at all times. There is nothing wrong in seeing Guru as Your mother or addressing Guru as Mother. Jaganmata is Parabrahma. She is the only One. She is the mother to all creations. She is Mother to Jagadguru Krishna as well. Sri Mata gave us eyes to see Her. But we go to temples and close our eyes. She gave us the fuve indriyas to see Her. She gave us legs to do circumambulation to Her and to serve Her. But we put these faculties to bad use. Mother gave us this body so we can reach Her world. But we are travelling in the opposite direction, accruing more and more karma and sins and entanglements, and getting caught endlessly in samsara. She has given us a chance to reach Her but we are misusing those opportunities. Mother gave us hands to serve Her and do bhajans. But we are doing bad deeds with our hands. Our ten senses must be submitted to Mother. We are ruining our golden life. Mother gave us tongue to sing Her praises. We instead speak of unnecessary things that are fleeting, useless, and temporary. Do not do that. Mother says - sing my praise and attain salvation. She gave us ears to hear Her praise, but we use our ears to listen to evil. Mahatma Gandhi used the image of the three monkeys to represent that we should neither hear, nor speak, nor see evil. The Mother teaches us that all indriyas must be used in Her service. So atleast this Navaratri, dedicate and offer every indriya to Mother Goddess. Assign only work related to the Mother, to the indriyas.

 

Since Devi Navaratri starts today, we will learn about the Upadesha that Sage Vyasa did to Janamejaya about Devi. Sage Vyasa said: O King Janamejaya, Devi Yajna can be Sattvik, Rajasic or Tamasic in nature. We should always do Sattvik Yajna. The time, place, and faith should be Sattvik. We do not do Yajna when an earthquake is going on. We were quiet during Covid. During times of grief at home, Yajnas must not be done. The utensils and items used in Yajna should be clean and hygienic. When you eat food, you use only the pure ingredients. That is also a Yajna. Eating food is also a Yajna. Chanting mantras, doing work – everything should be pure. Do not do Parayana and chant mantras when you are distracted. You mispronounce words and make mistakes in your chanting when you do that. Instead, you must focus fully on Mother without any distraction. We get the full fruit only when our worship is fully Sattvik. Only wealth earned morally gives us the desired fruit. Be honest and do not earn money through unethical means.

 

Sage Vyasa continued: O King Janamejaya, your grandfathers – the Pandavas – performed a wonderful Rajasuya Yajna. What was the outcome? They lost the kingdom within three months. Their wife Draupadi Devi was humiliated. They were sent to exile. We wonder what happened to the fruit of the Yajna. Did they live happily in the forest? No, they lived as servants and went through many difficulties. Draupadi was again humiliated by Keechaka. What happened to the blessings of the Yajna? What did Krishna do when all this was going on? If we attributed all this to destiny, that would mean that the Yajna was futile. Yajna and other rituals are undertaken to change destiny, just as we take medicines to get relief from disease. So, we cannot simply ascribe this to fate. We have to diagnose why the disease appeared, just as we need to understand why the difficulty came to us. It is possible that you made a mistake somewhere. Faith and intelligence are necessary to overcome such a situation.

 

ubhayam cāpi mantavyam

daivam copāya eva ca

 

Divinity and effort are both necessary for victory. The Pandavas realised their mistake after they endured much suffering. That is when they were enlightened. They then kept Krishna close to them and attained victory but never realized that He was Paramatma. The wealth they had earned was earned by causing suffering to others. Many women were widowed during the process. They gloated about their earnings and their great Rajasuya Yajna. They put their ego on display. All this was wrong. So, Divinity alone should not be blamed. Their effort played a significant role.

 

When we do something good, if the fruit is counter to that deed, we should realize we made a mistake somewhere. We should try to diagnose the mistake. Did the doer make a mistake? Was the time of start inauspicious?  Was there some impure ingredient used? Was the mantra incorrect? Was it not in tune? Were there errors? A wise man should examine all this and find out. So, when we undertake a Yajna, we should make sure nothing goes wrong.

 

Indra once started a Yajna to destroy demons. He appointed Viswarupa, the Guru partial to demons, as the priest. At the conclusion of the Yajna, the priest prayed: May both gods and demons be blessed. The Yajna was meant for the benefit of Gods, but the priest gave blessings to both Gods and demons. The demons gained strength and unleashed their terror. Indra realized there was some shortcoming in the Yajna. He investigated and found out Viswarupa was the cause. It was Indra’s fault (for appointing someone partial to the demons), not Viswarupa’s.

 

Drupada once undertook a great Yajna without any fault. All items, mantras etc were all pure. So, he got the fruit he wished for. King Dasaratha also did a Yajna without any fault and begot four sons. Yajnas done without any flaws give good fruit. Otherwise, the fruit can be contrarian. So Janamejaya, in the Yajna done by your grandfathers, there was one flaw. They fought several kings, killed the men, troubled the wives, and looted all the wealth for the Yajna. There was also wealth earned morally, but that was mixed with these earnings. It is like good milk mixed with one drop of poison. The Pandavas were also egoistic about their earnings and put them on display for the world with great arrogance and pride. It is very hard to do a Sattvic Yajna. Only Maharashis can do this. Others cannot. We did Bhagavad Gita Yajna. Datta alone could do this. I did not think I was separate from Datta. I am Datta. That’s the belief with which I did this.

 

Rajasic Yajna is done by those with rajasic traits. Tamasic Yajna is done by the demons. Manasa (mental) Yajna is the foremost.

 

muṇinām mokshakāmanām

viraktānām mahātmānam

mānasastu smrtoyāgaḥ

sarvasādhana samyutaḥ

 

Manasa Yajna is taught only to munis and seekers of liberation. Not everyone can do this. This involves a lot of Sadhana. This is called Poorna Yajna. This is not described in the scriptures because it is not for everyone. We are being told a mental prayer is like a Manasa Yajna, but that is not enough. In other Yajnas, we may not get a priest, or we may get an incompetent one, or the time and place may be unfavorable, or the items may be impure. Such flaws will not occur in Manasa Yajna. Purity, faith, devotion, concentration, discipline and devotion to Guru are enough for Manasa Yajna. How should Manasa Yajna be done? First, purify the mind. The trigunas - Sattva, Rajas, Tamas, should be removed. Hunger, thirst, taste, sleep, yawning should not be there. One must be blemishless. How can we do this? If the mind is pure, the body is also considered pure. Create a Yajna venue in the mind. You must establish it with the same measurements as prescribed in the shastras. Giving deeksha to pandits, giving them right to do Yajna should all be done with the mind. Praying to Mother, establishing the five fires should be done in the mind. We should offer pure ingredients in the Yajna. Mind is the officiator in this Yajna. Because Mother is Adi Parashakti, she is Parabrahma, we should direct our Yajna at Mother. In Yoga, it is She who should be meditated upon.

 

sarvabhutastha mātmānam

sarvabhutani cātmani

yada pasyati bhutātma

tadā pashyati tām śivām

 

One must see all beings in oneself, and oneself in all beings. The one who does this will see Parameshwara who is one’s own Atman. One who experiences the truth of Mother Goddess will attain liberation immediately after he leaves the body. The fruit of Manasa Yajna is eternal, permanent, and bestows Moksha. The rest of the Yajnas only bestow fruit in this world and hereafter.  The one who does Manasa Yajna gets all wishes fulfilled. Moksha will become accessible to such a sadhaka.

 

tasmātsarva prayatnena

dhyeyāśrī bhuvaneśvari

śrotavyacaiva mantavya

guruvākyānu sārathaḥ

 

Therefore based on Guru’s words, we should make all efforts, learn about Bhuvaneshwari Devi, pray to her and chant her name and worship her. King Veni learned he was going to die in 7 seconds. He had led a pure life. He gave up everything mentally and did Manasa Yajna and attained God. So, O Janamejaya, you tried kill the snakesin the Sarpa Yāga you undertook. That is a Tamasa Yajna. So, to remove those sins, you must do Devi Yajña. Your father Parikshit did not attain vairagya even after listening to Bhagavatam. He isolated himself in a fort to protect his life. He was attached to his life because his mind was not pure. He did not worship Mother. So, he had an untimely death even though he eventually attained liberation. Perform Devi Yajña and let your father attain a felicitous state. Parikshit was not an ordinary man, but he did not attain a felicitous state.

 

Per the sage’s Upadesha, Janamejaya did the Devi Yajña and helped bestow a greater world on his father Parikshit. Therefore, the Mother who resides in our mind should be worshiped. The mind will be purified. Sri Matre Namaha.

 

 

It is very hard to give up the feeling of I and mine. Those who are able to do his wholeheartedly, earn the blessings of Mother. A pious deed will not bear fruit if it is done with wealth earned unethically. In Manasa Yajna, you only experience good vibrations everywhere. There are no bad vibrations. You will see only purity everywhere. Realizing the supreme truth is possible only when the mind is blemishless.