Devi Mandir

Temple of Divine Mother

Story of Shantanu and Matsyagandha

~~OM~~ Shantanu had a son Devavrat. And Devavrat was the son of Ganga, and he was the most knowledgable. He had Brihaspati as his Guru, Parashuram taught him how to use weapons. And he had the greatest teachers, he lived in Heaven with Ganga for his formative years and had the best education. And he […]

Importance of Karna, Arjuna’s Elder Brother

~~OM~~ Question: What is the importance of Arjuna’s elder brother Karna? Oh, Karna is extremely important. Of course he is the elder brother, he is the sixth of the Pandavas. And Karna of course, he led a very sorrowful life. He had much suffering in his life. And we’ll talk more about that in the […]

Story of Sita’s Vow

~~OM~~ Sita had a vow that she would not touch any other man. So Hanuman came to her and said, “I will take you out of here right now.” And Sita said, “No, no, when Ravana grabbed me by force I was powerless to resist, but I can’t knowingly, willingly touch any other male figure. […]

Chart of Nyasas

The Chart shows the various positions of the several Nyasas and is suitable to be blown up to poster size. It describes the mudras and indicates the locations for the various mantras of …read more
 

Navaratri Kumari Puja

Saptamī, the seventh day of Navaratri, is the day of Kumāri Pūjā. Kumāri literally means a young girl, and this pūjā, or worship, teaches us to see Divine Mother in a little girl – and ultimately in all of creation.  Kumāri Pūjā is also an initiation to the young girl, for on that day She […]

Guru Mantra and Special Purpose Mantras

I understand that there is a need to be faithful to the Guru Mantra and that it should repeated it ceaselessly. How does one treat Special Purpose Mantras? Does one get “obligated” to a Deity after mantra takes effect (assuming that the Mantra is of a Higher Deity)? How does one safely thank the Deity […]