About the Author

Swami Satyananda Saraswati is considered to be one of the foremost Vedic scholars and Sanskrit translators in the West. He is the author of nearly 60 books in nine different languages representing a significant contribution to the understanding of Hinduism and Vedic religious practices.

Swamiji comes from the Dashnami lineage of Adi Shankaracharya, and belongs to the Saraswati tribe of renunciates and scholars who are living the life of a teacher and a knower of wisdom, worshiping with both spiritual knowledge and devotion. His Guru, Swami Amritananda Saraswati, initiated him into the Vedic Knowledge, Sanskrit, and the Chandi Path and sacred fire ceremony as his primary system of spiritual discipline in 1971.

He practiced the recitation of the Chandi Path in the Himalayan snow and in the hot springs of Bakreswar. Through this rigorous penance, he became impervious to the influences of heat and cold. Through his experiences walking the length and breadth of the Himalayas over 15 years, Swamiji fell in love with Sanskrit and became proficient in numerous languages including Bengali and Hindi. Wherever he went he would learn the local systems of worship and inspire those around him to participate. Swamiji’s expertise and experience spans many different religious traditions. His realizations and teachings make him a living example of Ramakrishna’s Gospel, “as many as there are individuals, so many are the paths to God”.

In 1979, Swamiji met Shree Maa when he was performing a vow of worship in a small temple in the interior of West Bengal. They toured India, spreading their divine love and inspiration by performing pujas, homas, and sharing their realizations, and teaching their methods of spiritual practice. In 1984 they came to America and established the Devi Mandir, where he and Shree Maa shine their beacon of light from Napa, California. Today, they share all their resources to give every individual an opportunity to access these spiritual teachings.

Product Details

• Paperback: 485 pages
• Publisher: Sunstar Pub Ltd., 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887472622
• ISBN-13: 978-1887472623
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds

Book Reviews of Shiva Puja and Advanced Yagna

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By Deborah Wayne

This book is a great follow up to the Shiva Puja Beginner Book and CD. I had been doing the Beginner Puja book for some time and I wanted to have more depth so I bought this book and it really, really helped me!!! My puja has become richer and has more depth. Thank you Lord Shiva!

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By Richard Beatty

This book is encyclopedic and yet user friendly all the material is organized in distinct and compact module-like sections, so readers are welcome to choose as much as they like. The module-like structure is a great help for beginners as well as those who are more experienced with these methods of worship. I am enjoying the sections on pot establishment and learning about doing homa. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn to worship Lord Shiva.

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By Sanjay Subramaniam

The Shiva Puja advanced book is a must-have for Shiva bhaktas. In addition to rich material about puja, the book also has 1000 names of Lord Shiva, other stotrams and Shiva Chalisa. A gold mine for Shiva devotees available so easily!

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By Vinod Gulati

I purchased this book to learn more about the Shiva Yagya Paddhoti and was delighted to learn that the book has so much more not even in India can you find so much information and this book has everything translated in English. Swami Satyananda Saraswati has performed a great service by brining together all this material in an easy to understand format. I bow to him and recommend this book to all seekers.

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By Joseph Burke

Excellent book great translation, clear instructions on how to do worship and sweet garland of names of the Lord of all Goodness Lord Shiva! Om Namaha Sivaya!

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By Dharmananda

Though I am posting this review under the title “Shiva Puja and Advanced Yajna,” it really applies to all of the wonderful books of Swami Satyananda Saraswati of Napa, California. These books will probably appeal most to those who perform traditional Hindu ceremonial worship, called puja. However, this review is to call attention to another aspect of these books which is worth noting, and is indeed highly praiseworthy. Personally, I do not perform formal pujas, but I love Sanskrit and all the wonderful traditional mantras and hymns of that sacred language. I repeat mantras and recite hymns in my own informal way. As a source for Sanskrit mantras and hymns, there is nothing better than the books of Swami Satyananda Saraswati. I have taught myself to read Devanagari script, so I greatly appreciate its inclusion in these books. Above all, the script is large, clear, and easy to read. These books are typeset to allow easy reading of either the Devanagari script, or the transliterated text, while performing puja. A great deal of attention has obviously been paid to making the script easily readable, even while holding the book at arm’s length. This is a huge advantage. I’m not so great at reading Devanagari that I enjoy working my way through the tiny, blurred script found in so many other books, especially Indian publications. These books, by contrast, are a pleasure to read.

The transliterations of the Sanskrit mantras and hymns follow the precision international system which uses diacritical marks. This system, originally developed by European scholars in the nineteenth century, has long been the “gold standard” for transliteration of Sanskrit texts due to the direct one-to-one correspondence with the Sanskrit alphabet. (I have been glad to see that this system has become more and more universally used for transliteration of Sanskrit.) It is here employed with great accuracy, and in a typeface of unsurpassed readability. I have many versions of some of the Sanskrit hymns and mantras in this book, and in the many other books of Swami Satyananda Saraswati, but I always choose to read the versions in Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s books because I can always count on them to be the most accurate and readable versions available.

Besides the Sanskrit texts in both Devanagari script and in Romanized transliteration using the international system, one is also treated to Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s highly accurate, but also energetic and enthusiastic English translations. Without deviating from the precise meanings of the texts, the Swami manages to include and convey his own love and enthusiasm for this ancient and sacred literature. I rarely look elsewhere for definitive translations.

Also, when perusing the catalog of Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s books, don’t be misled by the titles into thinking that they convey the full range of the contents. The books are
always crammed with “extras,” often mantras only peripherally related to the main topic, but in this way one gets a spectacular collection of the greatest Sanskrit mantras in existence.

For those dedicated to the performance of puja, these books are indispensible. For those who just love Sanskrit and all the wonderful hymns and mantras, these books are a treasure trove. I don’t recite every mantra in ever book — not by any means — but there are some in every book that I love to sing and recite. And I buy all the books also just as a way of saying “thank you” to Swami Satyananda Saraswati for rendering this wonderful service to all Sanskrit lovers, and doing so in such a conscious and conscientious way. Thank you, Swamiji! We’ve never met, but I’m one of your silent (until now!) fans and admirers.

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By Chris Kirner

How do I begin? This book is just packed with stuff for lovers of Shiva. It is a full system of Tantric practice, begining with worship of Ganesha and ending with a complete system of homa ceremony. Swami Satyananda of Napa Valley, CA is a master of this science, having learned it from his gurudeva, and practicing himself for many years.

The pujas (ceremonial worship) are at intermediate and advanced levels, but may be adjusted to suit individual needs. They include the one hundred and eight names, the thousand names, pranapratishta, and various nyasas, including anga, kara, samhara and bahya matrika nyasas, and pitha nyasa where the yantra is placed over the heart and the place of worship established there.

Various bits of useful and devotional scriptures are also included in this book, like Shankara’s Sadhana Panchakam, Shivo Ham Shivo Ham, Rudrashtakam, Lingashtakam, and Bhava Sagara, among others.

As I said, this book is a treasure. It is one to grow with, begining small and adding more to your practice as you gain experience. For anyone wishing to learn the method of the fire offering, this is an excellent source.

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By Jumpha

The Fire Ceremony (Yajna) is an integral part of Hinduism. Yajna, which means the union of the two fires, one of internal spiritual enlightenment mirroring the ceremonial fire altar, is a core part of Siva Puja. This union is the sacrifice of an individual’s egotism, duality, selfishness and other asuras. Puja means “the actions which give birth to the highest merit.” By doing Puja, we practice what it would be like for God to visit our homes. The Siva Puja and Advanced Yajna book goes into the intricate details of worshipping the great deity, Mahadeva. Siva allegorizes Infinite Goodness and Continual Transformation; the literal translation of Siva is “the welfare of all objects of perception.” He is inconceivably limitless and by worshipping him, we can cultivate and imbibe some of His great qualities, such as Detachment, and Infinite Consciousness. We learn to recognize that the intrinsic reality is not the external appearance and this wisdom frees us from pain and fear. Swamiji is most encouraging in his guidance and continuously helps us along in our quest for divine grace. He says, “Worship does not mean the memorization of mantras, or even the proper placement of the flowers and other objects. Worship is an attitude of respect, of dedication, of devotion to the exclusion of selfishness….” In this manner, we can all become a part of Lord Siva.

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By A Customer 

This book is excellent, but of course only then, if one really wants to get a lot of Shiva mantrams. It’s stuffed from beginning to end with one mantram after the other, each in Sanskrit, first in the Devanagari script, then in Sanskrit but transliterated and then in English. Among the mantrams one finds for instance the thousand names of shiva, the arati etc. There are few small photographs, which show mudras needed during the pujas. But if one does not know pujas from personal attendance, it’s difficult to use, understand and apply those mudras. There are also a few Yantras.So the book is to recommend to everyone, who practices any form of Shaiva sadhana, independent of the philosophy. Pujas are not explained in this book, rather one gets the mantras for it. But one can use the mantras without pujas, as well.

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By Gauri-Pahari Das “Pahari” 

This book is wonderful! I have always gotten Bengali-only translations and FINALLY a very nice seller sold me this one…where I can understand everything.The Sanskrit, then transliteration then english translation. I will not be trying any of these mantras or mudras without the help of my Guru, but it a lovely book and treasure to behold, I am so excited! Thank you !
JAI JAI SHIVA!

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By Swami Shuddhatmananda,
BadrinathShiva Puja is a treasure chest! It makes available a wealth of spiritual knowledge about worship and sacrifice, with the original mantras, yantras, pictures and directions. Jai Swamiji! Another major contribution!