Devi Mandir

Temple of Divine Mother

Story of Harischandra

~~OM~~

Harischandra was cursed by Vishwamitra. And Harischandra promised to deliver his son to Varuna, and he didn’t do it. And he was cursed, and he became so pained by the curse that he called all the Gurus and said, “Show me a way out. What shall I do?”

And the Gurus said, “There are five types of children. There is one begotten by the mother and father. There’s an adopted son. There’s one who is won as the spoils of war. There’s one who is attained through initiation, who becomes a child of the Guru, a member of the Guru’s family. And there is one who is bought and paid for, and sold by his parents. There are five kinds of children. So therefore king, you’ve got to sacrifice your son, go out in the kingdom and buy a son.”

The king said, “Excellent idea. Captain of the guard, go out in the kingdom and announce to anyone who is in dire straits if they want to sell their child, the king is purchasing. Name your price, I just can’t stand this pain any longer.” Now there was a poor brahmin named Ajigartha. And Ajigartha had three sons. And he said, “This poverty is so debilitating. I can’t feed my children. Better for me to sell one of the sons so that I can feed the other two. I take your offer.”

And then Ajigartha thought. He thought, “My oldest son is responsible to perform my funeral ceremony when I leave this earthly plane. So I can’t sell him. My youngest son is so innocent, I can’t sell him. So, I’m selling the middle son (whose name was Sunahshepa).”

Now the time for the sacrifice came. All the brahmins, all the Rishis, all the Gurus were sitting in the assembly and they bound Sunahshepa to the sacrificial pillar. And the executioner raised his sword above, and the child was calling so piteously. He said, “Please don’t slay me. I’m innocent, I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s the king’s duty to protect his citizens, I’m a citizen. Why would you slay an innocent citizen to protect your own self, for your own comfort? Is this the dharma of a king?”

The executioner said, “King, I’m putting down my sword, I can’t execute this child. It’s against my dharma as an executioner.” The brahmin father Ajigartha said, “King, double your payment and I’ll do it myself.” And all the Rishis, and all the brahmins, and all the Muni’s they said, “Booooooo!!!” And Ajigartha said, “It’s easy for you to condemn me, but nobody knows what the pains of poverty are really like.”

The father picked up the sword, the king agreed. The father raised the sword over the child and Vishwamitra stood up. Vishwamitra went over to Sunahshepa and he said, “I’m giving you initiation in the Bandhan Mukta Shukta, It’s in the first adhyaya of Rigveda. And this will free you from the bonds, it will liberate you from all bondage.”

Sunahshepa began to repeat after Vishwamitra, “Namo Mahabyo Namo Arbakebyyo . . .â€� I bow to the Seers of past, I bow to the Seers of the present, I bow to the Seers of the future, I bow to all the unknown Seers, I bow to all the Divine beings everywhere, release me from bondage. And with that Varuna appeared and said, “The debt is paid, release the child.”

And so Shunahshepa was freed. And Sunahshepa said to the assembly of Rishis, “Now that I am free, who is my father?” And some said, “Go home with Ajigartha, he bought you.” And some said, “No, the king paid for you, so go home with the king.” Then Vasishta stood up and said, “Go home with Vishwamitra, he is your true father, he gave you initiation in the mantra that freed you from all bondage.”

And that was the story of the Muktan Bandhan Shukta.

Story of Brahma and Ganga

~~OM~~ And there is a great story about that. And it just happened the other night, it was Kartik Purnima. And Kartik Purnima, there was a rasa leela, and Shiva and Parvati were dancing in Manipur. They had seen the dance of Radha and Krishna, and they were so enamored of Radha and Krishna’s dance […]

Shorter Version of Kali Puja

~~OM~~

Several devotees with busy schedules have asked for smaller pujas which they can perform on a daily basis, allowing for the performance of the entire Kali Puja book on weekends and holidays when they have more time. We recommend the following:

  • Invitation and Vow of worship: pp. 6-27
  • Purification of water and flowers: pp. 36-42
  • Establishment of the deity within: pp. 57-59
  • Offerings to the Goddess: pp. 72-82
  • Closing Prayers: pp. 227-233

This practice can be completed in approximately half an hour, and can accompany regular meditation practices.

Frage zu Devi Mandir

Der Devi Mandir ist ein Tempel, der das Zuhause für Shree Maa und Swamiji ist. Er ist ein Ashram, in dem sie ihr Sadhana praktizieren und ihr Dharma leben. Freundlicherweise lassen sie unter gewissen Umständen Besucher zu.

Shree Maa, the Goddess of Kamakhya

~~OM~~

Question: I’ve heard that Shree Maa is associated with Kamakhya, will Swamiji comment.

Swamiji: She is the Goddess of Kamakhya. She is more than associated with Kamakhya, She is the soul of Kamakhya. And I want to tell a personal story if you don’t mind.

One day Maa was walking towards the boats, we were going to visit Umananda. Umananda is an island in the middle of the Brahmaputra. And a number of devotees were walking across the sandy beach down to the boats, to take the boat ride to the island on which stands a beautiful temple to Shiva. And the Brahmaputra is a great river. And this temple is submerged about four months of the year underneath the water, and then the other eight months of the year the water drains out, and as it drains out, the island appears. It’s an amazing temple!

We were walking maybe a dozen or more devotees with Shree Maa across the sandy beach down to where the boats were docked, and when we got about half way across the beach all the boat men came running up across the sand and started bowing down to Maa in the sand. And they were calling, “Mago Mago ashun ashun!” And they were saying, “Mother, You please come!”

And She led us down to the boats, and there were a couple of passengers sitting in the boats waiting for the boats to fill up so that the boat could leave. And the boat men said, “Uto, Ut, Ut, Ut, Ut, Ut! (Get out of the boat, Get out of the boat!) Make this empty, Shree Maa has come!” So I was looking at this in astonishment, because you know to get a rickshaw or boat is really an attainment. And here they were clearing the boats, Shree Maa has come.

So we sat down in the boat and as the boat man was rowing us towards the island Umananda, I struck a conversation with him. And I was speaking Bengali, he was answering in Assamese, and I had a friend, Paithi, who was translating where I got stuck. And he told a story of a day when there was a great storm on the Brahmaputra river. And Shree Maa was on the boat, on the steamer that goes between Gauhati, up the Brahmaputra, and it goes to Jorhat and many other towns along the river because the easiest way of communication was along the river. They don’t have so many highways, so they take the steamer, that was an accomplishment.

And when the storm hit the steamer, all the passengers were terrified and started screaming because there were waves and rocking, and everyone was afraid that the boat was going to go down and probably take them with it! And Shree Maa sat at the bow of the ship and started singing. And first, everybody looked at Her like She was nuts! And then the wind calmed down and it stopped raining and everybody sat down in a circle around her.

And ever since then She was known as the Goddess of Kamakhya. She became Shree Maa of Kamakhya. They all revered her with such esteem. And this was told to me by a boat man that I had never met, and he had no need to impress me. We were going to pay the fare no matter what.

So, that’s Shree Maa’s relation with Kamakhya. She did tapasya there. She spent many years on the mountain.

Kamakhya is a mountain on the edge of Gauhati city, and on the other side is the Brahmaputra river. There’s the temple of Kamakhya, and then there are several tirthas, other temples for other Goddesses. Just like Vaishno Devi is to North India, just like Meenakshi Devi is to South India, Kamakhya is to East India. It’s the most prominent Goddess temple in the region. And Shree Maa did tapasya there for many years, She’s very well known and very highly regarded.

So, that’s Her relationship with Kamakhya. Om Sam Saraswatyai Namaha. Namaste.

Sri Ramakrishna Arati

~~OM~~

Ramakrishna Sharanam, Ramakrishna Sharanam, Ramakrishna Sharanam, Sharanyae

Ramakrishna Sharanam, Ramakrishna Sharanam, Ramakrishna Sharanam, Sharanyae

Guru Sharanagathaham, Sharanagathaham, Sharanagathaham, Sharanagathaham, Sharanagathaham, Sharanyae

Ramakrishna Sharanam, Ramakrishna Sharanam, Ramakrishna Sharanam, Sharanyae

Ramakrishna Sharanam, Ramakrishna Sharanam, Ramakrishna Sharanam, Sharanyae

Guru Kripa Hi Kevalam, Kripa Hi Kevalam, Kripa Hi Kevalam,Kripa Hi Kevalam, Kripa Hi Kevalam, Sharanyae

Ramakrishna Sharanam, Ramakrishna Sharanam, Ramakrishna Sharanam, Sharanyae

Ramakrishna Sharanam, Ramakrishna Sharanam, Ramakrishna Sharanam, Sharanyae

Jai Jai Ramakrishna, Jai Jai Ramakrishna, Jai Jai Ramakrishna, Jai Jai Maa

Jai Jai Ramakrishna, Jai Jai Ramakrishna, Jai Jai Ramakrishna, Jai Jai Maa

Story of Ghantakarna

~~OM~~ And I’d like to tell a story about Ghantakarna. This is a little bit different in illustration, but Ghantakarna loved Vishnu, and he always wanted to worship Vishnu. Vishnu came to him and said, “You know Shiva is my other form, so you can’t really please me without pleasing Shiva. So do Shiva’s puja […]

Shankachuda and Tulsi

~~OM~~ Here is a story about the demon king, Shankachuda, and Tulsi. Shankachuda was cursed in his previous life by Radha, to be reborn as an asura. Upon turning of age, he ventured to Pushkar. Here he would perform extreme purifying austerities, and eventually gain the favor of Brahma. Granting him the boon of invincibility, so […]