[Advaita-l] Guru for Devi Puja

[Venkata sriram P]

I  would like to resolve certain issues here:
 
First is praNava adhikAra :
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namOntaM shivamantraM vA vaiSNavaM vESyatE budhaiH
yadvA samabhyasEt shUdrOtvArSakaM vidhipUrvakaM
 
ie., 
 
shudrAs can take up shiva panchakshari / vishnu mantra sans praNava 
by suffixing the pada *namaH* ie., shivAya namaH or viSNavE namaH.  
This can be suffixed with tAntrika praNava ie., *auM*. 
 
Siva tattva sudha nidhi:

praNavEna vinA mantrah sOyam panchAkSharaih smritah
strIbhi ShUdraischa samkIrNE namOntO japya eva cha //

brahmOttara khanDa:

kim tasya bahubhirmantraih kim tIrthaih kim tapOdhvaraih
yasya om namah sivAyEti mantrO hridaya gOcharah
mantrAdhi rAjarAjO yasya sarva vEdAntasEkharah
sarvajnAna nidhAnamcha sO(a)yam saivaShaDakSharah
praNavEna vinAmantrah sO(a)yam panchAkSharah smritah
strIbhih shUdraischa samkIrnaiah dhyAyatE muktikAmkShibh //

>From the above sastra vAkya, it is evident that traivarnikas should 
be initiated in Saiva Shadakshari ie., (om namah sivAya) and 
anadhikaris of veda should be initiated in Siva Panchakshari ie., (namah sivAya). The praNava japa adhikara comes only to veda adhikaris ie., the dvijas who are upavItAs and anupavItAs should chant praNava-rahita panchAkShari.

Further in the Chandrajnana Tantra which details about the Siva Panchakshari Japa Rahasya and Puja says:

sUkShmam mUlam bhavEsya sthUlam vivaraNam matam
tArEdhikArayuktastu tArayuktam manum japEt
japan anadhikArItu tAram gacchEt adhOgatim
tArENa tulya sArOpi sO(a)yam panchAkSharO manuh
shAsanAddEvadEvasya lOkAnugrahakAmkShiN ah

This Saiva Tantra says that there are 2 panchaKsharIs ie., sthula panchakshari & Sukshma panchakshari. 

Sukshma Panchakshari is praNava (om) as it has 5 aspects ie., 
A,U,M,Nada, Kala. Sthula Panchakshari also has 5 aspects ie., 
NA, MA, SI, VA, YA. Adhikaris of Pranava should chant panchakshari
with praNava and anadhikaris should chant praNava-rahita panchakshari.

Further the Saiva Tantra says that if the guru initiates this great mantra without considering the adhikara bheda, commits dosha (sin). This sin is applicable to both guru & sishya. 

Further, Tantra Sastra says that there are two praNavAs ie., vaidika praNava and tAntrika praNava. The Vaidika Pranava is "OM" whereas tantrika pranava is "AUM" (pronounced as OWM as one pronounces the word OWL). This is called "prAsAda bija". The tantrika Bija "hrim" is also called tantrika pranava or sakta pranava. 

So, non-dwijas (stris and shudras) who are non entitled to study veda, when initiated in Siva Panchaksari are either initiated in : SIVAYA NAMAH or  AUM SIVAYA NAMAH or HRIM SIVAYA NAMAH

Second is upachArAs to dEvi:
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Non-initiates in navArNa mUla mantra can chant the entire Devi Mahatmyam of 700 slokas 
WITHOUT shaD-angAs viz., kavcha, argaLa, kIlaka – rahasya traya.  
 
However, if time is the constraint, then slokas from 1st chapter, 4th chapter, 5th chapter & 11th chapter can be chanted which form the core of sapthasathi text.
 
Later on, the shoDashOpachAra pUja can be performed with the following mantras:
 
hrIM namaH chanDikAyai  ; or 
sarva mangaLa mAngaLyE shivE………nArAyaNi namOstu tE
 
 
paurANika pUja paddhati is for strIs and shUdrAs only which can be taken up 
without any inhibitons.  
 
Durga Stuti done by Yudhistir in MahabhArata can be chanted which is an equally potent Mantra on par with chaNDi pAth. Durga ChandrakaLA stuti of Appayya Dikshitar can be performed is also a potent mantra. 
 
That said, if a person really longs for diksha, She Herself would come in dreams and impart the initiation as She is extolled as *guru-maNDala rUpiNi*, *guru-mUrti* *dakSiNAmurti-rUpiNi* in lalitA sahasranAma.   This is my personal experience.
 
But first and foremost in devi worship is to respect one’s wife, mother and other women around you as the reflections of divine mother.  Then the gates of srIvidya would be opened.   The success mantra in devi worship is WOMEN SHOULD BE RESPECTED AND WORSHIPPED. 
 
regs,
sriram