Daan: Its Significance & Types

In an article I shared some time ago, I talked about the power of daan. Today I will talk about the same in detail and how you can benefit from it.

The greatest dharma in various yugas was/is as follows:

Satyuga(also called as krit yuga) - Tapasya

Treta yuga - Gyaan i.e. wisdom (not the same as knowledge)

Dwapar yuga - Yagya

Kali yuga - Daan or Donation

In Kali-yuga, Daan is the most powerful and quickest in showing results. That is why one should donate every day. 

Kali-yuga is the yuga of karma. Anything did by you, positive or negative quickly shows its effects on your life in this age. Many say that there are people in powerful positions who are doing crimes or awful deeds yet nothing is happening to them. However, in reality, they definitely pay for their deeds very soon after doing it. But it won't necessarily be visible to the world. 

Whenever you will try to go away from a truthful and honest way of living - either by trying to cause loss to others or by sacrificing your own self - you will have pain. This is what bad karma really is. To do good karma is to say, do and think what is true & honest - nothing more than the truth, nothing less than the truth. If you say/do/think more than what things really are by exaggerating it - it will cause pain to others and in turn, you will feel the effects of this. If you compromise with the truth and say/do less than the truth - you will betray your own self and get hurt in life. Life is about balance. Anything in excess - including love, power, strength, money, food, medicine - are all bad. 

This way sadhaks, every person suffers from their karmas. It is my experience, that no matter how many angles the outside world may look at, it is always someone's wrong actions that lead him to pain. Wrong actions don't mean just criminal actions, but anything that is opposite to the laws of nature and wellbeing of the people influenced due to that action - and this includes you yourself. 

It is mentioned in purans that at any given moment, we are carrying sins of not just few births, but of billions and billions of Kalpa. One kalpa is equal to 4.32 billion years. So, how many years in crores of kalpas? And what would be total number of sins? Uncountable. Yet, there is one good aspect of sins. That the moment a person accepts his deeds, he is quickly forgiven. But, since the number of sins are practically uncountable, even if one simply goes on and on asking for forgiveness, his entire life will be not suffice.

By chanting mantras, you can speedily remove all your sins. Yet, they are still not that fast to burn sins of crores of kalpas and need decades of continuously chanting that one mantra alone. Havan is more powerful than japa, yet, doing havan with thousands of aahuti every day for even a few days is not feasible. Vrats are way more powerful than mantras for burning sins. Yet, even they require you to fast on every specified tithi for atleast one decade for complete freedom from sins.

However, daan is the most powerful out of them all. When you give away even simple things like just 1kg of rice or other similar grains, you burn every single sin of dozens to hundreds of births instantly. Those who donate with belief in the power of God, will physically experience like a weight has been lifted off your head, and instantly feel relaxed.

Donation doesn't just burn sins, it increases punya, increases sukh, makes you attractive, creates saubhagya, gives courage and victory. That is why sadhaks, do daan. Donate as much as you can. 

Shastras have mentioned various daan according to a person's wishes. Whatever you want, you should donate it first, then it will come to you. This is the rule. For wishes where donating something first is not possible, shastras have mentioned what should be donated instead. Today I will be mentioning them all. Only certain things can be donated for burning sins. All others are for specific wish fulfilment. Sadhaks, whatever we donate in this life is what we receive when we die. I won't mention this benefit in the paragraphs ahead and should be understood for each item. Also, burning sins doesn't automatically increase your punya. So you should be specific about what you want.

1. Grains & Water - The most powerful daan among all is the daan of grains and water. Grains should always be donated with water. Donating grains and water removes our sins of hundreds of births, increases punya, gives strength and radiance, gives saubhagya and fulfils all material wishes.

2. Salt - Donating salt increases appetite and gives good health. When a person on death bed is not dying and unnecessarily suffering, then salt should be donated for him. That will give him swarga or moksha very soon.

3. Jaggery - Donating jaggery gives vigour and sweet foods in life.

4. Ghee - Donating ghee gives physical strength, improves the wellbeing of your entire kul and gives sadgati to pitrus.

5. Black sesame - Donating black sesame gives strength and removes the fear of death. It burns the sins of thousands of births. It pleases all the navagrahas and brings their blessings.

6. Money - Donating money will attract more money. 

7. Clothes - Donating clothes give beauty and saubhagya.

8. Bells - Donating bells remove laziness, dumbness and build intelligence, sharpness and understanding.

9. Khadga - Donating the weapon khadga gives victory and success. Especially, it brings the blessings of Rahu.

10. Books - Donating religious books increase punya, gyaan and devbhakti. Donating educational books increase punya, knowledge, fame, patience and remove addictions.

11. Gold - Donating gold increases Shri & aishwarya.

12. Silver - Donating silver gives beauty and increases sperm count.

13. Rudraksha - By donating Ekadash mukhi Rudraksha to the right person, he/she for sure achieves moksha after death.

14. Bed - Donating bed gives love/marriage. 

15. Medicines - Donating medicines gives good health and ensures that your family will never face any big health issue.

16. Kanya daan - Kanya daan is done only during marriages. Kanya daan burns away sins of crores and crores of births and gives great punya. Now, shastras say that one should not do kanya daan again. But, in case the husband dies or they both divorce, then kanya daan should be done again. Shastras say kanya daan shouldn't be done at many people i.e. she shouldn't be marrying multiple men at the same time. But it doesn't mean she can't marry again if the ex-husband dies or gets divorced.

 17. Bhumi - Donating land has the power to burn sins of crores of kalpas. In that, if a person donates a fertile land then even better. The person who donates land to the needy will never go to narak. But a barren land should never be donated.

18. Cow - Donating cow is one the only daan which has the power to wipe out almost all your sins of crores and crores of kalpas. The moment of donating a cow should be considered as a moment of reincarnation of the sadhak. The person who donates a cow wipes out all his sins, gets the punya of feeding thousands of brahmins. After death he surely goes to swarga or gets moksha. Also, after death, the cow donated by him comes as a vehicle for crossing the vaitarini nadi, and instead of taking him to narak the cow takes him to vaikunth.

In this, if the sadhak donates a cow with his calf, then its punya is infinite. It will same as doing pran pratishtha of hundreds of shivling, donating hundreds of acres of land, feeding millions of brahmins and donating lacs of kanya daan. The person who has donated a cow with a calf has truly freed himself all the chains and shall live happily thereafter.

19. Diya - One of the easiest things to donate are diyas. Deep daan cures diseases, increases eyesight and radiance, attracts Lakshmi maa, and gives victory over enemies. Use ghee when you want to attract wealth. Use sesame oil when you want to cure diseases, increase eyesight & radiance, getting victory over enemies.

Other than this, whatever you want, you should donate it and it will come to you. Do this and you will see the magic happening. But don't doing by being attached to the outcome. Donate it with gratitude. Thank god that even though your condition is bad, it is not bad as the person you are donating it to. And donate so that the needy person gets support. By doing this, God will support you. Sadhaks, I have seen huge miracles through donations. Things that could take months to happen, happened in just a few weeks when people started donating.

The benefits I mentioned above are the list of benefits. Donating, say foodgrains, is not going to automatically give you all of the listed benefits. Depending upon your wish, you should take the sankalp and do a donation for that specific wish/es.

Why the mantras or stotras are not showing you results

One of the biggest dilemmas new sadhaks have is, how to get results from mantras or stotras. 

Today, I will mention all the possible reasons that stop people from getting results from mantras and what to do instead. 

1. Diksha & Mantra Siddhi/Asiddhi - The first, biggest, and foremost reason why the mantra is not showing results is diksha. If you do not have diksha of the mantra, it will not give you results no matter how much you try. 

There is no reason in the world that will ever allow you to chant mantras without diksha - no matter what kind of difficulty you think you are in. For stotras, if they are common, like Hanuman Chalisa, Gajendra Moksha, Mahalakshmi Ashtak, Shiva Mahimna Stotra, Rudra Ashtak, etc. you can chant them without diksha. But you cannot chant advanced stotras; or stotras of advanced gods like Tara, Dhumavati, Kali, Bhairav,Kamala, Lalita,etc. without diksha. 

First-time sadhaks should start with stotras of easy-to-please gods first, such as Hanuman Chalisa, Lakshmi Ashtak, Saraswati Ashtak, Shiva Panchakshar Stotra, etc. Then, you will start getting mantras or stotras in dreams, or, you will find a guru. 

When you enter the sadhana world for the first time, you should chant the stotra of the god towards whom you feel the most inclination. If you don't feel inclined towards any god, look at the lord of your 9th house and worship the lord of the house, its adhi devta, or its pratyadhi devta. Then, you should choose any easy stotra of that god and chant it for the next 6,12, or 24 months as per your wish. In the initial days, you should only chant the stotra 9,11,12,21 times per day. You can increase the chant after a few months. Now, diksha is of 2 types - one given by a guru and one gotten in dreams. 

Diksha gotten in dreams - It can be chanted whenever you want. For them, you don't even have to look at shad-chakra or the 6 chakras to check the siddhi/asiddhi of the mantra. 

Diksha from guru - Normally it doesn't happen, but if your guru accidentally gives diksha of an ari-mantra or adev-mantra i.e. mantra that is not favorable or of someone who's not god, you can do visarjan of the mantra. You can do so by energizing a lota full of water mixed with yellow chandan and rice, energizing it with the ari mantra 108 times, and then pouring the water in a river or at a tree. 

Om, Shreem & Other Beej mantras, Gayatri Mantra - These mantras cannot be chanted by women and shudras. Women cannot chant Shreem because beej and Gayatri mantras because both of these mantras enhance the energy of that god within us. They are chanted by humans to attract the god or goddess' energy within them whereas women already have goddess lakshmi/gayatri residing within them. Chanting shreem will be like worshipping yourself. Om is not allowed for women because stri dharma is living the worldly life with their husband, whereas Om mantra creates vairagya and makes you detached. That is why, women as well as men who follow grihast dharma, cannot chant Om. You can still perform prayogs related to it, but you can't do purascharan of it. 

The reason why these 3 mantras cannot be chanted by shudras is that these mantras require lot of purity, cleanliness and discipline. In the older yugas, when people followed their own varna, the work of shudras included cleaning houses, washing dirty clothes, carrying people in paalkhi,etc. They also used to work as servants of kings and queens. All of this meant that they couldn't maintain the cleanliness, hygiene, and discipline necessary for these mantras. In today's yuga, shudra includes anybody who does cleanliness related work. If you are one of those, and if you can follow strict cleanliness, do trikaal sandhya, etc. you can still chant these mantras. 

Except when doing a certain prayog, Om shouldn't be chanted by any man or woman living a worldly life.

2. Lack of devotion and belief in oneself - The 2nd most important thing is faith in god. Many people, even after having a mantra in front of their eyes, doubt it. They look for other mantras for the same purpose and then sit and wonder about which mantra to chant. They make a feature list that how many wishes each of these mantras can fulfill, and try to find which one is the most powerful. 

Even though, it is normal for a person to look for mantras for a particular wish, comparing different mantras is wrong. Out of the 2,3 or 5 mantras in front of you, always choose the mantra of god you have the most belief or devotion in. Don't choose a mantra just because it sounds more powerful. 

Sometimes, people are confused between different mantras of the same god. In both the above-mentioned situations, the problem is that you have faith neither in yourself nor in god. You don't find yourself worthy of getting the results or blessings and that is why believe that a mantra will compel God to give you results. There is no devotion here. You're also more focused on results than devotion. 

It also means that instead of being concerned about your actions, you're being concerned about the result of your actions. You are in essence trying to control the direction of your life without having to do the work that will be required to give the right direction to your life. You are also trying to control the effect of the mantra, instead of letting God give the direction he wants to give to your life. In your head, the thoughts of fructification of the mantra are going on, not all-around growth in life. Your sadhana days are filled with anxiousness and constant worry that when will the mantra show results. 

If you want to get more customers, you're not thinking about how you can give the best quality product or service, but more concerned about how much money they'll give you. And laws of karma don't work that way. In order to get something, we must first give. 

Sadhaks, even a simple god can give you lacs of money if you are fair in your duty. This is because mantras only create opportunities. No god will ever come directly in front of you and rain 2000 rupee notes. They will only create yog for you to make that much money. This law applies to everything that is related to the material world - like love, getting a good house, etc. God will only create yog. To seize and sustain them will be dependent on your karmas. 

Devotion means to surrender to him and believing in his power. When you are devoted, you won't feel the need to even look for mantras to become rich like kuber and powerful like Hanuman. Simple, easy-working mantras like Gayatri will be enough for you. Getting blessings of god is of central importance during sadhana days, not the fructification of the wish. When the sun sets, the moon automatically rises. Nobody has to work to make the moon rise every day. Fulfillment of the wish is the byproduct of pleasing god and focus on work in the real world. 

Keep in mind that God listens to his devotees first, not to the person who is chanting the most powerful mantra.  

But what if you are a new sadhak and can't decide which mantra to chant or which god to worship? Or what if your devotion isn't deep-rooted? Here too sadhaks, faith in the power of god is important. Any god, no matter how small you may consider him, is far more powerful, far more capable than any human being or problem in your life. 

Once you properly understand and accept this, focus on any one mantra or stotra that you find easy to chant or if popular for that god. Don't search for multiple mantras and sit to compare. Blessings of God are important. Not mantras. 

Those who are stuck in the cycle of comparing multiple mantras and are not able to chant any mantra with stability for even 30 days, could try this solution: 

• First, stop all mantra chanting for at least 21 days. During these days, only light diya and agarbatti at home. Every day, attend aarti of a local temple which has many gods. If you are going through some problem, do daan. But avoid any kind of mantra/stotra paath or vrat. After aarti, bow in front of every god and accept every god's blessings. 
  
  
• During these days, read about the life stories of the gods. How were they born, what did they do, etc. Then, choose any 2-3 gods whose story inspires you the most and towards whom you feel the most inclination. 
  
  
• Then, read about the significance of worshipping each of those gods. Out of them all, choose any one god you feel the most inclination towards. Choose the one you feel emotionally connected to and not the one you think is the more powerful one.
  
  
• Choose any popular stotra of that god and recite it every day 5-11 times every day for at least 40 days. During these days, visit the temple every day and pray to god daily. Chant only one stotra and don't search for other gods or other mantras. This will remove the downward cycle of constantly comparing one god/mantra with another.
  
  

3. Dharma - The next important rule is following dharma. Now, shastras have mentioned different punishments for different sins. But it is not possible to track every action in the outside world. The only thing we can control in this Kaliyuga is our mind. 

That is why, the best way to be nishpaap or do the least number of sins is by following 5 yam & 5 niyam. 

The 5 yamas: 

• Non-violence - Unnecessary violence, violence to show your power,etc. should be stopped. But non-violence doesn't mean to not stand up for yourself. 
  
  
• Honesty and truthfulness - Honesty means to live an honest life, to live in accordance with the laws of nature. Don't think that you have some special ability to bend the laws of karma to your own accord. Be honest with yourself, be honest for yourself, be honest in your work and duty, be honest in love and with friends, and be honest even when nobody is watching. Give up the illogical belief shared by the previous generations that honesty will destroy you.
  
  The entire world, irrespective of religion, works on laws of karma. What you give out into the world, you will get it back. Like attracts like. If you start deceiving and manipulating people or even just think of manipulating people who are honest with you, within 2-3 months your life will be flipped and you will be surrounded by people who are just like you - dishonest and manipulative. Laws of Karma don't allow a person's bad actions to affect an honest person. If you are dishonest, god will bring you to people who are like you so that you both cancel out each other's bad karmas. But, there will be no peace of mind with these kinds of people. Truthfulness means to say the truth in every situation. But truthfulness can only be practiced by those who are living an honest life.
  
  
• No stealing - materially or mentally - Don't steal or think of stealing something that is not yours. 
  
  
• Brahmacharya - Following celibacy doesn't mean life-long celibacy. If celibacy was this important, God wouldn't have allowed grihastha dharma. But what it means is giving up on the habit of too much sex and uncontrolled sex. Celibacy will radically transform your health, intelligence, and strength. It revitalizes the aging organs; removes laziness, fear and gives intelligence, youthfulness, and courage.
  
  
• Non-greed - Not having greed for money doesn't mean you shouldn't work to become rich, wealthy, or abundant. That is stupidity. But it means that you shouldn't hoard it or think that I will have all the money in the world and not let single rupee go out of my pocket. The money that has come from somewhere will go somewhere - this is the nature of money. You can't change it. 
  
  

5 Niyam:

• Cleanliness - Live clean physically and mentally. In Hinduism, sins done even in dreams are recorded by god. The reason is that our dreams are a representation of the thoughts in our subconscious mind. Even thoughts manifest in our life. If you think that you'll do so-and-so bad towards someone, the results of the wrong actions will manifest as if you had actually done those wrong actions. Physical cleanliness is also important. Lack of cleanliness creates lethargy, negative thoughts, and increases anger, lust, ego, etc. 
• Santosh or Contentment - Don't build expectations. Expectations and attachment to outcome is the root of all suffering. When have attachment and expect people and events to behave or turn out a certain way, your whole life will fill with anguish, frustration, sorrow, anger, and sleepless nights. 
• Tapa - Do penance - in work and in the spiritual world. Tapa is what will break the downward spiral, or stagnation in your life. Simply reacting to what is happening in life and implementing a temporary solution may remove the problem, but it will not stop the stagnation. To grow means to flourish completely and in a way that the old problems don't come back. For this, you need to do tapa. Sacrifice is necessary in the sadhana world and for growth in life. That is why, you have to sacrifice everything that is acting as an obstacle to your growth, including bad habits, impulsive behaviors, constantly complaining people, jealous people, laziness, etc. 
  
  
• Study - Study good literature - spiritual as well as worldly. So that you become an overall good and skilled person for sadhana world as well as the material world. This will help you realize your values, morals, and give direction to your life purpose.
  
  
• Ishwar Pranidhan - Surrender to the will of God. Accept the obstacles and difficulties as opportunities to learn. Accept that certain things had to happen the way it happened - so that you could learn from the pain. Don't be stubborn, that things should happen only in so-and-so way. Pray to God and let God lead you.
  
  

In my experience, all the sins, sorrow, difficulties, depression, poverty, diseases in the world come from not following these 5 yamas & niyams. Following them brings health, peace, abundance, prosperity, courage, and success in all tasks. 

4. Aasan - The next important thing is aasan. You can sit on either kush aasan or red velvet aasan. They are accepted by every god. However, when you do purascharan sadhanas, you should aasan of the color loved by the god. Like yellow for Narayan and Lakshmi, white for Shiva, etc. If you are a sadhak, you should do siddhi over your aasan so that you can sit for a long time. Click here to see the aasan siddhi sadhana vidhi. 

Yoga asana - You can sit in sukhasan, siddhasana or padmasan. If you are a beginner, start with sukhasana, then go for siddhasana and later padmasana. Padmasan is an advanced aasan so do not attempt it forcefully if you're unable to sit that way. Practice it first. 

5. Mudra - The next important thing is keeping mudras. For each god, there are certain mudras. Click here to download a book which has mudras of all the gods. 

6. Dhyaan - Dhyaan means to meditate on a certain form of god. Along with mudra, Dhyaan has a lot of importance for getting results from mantras. Without mudra, you will not be successful in dhyaan. Dhyaan portrays a certain form of god depending on the wish that you have. If you wish for money or anything materialistic, you'd meditate on a form of god that is calm. If your wish is the destruction of enemies, you'd meditate an angry form of god. Certain people have the habit of meditating on angry forms of god when their wish is not of that kind. It is wrong and the mantra will not show results. We must only meditate on the form of god that is specified for the mantra or stotra. If you are chanting a common stotra which doesn't have dhyaan, meditate on the most popular form of that god. 

7. Discipline - the next thing important is discipline in chanting all day every day. It means that when you have decided to chant at 7 pm, then chant at the same time every day. Decide a time when you are sure you'll be free and then chant at that time every day. A difference of ±20 minutes is okay, but not more than that. This discipline also applies to other things like aasan, diya, etc. If you were sitting on kush aasan on the first day, use it for all days. Dont use kushaasan on one day and red aasan on the other. Similarly, if you're using oil diya, use oil diya on all the days. Maintain consistency in your method of prayer. It also means to remain stable during japa. Many people complain that they are not able to sit longer than so-and-so minutes. The solution to it is that unless you sit for longer times, you will not be able to sit for longer times. The only reason you feel uncomfortable sitting for longer times is that you don't have the habit of it. When you start feeling uncomfortable, pause the japa and keep the mala aside for a few minutes. Next, keep your palms on your knees and sit with closed eyes. Observe your breath and the sounds around you. Without trying too hard, take deep breaths. Do this for 5-10 minutes and you will feel at ease again. 

8. Energised Yantra or Idol - Idol or yantra is important if you want to get results from your mantras/stotras. For the gods, the idol is significant. For the goddesses, yantra is significant. Still, yantra is supreme for both of them. Also, do not worship both the yantra and idol of a god simultaneously. Worship either one of them. 

9. Panchopchar Puja - The next and one of the most important things is panchopchar puja. For every god that you worship, there has to be some form of bhautik puja. Now some believe that Shiva, Surya, and certain other gods don't need puja. It may be true that they may not need panchopchar puja, yet you are worshipping them in some or the other material way. For Shiva, we do abhishek with water. For Surya, we give arghya. For Hanuman, we give chola. This way, for every god, some or the other material form of puja exists. Unless you are doing sadhanas for getting moksha, bhautik puja is necessary for all gods. For material desires, a panchopchar puja is compulsory. It is not to say that God won't bless if you don't do panchopchar puja, but the results will come after a very long time. 

10. Absence of distraction - After puja, lack of distraction is an important factor that affects the results from mantras. During japa, keep the phone away. Don't browse social media and chant mantras on the other side. Don't sit in a room where there is a lot of noise. If you have the habit of browsing the phone during japa, the best way is to keep the phone far away from reach before you start the japa. This way you won't feel the urge to get your phone when the japa starts. Also, try to do japa with closed eyes. Closed eyes bring far better results and spiritual experiences. 

11. Delayed results - Unless and until you have been a devotee of a god for many years, a mantra/stotra can't show you instant results. That is why patience is very necessary. When we chant the mantra of a god whom we've been worshipping for a long time, their mantras will show results when you reach 50% of the sadhana days. The reason is that each day's chant creates energy. When enough amount of energy is built, that is when it can act against all the negative vibrations within and around us. When you are worshipping a god for the first time, it takes at least 21-30 days to see results. It takes time for a new god's energy to grow within you. 

12. Aarti & Pradakshina - Attending aarti, listening to the sounds of ghanta, doing pradakshina of the god you're worshipping - all these have a lot of power. They burn your sins, clean your heart, and bring you to true devotion. 

13. Daan - The last and the most powerful thing is daan. Donation of any kind accrues an unbelievable amount of punya in Kali-yuga. Daan brings instant, leapfrog changes in life. 

14. Worship of the 9th lord - Worshipping the 9th house lord or the planets sitting in your 9th house helps you get quick and uplifting changes in your life. His worship will guide you towards true bhakti, increase your luck, and make your life auspicious. 

Jay Shri Rama

How to know if you will get the lost thing back according to jyotish

Many times, we lose a mobile phone, electronics, gold, etc. We try a lot but we do not find it.

Although there are mantras that can bring lost items back, it is usually only when there is a yog for it.

If something is written to be lost, it may not come back unless you have great blessings and the support of god.

Today, I will share about the result of losing something in various nakshatras. 

I believe in the power of god over our difficulties. Yet, I have observed that the result of losing things in these respective nakshatras to be true.

Dhanishta, Pushya, Rohini, Purva Ashaadhaa, Vishaakhaa, Uttara Falguni, Revati - The items lost in these nakshatras are found quickly if you take the effort.

Hasta, Uttaraa Ashaadhaa, Anuradha, Shatbhisha, Ashlesha, Ashwini, Mrugashira - The things lost in this nakshatra are found but need lot of effort.

Aaardra, Maghaa, Purva Bhadrapada, Chitra, Jyeshthaa, Abhijit(consider Abhijit Muhurat), Bharani - You will get news or information about the things that are lost in this nakshatra. But you will not get them back.

Swati, Shravan, Kruttika, Uttara Bhadrapada, Moola, Purva Falguni - The items lost in this nakshatra are never gotten back.

These rules also apply to people if someone is lost, or if you are separated from someone.

Note: You should predict from the time of loss, not from the time of realisation.

For eg. if you are travelling by bus, and at night while you're sleeping, someone steals your phone and you don't realise this the whole night but next day in the morning, then you should consider the time of loss i.e. night.

The time period of one nakshatra is long enough for the realisation to happen within the same nakshatra. But, say, if it happens on the setting of one nakshatra and rise of another, it may be difficult to predict unless you know the exact time. There is no solution for this. One can only pray to god to find the lost item or person back.

Sadhaks, in my observation, the effects of losing something in these nakshatras has been absolutely true; and unless you have done special mantra prayog for it, the items or people lost in these nakshatras are never found again or have been very difficult to find.

Rare Rahu 8 names stotra for Rahu Dosha

Today, I will share a rare 8 name stotra of Rahu, chanting which one can get freed from Rahu's malefic effects.

There is no vidhi for this. Chanting it at least 12 times daily at midnight or early morning time.

राहुनामान्यो अथ वक्ष्ये राहु प्रीतिकराणि च   ।

पीयुषपायी मस्ताख्यो राहुर्भिन्नगतिस्तमः ।

उपरागग्रहः पुण्यचरित्रः पुष्पवद्मयः ॥

राहु नामाष्टकमिदं राहुप्रीतिकरं परम् ।

यः पठेत्छृणुयाद्वापि राहु दोषैर्न सो अन्वितः ॥

Rules for chanting Rahu & Ketu mantras or stotras:

1. Worship Rahu and Ketu between 11pm to 6am.

2. Use blue or black colored items in puja such as, blue chandan, blue flowers, blue or black aasan,etc.

3. Many images show Rahu as having a body and Ketu as having a lower body of fish, which is not correct. Rahu only has a head and no body. Ketu has a big head of a snake and lower body just like a normal human being. Rahu sits on a blue lion while ketu sits on a pigeon or fish.

Myths and Facts about Grahas and Jyotish

There are a lot of myths surrounding Jyotish and grahas.

Today I will clarify them all.

As we all know, multiple astrologers tell multiple things about the effect of planets, bhavas, aspects, nakshatras,Kundli Milan, etc. But only few turn out to be true. Or, the predictions by astrologers for some people turn true and false for some. 

I will bust these myths and share some important and lesser-known facts about jyotish and planets.

1. Only some kootas necessary for some: When we do kundli milan, it is said that certain koota are not necessary for some varnas, like nadi koota is not necessary for kshatriya varna. However, this rule is not applicable in today's yuga. The koota/guna affect various parts of our lives. However, in today's yuga, all varnas are mixed up and everyone does everything. That is why all kootas are compulsory for guna Milan as the effects of these gunas will be surely be seen at some stage in the couple's lives.

2. Lal Kitab and KP astrology predictions: Lal kitab and KP astrology are very unreliable and most of the time their predictions don't have any reason or logic. Lal Kitab in general is meaningless and only a select few totkas of it work. Similarly, I have found KP astrology's predictions to miles away from the reality.

3. Planetary effects according to bhava: Another myth is that grahas show effect based on bhavas. Even though it is true that certain planets, when in favourable houses show good effects, but they effects are based more according to nakshatras than according to bhavas. For example, Shukra in Mesh is considered good but it in fact shows bad results. The 1st nakshatra in mesh is Ashwini nakshatra which is of ketu, and thus causes quarrels. Then, it shows good results when it moves through bharani. Then again when it moves through Krittika, the nakshatra of Sun, it causes quarrels as sun causes separation. It doesn't matter which bhava mesh may fall in for your zodiac sign, the effects will be similar. Planets show result according to nakshatras in lagna kundli as well during transit.

4. Planet & Bhava tattvas: Just like nakshatras, tattvas have a lot of importance. Tattvas of the rashi,nakshatra and planets in combination affect our mind and material life. I've observed that usually when a jal tatva planet like Shukra or Chandra enter an agni tattva sign, it makes the mind unstable and causes anger, lust,greed and such negative thoughts. During such a transit, the sadhak suffers lot of internal pain or negativity but the same wont appear on his face or demeanor.

When an agni tatva planet enters a water tattva sign, it causes pain in physical world. For eg, loss in business, fights, separation with family, wife, girlfriend/boyfriend, etc. The pain becomes visible in your demeanor and usually, such transits cause short or long term depressions. If you or someone is going through depression, it is highly likely that it is because of these transits.

Also, In reality, the house number's significance is only 10%. The power all good or bad effects depends upon - 1) the house lord's friendliness with the planet that is transiting or placed so in lagna kundli, 2) The nakshatra the planet is in, 3) The tatva of the planet vs the tatva of the sign.

That is the reason why, mercury shows good result in 8th house for mesh rashi because it is a jal tatva sign wherein prithvi tatva mercury is sitting.

Thus, the planetary friendship and bhava tatva will decide the nature of the effect if it will be 'good' or 'bad'. In this bhava tatva will win over graha maitri, and tatva will be most important.

The house number will tell the area in which the good or bad effect will be.

However, this rule of bhava having only 10% importance is not applicable for Chandra, Surya and Brihaspati. Irrespective of the nakshatra or the tatva of the bhavas, they will be highly malefic in 4th, 8th and 12th house in lagna/gochar. If the nakshatra or bhava tattvas are good, like for Vrishabh lagna, whose 12th bhava is mesh of agni tattva, the malefic effects will be less.

5. Predictions by astrologers: The predictions of astrologers should not be taken literally as they are generalized predictions. Nakshatra placement, tatva, friendship with lord of the house, bhava bal and graha bal have to be considered.

7. Ketu is terrible, merciless malefic: It can destroy life. It is as not as auspicious and people consider it to be. The remedy for Ketu is knowledge and learning. Whatever area Ketu is affecting, learn more about it, and become an expert or best in it. Ketu's bad results will stop.

8. Gemstones: Some believe that wearing stones of malefic planets will enhance the malefic effects. But that is not true. It is true that wearing the gemstone of malefic will enhance the malefic effects for some time, but after that, the positive effects will start showing up. This is part of spiritual things. That is why when someone chants a mantra for getting intelligence, in the initial days, he may feel a a lot of dumbness or negativity, but that is happening because all that was deep-rooted in him, and it is now coming out. But it will soon leave the body.

9. Chanting mantras of malefic planets: You can chant mantra of all planets whether malefic or not. It is a myth that you cannot worship when planets are in malefic bhavas as said by some astrologers.

10. Shani upasana: Lord Shani is a justice-loving god and his sadhana must be done carefully. Do not do tratak in his eyes and only worship if you can follow all the rules of his worship.

Some Facts about planets:

11. Moon: All planets get strength from the moon. If the moon is malefic, all will show malefic results.

12. Venus: Except venus, all planets in 12 are malefic. This is only true if the 12th bhava's tattva is compatible with Shukra, like water or prithvi tattva. 

13. All planets except Mercury and Venus are bad in 8th. This too is only true if the 8th bhava's tattva is compatible with Shukra or Budh, like water or prithvi tattva. 

14. Aadhi and pratyadhi devta of Shukra are Indra and Indrani respectively, not Lakshmi. But Lakshmi can be worshipped too.

15. A well-placed 9th lord is necessary for being a tapasvi sadhak.

16. Rahu creates illusion whereas Ketu removes everything that is not going to be permanent related to the bhava it is in. If Rahu is in 5th bhava, you will think that you have achieved a lot of knowledge in life, but in reality, you haven't.

17. Mangal in Brihaspati's house, conjunction or aspect doesn't cancel mangalik dosha. It enhances it - As compared to popular perception, Mangal and Brihaspati's aspect or conjunctions with each other aren't auspicious with regards to Manglik dosha.

18. Rahu's yuti and aspect on moon or lagna lord causes addiction.

19. Shani is a satvik deity. He is not tamsik.

20. Shadbala will control the rate of impact of planets. Weak planets and weak bhavas will show fewer effects. 

21. Shani and Ketu first take and then give. Rahu will give, but in the end, take all from you, unless you learn from your mistakes.

22. Rahu and Ketu are purely karmik planets. They have come here to give you fruits of your past life. 

23. Surya, Brihaspati, Chandra in 4th, and in 8th and 12th have come to cleanse sins of kalpas - whether during gochar or in lagna. No matter how many years of sadhana you may have done or how tapasvi you are, when these planets are in these bhavas, you will bear the fruits of your sins. Even if you may have removed crores of sins, you will still bear the effect of the 1 sin that is left. During this gochar, worship them religiously and do daan. From a normal person to a tapasvi sadhak or brahmin, these transits cause trouble and are fearful for all.

24. Ketu is a mass cleanser. Whichever bhava it will be in and whichever graha it will be with - it enhances their positive or negative effects. That is why, the recent gochar of Ketu when combined with guru the lord of dharma and shani the lord of justice, in the bhava of dharma i.e. dhanu; it is cleansing earth from millions of sinners and re-establishing dharma. When it will be with Brihaspati in 11th house, it will give great benefits when the person takes support of god in everything.

25. All planets only show positive results in 11th bhava is untrue. Nobody can prove it and I have never seen it be true for anyone. If it is, then it is due to the house' lord being a friend of the planets in that house.

26. Uccha & Neecha - When a planet is uccha, whether it has good or bad effects, they will be maximised. Similarly, when a planet is neecha, all good or bad effects will be nullified. A planet being uccha is good only if the planet is benefic, otherwise it is harmful. A neecha planet is a very good thing. Because, when a planet is neecha or asta either in transit or in lagna, it gives you an absolutely obstacle-free, free-hand on the houses that the planets owns or placed in. Then you can do whatever you want to achieve in those areas as the malefic kundli yogas of that planet's houses will not interfere. Then, those areas of life show instant effect. 

27. The following are the real adhi and pratyadhi devtas of each planet:

Surya - Adhi devta is Agni, Pratyadhi devta is Shiva.

Chandra - Gauri, Varuna.

Mangal - Skanda, Prithvi

Budh - Narayan, Vishnu

Brihaspati - Indra, Brahma

Shukra - Indra, Shachi/Indrani

Shani - Prajapati, Yama

Rahu - Pitru, Goddess Nirriti; or Brahma, Sarpa

Ketu - Brahma, Chitragupta; or Sarpa, Chitragupta

For Rahu & Ketu, vedas have different devtas than tantras. You can worship either and still get the same results.

The grahas works on the outside world to make things better. The Adhi devta represents the mental state on it. Whereas the pratyadhi devta represents and helps in - the growth in that area.

For Example, if your 7th lord is Venus, worship Lord Venus is you are going through some problems in love life and haven't been able to solve the problems even after trying multiple attempts to reconcile. Adhi devta is to be worshipped when you are filled with negativity and want to develop a love-filled thinking. Pratyadhi devta is to be worshipped to maintain love and happiness after being in a relationship or getting married.

Similarly, if your 6th house lord is Mercury, and if you are unable to have good health even after eating and living healthily, worship Budha. If have unhealthy eating habits and want to quit it all and live a fit life, worship Adhi devata Narayan. If you have diseases, worship Pratyadhi deva Vishnu.

The difference between Narayan and Vishnu is same as the difference between Shiva and Rudra.

Vishnu and Shiva stay above the cycle of birth and destruction of the world. Whereas Narayan and Rudra manage the maintenance and destruction of the world. But their names are used interchangeably.

Narayan has 4 hands but is standing, whereas Vishnu is sitting on sheshnaag in ksheersagar.

Now, its true that you can worship other gods instead of adhi and pratyadhi devta, but if the adhi and pratyadhi devtas are worshipped, you will see faster results.

28. Rahu & Ketu's aspects on each other: Another myth is that Rahu Ketu aspect each other. However, this is not possible as then, both the planets will constantly restrict each other's effects. It is not logical.

29. Rahu & Ketu's forms and their vehicles: Many images show Rahu as having a body and Ketu as having a lower body of fish, which is not correct. Rahu only has a head and no body. Ketu has a head of 3 snakes and lower body just like a normal human being. Rahu sits on a blue lion while ketu sits on a pigeon or fish.