For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

The world of Yoga is wide and varied. In this podcast, yogi Nish the Fish shares the deeper dimensions of Yoga, Vedanta and Tantra, asking the big questions: why do we practice? What is meditation? What is the purpose of a human life? What is Beauty? What is Death? Nishanth Selvalingam studied various South Asian philosophies with his Shaivite grandfather in an ashram in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and moved to Los Angeles to study philosophy, teach yoga and play guitar in a rock band. Join him and special guests as they explore Yoga, in all its splendours. For more episodes and instruction, and to support this humble offering of the heart, visit me on Patreon: patreon.com/yogawithnish

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For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

How To Offer Japa To Kālī

April 09, 2025 • Nishanth Selvalingam • Season 8 • Episode 150

Because we've come to the end of Navaratri and because many are now finishing their mantra-repetition sādhana (puraścarana), I thought it would be nice to discuss the mantra for offering japa to the Divine Mother:

oṁ guhyātiguhyagoptrī tvaṁ gṛhāṇāsmatkṛtaṁ japam
siddhirbhavatu me devi tvatprasādān maheśvari

"O You who are the Protectress of the Secret of all Secrets (i.e the sacred, intimate mantra), accept this repetition of mantra done by us! Make me perfect (i.e help me accomplish the goal of this mantra repetition), which happens only by thy grace, You who are the Great Ruler of the Cosmos (mahā-īsvarī)"

PS: if you are offering to a male deity then change "goptrī" to "gopta", "Devi" to "deva" and "maheśvarī" to "maheśvara" in the above mantra!" So it would be:

oṁ guhyātiguhyagopta tvaṁ gṛhāṇāsmatkṛtaṁ japam
siddhirbhavatu me deva tvatprasādān maheśvara

The prayer:

oṁ mahāmāye jaganmātaḥ kālike ghoradakṣiṇe
gṛhāṇa vandanaṁ devi namaste parameśvari
oṁ gṛhāṇa vandanaṁ mātaḥ sadā vijayavardhini
pādapadmaṁ sadā vande sthānaṁ dehi padāmbuje

"O Cosmic Confoundress (in the vocative case here), Mother of the World, Terrifying , Southward-Facing Kali! Accept my prayer! Salutations to you, Supreme Ruler of the Cosmos! (parama-īsvarī) Accept my prayer, O Mother who art ever Victorious (or who always increases victory!), I always praise thy lotus feet! Keep me forevermore at thy lotus feet!"

This was the preamble to our Hatha Yoga class earlier today which you can watch here and practice along! We meet Wednesdays at 11am PST for postural yoga practice.

You'll find a complete playlist of introductory lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here.

Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.
Use this link and I will see you there:
https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:
https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish

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