Kali Puja (Paperback)

by Swami Satyananda Saraswati (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The complete worship of the Divine Mother who Takes away Darkness, includes Her advanced puja, Her thousand names, the mantras and mudras for traditional offerings, as well as the systems of worship for begetting spiritual children. Also available to accompany the text is a beautiful CD or cassette of Shree Maa's recitation of the thousand names. It includes the original Sanskrita mantras, Roman phonetic transliteration and English translation.

About the Author
When Swami Satyananda's guru invited him to trek into the Himalayas, he asked what he should bring along. "Nothing," came the reply. Fifteen years later, Swamiji knew the mountain pathways as well as the Hindu systems of worship. His numerous books and translations of ancient Sanskrit texts are available all over India, as well as in the United States, and he is widely regarded as a Master of the ancient Vedic fire ceremony and other systems of worship. Now Swamiji invites us to trek into the Himalayas and listen and learn from the sadhus of the mountains.

Product Details

• Paperback: 235 pages
• Publisher: Sunstar Publishing (IA) (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887472649
• ISBN-13: 978-1887472647
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,408,536 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jai Ma Kali!, December 6, 2002

By	J. Dougherty "Kalimir" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

KALI PUJA
by Swami Satyanananda Saraswati and Shree Maa

For those of you who want to worship the Holy Mother as Kali this is a great book to get. It offers a traditional way of worshipping Kali. You will learn the mantras, the mudras, traditional worship and tantric offerings to Kali. It is written in Sanskrit, Roman phonetic translation, and in english. I do wish the Roman phonetic translation was more understandable. Also I wish that they listed all the things that are required for the diffrent sections of this book as well, otherwise its a wonderful book on the Worship of Kali. You can do this book all the way through which will take hours or do a chapter or two at a time. The chapters are: Kali Puja, Sankalpa, Ganesha Puja, Kali Dhyanam, Adya Stotram, Puja Naivdeya- Offerings of worship, Adya Kalikadevyah Shatanama Stotram, Kali Kavacam, Sri Kalisahasranama Stotram, Consecration of Tantric Offerings, Gharbha Dhana Viddhi, Mudras for Worship. The Mudras are hand signals that are used to call the diety into yourself are call forth the ancestors. The Ganesha Puju is a small chapter in calling Ganesha and worshipping him the son of the Divine to remove all obstacles and to announce your desire to worship Kali. Sometimes when i can not pronounce the mantras in the sanskrit I use the english translations mixed with the Sanskrit or should i say the Roman phonetic translations.
From the back of the book
Kali is the Goddess who takes away darkness. She cuts down all impurities, consumes all iniquities (evil) purifies Her devotess with the sincerity of Her Love. Now we can worship Her according to the ancient tradition. Kali puja is a treasure house of Her Wisdom. It contains abundance Kali's living tools for living: Her sattvic worship, Her Hundred Names, Her Thousand Names, Her Armor, the mantras for offering bhanga, alcohol, animal sacrifice and how to give birth to spiritual children. These offerings have great spirtual significance when preformed with the mantras which explain the meanings and appropiate circumstances for such worship. Shree Maa, the Respected Holy Mother from Kamakhya in Assam, has devoted her entire life to the worship of the Divine Mother. Swami Satyananda Saraswati has translated numerous volumes of Samskrita Scriptures published in India and abroad, and both are teachers respected around the world. Kali Puja is presented in the original Samskrita, a Romanized phonetic transliteration, and a complete English Translation. This is without doubt the first time that many of these mantras have been translated from their original language. At last the rest of the world is invited more deeply into the mystery of the Divine Mother.
This is a great book as now the secrets have been revealed! Finaly we the rest of this world can worship Ma Kali traditionally. There is no other book that I know of today that gives details into the worship of the Mother like this, at least not one that is published in English.
Despite my two gievences with this book it deserves 5 stars

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended!, April 9, 1999

By A Customer

The Guru and the Goddess is really three seperate books under one cover. I was surprised to see such a wealth of knowledge in one book. I found this rare culmination of Hindu wisdom to be extremely illuminating.

The author's treatment of the Kasyapa Sutras is quite unique in that it is the only series of classes by Shree Maa and Swami Satyananda that is currently in print. Swami Satyananda is a student of Vedic philosophy who has actually lived these ancient teachings. His twenty years studying with various Gurus and the fact that he spent his formative years growing up in California have made him a unique translator of eastern wisdom. In this series of classes, Swami explains the Kasyapa Sutra's to a group of western students. His practical, accessable teaching style allows the students and therefore the reader to apply these ancient teaching to our hectic, western life. In addition, questions from the students and comments and songs from the Swami's Guru, Shree Maa make this a most delightful and informative work.

The second section of the book is comprised of Swami Satyananda's translation of the Guru Gita. As in all his sanskrit translations, Swami has the ability to make sanskrit scriptures comprehensible to the western reader. The Guru Gita is the most important scripture for understanding the relationship between Guru and disciple and is a crucial text for anyone who is interested in the Guru disciple relationship.

The Lalita Trishati is a joyful rendition of the three hundred names of this playful Goddess.This is a very engaging scripture for any lover of the Divine Mother. It is very rare to find an english translation of these mantras. The combination of sanskrit and Roman phonetic transliteration allows the reader to utilize this scripture immediately as one of the foundations for their spiritual practice.

This incredible book contains such a wealth of spiritual wisdom. There is so much to absorb that you could literally work with this one book for the rest of your life and be completely satisfied. I would recommend this book highly.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book of prayers/affirmations made Kali personal to me..., January 19, 2002

By	She is no more "she is no more" (not here) - See all my reviews

An excerpt: "She who is pleased as the autumn moon, She whose purity shines in her lotus eyes. She who has great laugh in extreme pleasure, she who speaks words of remembrance, She who has excellent expression, she whose lotus lips smile" ~~ This book contains many such mantras and prayers....you could open to any page and find something peaceful, insightful..and motivating. This book will not tell you about the history of Kali, this book is more of experiencing Kali through meditative mantras /prayers....
I open this book at random , usually before bed...for something to ease any stress or thoughts of the day...I highly recommend this book to devotees of Kali, but make sure to also get a historical book as well!