How to do Sadhana? Procedure ? Rules ? How to take Sankalp? How to do Anusthaan?

There are many types of Anusthaan. In Laghu Anusthaan, 24000 Mantra chantings are done ( eg. 27 rosary rounds in 9 days) and 240 aahutis are offered in holy Yagya. In Madhyam Anusthaan, 1.25 Lakh Mantra chantings are done (eg. 33 rosary rounds in 40 days) and 1250 aahutis are offered in holy Yagya. In Maha Anusthaan, 24 Lakh Mantra chantings are done (66 rosary rounds in 1 year) and One-tenth aahutis are offered in holy Yagya. One may also perform Anusthaan of 51000 or 5 lakh rosary rounds.

Anusthaan is a concentrated effort. You should try to complete the Anusthaan in as less number of days as possible for maximum benefit. An Anusthaan is normally done for completion of some task, or to solve some problem. The longer you delay the anusthaan, the more will be the delay in achieving results. Moreover, if you extend it for more time, then there is a chance of making more mistakes, breaking of celibacy (mental & physical) or some other strict rule. You should start the anusthaan on a auspicious day.

You should follow following rules during Anusthaan -

a. Start on the same time everyday. Perform same number of rosary rounds daily. Perform Anusthaan at a pure, satvik place in a pure, quite environment.

b. Eat pure vegetarian food during Anusthaan & Sadhana period. Try to avoid onion, garlic etc. Eat food once a day.

c. Maintain complete celibacy (mental & physical) during Anusthaan period. If your brahmacharya (celibacy) breaks during Anusthaan/Sadhana period, then you should stop the Sadhana/Anusthaan and restart the entire Sadhana/Anusthaan again afresh.

d. Perform Guru Poojan and chant one rosary round of Guru Mantra. Then perform the required daily number of rosary rounds of the concerned Mantra. Then chant one rosary round of Guru Mantra again. The Ghee/Oil (Depending on Diety) Deepak should be lighted continuously during the entire Anusthaan period. Ghee Deepak should be lighted for Anusthaan of Guru Mantra.

e. Mentally meditate on the form of the Diety and Gurudev during all the days of Anusthaan.

f. Don't cut hairs or nails during the Anusthaan Period. One should also refrain from shaving.

Normally, before chanting the mantra for Anusthaan/Sadhana, one needs to make a Sankalp (pledge) by taking water in one’ right hand palm saying the following in any language -

Myself "name" son/daughter/wife of "father/mother/husband's name" , belonging to "your gotra or surname" gotra , disciple of Pujya Gurudev am making this pledge by taking Divine blessings and Diksha from my Pujya Gurudev on "date & time" at "place name" that I will perform "sadhna name" Sadhana by chanting "number" rosary rounds for "number" days to solve "problem details" problem. May Pujya Gurudev stay with me all the time and guide and protect me.

After, this let the water flow to the ground.

This Sankalp is an agreement between yourself and the divine deity. After taking Sankalp, you should perform Sadhana for the required number of days at the same time. There should NOT be any break of even a single day after taking Sankalp. You need to take Sankalp only on the first day.

You also need to perform Hawan (Holy Fire), Tarpan & Maarjan after completion of Anusthaan. Havan is done for appeasement of Gods (Devataas). Tarpan is done for offering to & appeasement of "Updevataas" (Gods) and "Pitras" (Ancestors). Maarjan is done for appeasement of other important yonis; and to remove impurities and purify oneself. Maarjan also removes bad effects of Rajogun and Tamogun.

You should offer 12500 (10% of Total Mantra chanting) Aahutis (offerings) in the holy fire of havan.

You should suffix the deity's mantra (which you chanted 1.25 lakh times) with the word "Swahaa". With each chanting of the mantra, you should offer Aahuti in the holy fire. You may do havan in two shifts, if it is not possible for you to complete it together. The item to be offered for Aahuti is different for each Sadhana/Mantra/Deity and purpose. 

Normally, you may use "mango plant" wood sticks in the Yagya. However different types of woods are used in different Sadhanas. You can place a camphor between dry sticks and then light it. You should preferably use a "Havan Kund" for performing havan. Different kinds of Hawan Kunds are prescribed for different Sadhanas, purposes and Deities. It should be made of copper. If copper is not available, then you may use any other pure metal container. For general purposes, you should use a squarish shape havan kund. The size of Havankund should be 9" X 9" X 9" or 15" X 15" X 15" . 

You should perform Guru Poojan before performing Havan. You should also chant at least 4 rosary rounds of Guru Mantra. Then, you should perform Panchopchaar poojan (worship) of the Sadhana Yantra & photo of deity with Snaan( bathe), Tilak (mark on forehead), Pushp (flowers), Dhoop (incense), deep (light) etc.

Tarpan should be done for 1250 (10% of Hawan) mantra chantings. You should suffix the deity's mantra (which you chanted 1.25 lakh times) with the word "Tarpayaami". With each chanting of the mantra, you should offer a mixture of milk & water on either Yantra or Idol.

Maarjam should be done for 125 (10% of Tarpan) mantra chantings. You should suffix the deity's mantra (which you chanted 1.25 lakh times) with the word "Maarjyaami". With each chanting of the mantra, you should offer a mixture of milk & water on either Yantra or Idol.

It is recommended to perform Havan, Tarpan & Maarjan after completion of Anusthaan. However, if, you are unable to perform Havan for any reason then you may chant an additional 125 malas (rosary rounds) of the deity's mantra as a substitute by taking a sankalp.

You should mention in the sankalp that - "I am chanting 125 rosary rounds of the mantra as the Havan Poornaahuti." You should perform Guru Poojan and chant 4 rosary rounds of Guru Mantra before starting these 125 rosary rounds.

After completion of 125 rosary rounds or havan/yagya, you should do the following :

a. Chant one rosary round of Guru Mantra

b. Mentally seek forgiveness from revered Gurudev for the mistakes (known or unknown) which you might have committed during Mantra chanting and request for His Aashirvaad and blessings.

Similarly for Tarpan, you may chant additional 12 rosary rounds & for Maarjan additional 3 rosary rounds. 

You should mentally pray and meditate on the form of revered Gurudev before starting the Mantra chanting. You should also mentally take permission from pujya Gurudev before starting the Mantra chanting and request for His blessings & Aashirwaad to obtain success.

After the completion of Mantra chanting, you should mentally seek forgiveness from revered Gurudev for the mistakes (known or unknown) which you might have committed during Mantra chanting and request for His Aashirvaad and blessings.

If you are a woman, you should stop the Anusthaan/Sadhana during the monthly periods, and restart it after taking bath on completion of periods (after 5 days).

If you feel that you need to go somewhere which might lead to an interruption, then you should first finish that task, and perform Anushtaan with Sankalp later. In the meantime, you may chant the Mantra given to you by Diksha using the mala.

Using Mala- 
You should hold the rosary in your right hand while chanting the Mantra. You should take rosary in right hand between Ring-Finger and Middle-Finger and move it using Thumb and Middle-Finger. You should place your hand adjacent to the heart. The rosary should not touch your leg or ground. Either you should place your left hand to avoid this, or you may put rosary in Gomukhi (cotton cloth bag) whilest chanting. Your index finger (fore-finger) should not touch the rosary. You should never let rosary touch the ground even when you are not performing Sadhana. It should always be kept wrapped in a clean cloth.

There is a separator bead in every rosary. Basically it is the central bead at which the thread containing beads is joined/tied together. This is normally marked by a different color thread on it. You may easily identify the separator bead. You should start moving the bead from the bead next to separator bead. You should not start from the separator bead itself. The beads should move along with the mantra chanting in direction towards you (clockwise direction). You should move one bead with each chant of complete mantra. In the moving process, once you reach the separator bead after finishing the bead before the separator bead, you should overturn the rosary with your right hand, making the last bead before separator (one you used just now) the first bead after separator. This is called as completing one complete round of the rosary. And then you should start chanting again with this bead as the first one. 

Taking Sankalp/Promise for someone else -

Myself "name" son/daughter/wife of "your father/mother/husband's name" , belonging to "your gotra or surname" gotra , disciple of Pujya Gurudev am making this pledge by taking Divine blessings and Diksha from my Pujya Gurudev on "date & time" at "place name" that I will perform "sadhna name" Sadhana by chanting "number" rosary rounds for "number" days on behalf of "person name" son/daughter/wife of "father/mother/husband's name" , belonging to "gotra or surname" gotra ,resident of "place name" to solve "problem details" problem. May Pujya Gurudev stay with us all the time and guide and protect us. May all the benefits of this Sadhana go to "person name". 

Note - 
Do not sit on bed & do Sadhana.
Sit on ground with Proper Aasan.
You can open/ close your eyes during Sadhana. When open see the Lingam(concentrate) or look at deitys Photo.