The daily routine of Rajarshi Maharaja Rameshwar Singh (1860 – 1929), the king of Darbhanga in the Mithilā region, was extraordinary. He used to wake up at 2 am and do a complete reading of Srī Durgā Saptaśatī sitting on his bed. After that, he would complete his bath and complete Vaidika Sandhyāvandana along with sahasra Gāyatrī japa. Thereafter, he would offer piṇḍadāna with approximately 40 kilograms of rice. He then would complete the daily worship of Pārthiva Shivaliṅga and then proceed to the temple of Goddess Bhagavatī. Here, he would perform the Tāntrika Sandhyāvandana and do the pātrasthāpana according to the Tantras. He would then proceed to worship Goddess Mahākālī through āvaraṇa pūjā, japa, paṅcāṅga pātha and then offer puṣpāṅjali along with Kakārādi Sahasranāma. He then performed the pūjā and tarpaṇa of Kumarī, Suvāsinī and Vaṭuka, followed by sāmayika pūjā. He would partake the Mahāprasāda and be ready by 10.00 am.
After resting for an hour, he would perform his royal duties from 11.00 am to 3.30 pm. Then, he would take a bath, perform Vaidika Sandhyāvanadana, Gāyatrī japa and complete Pārthiva pūja during the Pradōṣa kāla. In the night, he performed sāṅgōpāṅga niśārcana of Devī Bhagavatī. During this niśārcana, 108 Brāhmaṇas collectively chanted the Durgā Saptaśatī and 51 Brāhmaṇas performed Rudrābhiṣēka. Even otherwise, there was a continuous recitation of Saptaśatī and performance of Rudrābhiṣēka without any break during the day. The King, who had converted his entire life into a Mahānuṣṭhāna, was a well-read scholar. He was proficient in Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali, English, and French. In addition to Tantra, he was also well-versed in Sānkhya, Yoga, Vyākaraṇa, and Vedānta.
During the autumn of 1908, he organized a conference of eminent scholars of Tantra. Paṇḍita Prakāśānanda Jha of Vaidyanātha dhāma, Paṇḍita Shivachandra Bhaṭṭācarya of Kāśī, Srīvidyā sādhaka Paṇḍita Subrahmaṇya Shāstrī, John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), the president of āgama anusandhāna samiti, were amongst the prominent participants.
The responsibility of presiding over the conference was entrusted to Paṇḍita Shivachandra Bhaṭṭācarya, who had given special guidance to the Maharaja in Tantra sādhanā. He was also the Guru of John Woodroffe. It was the Maharaja who had inspired John Woodroffe to get initiated into śakti sādhanā.
During the conference, the Maharaja spoke on the topic of streams of prāṇa that flow in an individual’s body and their relation to the Ten Mahāvidyās. He spoke thus – “The five prāṇas and the five upaprāṇas are the Daśa Mahāvidyās present in the body of an individual which connect him to the universe.
1 Mahākālī and Tārā reside in the reproductory organ as apāna and its upaprāṇa, kūrma.
2 Shōḍaśī and Bhuvanēśvarī reside in the heart as Prāṇa and its upaprāṇa, nāga
3 Bhairavī and Chinnamastā reside in the throat as udāna and dēvadatta
4 Dhūmāvatī and Bagalāmukhī reside in the navel region as samāna and krkara
5 Mātaṅgī and Kamalā reside in the brain as vyāna and dhanañjaya
Maharaja paused for a while and then said, “I have had the vision of Mahāmāyā in all these forms as I have described so far.”
After this, Mahāpaṇḍita Subrahmaṇya Shāstrī, who had initiated the Maharaja in Sāmrājyamēdhā dīkṣā, began to speak – “In this vast universe, the energy of ādividyā Mahākālī is active from midnight 12 am till sunrise. Mahākāla is the Bhairava and he is worshiped during the Mahārātri. The Bhairava of Mahāvidyā Tārā is Akṣōbhya. Her energies are active before the sunrise and the best time for worship is Krodharātri. Pañcavaktra Shiva is the Bhairava of Shoḍaśī and the Her power is active during the silence of dawn (brahmamuhūrta). The best time for Her worship is Divyarātri. The Bhairava of the fourth Mahāvidyā is Tryambaka Shiva. This power is active during the sunrise and the upāsanā is done during Siddharātri. The fifth Mahāvidyā is Bhairavī and her Bhairava is Dakṣiṇāmūrti. The active period is after sunrise and the upāsanā is done during Kālarātri. The sixth Mahāvidyā is Chinnamastā and her Bhairava is Kabandha Shiva. The active period is during the afternoon and her upāsanā is done during Vīrarātri. Seventh Mahāvidyā is Dhūmāvatī and her Bhairava is Aghora Rudra. The active period is post noon and the upāsanā is done during Dāruṇarātri. Eigth Mahāvidyā is Bagalāmukhī and her Bhairava is Ekavaktra Mahārudra. The active period is during the evening and the upāsanā is done during Vīrarātri. The ninth Mahāvidyā is Mātaṅgī and her Bhairava is Mataṅga. The first phase of the night is the active period and upāsanā is done during Moharātri. Kamalā is the tenth Mahāvidyā and her Bhairava is Sadāśiva. The second phase of the night is the active period and upāsanā is done during Mahārātri.
It is with these ten Mahāvidyās that the Universe is created and hence this is also called Sr̥ṣṭi vidyā”.
