Papankusha Ekadashi + Shatabhisha Moon Papankusha = Papa + Ankusha Papa is the negative karma. Ankusha is the sharp goad used to control a wild elephant. Padma Purana calls this Ekadashi Sarva Papa Hara.. the one which removes accumulated papa. One should use the day to cut through accumulated negative karma. There is another reason I find today important Moon is in Rahu-ruled Shatabhisha, today is Thursday, & Jupiter is exalted in cancer. Jupiter is also in Ashlesha 4th pada, which falls in Pisces Navamsha, its own Navamsha. So today is especially useful if you have Jupiter-Rahu conjunction, are running Rahu-Jupiter or Jupiter-Rahu dasha, have a weak Jupiter, have strong Rahu/Ketu affliction to Jupiter, 9H or 9H lord. Do anna daan, til daan, jala daan according to your capacity. Take a Brass Kalasha. Fill the Kalasha with water. Place a piece of raw turmeric root into the water. Place 3 blades of Kusha grass into the water. Place this Kalasha in the Northeast corner of your home or in the puja room Sit facing east or northeast. light a ghee diya and chant Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya on a tulasi mala, Once the chanting is complete, remove the Kusha grass & keep it under a tree. Take a little of the water as prasad.. If u already have tulasi leaves collected earlier, offer 12 leaves to Shri Hari after the japa. Om Namo Narayanaya 🙏

I have seen people using digital counters for mantra japa.. might be because it is easier. Of course it counts correctly, but then why did our tradition give us a mala if the point was only counting? For normal Naam smaran, you can chant without keeping a number. but once you take a fixed japa sankalpa, the number becomes part of what you have committed to complete. If the same mind has to chant and also keep calculating 71...72.. 73, the attention gets divided. With a mala, the fingers keep track as you finish each repetition. One mantra.. one bead. You can understand this through tattva also. Shabda is associated with akasha and sparsha with vayu. during mala japa, touch accompanies the repetition of the mantra. The fingers have a steady task while your attention stays with what you are chanting. Our tradition also gives Kara Japa, where the thumb keeps count on the joints of the fingers. Even this has a prescribed sequence, which can differ according to the mantra. So there are traditional ways of counting without a mala too. A finger counter also uses touch and saves you from mentally counting. The reason for choosing a mala goes further into how it is prepared and used in worship. Mahanirvana tantra asks the person doing japa to worship the mala before starting. It gives a prayer addressing the mala as a form of Shakti. The mala itself is included in the worship. In such traditions, the mala is understood to become sanctified through its preparation and continued japa. A personal japa mala is therefore kept clean, handled with maryada & not shared with others. Even the material is selected according to the mantra and devata. Rudraksha, Tulsi, Sphatika, Chandan.. different traditions prescribe different materials and it also asks you to keep separate malas for different Devatas. So when you are given a mantra with a particular mala and method, keep that instruction in mind before replacing it with a counter..... just because both can record the same number.

I am putting Nov 4-16 on record The Aug 12 Solar Eclipse happened at 25°48′ Cancer in Ashlesha. Mars reaches that exact degree on Nov 4 and crosses India natal Sun around Nov 8. India is under Mars-Rahu. On Nov 9, Amavasya falls in Libra, India 6H, under the aspect of Mars. then the pressure shifts to Leo. From Nov 12, Mars, Jupiter and Ketu gather in Magha in India 4H. Mars enters Leo that day, meets Ketu around Nov 15 and Jupiter on Nov 16. This is a serious period for internal order. A protest, pressure group may overplay its hand. Questions around money & support coming from outside India can move from political allegation to an official investigation. One financial trail, leaked message, document or statement by an insider may change the entire direction of the matter. I expect the government response to become much harder between Nov 8-16. Legal action, arrests, restrictions can follow if public order is challenged again. By mid Nov, the original reason for the protest may no longer remain the main question. People will ask..who organised it,who financed it & real objective behind that