सामग्रीBefore you begin
What to have ready
Everything fits on one plate. Set it out the evening before, and the morning is unhurried.
- The envelope, unopened, with your card and its activation card. The bija mantra is printed on the activation card.
- A soft cloth and a small bowl of water, with a pinch of haldi (turmeric).
- A small ghee lamp (diya) and something to light it.
- One flower, a marigold or a rose, and a few grains of rice.
- A mala of 108 beads, a rudraksha mala if you have one. No mala? Read what to do without one.
- A clean, quiet place: your puja ghar, or a desk facing east.
- About thirty minutes that nobody will need from you.
सात चरणThe seven steps
How to use a yantra, step by step
The same seven steps suit every card. Do them in this order, in one sitting.
1. Receive and unwrap with intention
A minute or two
Your card reaches you in a gift-ready envelope, with its activation card. Open it in a clean space, ideally in your puja ghar, or at a desk facing east. Pause for a breath before you unwrap it. Keep the activation card beside you: you will need its mantra at step 4.
2. Cleanse with water and haldi
About two minutes
Dip a soft cloth in water with a pinch of haldi and wipe the card gently. It is symbolic: you are preparing the card for its place.
3. Light a diya, offer a flower
About five minutes
Light a small ghee lamp. Offer one flower, a marigold or a rose, and a few grains of rice. In tradition, the lamp stands for life, the flower for beauty and the rice for plenty.
4. Chant the bija mantra 108 times
Ten to fifteen minutes, at your own pace
The bija mantra is printed on the activation card. Read it through once or twice before you begin. Then hold the card in your right hand and chant the mantra 108 times: one mala. This is the longest of the seven steps, and there is no need to hurry it.
Try one round of the mala. Each press moves one bead; hold to keep counting. The large bead is the sumeru, which a mala is never counted across.
0 of 108
5. Set your sankalpa
A minute
When the mala is complete, hold the card to your forehead and say your sankalpa silently, in one sentence. Specific is better than abstract: "Steady cash-flow" over "success", "An hour of study every morning" over "top marks". A yantra does not do the work for you. It keeps your intention in front of you while you do it.
6. Place it where it lives
A minute or two
Wallet, purse, cash box, puja ghar, reception, or the northeast (Ishan) corner of your home or shop. Not the bathroom, and not the bedroom floor. Where to keep it, below, says more.
7. Return to it each morning
One breath
Touch the card, or look at it, for one breath each morning. That is the whole daily practice. There is nothing to renew. The practice is your attention.
उस दिनOn the day
If the morning does not go as planned
You missed sunrise. Sunrise is the ideal, not a condition. Begin on another morning, or at any hour when you can give the card thirty unhurried minutes.
You have no mala. Use the counter beside step 4, above, for the round of 108. For the days after, the free Bhagya Card app has a japa counter: tap anywhere on the screen to count a bead, dim the screen if you like, and it shows each completed mala.
The card is a gift. The seven steps belong to the person who will keep it. The activation card travels with every card, so they have the mantra and the steps in hand.
You are not sure which day. Any day on which you can give it thirty unhurried minutes. Some cards have a day in tradition: Fridays for Mahalaxmi, Tuesdays and Saturdays for Hanuman, and a day for each of the planetary cards.
मार्गदर्शकOne card at a time
Guides for each card
The seven steps suit every card. For a card's deity, its bija mantra and its tradition, read its own guide:
- Agni Yantra, Agni Dev
- Ashtalakshmi Yantra, the eight Lakshmis
- Ayodhya Ram Mandir, Shri Ram
- Baglamukhi Yantra, Maa Baglamukhi
- Bhuvaneshwari Yantra, Maa Bhuvaneshwari
- Brahma Yantra, Brahma Dev
- Budh Yantra, Budh Dev
- Chandra Yantra, Chandra Dev
- Durga Yantra, Maa Durga
For every other card, its own page tells the story of its deity: see every card. To choose a card first, read how to choose a yantra by intention, or answer three questions.
नवग्रहThe planetary cards
For the planetary cards, a longer practice
The Mangal, Budh, Chandra and Siddha Ketu cards are yantras of the Navagraha, the nine grahas of jyotish. For these, tradition adds a longer practice after the seven steps: the bija mantra 108 times a day for at least 40 days, then 27 times a day.
Each graha also has its traditional day: Monday for Chandra, Tuesday for Mangal, Wednesday for Budh. The nine grahas page lists every graha's day and its mantra.
Forty days is a long promise to keep alone. The sankalp in the Bhagya Card app keeps count of the days with you, for anything from 1 to 365 days, and one missed day does not end it.
स्थानWhere it lives
Where to keep your yantra card, and where not
The card is wallet-sized, so it can go where your day goes, or stay where your family prays. Choose one place and keep it there.
- In your wallet or purse, to carry through the day: the office, the shop, the exam hall, the long flight home.
- At the cash counter, in the cash box or the locker. Families keep the Kuber yantra where the money is kept, and shop-owners keep the Vyapaar Vruddhi card at the counter or the reception.
- On the study desk. Students keep the Gayatri yantra on the desk, and many families keep it through the exam months.
- In the puja ghar, beside your deities. In tradition, the Bhuvaneshwari yantra is kept in a new home's puja ghar from its first day.
- In the northeast (Ishan) corner of your home or shop.
Not in the bathroom, and not on the bedroom floor.
देखभालOver the years
Keeping it, year after year
There is nothing to renew. The practice is your attention: one touch or one look, each morning, for as long as you keep the card.
- Keep the activation card with your card, or in the puja ghar, so the mantra is at hand whenever you want to chant it again.
- Clean it as you clean the puja ghar. A soft cloth is all it needs.
- Your card is in the app too. Every card issued to your mobile number waits in the wallet of the Bhagya Card app. The QR on the card opens its own page, which shows the card as it was issued and its status today.
- If it arrived damaged or wrongly printed, write to us within 7 days of delivery, with the order number and a photo, and we will replace it at our cost. Our refund policy has the details.
प्रश्नQuestions
Questions about using a yantra
Do I need a pandit to begin a yantra?
No. The seven steps on this page are meant to be done by you, at home, in about thirty minutes.
How many times should I chant the bija mantra?
108 times, one mala, when you begin the card (step 4). After that the daily practice is one breath of attention (step 7). For the planetary (Navagraha) cards, tradition adds a longer practice: 108 times a day for at least 40 days, then 27 times a day.
Which day should I begin my yantra?
Any day on which you can give it thirty unhurried minutes, ideally at sunrise. The planetary cards each have a traditional day, Monday for Chandra for example; the nine grahas page lists them.
Will it need to be renewed later?
No. There is nothing to renew; the practice is your attention. Where to keep it, and every other question, is in our questions and answers.
Your card, your morning
Have your card already? Set out the plate tonight, and begin at sunrise. Still choosing? Three questions will suggest the card for you.
Find your YantraSee every card
More to read: the Knowledge Hub · the glossary, for every Sanskrit word on this page · today's panchang, for sunrise in your city