To relieve conditions of excess heat, or pitta dosha

Sheetlastak with Durga Saptashati

Yagya Announcement: Sheetlastak with Durga Saptashati

The Sheetlastak with Durga Saptashati is a cooling yagya that combines two texts: the Shitalashtakam, an eight-verse hymn to the goddess Shitala, and the Durga Saptashati, the 700 verses to Durga. Eleven pandits will perform it over 11 days, from 25 September to 5 October, 2026. Shitala is worshipped as a form of Parvati and is associated with cooling excess heat in the body. Durga is invoked for protection and the removal of obstacles.

The yagya is performed to relieve conditions of excess heat, or pitta. Shitala, whose name means the cool one, is turned to for fever, skin complaints, eye trouble, and other disorders that tradition holds to arise from too much internal heat. The Durga Saptashati is added for its protective force. Together the two texts are chanted to cool an aggravated system and to shield the yajamana while it settles.

The Shitalashtakam comes from the Skanda Purana. Its eight verses address Shitala as the goddess who removes fever, skin eruptions, and the ailments of excess heat, and it is chanted for relief from those conditions. The Durga Saptashati, also known as the Devi Mahatmya or Chandi Path, is drawn from the Markandeya Purana. Its 700 verses recount Durga’s victories over the forces of disorder and are chanted for protection and the clearing of obstacles. The pandits chant both across the full length of the yagya.

Traditionally, the Sheetlastak with Durga Saptashati is associated with relief from heat-driven complaints: disturbed sleep, skin and eye problems, poor digestion, and the restlessness of an overheated system, and with steadying the yajamana against obstacles during a difficult period. It can be commissioned for oneself or for a family member.

This yagya is being offered now in response to a condition identified by Pandit Jaikrishna, our Jyotish pandit. He calls it the Pita Prakopa Dosha: an aggravation of pitta in which toxins and excess agni build up, driven by irregular habits of food and daily routine (dinacharya). He lists its signs as excess pitta, sleeplessness, skin issues and allergies, indigestion, eye trouble, addictive tendencies, and at times excess hunger, with Mangal (Mars) and Yama, the devata of transformation, as its indicators. He describes it as a global dosha, running until 26 October and “affecting everyone to some degree,” and recommends this yagya for the whole co-op as the response.

If you would like the Sheetlastak with Durga Saptashati performed for yourself or a family member, you can sign up below.

• Yagya: Sheetlastak with Durga Saptashati
• Dates: 25-September to 5-October
• Live-Streamed? Yes. You may optionally watch this yagya being live-streamed and save it to your PC after.
• Cost: $30.00.

Join the Sheetlastak with Durga Saptashati performed by classically-trained traditional Vedic pandits. Simply complete the form, below, then press the PayPal button.

(To enter a second name for someone residing at the same address, for example your spouse’s or a child’s name, put their name in the “Spouse” name field.)