BamaKhepa of Tara Peetha : By Elizabeth Usha Harding

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Bamakhepa : By Elizabeth Usha Harding

Excerpt

from Kali: the Black Goddess of Dakshineswar,

Nicolas-Hays, York

Beach, 1993, pp. 274-281.

Although Bamakhepa is not particularly

know for worshipping Kali, he was such a great Mother worshipper and

contemporary of Sri Ramakrishna that he should be mentioned. Bamakhepa

worshipped Mother in the form of Tara and

became a famous Tantric saint practicing sadhana at the Trapith cremation

ground. Tarapith in West Bengal is difficult

to get to and, therefore, only a few Westerners have visited this ancient

spiritual center. Tarapith is situated in the district of Birbhum, home of the

Bauls and birthplace of famous Vaishnava and Shakta saints.

Bamakhepa was born in 1837-one year after

Sri Ramakrishna-near Tarapith in the village

of Alta. Although his

parents were poor Brahmins, Bamakhepa's father, Sarvananda Chatterjee, was well

known and respected for his piety and so was Bamakhepa's mother, Rajkumari. His

name was actually Bama, but since he showed absolutely no interest in worldly

matters even from early youth on, people called him mad and added " khepa " (mad) to his name. Khepa

is a term used mostly by Tantrics and Bauls and is not an ordinary madness. One

who is called khepa is generally considered a great soul.

As a young boy, Bamakhepa had a

peculiar habit. At the dead of night, he liked to steal into his neighbors'

houses, take their images of Gods and Goddesses and carry them to a riverbank

some distance away. There he worshipped the images all night long. When, in the

morning, the villagers couldn't find their family deities, they would make a

big scene. Bamakhepa was discovered as the culprit but, no matter how severely

his parents scolded him, they could not prevent him from taking the images.

Bamakhepa's education never went

beyond the simple village school he attended. There was not enough money in the

family to send the boy away for higher education and study of the scriptures.

His father died when Bamakhepa was very young, and, therefore, his mother and

widowed elder sister were the first ones who gave him any kind of spiritual

instructions. They told the boy ancient Hindu stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and it was due to their efforts that Bamakhepa

developed a spiritual sentiment early in life. He enjoyed singing devotional

songs which he became rather good at it, to the delight of his mother and elder

sister.

Financial troubles worsened, and

Bamakhepa's mother had to send him and his brother to live at an uncle's house.

The uncle made and effort to make the boys active parts of his family and

dispatched them to look after his cows. But when he found Bamakhepa unfit to

take care even this simple task, he sent him back home to his mother.

Bamakhepa proved incompetent to

perform any kind of work. All he wanted to do was worship Mother Tara. When he

saw a red hibiscus flower, he thought of Ma Tara. When he uttered " Ma

Tara, " he became unconscious of his surroundings. Even his mother was

convinced her son was mad and, in order to keep him out of harm's way, she put

him under house arrest. But at an opportune moment, Bamakhepa broke out, swam

across the river Dwaraka and walked all the way to holy Tarapith.

He had heard about Kailaspati Baba,

the well-known Tantric who was believed to be a realized soul. Bamakhepa went

straight to his cottage. Recognizing Bamakhepa's potential for spiritual

realization, the Baba accepted him as his disciple. Bamakhepa began to practice

serious Tantric sadhana under the guidance of Kailaspati Baba.

Meanwhile, Bamakhepa's mother was

worried about her son and, after a long search, found him in Kailaspati Baba's

cottage. When she realized that she couldn't persuade him to come with her, she

asked one of her family members who was a prominent man in town to help him.

This uncle, by the name of Durga Charan Sarkar, was an agent of the Maharaja of

Natore and, using his influence in Tarapith, he procured Bamakhepa a job of

collection flowers for the service at the Tarapith Temple.

 

But Bamakhepa was not meant for work, and couldn't

perform this task. Instead of picking flowers, he sat absorbed in thoughts of

the Divine Mother. Forgetful of his physical comforts, he was unaware if it was

day or night, hot or cold, rain or sunshine. Smoking hemp, he lived in the

Tarapith cremation ground surrounded by snakes, dogs, cats, and jackals.

Although Bamakhepa seemed to have caused nothing but

trouble to his mother, and he had not contacted her for a long time, he had

great love and reverence for her. When news reached Tarapith that she had died

and that her body could not be brought to the Tarapith cremation ground due to

excessive flooding, Bamakhepa swam across the flood-swollen river. With his

mother's dead body in his arms, he returned to Tarapith and asked his brother

Ramcharan to perform the funeral rites. How could this poor family afford to

pay for the funeral? By divine providence, as it were, money and good came to

feed all the guests. People in Tarapith still tell the story about the dark

clouds that appeared in the sky as the body of Bamakhepa's mother was burnt.

Though a sudden heavy downpour flooded all of Tarpith, not a single drop fell

on the funeral gathering.

Bamakhepa was in the habit of moving

around completely naked. One day someone asked him, " Why are you

naked? " Bamakhepa replied, " My Father (Shiva) is naked; my Mother

(Tara) is also naked. So, I am practicing that. Moreover, I don't live in

society. I live in the cremation ground with my Mother. So I have no shame or

fear! "

Under the guidance of his guru

Kaliaspati Baba and the Tantric master Mokshananda, Bamakhepa completed all the

major Tantric rites and sadhana in accordance with the shastras (scriptures). It is interesting

that Bamakhepa, like Sri Ramakrishna, practiced Tantra while remaining

absolutely celibate. Just as Sri Ramakrishna, Bamakhepa also looked upon women

as mother. One day a beautiful, young woman tried to tempt Bamakhepa by

offering herself to him as his bhairavi

(here meaning: " partner in sexual practices " ). No matter how much she

tried, she could find no " male sign " in him. Suddenly, Bamakhepa

cried out " Ma Tara " and bit the woman's breast. Blood oozed from her

breast and she fell down unconscious.

When Bamakhepa's spiritual guides saw

that their disciple had attained perfection, Kailaspati Baba and Mokshananda

installed him as the spiritual leader of Tarapith and left. Yet nothing, not

even this high honor, could bind Bamakhepa. He neglected to follow temple

regulations and did not obey social rules. Sometimes he sat with stray dogs,

sharing his food with them, and sometimes he answered calls of nature within

the holy temple terrain. He was not concerned, and the thought of purity or

impurity did not enter his mind. He had practiced same-sightedness for so long.

 

One day the temple priests caught

Bamakhepa eating the temple food before it was offered to Ma Tara. They were so

angry with him that they stopped supplying him with food. Four days after this

incident, the Maharani (queen) of

Natore had a strange dream. Ma Tara appeared to her and said: " I am

thinking of leaving this place. I asked my favorite son Bamakhepa to eat, the

priests have beaten him and taken away his food. If my son does not eat first,

how can I, his mother? " When she woke up, the Maharani ordered that,

henceforth, Bamakhepa should be fed before Ma Tara. After that, nobody dared to

obstruct Bamakhepa.

The mad saint of Tarapith became

famous for his yogic powers and even people from far away came to see him. Some

sought nothing but his blessings while others asked to be healed or helped in

distress.

Bamakhepa healed many sick people with

his psychic powers. Once a dying man came to Tarapith and asked Bamakhepa for prasad (consecrated food). Bamakhepa took

pity on him and fed him with his own hand. Soon after, the man miraculously

recovered and walked home. There was a leper in Tarapith by the name of Nanda

Handi, who belonged to the untouchable caste. Nanda often brought Bamakhepa

food and, although he was a Brahmin of the highest caste, Bamakhepa accepted

Nanda's food. In return for the favor, he gave Nanda some mud one day and asked

him to rub it on his sours. Nanda did as told and the terrible leprosy left his

body.

A man form Balagram by the name of

Nimai suffered terribly form hernia problems. He had so much pain that he was

unable to maintain his family. Thinking he was of no use to anybody, not even

to himself, he resoled the commit suicide. Rope in hand; he came to Tarapith

one dark night with the intention to hang himself. Suddenly, he heard a

terrible voice. It was Bamakhepa calling upon Ma Tara. Nimai was too scared to

commit suicide and, not knowing what to do with himself, he remained in

Tarapith near Bamakhepa. One day Nimai enraged Bamakhepa because he lit his

pipe on Bamakhepa's holy dhuni

fire. The angry saint kicked the hernia patient in the lower part of his

abdomen and Nimai fell down unconscious. But to his great surprise, when Nimai

got up some time later, he was completely cured of the hernia afflictions.

Another story about Bamakhepa tells of

a dying tuberculosis patient who was brought to the saint on a stretcher for

final blessings. Instead of blessing the man, Bamakhepa caught him by the neck.

Furiously choking and shaking the man, Bamakhepa shouted, " Now, will you

commit any more sin? " Strangely enough, after Bamakhepa's rough treatment,

the man got off the stretcher, asked for some food and drink and then walked

home, healthier and wiser.

But not all people who approached

Bamakhepa were so lucky. When a couple of snobbish young men made fun of

Bamakhepa because he shared his food with stray dogs, Bamakhepa suddenly

touched them. To their horror, they saw in a vision that Bamakhepa and the dogs

had turned into Gods while they had turned into hideous bats.

Having heard about Bamakhepa's healing powers, a priest

by the name of Nagen Panda brought a dying man to Tarapith. The sick man was

very rich, and Nagen Panda thought that he would be richly rewarded if he could

get Bamakhepa to cure him. But contrary to Nagen Panda's expectation, Bamakhepa

did nothing of the sort. He just uttered the word " phat " and the man

died immediately. Furious, Nagen Panda accused Bamakhepa of killing the man.

" I am not responsible, " said Bamakhepa, " for it was the Mother

who spoke through me. "

Bamakhepa was not learned but the

Mother revealed everything to him, as he used to say. The saint of Tarapith

lived a long life and through his holy presence sanctified the place and the

people who came in contact with him. He entered mahasamadhi (final liberation) in 1911.