Narrator:
(The audio begins with continuous chanting of Sanskrit mantras during a fire ritual (Hom). The primary chants include the Gayatri Mantra and the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra, repeated multiple times alongside other Vedic hymns.)
Chant: Om bhur bhuvah svah tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi dhiyo yo nah prachodayat... Om tryambakam yajamahe sugandhim pushti-vardhanam urvarukam-iva bandhanan mrityor mukshiya mamritat... Om Namah Shashishikharay Swaha...
Devotee:
Pranam Gurudev, pranam, pranam.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Pranam. Yes, tell me.
Devotee:
Gurudev, on this special occasion—the eclipse is currently underway, the Amavasya eclipse, meaning the solar eclipse—even though it is not visible from here, a "Hom" is being performed at our Shantikhunj. It is being conducted by meteorologist Sujit Kar, and Rajat Babu is also seated with him. If you could shed some light on this matter...
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Look, the Amavasya Hom was already completed this morning. Now that the eclipse is happening, performing a Hom during an eclipse is very beneficial. Tantriks (practitioners of Tantra) strictly maintain these timings. During an eclipse, punashcharan (repetition of mantras), Jap-tap (chanting and meditation) are highly effective. If we perform the Hom during the eclipse, the ritual becomes very powerful. So, we are doing it based on that. While Homs are a regular occurrence here, it isn't always possible to show them. This ritual will continue until 4 PM; as long as the eclipse lasts, the Hom will continue. After that, the formalities will conclude. We follow the tradition this way.
Devotee:
I see. So, this is a Hom performed based on a specific tithi (lunar day).
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
People are commenting, "What is the point of posting the video of the 9th on the 10th?" Look, today is the 10th, and the eclipse is today. Should I post it today or yesterday? These people are like "ata" (idiots). They comment without any common sense or intelligence. Today is the eclipse, so I will post it today. Why would I post it yesterday? They have no sense of reality. And where would intelligence come from? They are "studying," but there’s no brain behind it. They just leave a comment so they can see their name and picture pop up. It serves no purpose. If the eclipse is today, I post today. Why yesterday?
Devotee:
Anyway, so this Hom today, is it for world peace or...?
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
I have mentioned this before—this Kunda (sacrificial fire pit) is always used specifically for human welfare and world peace. Otherwise, this Kunda is not used. If we have to perform any other type of Hom, we have separate trays, and we perform those outside. This fire pit is exclusively for the welfare of mankind—we do it so that people may stay well. I don't know about the "profit or loss" of it, but we continue to do it. Many ask what the benefit is; we don’t want to know the benefit. We are performing the Hom for human welfare and world peace. If it helps, it helps; if not, there’s nothing more we can do.
Devotee:
Pranam Gurudev, pranam. This was very... (audio ends)