Interviewer:
Greetings, Gurudev.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Greetings, my son. Speak.
Interviewer:
Gurudev, today we would like to know about Gangasagar from you. You have been going to Gangasagar for 22 long years and have regularly performed puja there. If you could please enlighten us on that matter.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Yes, yes. Previously, there was a saying, "All pilgrimages many times, but Gangasagar only once." But now, thanks to the government's efforts, there is no difficulty in traveling to the Sagar (ocean). An extraordinary event happened in my life. A teacher came to me and said, "You must go to the Sagar." I asked, "Why, Father?" He replied, "You have to perform Kali Puja there." I said I wouldn't be able to go to the Sagar, and my family wasn't in favor of it either.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
However, some boys from our Shantikunj go to the Sagar every year. Anyway, he assured me, "Don't worry about anything. I will provide for everything—the travel, the car, the food, and all expenses. You are a spiritual seeker; just go and perform the puja for me. I had made a vow to the Mother that I would perform Kali Puja at the Sagar once." I had already provided the money, and the idol of the Mother was ready. "You just go and perform the puja," he said. So, I agreed.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
I reached there and saw the deity was ready. A small hut was built for the Mother, and the puja began. It went on all night—the whole night. I have performed many pujas, but that first year at the Sagar was something I could never have imagined. He couldn't imagine it either. Finally, the puja ended in the early morning. I was thinking that the Mother has to be immersed in the water; we can't keep her here after the puja. Many people there said, "No, leave the Mother here." I said, "No, I won't keep a deity that has been worshipped; I will perform the immersion in the ocean."
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Then they asked, "How will you take the deity out from here? Everything is fenced, and there are toilets all around. How will you take the Mother from here?" I said, "We'll see." Khokon was with me, like a shadow. I told him, "Go get a cup of tea, and while you're at it, wait for a van that will come." He said, "Gurudev, no van can enter here. There's no way for a van to get in; they won't allow it." I said, "Just go; a van is coming. Tell the driver we need to immerse the Mother in the ocean."
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
He stood there with the tea, and suddenly a van arrived. It was carrying four chairs. He caught the van and asked to take the Mother for immersion. Surprisingly, the gentleman agreed immediately. "Yes, I will take her; I'll take her to the ocean." Just as we were about to take the deity out, the area was still fenced in. At that moment, an old woman arrived. She said, "Hey, you worshipped all night, but you didn't give us any fruit or offerings?" I said, "Mother, everything is finished. What's left? I'm just worried about how to get the deity to the ocean." She said, "Don't worry, I will help you take the deity out. Just give me the flower garland from the Mother's neck."
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
I gave her the garland. She said, "Come this way." We placed the Mother on our heads, and she led us through a space she apparently had in the fair every year. She opened the fencing and said, "Take the Mother out through here." And that's what happened. We brought the Mother out, placed her on the van, and immersed her in the ocean. We do this every year. We perform Kali Puja on the 1st of Magh, immerse her, and then return home. This has been going on for 22 years.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
There are many such supernatural events. I was interested because the Mother was worshipped in the underworld (Patala). She was worshipped as Bhadrakali and Bishalakshi at the Sagar. There is a Bishalakshi temple inside Kapil Muni's temple. Worshipping Bishalakshi means worshipping Mahasaraswati. Kali is also worshipped there. That's why Ramprasad said, "Mother, you were in the underworld as Bhadrakali, and many gods worshipped you with human sacrifices." Now she is being worshipped there; we consider it the underworld. We worshipped her as Bhadrakali and Saraswati. I haven't seen Kali Puja being performed elsewhere there, but we found it interesting and started going every year.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Another supernatural thing happened. Once while I was performing puja, a group of men and women who go begging in the mornings with their instruments were fighting over money. I told them, "Don't create trouble here; Kali Puja is going on. Don't let anything bad happen." But who listens to whom? They didn't listen at all. In the Sagar, the fences are made of hogla leaves, so you can see from one side to the other. They were shouting, and I kept warning them to stop, or something bad would happen. At 4:00 AM, the man who was creating the most trouble died of a heart attack right there. An ambulance came and took him away. This was another supernatural event I witnessed at the Sagar.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Another time, we were performing puja with six or seven monks. It was about 1:00 or 2:00 AM. Before offering the bhog, I said we should perform the Homa (fire ritual). But the person who was supposed to bring the Bael leaves had forgotten them at home. Without Bael leaves, how could the Homa happen? One of our group, Gopal Da, said, "Don't worry, I'll go find some. You just wait a bit before lighting the fire." So he went out at 1:00 AM. The fair was somewhat quiet by then. He went to the Kapil Muni temple and spoke to the monks there. They asked, "Who is performing Homa here?" He gave my name. They said, "No, Homa with Bael leaves doesn't happen here. Tell him not to do it. You won't find Bael leaves here."
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
He searched many shops but found nothing. As he was returning, a little girl caught hold of him, saying, "Give me clothes, give me food." He was getting annoyed and kept brushing her off. Eventually, the girl followed him right to our Kali deity. She kept asking for clothes and food. I understood the situation. I told her, "Mother, please sit." I told the others to wash her feet and give her the bhog (offerings) even though it hadn't been offered to the deity yet.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
She ate the offerings with great satisfaction. I gave her the clothes we had for the deity—a sari, a gamchha, and whatever jewelry we had. You can't imagine how happy she was. I also gave her some money. She took everything and vanished. The other monks were amazed. "What kind of puja did you do? The Mother herself came, ate, and took the clothes!" They were monks from Uttar Pradesh, and they were very moved by it. They said, "The Mother herself came and took everything." Maybe so; I don't know.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
There are many such memories of Gangasagar. Once, we had ordered a deity, but it wasn't ready. We were in trouble. We took a van toward Kumartuli around 3:00 PM to see if we could find a Kali idol. We searched everywhere until evening. It was January, and it was a bit chilly. We were frustrated and heading back when we stopped near a house and saw a beautifully decorated Kali deity. We asked if it was for sale. They said, "Yes, it's 300 rupees—fixed price." The Mother was fully decorated, holding a scimitar and everything. We paid the 300 rupees without haggling, took her on the van, and performed the puja.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Later, I became acquainted with Bankim Hazra, the local MLA. He was very kind to me. He helped me a lot in the later years—ordering the deity, bringing it to us, and so on. We performed puja for 22 years with great satisfaction. I haven't experienced such a good puja anywhere else. We would take everything from here—flowers, food, and other necessities. You can find everything there at Horinbari, which is about 8–10 km away, but you have to go and get it.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
After the incident where the Mahant forbade it, we stopped performing the Homa. He said it shouldn't be done there, so we respected that and didn't do it in the subsequent years. Going to the Sagar is a big part of my life. In the morning, I would go to the seashore, recite the Gita, and then return. I wouldn't eat for two or three days—only tea. I believe that once you reach a pilgrimage site (Pith), you shouldn't eat until the work is done. So I would live on tea and other light things, but never rice.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
You can find everything in the Sagar fair—kerosene, rice, flour, vegetables. Some people go there just to eat fresh fish; others go to beg, and some go for a picnic with their stoves and stay for three days. The system at the Sagar is that after the main day of the fair, water and other facilities are often cut off. So we would try to leave the next day, despite the crowds. If we couldn't, we'd leave the day after.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
I performed this puja for 22 years with great inner peace. Now I am old and can't do as much, but I am trying to go to the Sagar again this year. I couldn't go from 2015 to 2018 because I was performing the Maha Mrityunjaya Yagna here, and you can't leave that. I'll see if I can go this year and worship the Mother there once more.
Interviewer:
So, friends, you heard from Gurudev about his various experiences over 22 years at Gangasagar. Gurudev expressed his wish to go again this year and perform the puja in the same way. This is great news for us. We hope he can go and start the puja again. Greetings, Gurudev.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Greetings. It's a strange experience, you know. Once I was performing Durga Puja at a large venue. The secretary was a very devoted person. Before the puja under the Bael tree, I told him, "A woman will come wearing Rudraksha beads and red clothes. Whatever she asks for—clothes, money—give it to her. Give her what you were going to give me. Don't make a mistake."
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
I finished the puja, and the woman indeed came to him. There were drummers and many people around. She said, "Give me clothes." She kept asking, but he was so distracted and annoyed that he said, "Go away, come back tomorrow." He completely forgot what I had told him. He told her to come tomorrow because there was a lot of commotion in the pandal. The woman left and never came back.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
After the puja, the secretary told me, "A woman came asking for clothes, but I didn't give them; I told her to come back tomorrow." I was so upset I almost slapped him. I told him, "I told you before the puja that a woman would come! Where is your consciousness?" He started hitting his head against the wall, realizing his mistake. But a mistake is a mistake. The Mother comes to test you. She came, she asked, but he didn't give. That was his fate.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Many such things have happened in my life. And as for the Sagar, I went for 22 years. It gave me great inner satisfaction. Now that I'm older, I'll try to go again. Let's see.
Interviewer:
You all heard these strange experiences from Gurudev. We hope he goes again this year. Greetings, Gurudev.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Greetings, my son. Greetings.