A Spontaneous Homa at Kamakhya

 

(from "The Goddess and the Guru"):

On another occasion, Alok had the rare privilege of watching Swami Swaprakasananda—Guruji’s beloved Anakapalle Gurugaru—perform a puja at Kamakhya. He happened to be visiting the Ashram one evening when a young woman arrived and narrated a marital difficulty.

“I remember Gurugaru was sitting on a chair with Guruji on the floor near his feet,” Alok said. When the woman finished, Guruji rose and suggested that they all walk to Kamakhya and perform a homa for her.

Upon their arrival, it became clear that Gurugaru rather than Guruji was going to lead the ritual.

“It was one of the most extraordinary homas I have ever attended,” Alok said. The peetam was pitch black, with no light except for that of the sacrificial fire itself. Gurugaru began chanting the opening mantras, and soon entered a trance-like state.

Alok tried to figure out the ritual being performed, but it quickly became clear that Gurugaru was following no established sequence at all.

“It was all completely spontaneous, almost wild,” Alok said. “His chants and actions seemed totally random. He was throwing kumkum into the fire, rocking like a madman, his eyes closed, seemingly chanting whatever came into his head, without any apparent rhyme or reason. To me, at least, it seemed totally chaotic.”

Yet the darkened temple was soon abuzz with a powerful, pervasive energy; the young woman at the homa’s focus seemed transformed in the dim firelight.

“There is no question in my mind that whatever he was doing was highly effective,” Alok said. He glanced over to see Guruji’s reaction; he was calmly observing Gurugaru and easily following along with no apparent confusion or surprise.

“But for me the whole thing was beyond belief,” Alok said. “I was literally shaking. I had never seen anything like it in my life.”