Sri Bama Khepa — Guru Beyond Shastras: The Divine Madness

Shri Ganeshaya Namah…

BhairavaKaalike Namosthute.

Sri Bama Khepa — Guru Beyond Shastras: The Divine Madness

In the sacred lands of Bengal, where the air still hums with mantras and the soil remembers the footsteps of saints, there once walked a mystic – wild, fearless, intoxicated not by wine, but by the nectar of the Divine. He was called Bama Khepa, the “mad saint” – Khepa, for his maddening love for the Divine Mother, and Bama, meaning the “left-handed one”, who walked the untrodden path of tantric wisdom and boundless devotion.

But who was this man whose name now echoes like a mantra in the hearts of true seekers?

Sri Bama Khepa, lovingly called Bhāmadēv, was no ordinary sadhu. He was not a man of scriptures, rituals, or societal approval. He was a man of direct madness, of unfiltered love, of procedural collapse.

His heart was set ablaze by one deity alone – Maa Tara, the second Mahavidya, the fierce and compassionate Mother who drinks the pain of her devotees like nectar. For Bamdev, she was not a statue or a concept. She was his Maa, his breath, his blood, the very reason for his heartbeat.

At Tarapith, the sacred Shaktipeeth where Maa Tara is believed to reside eternally, Bama Khepa lived like a true child of the Goddess. He refused to follow rules, rituals, or temple protocols. He would often walk into the sanctum of the temple naked, offer what he pleased, and lie on the floor like a baby on his mother’s lap. Priests tried to stop him, society shunned him, but Maa Tara protected her mad child like her very soul.

His Bhakti: Beyond Logic, Beyond Dharma, Beyond Mind

Bamdev did not teach scriptures. He lived them.

His love for Maa was not conditioned by desires or boons. He didn’t pray for heaven or powers. All he wanted was Her. Just Her. He would often say,

“Ma ke pelam, aar kichhu dorkar nei.”

(“I have found my Mother, I need nothing else.”)

He sang to her, wept for her, laughed with her, scolded her like a child scolds his mother. His bhakti was raw, fearless, and complete. He was not afraid to challenge the Goddess. He was not ashamed to cry in front of her. He was not shy to dance when he felt her presence. Such was the purity of his heart, that Maa Tara herself would appear to him, talk to him, feed him, play with him.

His entire life became an offering – not through rituals but through unconditional surrender.

The Collapse of Procedure

Some days, Bamdev would start puja at 3:00 AM. Some days at 1:00 PM. When asked why, he would say, “When She calls, I come. Who are you to fix the time?” One day he would pour 15 buckets of water on Her; another day, only oil. Sometimes just a cloth. And sometimes, nothing.

When you walk far enough on the path, Devi becomes the path. Then, you light the lamp when She says, not when the clock chimes. You no longer follow puja — you become puja.

This is procedural collapse: when rules give way to raw intimacy. When you realize that Devi is not pleased by how correctly you chant, but how completely you surrender.

He sat among stray dogs in the cremation ground, sharing food with them, speaking to them like disciples. “These are old sādhaks correcting small mistakes,” he said. And then you wonder — were we once one of those dogs? Were we corrected by his love?

Jai Maa Tara…

Jai Maa Adya Maha Kali.