Why Did Thakur Ji Go from Vrindavan to Odisha for the Devotee?

A brief word from Pujya Maharaj Ji — watch the video above to listen to the full discourse.

The Full Discourse

A wealthy brahmin was arranging a pilgrimage. There was a young brahmin who was poor. He said, "Alright, I will also get darshan. Come, let me serve you and you provide the funds." Everything was settled. During the pilgrimage, when they came to Vrindavan, the young brahmin served so well that the brahmin's heart was deeply moved.

So the wealthy brahmin said to him: "Brother, servant of Gopal Ji's temple, you have served us so well. We have a daughter. We want to arrange her marriage with you."

The young brahmin didn't say much, but then he spoke: "But you yourself told me, 'Don't change. If you go back to the village and become a big man, your son will become worldly.' How can I abandon the service of God's temple?" The wealthy brahmin said, "No, no, why would I change? I serve in God's temple." But his family was pressing him to arrange the marriage of their daughter.

In short, when the young brahmin reached that place, he said to the brahmin, "Father, you said this, didn't you?" But the brahmin said, "Brother, I don't remember saying that."

So the young brahmin gathered the village elders. In those days, the village people and the chief would settle such matters through the panchayat. He told the elders, "Look, I didn't want this—he said it on his own."

The elders said, "Brother, there should be some witness to his promise."

"Yes," said the young brahmin. "He promised this in front of God, in front of Gopal Ji himself."

Immediately someone spoke up: "What, will the idol walk and give testimony?"

But inside the temple, a voice was heard: "The idol can speak. The idol can walk."

God said: "You are speaking like this, so I will have to come along. But here in Vrindavan we get food and drink. If I go with you, we won't have anything to eat. How will we manage?"

The young brahmin said, "That's why I sold everything I had and brought food and drink with me. Don't worry about that."

God said, "Alright then. I will walk behind you. You walk ahead."

The young brahmin asked, "How will I know the way?"

Gopal Ji said, "You will hear the jingling of my ankle bells. And whenever you turn around and look at me, I will stop going forward."

The young brahmin said, "Alright."

When it was time to offer bhog, God walked behind him. Thakur Gopal Ji of Vrindavan went to that place, to Odisha.

As they were about to reach the town, the young brahmin heard only the sound of the ankle bells and realized that He was indeed coming. The moment he turned to look, God smiled and said, "Look, our agreement was that if you turned to look, I would stop. We are so close now that I will not go further."

The young brahmin said, "Please come, don't let me down. I have already called the panchayat."

So Gopal Ji came as a witness in the entire village. Everyone was amazed. Thakur Ji from Vrindavan! After that, who would ever dare to ask God for a witness? When God Himself is our witness...

This text is taken from the video's auto-generated captions — it may contain word errors. To hear the authentic discourse, please listen to the video.

Original video: Bhajan Marg (YouTube)