Divine Intervention - Part 2

It was in the year 1997 when we visited Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh on a holiday cum pilgrimage. It was in early November during Diwali holidays. My son Surya had just celebrated his first birthday a few months earlier. 

At Vrindavan, we went to various temples before coming to Nidhivan. This is a 4-5 acres plot of land filled with shrubs & stunted trees compounded by high walls. In the middle of this place is a small temple where Lord Krishna is believed to visit every night and dance with the Gopis. People keep articles of new clothing, perfumes, make up etc. in the evening and find it used / disturbed by next morning. The gates of Nidhivan are closed by 6-6.30 p.m. and no visitors are allowed to remain inside during the night time. It is said that a few people who sneaked in during the time of the divine dance (Raas) lost their ability to speak or lost their mental balance.

Vrindavan is full of monkeys that are fairly bold and do snatch away your bags, spectacles etc. Nidhivan also has a large number of monkeys roaming around freely. We were warned to remove spectacles and hide bags before entering this place. When we reached it was almost 5.30 p.m. and getting dark.

I was carrying my son in one hand and my wife was carrying his new spare clothes which was purchased for Diwali a few days earlier. My spectacles were in my pocket and in the fading light I could hardly see anything clearly.

It was at that time a monkey came near my wife and snatched the shorts of my son that she was carrying and jumped into the bushes. My elder brother, who was near her, chased the monkey only to find the monkey going deeper into the shrubs. Within no time the monkey had literally vanished. There was no way we could retrieve the shorts of my son.

We continued walking through the narrow pathway towards the temple inside Nidhivan. I just thought and prayed to Krishna and mentally said to Him, 'If you return my son's shorts, I will put some money in your Hundi'. It was a stupid thought and normally I never seek anything in my prayers but this came in my mind abruptly.

After we reached the temple in about 10 minutes or so, we stood before the small idol of Lord Krishna. 

Suddenly, a small boy of about 7-8 years of age came to us and said, "Is this yours?". In his hand he was carrying my son's shorts! We were wonder stuck as this boy had come directly to us although there were hundreds of visitors walking around at that time. We gratefully accepted it from him and the boy quickly moved away. The only mark in the shorts was a small tear indicating that either the monkey had bitten it or some thorn had pierced it.

The other members of my group were thinking we were lucky to have got the shorts back. Only I knew of my prayer and the instant response from the Lord. He proved it that He is always listening to our sincere prayers and fulfils it whenever He so chooses. I did put a small currency note in the Hundi of the temple by way of fulfilling my promise.

Such is the power of that place where Lord Krishna visits every evening even today.