Prabhudasji was married very young, when he was just thirteen years old. But sadly, his wife did not have the same kind and gentle heart as him. After some time, she became angry, shouted at him, and even hit him. One day, she told the local king that she would never live with Prabhudasji again.
Now free from this unhappy life, Prabhudasji quietly left and went to live in a village called Sikandarpura. There, he stayed with a peaceful sadhu named Ramdasji.
One beautiful day, Shri Mahaprabhuji came to rest in a garden near Sikandarpura. When Prabhudasji saw him for the first time, his heart filled with joy and he felt something very special. He rushed to Shri Mahaprabhuji asked to become his disciple along with his friend.
Shri Mahaprabhuji gently said, “Ramdasji is not meant for this Path,” but still Prabhudasji ran back and brought Ramdasji with him. With a smile, Shri Mahaprabhuji gave them both their first initiation. Prabhudasji could see that Shri Mahaprabhuji was none other than Shri Krishna Himself. But Ramdasji just thought he was a very holy saint.
Later, Shri Mahaprabhuji gave Prabhudasji something very special—a sacred form of Shri Krishna for worship—and also gave him Brahma Sambandh. He told Ramdasji that his proper initiation would come later. After this, Shri Mahaprabhuji continued on his journey.
A few days later, Ramdasji became a disciple of Shri Mahaprabhuji’s oldest son, Shri Gopinathji, who gave him a Shri Krishna murti and taught him how to serve with love.
But Prabhudasji’s heart stayed always focused on Shri Mahaprabhuji. One night, he quietly left Ramdasji’s home because he felt their styles of worship were too different. He walked all the way to Shri Gokul and stayed near Shri Mahaprabhuji, happy and at peace.
One time in Mathura, another great saint, Sanatan Goswami, saw Shri Mahaprabhuji’s disciples and asked, “Why are your disciples so thin, when this is the Path of Pushti, or divine nourishment?”
Shri Mahaprabhuji smiled and said, “I warned them not to come on this path. But they didn’t listen, and now they live only for Shri Krishna.”
Sanatan Goswami didn’t understand at first and shared this answer with his own guru, Shri Krishna Chaitanya. As soon as Shri Krishna Chaitanya heard it, he fainted from the deep meaning. Just like Shri Krishna once told the Gopis to go home when they came to him, but they stayed to be with Him—these disciples also stay, forgetting their hunger and everything else, just to be close to Shri Krishna.
Prabhudasji always made his own food, but one day he made a mistake. His lentils were not cooked properly, and the bread burned. He thought it was not good enough to offer to Shri Krishna, so he added charanamrit (holy water) to it and quietly ate it himself.
Later, the Shri Krishna murti told Shri Mahaprabhuji, “I didn’t get any food today.”
Shri Mahaprabhuji gently asked Prabhudasji, “Why didn’t you offer your meal to Shri Krishna?”
Prabhudasji felt very sorry. From that day on, he made sure to cook carefully and offer the food with full love and attention.
Another time, when he was at Radhakund, Shri Mahaprabhuji offered him some prasada. But Prabhudasji said, “I haven’t taken a bath yet.”
Shri Mahaprabhuji then recited a special verse. He explained how in Vrindavan, Shri Krishna is always standing under every tree playing His flute, and in every leaf lives a divine form of the Lord. Even the dust in Vrindavan is holy. So there is no need to worry about whether one has bathed. Right then, Shri Mahaprabhuji gave Prabhudasji a vision of the true Vrindavan. Feeling blessed, Prabhudasji ate the prasada joyfully.
On the holy day of Dan Ekadashi, Shri Mahaprabhuji asked Prabhudasji to get some curd for offering to Shri Nathji. Prabhudasji went to a nearby milkmaid and asked for some sweet curd. She said, “I have the best curd. What will you give me in return?”
Prabhudasji kindly said, “Whatever you ask, I will give.”
The milkmaid thought for a moment and said, “I want liberation.”
Prabhudasji smiled, wrote her request on paper, and handed it to her. Others laughed at the milkmaid, saying, “You gave curd for something useless!”
But she believed in Prabhudasji’s words.
Just two hours later, she passed away. When the messengers of death came for her soul, they found the messengers of liberation already there! They argued, “Why are you here? She never did anything great.”
But the messengers of liberation replied, “Prabhudasji, a dear devotee of Shri Mahaprabhuji, gave her liberation. And we obey such pure souls.”
Later, Shri Nathji told Shri Mahaprabhuji, “The curd today was wonderful!”
Shri Mahaprabhuji asked, “What did you pay for it?”
Prabhudasji said softly, “I paid a high price—I gave liberation.”
Shri Mahaprabhuji asked, “Why didn’t you give her something better—devotion to Shri Krishna?”
Prabhudasji smiled and said, “She asked for liberation. If she had asked for devotion, I would have given that too. Nothing is too much to pay for Shri Krishna’s curd.”
Prabhudasji’s heart was full of love, and everything he did was filled with Shri Krishna’s name and Shri Mahaprabhuji’s blessings.
A Gift of Liberation
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