A long time ago, in the town of Sinhanand, lived a kind-hearted husband and wife. They were from a noble family and had plenty of wealth, but they did not care for riches or comforts. Instead, they wished to find Shri Krishna and feel His presence in their hearts.
To show their love for Shri Krishna, they gave up many worldly pleasures. Every eleventh day of the moon, they would fast the whole day without even drinking water. Because of these strict practices, their bodies became very thin. Their parents worried and asked them to stop, but the couple gently refused. Their only dream was to meet Shri Krishna.
One day, Shri Mahaprabhuji came to a nearby town. After taking a holy bath in the river Sarasvati, He sat down to pray. Just then, He noticed the Kshatriya couple standing in the cold river water, doing very hard austerities.
Shri Mahaprabhuji asked someone nearby, “Who are they?”
A Vaishnav standing there said, “They are trying to find God through these strict practices.”
Shri Mahaprabhuji called the couple to Him and softly asked, “Why are you being so harsh on your bodies?”
The couple answered, “We don’t have much, but our wish is very big. We want to hear the voice of Shri Krishna.”
Shri Mahaprabhuji gently explained, “You don’t need to hurt your body to reach Shri Krishna. He becomes happy when we serve Him with love and care.”
Hearing this, the couple felt peace in their hearts. They became disciples of Shri Mahaprabhuji and started doing Shri Krishna’s seva with love. Since their parents still did not accept their new spiritual path, the couple moved into a separate home with the help of a kind god-brother. He made sure they had all they needed. The Vaishnavas in that area also cared for them and helped them with seva.
But soon, a problem arose. The husband heard that his parents were saying bad things about them. They said, “They only act like devotees and take money from others.”
The husband was deeply hurt. When he told his wife, she calmly said, “Maybe they are right. The Vaishnavas have given us everything. This does not feel right anymore. We must live on our own and do seva with honesty. Only then will Shri Krishna truly be pleased.”
So, the couple quietly moved to the city of Agra. There, they found a very tiny room to rent. Inside that room, they kept Shri Krishna and did seva with great love. They didn’t want to disturb Shri Krishna’s rest, so every night they would sleep outside the room.
When the rainy season came, they got wet sitting outside. One day, as they sat in the rain, they heard Shri Krishna’s sweet voice say, “Why are you sitting in the rain? Come inside.”
The couple replied humbly, “How can we come near You when we are not doing seva?”
Shri Krishna said, “It hurts Me to see you getting drenched. Please, come inside.”
Only then did the couple quietly enter the room. The next day, they built a small shelter outside the door to rest at night. Later, Shri Krishna asked again, “Why don’t you sleep inside?”
The couple replied, “When we are not serving You, we feel it’s not right to be in Your temple room. We now sleep under this shelter.”
Shri Krishna was very touched by their love and humility. From that day on, He showed them His divine presence again and again. He would speak to them and even ask for whatever He wished. Their hearts were full of joy, and their days were spent only in seva and love for Shri Krishna.
Poem: The Rainy Night and Shri Krishna’s Call
Tags: devotional bedtime stories, pushtimarg stories for kids, vaishnav stories for children, krishna bhakti for families, sanatan dharma tales, stories about seva, hindu spiritual parenting, simple bhakti stories, stories from 84 vaishnav, shri vallabhacharya stories for kids