Laddu Gopal’s sister Chanda

In the Braj Mandal region, near a forest, sat a village. In a dilapidated hut on the edge of the forest, lived a seven- or eight-year-old girl, whom her grandmother had affectionately named “Chanda.”

Chanda had no other support except her grandmother, her parents died in an epidemic when Chanda was only 2 years old, since then her grandmother had raised her.

Chanda’s grandmother also had no means of earning, so she would collect wood from the forest and sell it and whatever 2-4 annas she got from it, they both used to survive.

Since there was no one else at home, Grandma would take Chanda with her to the forest. The two grandmothers would wander the forest all day and return home before dusk. This was their daily routine.

Chanda was very happy with her grandmother, but one thing that bothered her deeply was that she had no brother. The village children teased her for this and wouldn’t even let her play with them, which made her very sad.

Many times she would ask her grandmother why she didn’t have a brother. Then her grandmother would lovingly explain, “Who says you don’t have a brother? He’s there, isn’t he? He’s your brother, isn’t he?” Saying this, her grandmother would point to Laddu Gopal.

Chanda’s hut had an old but beautiful Laddu Gopal idol that her grandfather had brought her. Chanda’s grandmother would pamper him with great love, serve him with great affection, and offer him food.

Where could a poor woman find food or sweets? They were all simple and simple. She would first offer them to God, then sit with Chanda and eat. Upon hearing Chanda’s question, she would point to the Laddu Gopal.

From childhood, Chanda considered Laddu Gopal her brother. Whenever she felt sad, she would sit in front of him and talk to him, asking, “Brother, why don’t you come play with me? All the children tease me and make fun of me, You don’t even let me play with you, I live alone, why don’t you come over? Are you angry with me, that you haven’t come home even once? I’ve never even seen you.

Lost in her childish fantasies, Chanda would pour out all her sorrows to Laddu Gopal. Her love was pure, and she would call out to her brother. Even God would be overwhelmed by her love, but he never responded.

One day Chanda asked her grandmother, “Grandma, why doesn’t my brother come home? Where does he live?” To try to dissuade her, her grandmother said, “Your brother lives in the forest. He will return one day.”

Chanda asked, “Isn’t he afraid of the forest? Why does he live there?” Grandma replied, “No, he’s not afraid of anyone. He doesn’t like the village, so he lives in the forest.”

As Raksha Bandhan day slowly approached, all the girls in the village bought rakhis for their brothers. They began teasing Chanda, saying, “You don’t have a brother, whom will you tie a rakhi to?”

Chanda’s patience had finally run out. She came home and started crying loudly. When her grandmother asked, she told her everything, and her grandmother was deeply saddened. She lovingly advised Chanda, “Don’t cry, my child. Your brother will come.”

But Chanda did not stop crying and went near the idol of Laddu Gopal and hugged it and started crying loudly and said, brother why don’t you come, all brothers get Rakhi tied by their sisters, then why don’t you come and get it tied?

Meanwhile, God was witnessing all of Chanda’s endeavors. Crying, Chanda remembered that her grandmother had told her that her brother lived in the forest, Then what happened was that without telling her grandmother, she ran towards the forest barefoot, she had decided in her mind that she would bring her brother back today.

The innocent girl ran along the thorny path of the forest, and God was witnessing her. Then God cried out in pain, blood oozed from his feet. After all, how could it be possible for a devotee of God to suffer without Him? When a thorn pricked Chanda’s feet in the forest, even God groaned in pain.

Meanwhile, blood started flowing from Chanda’s feet, she sat there and started crying, then God passed his hand on Chanda’s feet where the thorn had stuck, In the blink of an eye, the bleeding from Chanda’s feet stopped and the pain also disappeared and she got up again and started running towards the forest.

This time, her feet were pierced by thorns, but the little creature kept running without worry. She had to reach her brother. Finally, she stopped in a place, exhausted, and began crying out, “Brother, are you here? Why don’t you come?”

Now it was difficult for God to wait even for a moment, he got up and took the form of a beautiful boy of eleven-twelve years and reached Chanda.

Meanwhile, Chanda sat down tired and was crying with her head bowed, when suddenly someone’s hand touched her head and a voice was heard, “I have come my sister, don’t cry now!”

Chanda looked up at the boy and asked, “Are you my brother?” “Yes, Chanda,” she replied, “I am your brother.” Hearing this, Chanda hugged her brother and burst into tears.

Then a unique scene of emotion and devotion emerged between the devotee and God, God also sat there on the earth, he took the soft feet of little Chanda in his hands and looked at her with compassion.

Those tiny, tender feet were completely riddled with thorns and bleeding. Seeing this, God’s eyes welled up with tears. He pressed those tiny feet to his forehead and wept.

It was a wonderful sight. The sister wept with joy at finding her brother, while the Lord wept at the suffering of his devotee. With his own hands, Lord Hari removed the thorns from Chanda’s feet,Then I touched his feet with my hands, all the pain went away in a moment.

Chanda held her brother’s hand and said, “Brother, now go home. Tomorrow is Raksha Bandhan. I will also celebrate it.” God said, “Now go home. Your grandmother must be waiting,I will definitely come to your house tomorrow morning. Saying this, he assured her and came to drop her till the border of the forest.

Now Chanda was very happy, all her worries were gone, when she reached home she saw that her grandmother was in a bad condition due to crying, as soon as she saw Chanda, her grandmother hugged her. Chanda was very happy and said, Grandma, don’t cry now, my brother will come tomorrow, I will also celebrate the festival of Rakshabandhan.

Grandmother wiped her tears, thinking that she must have found a boy in the forest whom she considered her brother. Chanda insisted on her grandmother buying a beautiful Rakhi for her brother.

The next morning, after taking a bath, she sat at the door waiting for her brother. She did not have to wait long. After a while, the boy was seen coming from the front. Seeing him, Chanda cried out with joy, “Grandma, brother has come.” And she ran to her brother, took him by the hand and brought him home.

She made him sit on her broken cot, lovingly applied tilak to her brother, performed aarti, and tied the Raksha Sutra. Her brother was overjoyed to see the beautiful Rakhi. God, in the form of a brother, was overwhelmed by her love; now it was her turn.

When her brother opened the bag he had brought with him, he found a treasure trove of goodies: beautiful clothes, sweets, toys, and much more. Chanda felt as if she had grown wings; her joy knew no bounds.

After spending some time together, the boy said, “I have to go back to the forest.” Chanda became sad, but he said, “Don’t be sad. From today on, I will visit you every day.” Chanda was very happy. The boy returned to the forest.

Meanwhile, the grandmother was confused as to who this boy was. She couldn’t understand anything. But only Kanhaiya knew what was in his mind.

When Chanda returned home after her brother left, she froze. When her eyes fell on the idol of Laddu Gopal, she saw that the same Rakhi was tied on his hand, which she had tied on her brother’s hand.

He immediately called his grandmother, who was also surprised to see this, but she had been a devotee of Krishna since childhood, she immediately knew that the child was none other than Kanhaiya himself, She fell at his feet and said, O trickster, you deceived me all my life, and when my life came to an end, you still deceived me and went away.

She said to Chanda, “That boy was none other than your brother.” Hearing this, Chanda hugged the idol and began to cry. “Tell me, brother, was it you? I know it was you,” she said, Then why don’t you come forward, why do you hide?

The pure love between the grandmother and granddaughter was such that even God was compelled. Liladhari immediately appeared from his idol and said, “Yes, Chanda, I am your brother. You called me, so I had to come.” And how can I not come? I stay far away from those who indulge in pretense, show-off and hypocrisy, but when any of my true devotees calls me with love and devotion, then I have to come.

The loving play of the devotee and God was going on; the grandmother and granddaughter merged into God, from that day onwards no one in the village saw them, no one knew where the grandmother and granddaughter had gone.