Vishnupriya

Vishnupriya’s Japa

Vishnupriya Devi was 14 years old when the Lord left home and took sannyasa. After the Lord left, it is said that with the exception of taking bath daily in the Ganga along with Mother Sachi, Vishnupriya always remained within the house. When devotees went there to take prasadam, they would only see Vishnupriya’s feet. Never did they see her face, nor hear her voice. A constant flow of tears continually streamed from her eyes. She ate only the remnants of food left by Mother Sachi, and constantly chanted the holy name. She worshiped a deity of Lord Gauranga‚ and offered service to it with great love and devotion. After the departure of Sachi Devi, her brother acted as her guardian.

Srila Narahari Chakravarti describes Vishnupriya’s suffering in separation from the Lord in his Bhakti-ratnakara (4.48-51) as follows: “Due to separation from the Lord, Vishnupriya lay on the floor with wide-open eyes, seldom able to sleep, and her bright golden complexion grew pale. She gradually became extremely thin, like the moon on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight. While chanting the holy name, she collected a few grains of rice, which she cooked and ate. No one knew how she maintained her life.”

— Adapted from Srila Narahari Chakravarti’s Sri Bhakti-ratnakara and Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaja's Sermons from the Guardian of Devotion.

[This was an excerpt from issue no 9 of our printed mag. I like this picture very much]