The story of sri saakshi gopaal
Bhagavan sri chaitanya mahaprabhu, while on pilgrimage, heard the story of sakshi gopal from sri nityananda prabhu. Sakshi gopal is the perumal in the town of katak in odisha
May the lord sri krishnar who blessed the devotees in the story bless us too in the same way
Once there were two good devotees – a young devotee and an elderly one. Both went on a pilgrimage to the holy town of vrindavan. The young devotee served the old one with much dutifulness and care. The old devotee was very pleased with him, and said, “My dear boy, i’ll give my daughter’s hand in marriage to you.” The young devotee hesitated, “Sir, what you’re saying doesn’t seem feasible. You are from a very well-to-do and respectable family. On the other hand, i’m uneducated and poor and not from a high family background. So i have doubts about this proposal.”
The old devotee insisted, “I don’t care about these things. I’ve made up my mind to give my daughter to you.”
The young devotee replied, “Your family members will surely oppose. How do you propose to handle that?”
The old man said, “It is my daughter im giving to you. What authority do family members have to oppose me in this? I shall stand firm before them.”
Again and again the young devotee hesitated, and again and again the old one insisted.
The young devotee then proposed, “well then, bhagavan sri gopal sri krishnar is here in this temple. In His presence you’re giving your word.” And praying to the lord, he said, “O lord, the old devotee here has made a marriage promise, a vow, to me in Your divine sacred presence. In case he goes back on his word, it is up to You to bear witness and ensure that the word is kept.”
The two devotees then returned peacefully from vrindavan back to their village. And went to their respective homes.
As the days passed, the old man’s anxiety grew. He thought, “ive given my word of honour in perumal’s temple for giving my daughter’s hand to the young devotee. I do want to fulfil it. But how to go about it?”
He called a meeting of his family members, and said, “in a holy perumal temple in vrindavan, i gave my word of honour to a young man that i’ll give our daughter’s hand in marriage to him. I wish to fulfil that vow.”
The family members were aghast. They were immediately up in arms. “If you proceed in this direction, we shall cut off all relationship from you.”
The girl’s mother said, “I shall consume poison and die if you proceed.”
They all said, “we shall becoming the laughing stock of society if you go ahead.”
The old man was very distressed at heart. “I’ve made a marriage promise in a holy place, and it is not proper to go back on that.”
The old man’s son – the girl’s brother, who was not too sound on ethical principles, proposed to the man, “if the young man comes, you need not lie. You simply say, ‘i don’t remember’. I shall take care of the rest.”
The young devotee came in due course of time to visit the old man. After enquiring of his welfare, he reminded him of the marriage promise. The old man claimed not to remember anything. Taking cue, the girl’s brother came armed with a stick and shooed the young devotee away.
The young devotee called a meeting of the villagers, and said, “my dear friends, in a holy temple the old man, pleased with me, gave his solemn word to give his daughter’s hand in marriage to me. But now he is going back on his word.
“When he made the marriage proposal, i hesitated, and pointed out that there will be much opposition in his family. But the old man said that he’ll stand firm. Again and again i hesitated. And repeatedly he insisted. We agreed in sri krishnar’s temple, and then completing our pilgrimage we returned home.
“Now the old man is going back on his word.”
The villagers called for the old man’s family and questioned him, “when you’ve made a solemn vow in a sacred temple, why do you now go back on it?”
The old devotee, as planned by his son, simply said, “My memory is weak and my mind is not steady. I don’t remember what i said or did.”
The girl’s brother, taking advantage, entered the scene, and calling the young devotee ill names said, “Look at this fraud. My father being affectionate to him took him along on a pilgrimage. This man, poverty-stricken that he is, was eager to usurp my father’s wealth. He gave an intoxicant to my father, and taking advantage of his mental unsteadiness, stole the money. And now this rascal claims to also want my sister’s hand in marriage. Look at his impudence! He is no match for my sister in any way, and yet makes such baseless claims.”
The young devotee remained composed, and replied, “I do not doubt the old man. He is a good person. Just due to intense family opposition, he claims to not remember. The facts are indeed as i outlined. I repeatedly hesitated, and the old man repeatedly insisted. Sri gopal of vrindavan is witness to the marriage promise.”
It was decided that if bhagavan sri gopal gave witness, the young devotee’s words would be upheld.
The old man, who was actually pious and good at heart, prayed, “o lord, i gave my sincere word in Your temple. It is up to You to ensure that the marriage proposal made to this young devotee is kept, and at the same time, my family members too should be placated.”
The girl’s brother also agreed to the proposal, convinced as he was that a deity cannot bear witness.
The young devotee, with sincere devotion, went back to vrindavan, and called upon the lord. “Pls bear witness to my marriage proposal. More than my marriage, i am concerned and feel sad that the old devotee’s word of honour is not being kept. He is a good devotee. You please do the needful.”
The lord, who is always affectionate to His devotees walked, despite being in Deity form, all the way from vrindavan to katak, hundreds of miles.
And there He bore witness!
That “yes, a marriage proposal and promise was indeed made in My temple, and it should go through.”
Both the old devotee and the young one were very pleased.
The marriage duly happened.
Pleased by the devotion of these two devotees, the lord remained in katak, and came to be known as saakshi gopaal, or lord sri krishna who bore witness
An insignificant devotee prays, “o lord, an unfortunate devotee of Yours is caught in a very painful situation. You are adi moola perumal. May being merciful upon Your devotee, You fulfil a solemn marriage vow made at a holy tree of santaana gopal in Your temple, and thus Your glories will be sung far and wide”
sri ramanuja seva 