In Chapter 8 of the Guru Charitra, it is described that Ambika, troubled by memories of her past actions, went to the River Ganga intending to end her life so she would not repeat her mistakes. At that very moment, Sri Pada Sri Vallabha, the divine Guru, arrived for His sacred bath. Seeing Ambika’s despair, He called her near. She prayed: “Please tell me how I can avoid having foolish sons in future births. I want a noble son who will be honoured by the world. Show me a spiritual remedy.”
Sri Guru then narrated a story to guide her.
Manibhadra was a devout worshipper of Lord Mahabaleshwar (Shiva). By the merit of his worship, he received a radiant divine jewel, a mani, as grace. Some cowherd boys once observed his rituals and began imitating them playfully. Among them, one boy slipped into deep meditation while worshipping the Shiva Linga. His mother, unaware of his spiritual state, dragged him home and broke his concentration. Yet at that very moment, Lord Shiva had already blessed the boy. Shiva forgave the mother and granted her a birth in which she would have a son as noble as Lord Krishna.
After narrating this story, Sri Pada Sri Vallabha instructed Ambika to observe the Shani Pradosha Vrat, the worship performed on Saturday that coincides with Trayodashi (13th lunar day).
A devotee, Shri Ravi Shastri, describes how Shani Pradosha worship and the grace of Guru Narendra Nath Maharaj saved his family from a grave crisis. He says: “Guru is the support of the seeker, the mother to the devotee, and the wish-fulfilling divine cow. Through the Guru’s grace, our greatest crisis was removed.”
When his wife became pregnant, complications arose. Doctors repeatedly warned that the pregnancy might not continue, and even if it did, the baby might not survive. Each time the doctors expressed fear, they visited Guru Maharaj, who calmly instructed: “Continue the pregnancy. Do the spiritual practice I have given. Walk around the sacred Ashwattha tree daily.” Despite fluctuations in health, they obeyed completely.
On the day of delivery, doctors discovered almost no amniotic fluid and that the baby was struggling to breathe. After birth, the newborn survived only a few minutes in the parents’ hands before being moved to a ventilator. Doctors declared: “The situation is critical. The newborn has severe pneumonia. We cannot say if the child will survive.” They prepared to shift the baby to another hospital, but Guru Maharaj intervened: “Do not shift the child. Keep him here.”
Doctors allowed the Guru’s mantra to be whispered into the baby’s ears. From that moment, the Guru’s healing mantras were recited near the newborn every morning and evening. Gradually the child improved. After fifteen days he could drink mother’s milk. After eighteen days the mother could hold him. In twenty-one days the child came home.
Doctors admitted: “Medically, this survival is impossible. The child was on the highest stage of ventilator support. No one returns from this stage. This is divine intervention.”
The parents believe with certainty: “From conception to birth, Guru Maharaj protected the child. He brought our baby back from the door of death. It is solely his grace.”
Today the child is two years old, perfectly healthy and free from illness—a living embodiment of the Guru’s blessing.
The stories of the Guru Charitra are not mythology; they are living truths. Even today, devotees experience the protective grace of the Divine, especially through sacred observances like Shani Pradosha Vrat and through the blessings of a true Guru.