Healing the Leper Vasudeva

Dadi: "Guddu, have you ever felt so sick that you thought nobody would want to come near you?"

Guddu: "Like when I had that bad cough and stayed home from school?"

Dadi: "Imagine something much worse, beta. Imagine having a disease so terrible that your whole body has wounds, and people run away when they see you."

Guddu: "That sounds horrible!"

Dadi: "There was once a brahmin named Vasudeva who had leprosy. His skin was covered in sores. But here's the amazing part - when worms fell from his wounds, he would gently pick them up and put them back."

Guddu: "Why would he do that?!"

Dadi: "Because he was so kind-hearted that he worried the worms would die without food. Even in his own suffering, he thought of other creatures."

Guddu: "That's... very kind, but also sad."

Dadi: "One day, Vasudeva heard that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu - a great saint believed to be God himself walking on earth - was visiting a nearby town. Vasudeva's heart filled with hope. "If I can just see him, maybe everything will change!""

Guddu: "Did he go?"

Dadi: "He tried, beta. He walked through the night on his painful feet, but when he arrived at the house where the Lord was staying... he learned Chaitanya had already left that morning."

Guddu: "Oh no!"

Dadi: "Vasudeva collapsed on the ground, unconscious from grief. He had come so close! His one chance at grace, and he had missed it."

Guddu: "This story is making me sad, Dadi."

Dadi: "Wait, beta. Something wonderful happened. Lord Chaitanya, who was already far away, suddenly felt in his heart that someone needed him desperately. He turned around and walked all the way back."

Guddu: "He came back?!"

Dadi: "He found Vasudeva lying there and did something that shocked everyone watching. He embraced the leper - wrapped his arms around this man covered in sores that everyone else avoided."

Guddu: "But... the disease..."

Dadi: "The moment Lord Chaitanya touched him, something miraculous happened. The leprosy vanished. The wounds healed. Vasudeva looked at his hands, his arms - they were clean, beautiful, like the skin of a young man."

Guddu: "Just like that?"

Dadi: "Just like that. But Chaitanya gave him something even more important than physical healing. He said, "Now that you are cured, don't become proud. Keep chanting God's name. Teach others about devotion. And you will never lose this blessing.""

Guddu: "Why would he become proud about being healed?"

Dadi: "*(wisely)* Sometimes, beta, when good things happen to us, we start thinking we're special, better than others. Chaitanya was warning him: "Your illness kept you humble. Don't let your healing make you arrogant.""

Guddu: "That's smart advice."

Dadi: "Vasudeva fell at the Lord's feet, weeping with joy. After Chaitanya left, Vasudeva and another brahmin named Kurma hugged each other and cried, remembering the kindness they had witnessed."

Guddu: "Why was it such a big deal that Chaitanya hugged a leper?"

Dadi: "In those days, beta, people with leprosy were completely isolated. Nobody would touch them. They were considered untouchable, cursed. For a great saint to embrace a leper was... unthinkable."

Guddu: "But Chaitanya didn't care about all that?"

Dadi: "He saw only a devotee in need. Not the disease, not the social rules - just a soul crying out for love. That's why he received the title "Vasudevamrita-prada" - the one who gave nectar to Vasudeva."

Guddu: "I want to be like that - to not care about outer things."

Dadi: "*(holding his hand)* That's a beautiful wish, Guddu. The story teaches us: never think you're too far from grace. Vasudeva thought he had missed his chance. But grace came back for him. And never think anyone is too low to be loved. The ones everyone else runs from might be the ones who need our embrace the most."

Guddu: "Even people who are different or sick?"

Dadi: "Especially them, beta. A hug given to someone the world has rejected - that's the most powerful hug of all."