Yogakshemam Vahamyaham

The emperor of Bishnupur, Raja Gopal Singh of the Malla dynasty (1730–1745) was a

Vaishnava. He tried his best to spend most of his time after work in chanting the name of God. The emperor had a  temple of Shri Krishna called Madan Mohan Ji in his fort capital. It is said that his ancestors had begged for the statue of Madan Mohan Ji from a poor Brahmin who used to worship the statue for years.

The Malla dynasty was extremely strong for several decades due to the popularity of its kings and the loyalty of the subjects to them. The kings of the neighboring kingdoms were jealous of the prosperity, strength and popularity of the kingdom. But with the news that the emperor Gopal Singh spent most of his time in worship, Bhaskar Rao of the Maratha state felt a potential weakness in the state and attacked Bishnupur.

After a grim battle, the Maratha army penetrated the state. They captured city after city and reached the outskirts of the capital city. Raja Gopal Singh being a devotee took a decision that made the citizens awe. He asked all the citizens to come in the fort with their families, animals and belongings. He then asked to do a continuous Harinam Sankirtan till the enemy left.

The people had a lot of faith in the king. Although, they felt this was the time to get the citizens to build an army and fight, they started chanting loudly in front of the Madan Mohan Ji's temple. The small army of the king took guard at the fort and fought the Marathas.

As the night came close, the chanting continued loudly from inside. Both the Malla and the Maratha armies were tired. The Marathas retired to a forest close by. But suddenly a warrior came out of the Malla fort on a large horse. He had two cannons - one on each side of the horse. He followed the retreating Maratha army and started firing cannon balls from a very close distance. In a matter of minutes, half the Maratha army was dead and the rest were trying to flee. The horseman after this swift action was seen returning to the fort. He dismounted the horse, dislodged the two fuming cannons and went back into the fort in the dark.

A few Maratha soldiers thought that they would not be able to escape alive from Bishnupur with such commando type soldiers in the state who could wipe out half the army single handed. So they went to the doors of the fort and surrendered. They were brought in front of Raja Gopal Singh who asked them why did they surrender. The soldiers told them about the horseman and that they hadn't seen anything like this in their lives. Gopal Singh asked his army general - Who was he? But the general had no answer. Suddenly, one of the Maratha soldiers saw the statue of Madan Mohan Ji where the king was chanting with his fellow citizens and said - That was him. That was him. I am sure that was Him.

Gopal Singh went close to the statue and saw that the statue's clothes were smelling of

and dripping sweat. Gopal Singh fell at the lotus feet of his lord. He said - O Prabhu! You had to go to defend the kingdom for me? How can I ever thank you? And the emperor started crying. He let the Maratha soldiers go free and asked them to leave the kingdom immediately. The crowd started chanting the praises to Madan Mohan Ji loudly in ecstasy.

Moral Of The Story

As per Bhagwat Geeta, Shri Krishna pledges that He protects those who depend on Him 100%. "Yogakshemam Vahamyaham" and God keeps His word.

This story is a true example from the history for God's pledge. An evidence of this fact is that one of the cannons which is still displayed in Bishnupur as a historical item developed no rust on it even after staying for centuries outside in rain.