Soon after his marriage, Shri Devi Das became very ill. There was little hope of his recovery. When he lay apparently on his death-bed with his weeping mother beside him, all of a sudden he said in a voice that contained the roar of a lion:
Mother! Do not weep for me! No power on earth can take me away until I have completed the work for which I have come into this world!
His mother was astonished to hear the voice. It was not that of a sick child but of some very Great Soul.
He made a vow before God that should he recover he would devote the remainder of his life to God’s work. He recovered miraculously. His mind was resolved to leave the materialistic world and to seek solitude in the forest. He opened the door of his house to step out into another world. The attractions of the world could not hold him back. Attachments to kith and kin could not lure him. But, just then, an invisible hand appeared to reach out and stop Shri Devi Das from leaving the world. He heard within him the voice of God:
Where are you going?
To fulfil the promise I made.
Stay! You have not to leave the world! Your promise is fulfilled! You must live in the world within attachments and responsibilities and show the way to others. A fountain of divine knowledge shall flow from you. And one day the time shall come when the world will receive enlightenment from you and shall come face to face with God. Truly you are blessed!