Devki Nandan Kasera, who was with Shri Nathji at the time, wrote a letter to Shri Ganesh Prasad Bhutt, who was at Raipur during those days, telling him of the acute pain that Shri Nathji was enduring in his right arm.
Bhutt was badly shaken. Although he knew Shri Nathji was God personified and could cure himself, yet the very thought of any physical suffering coming to that gentlest, noblest and most beautiful of all bodies was terrible to endure. Bhutt wrote to Shri Nathji at Naini Tal. It was a letter that Shri Nathji fondly quoted ever afterwards, as depicting the devotion of Bhutt for him. Bhutt wrote:
You cannot imagine how terrible it is to endure the thought of your subjecting your body to such great physical suffering. We know that you have taken upon yourself the pain of a world in turmoil and war. It is your own play–your own leela. We beg of thee to stop this leela as we cannot endure it any longer. However if it be thy desire to continue with thy drama then break both my arms but cure your own.
“Prabhuji mere dono baazoo torr den, magar apnaa baazoo theek kar len.
“Please give your arm the best possible medical treatment available anywhere; spare no expense. If need be, all my resources are at your disposal. Your arm must be cured at all costs. Your body is the most precious of all upon earth.
“Also it is my prayer that you allow one from amongst my family to live with you and to serve you personally. I can leave my job and come, or else I can send Gangabai, my wife, to be with you and Mateshwari, and then there is also Jagdish, my son, who pines for you, and is ever anxious to serve you. If you grant me permission I may send him to you immediately.
And it was thus that Jagdish, the son of Ganesh Prasad Bhutt, came to Shri Nathji and Mateshwari at Naini Tal and began to live with them to care for Shri Nathji.
Shri Nathji would often say:
Blessed are those devotees who do not lose faith when they see their Master in trouble. Hanuman did not lose faith even though Lord Rama presented a picture of utter helplessness, roaming the forests without food, searching for Sita and seeking the help of others. Hanuman knew this was all the part of Lord Rama’s grand leela upon earth.
If a Minister of the government falls ill, it does not mean that he has lost his powers. It is only his body that is ill; the powers vested in him by the government still remain as strong as ever.
Similarly, when you see physical afflictions come to my body, you must know that these are of my own calling. If the dead could rise and the sick be cured with a single glance that I cast at them, would I not have the power to cure myself? But I have begun a drama -a leela- that has to be enacted to the end. It is not enough for the devotees to say: ‘Oh, all this is Prabhuji’s leela!’ They must also say, ‘Even if this is his own drama we must ask ourselves what is our part in it!’
“Sirf itnaa hee kaihna kaafi naheen ke ye sab Prabhu leela hai. Hamen ye poochhna hai ke iss leela men hamaaraa part kyaa hai.
Therein lies real devotion. It was in such a devotion that Bhutt excelled.