Kushal Kunvarba

In Dharmapur (near Surat) there lived a great devotee of God, Kushal Kunvarba. She was the Queen of the region and was widowed. She had a lustrous son who was very kind and generous and always welcomed Sadhus to the Royal Palaces and fed them lovingly.

Kushal Kunvarba had the pleasure once of meeting Param Chaitanyanand Swami. He resided in Dharampur and spoke of the pastimes and glory of Maharaj. By such experience, Kushal Kunverba became firmly devoted to Maharaj. She accepted Swami as her Guru and served him graciously and had utmost respect for him.

Once, Maharaj sent Muktanand Swami to fetch Param Chaitanyanand Swami from Dharmapur. Kushal Kunvarba stepped in and refused Swami saying, "I will not let you take my Guru away from me!" Thus Kushal Kunverba had become very close with Swami. She requested to Swami that she would release him only on the condition that Maharaj himself come to Dharmapur and thus extended an invitation.

Swami agreed and so Kushal Kunvarba wrote a letter to Maharaj and both took it with them to Gadhpur. Maharaj was delighted with Kushal Kunvarbas devotion. Indeed many other letters arrived from Kushal Kunvarba subsequently adorned with gifts. Seeing her deep devotion, Maharaj left with 500 paramhansas for Dharmapur. They celebrated a large Vasant Panchmi utsav there to the delight of Kushal Kunvarba and the other residents of Dharmapur.

Kushal Kunverba gave all her wealth to Maharaj but Maharaj refused it and explained, "I have not come rule therefore continue to serve here as the ruler but maintain your devotion for Me." In this way she was prepared to give up all her wealth!

After staying for many days in Dharmapur and fulfilling all of Kushal Kunvarba's wishes, Maharaj left for Gadhada. After Maharaj left, she decided to pass everything on to her son as she was elderly and she spent the rest of her days in devotion to Maharaj. She stopped taking food and water and sat solely in meditation. After 15 days of such strict penance, she left her mortal body to serve Maharaj in Akshardham.