Once there was a great king named Salbahan, and he had two queens. The elder, Queen Achhra, had a handsome young son named Prince Puran. But the younger, Queen Lona, despite her prayers and tears at many shrines, had no child to bring her joy. Being a deceitful woman, envy and anger filled her heart, and she poisoned King Salbahan’s mind against his son, young Puran. Just as the Prince was becoming a man, his father, consumed by jealousy, ordered that Puran’s hands and feet be cut off. Not satisfied with this cruelty, King Salbahan had the poor young man thrown into a deep well. However, Puran did not die, as the enraged father hoped. God preserved the innocent Prince, allowing him to survive at the bottom of the well until, years later, the great and holy Guru Goraknath came by. Finding Prince Puran still alive, he not only freed him from his terrible prison but also used magic to restore his hands and feet. In gratitude, Puran became a holy man, placing sacred earrings in his ears, and followed Goraknath as a disciple, becoming known as Puran Bhagat.

As time passed, Puran longed to see his mother’s face, so Guru Goraknath allowed him to visit his hometown. Puran Bhagat went there and stayed in a large walled garden where he had often played as a child. He found it neglected and barren, and his heart grew sad seeing the broken watercourses and withered trees. He sprinkled the dry ground with water from his drinking vessel and prayed for everything to become green again. As he prayed, the trees sprouted leaves, the grass grew, flowers bloomed, and everything was as it once was.

News of this miracle spread quickly through the city, and everyone came to see the holy man who had performed the wonder. Even King Salbahan and his two queens heard about it in the palace, and they too went to the garden to see it for themselves. But Puran Bhagat’s mother, Queen Achhra, had cried so long for her beloved son that her tears had blinded her. She went not to see but to ask the miracle-working holy man to restore her sight. Little knowing who she was asking, she fell to the ground before Puran Bhagat, begging him to cure her; and almost before she asked, it was done, and she could see clearly.

Then deceitful Queen Lona, who had longed for a son all those years, saw the power the unknown holy man possessed. She too fell to the ground and begged for an heir to bring joy to King Salbahan’s heart.