The story begins in 1905 and propels forward to 1978 when Gauri (Vidya Sinha) and Prakash (Sanjeev Kumar) fall in love and marry against odds.
However, Gauri starts behaving in a weird manner, lost in thoughts, pining for an unseen lover and begins to refuse Prakash's romantic advances.
Though a prince by birth, Gangadhar has been sworn in to be a sanyasi at the temple based on family tradition and is socially barred to interact with women.
When Gangadhar learns of Gauri and his unborn child's death, he too joins their tragic fate by committing suicide.
Gauri and Prakash come to know through Dr. Vachaspati (Vaidyaraj in their past life) that the child must not die to avoid a repeat of the past-birth tragedy.