Child Vasudeva creates a sacred pond for His mother
- Read part III here
- Illustration : Smt. Chomini Prakash
A little later, Madhyageha Bhatta initiated his son into the study of the alphabets. There was no need to teach him. The ocean of intelligence and also the Lord of Bharati, the presiding deity of knowledge that he was, he knew the alphabets already. It was not only the alphabets, the entire shastras were known to him already. But Vasudeva continued his studies, as strange are the ways of the Gods. Their style is to behave like the common folk all the time, revealing their superiority.
Vasudeva came across a learned man named Shivabhatta narrating a Pauranika episode incorrectly to a large audience. Vasudeva was not ready to accept the wrong interpretations of Shivabhatta and admonished him. His shout was like the roar of a lion and all the people who had assembled there turned towards the direction the voice came from. Shivabhatta could not respond to the queries of this child prodigy and the audience requested Vasudeva to tell them the pertinent meaning of that episode. Vasudeva, the consort of Bharati, narrated the correct meaning and started his expedition of explaining the exact meaning of the Vedic scriptures.
Vasudeva did the same kind of correction when his father was giving the meaning of Puranic verses describing various plants. His father did not mention the meaning of the word ‘Likucha’ as he did not know the meaning of the same. On being asked to explain the meaning, Vasudeva could tell the exact meaning of that word at once. “Its meaning is Hebbalasu (Jacktree)”. Vasudeva proved that he was omniscient on many such occasions.
Even the infantile sports of Vasudeva were full of novelty and distinct elegance. He performed many miracles such as the formation of Vasudeva tirtha by scraping the ground at the north-west corner of the house with his playing stick, to help his mother to have her daily bath. This tirtha has the presence of all the four tirthas – Parashutirtha, Dhanustirtha, Banatirtha and Gadatirtha formed by Lord Parashurama.
