- Author : Prof. B.N. Venugopal
- Illustration : Smt. Chomini Prakash
Madhvacharya blew air into the ear of his childhood friend and cured his headache.
At the age of eight, Vaasudeva was invested with the sacred thread by Madhyageha Bhatta with the commandment: ‘Living a virtuous life, serve the Fire and the Preceptor. Observing the vow of celibacy, study the Vedas well’. Vedaabhimani Gods themselves were anxiously awaiting the performance of Upanayana for Vaasudeva. Study was like play to Vaasudeva and he mastered all the shastras in no time. He was also very much into sports at the close of study hours. Vaasudeva excelled his companions in running, jumping, wrestling, water sports etc. He was spending so much of his time in these manly physical exercises that his teacher got disgusted with him. He reproached him one day and asked him whether he was interested in studies or not.
Vaasudeva replied boldly that the teacher Totanthillaya’s teaching was not for his liking and hence he could not study as expected by his teacher. Totanthillaya became furious at the impertinence shown by his student and in anger he asked Vaasudeva “Are you such a genius? If so go to the lesson next to the one I have taught.” Quite astonishingly and to the surprise of his teacher, Vaasudeva began to recite quickly the Vedic mantras of the next lesson. His pronunciation and Vedic intonation were so perfect that they roused the admiration of Totanthillaya as well as of all the scholars present there. This teacher had a son and his name was also Vasudeva. He was suffering from severe headache and once he fell unconscious on the ground on account of headache. Fortunately, Vaasudeva was nearby and he rushed towards his teacher’s son and blew air from his mouth into his ear. The headache disappeared at once. This incident confirmed that Vaasudeva was born to eliminate the headache of the entire world. In the meanwhile, Vaasudeva had performed many other miracles too. He once told his father that he would establish Vaishnava dharma. His father smilingly told the child “Establishment of Dharma is possible if the dry stick in your hand sprouts’. Vaasudeva without any reply just planted the stick in front of the house by digging a pit and sprinkled water as well. In a few days, to the surprise of his father, the dry stick sprouted and began to grow. This miracle indicated that Vaasudeva was born with a mission to reestablish the Vaishnava Dharma promulgated by Lord Vedavyasa.
Manimantha, a demon killed by Bheemasena, the second incarnation of Mukhyaprana was waiting for an opportunity to take revenge against Vaasudeva, the third incarnation of Mukhyaprana. Once, when Vaasudeva went to Vimanagiri to see Mother Durga, this demon in the form of a serpent uplifted its hood to bite Vaasudeva. He bit the foot of Vaasudeva and for him the feet of Vaasudeva became the beak of Garuda and he went straight to Yamapuri. The rock broke into pieces by the stroke of the feet of Vaasudeva and at the same time, the imprint of Vaasudeva’s foot appeared there. The imprint of the foot can be seen even today.
Vaasudeva had the ability to hear from afar and had the exceptional ability to fly also. Once, his mother called her child for lunch and Vaasudeva was not seen nearby. He was on Vimanagiri, near Mother Durga and immediately he jumped and flew to the patio of his house. The imprint of his feet is clearly visible even today and Sri Vaadirajaru has installed a beautiful idol adjoining it.
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