Birth & Childhood
Madhygeha Bhatta (called naDillAya in tulu) and his wife lived
in the village of Pajaka near Udupi, Karnataka, India. They were
a pious couple. They prayed to Lord Ananteshwara to bless them
with a son and performed severe penance. Consequently, Vayu
incarnated as their son on Vijayadashami (10th day of the bright
half of the lunar month of Ashwayuja - September and October) in
the year 1238 AD(CE4). His parents named him 'Vasudeva'.
Even from his childhood it was obvious that Vasudeva was unlike
other kids of his age. He was overflowing with deep devotion to
the supreme Lord and possessed extraordinary physical and mental
abilities. He repeatedly astounded his parents and teachers,
performing several extraordinary feats.
When he was a baby his sister fed him well boiled horse-gram
that even adults cannot digest easily. He happily ate it and
digested it without any after effects.
He spent an entire day without food or water, roaming his
father’s fields, holding on to the tail of a bullock. Even then
there was no sign of fatigue on its face.
He gave tamarind seeds to a person who had lent his father
money. The lendor solemnly accepted the seeds given by the
charming child as full repayment of the debt. His faith did not
go unrewarded; in due course, he became a devotee of God and
attained salvation.
Even before he was eight, he jumped from the top of a hillock
called durgabeTTa and landed near his house! On another
occasion, he replanted a dry plant and made it sprout !
His guru’s son was suffering from chronic headache since birth.
Vasudeva blew air into his ears and cured him of his headache
When a deadly serpent bit him, he jumped on its hood and pressed
it down to earth. Its poison did not affect him.
His father discovered that anything taught to him was
immediately grasped. He had to teach new things to his son
everyday, without repeating anything from the previous lessons!
Vasudeva also astounded the teacher in his gurukula (small
residential school) with a flawless recital of Vedic hymns,
including portions that the teacher had not covered till then!
He was also very adept in sports like swimming, wrestling and
weight lifting. He could easily take on several of his strong
friends at the same time and effortlessly defeat them .