Swami Vivekananda Jayanti 2023: Three Anecdotes From Swami Vivekananda’s Childhood

Add as a preferred source on Google

Here are three anecdotes about Swami Vivekananda's childhood years. These tales extol Vivekananda's great qualities and his irrepressible spirit while he was still young.

1. Narendra's Encounter With The Tiger

Narendra, in his childhood, had lost his father. He was in utter squalor with no job and his family ate just one meal a day. Narendra one day went wandering into the jungles, frustrated with the goings on.
While he was so engrossed in thought, he spotted a tiger upon seeing which he did not fight or take flight. Instead of protecting himself, he stood like a firm rock in front of the tige expecting it to eat him alive so that at least the Tigers hunger would subside. His unending problems in life would also end. His fearless stare, for a moment, unnerved the tiger and instead of eating him, the Tiger quickly went away. Much later, in his life, when he had grown up to be Swami Vivekananda, he answered when people asked him why and how did he escape from the impending danger from the tiger?
Swami answered that it was in gods will to let him survive so that he would serve people one day.

2. Face Your Fears First And Then You Will Win!

As he was strolling outside the temple of Mother Durga, once at Varanasi, a large group of monkeys surrounded him. They looked really menacing. Swami was young, and did not want to be hurt by them, hence he started running away but the monkeys chased him up to some distance. At that point, a sanyasi who was watching all this, comforted him saying thus. 'Stop! Face them,' Swamiji stopped and the very instant, monkeys stopped being aggressive and ran away helter skelter from the place. Years later, Swamiji recapitulated the incident and told his shishyas thus. 'If something scares you, turn around and face it. Never be an escapist. Facing it will lead to success. "

3. An Honest Reply

Once upon a time, while still in school, Narendra, was talking to his friends in an animated fashion during a tea break. Time passed and his friends were totally absorbed in his speech. The tea break had ended and the teacher slowly walked into the class, expecting students to stand in line and greet him. When the teacher continued with his lecture, the students he noticed that nobody was paying any attention. Annoyed, he asked his students to repeat what he had been teaching all along in the class. No one answered. But Narendra, whose mind could work at the same time, on two different things, answered the teachers question perfectly. Obviously, he was listening to the lecture and also chatting up his friends. Stunned, the teacher asked him who was talking all the while. Refusing to believe the truth, the teacher asked everybody to stand upon the bench as punishment, except Narendra. But Narendra also opted to stand upon the bench, When the teacher insisted that he sit down, Narendra replied that he had to stand along with them as he was the one who was mainly talking to them. Floored by his honesty and his awareness of human values, the teacher developed highest regard for him.

Disclaimer: The information is based on assumptions and information available on the internet and the accuracy or reliability is not guaranteed. Boldsky does not confirm any inputs or information related to the article and our only purpose is to deliver information. Kindly consult the concerned expert before practising or implementing any information and assumption.