THE BOY BILEY

THE BOY BILEY ... 1

Swami Vivekananda was born to Vishwanath Datta and Bhuvaneshwari Devi in North Kolkata on 12 January, 1863. He was named Vireshvar which to his friends became Biley. Biley was a hyperactive child bubbling with energy. Two nurses were employed to look after him. He was a born leader and led his friends in games. He played King and Court with his mates in the large courtyard of his house. One day he fell from the short staircase there and badly hurt himself above the eye. He bled profusely for long which reduced his spiritual power to an extent as his spiritual master Sri Ramakrishna later said. 

Written by Sugata Bose 

THE BOY BILEY ... 2

Biley had many friends. They would come over to their large house to play. One such sport was the 'Meditation Game'. As such one day the boys retired to the attic of the house and started mock-meditating. But Biley was earnestly doing so and soon passed into a deep state of inner recollection where he was experiencing great bliss. Meanwhile a poisonous snake, a hooded cobra, appeared on the scene. All ran away except Biley. When the elders got to know of it they rushed to the scene with sticks to drive the cobra away. They found Biley in deep meditation in the attic, unaware of his surroundings, with the hooded cobra in front of him, as if charmed by the boy's concentrated oblivion of the external world. Very soon the cobra slid away without harming Biley and could not be seen anymore. When the elders shook Biley out of his meditation to normalcy, he reported of his inner ecstasy and said that he was completely unaware of all that had happened outside. When Biley grew up, he became the world-famous Swami Vivekananda who has been hailed as Pashupati (Lord of animals) Bhagavān Shiva. He then kept pets in Belur Math, dog, goat, ducks et al. But more of that later. 

Written by Sugata Bose 

THE BOY BILEY ... 3

Biley was a very naughty boy. He was full of energy and playful, difficult to control. Two nannies were kept to look after him. However, when all such measures failed to keep him in check, his mother would say that she had prayed to Bhagavān Shiva for a Shiva-like son but He had sent her one of His demons. Bhuvaneshwari Devi would even warn Biley that if he behaved like he was doing, Shiva would not let him into Kailāsh again. At this he would sober down. But sometimes simply nothing worked as a surge of energy flooded the boy's being and made him utterly unmanageable. On such occasions Biley's mother would take him under a tap and let water pour on him. The cool water on his head and body would at once quiet him and he would once more be his usual cheerful, reflective self, no more his hyperactive, hyper-energetic, restless, almost uncontrollable self. 

Written by Sugata Bose

THE BOY BILEY ... 4

Biley was one day listening to the Rāmāyana at home when the story of Hanumān and his great devotion to his master Rām came up. Learning that Hanumānji frequented the groves and ate bananas, Biley quietly stole into a neighbouring garden having a lot of banana plants around dusk and waited for Hanumānji to appear. Hour after hour passed but his object of adoration did not appear. It was dark now and people at home got worried about Biley's whereabouts. Finally a search-party was sent to seek him out and they came upon him in the banana grove in anxious expectation of Hanumānji. The boy was brought home and his mother pacified his feelings and brought him to a sense of sanity. However, Biley's fascination for Hanumānji continued lifelong as the mature Vivekānanda stressed upon the need of worshipping the great God to learn devotion to one's Master, courage of conviction, purity and plain valour. 

Written by Sugata Bose

THE BOY BILEY ... 5

Biley was at heart very generous. He loved mendicant monks or sadhus who would come to their doorstep seeking alms, or would be plain passing by their house. At such times he would give them away anything he could lay his hands on, be they even the clothes of his parents. His mother forbade him to do so but he would not listen. Finally, to keep him in check, he would be kept confined for some time in a small room upstairs. But the moment he saw from his window some passer-by monk, he would throw down his father's clothes or mother's saree to the monk and he would bless the boy from below. Thus, Biley was quite unmanageable anyway and would find his way to do things somehow, once he had set his mind to doing so. His will was strong from childhood and this trait made him great when he grew up into an adult.

Written by Sugata Bose

THE BOY BILEY ... 6

From early childhood Biley was a habitual meditator. His mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, had told him stories of ancient sages who used to meditate in a single seat for so long and would not cut their hair ever that they grew long matted locks. Hearing this Biley would also promptly sit down in the meditative posture and periodically open his eyes to find out if his hair had also grown matted locks or not.

When Biley was a schoolboy he was meditating in his room one night behind closed doors. His mind was soon merged deep and quite some time had elapsed before he came back to normal consciousness. He was still seated on his meditation mat when he saw the figure of a shaven-headed luminous monk of radiant visage emerge from the southern wall of his room. He was carrying a staff (danda) and a waterpot (kamandalu) in his hands. Serene, yet dispassionately emotionless, the monk looked intently at Biley's eyes as if he was to say something to him. Biley also was so enchanted that he kept on gazing at the monk when all of a sudden he was panic-stricken and fled from the room in fear. Minutes later he recalled that the sadhu was perhaps wanting to say something to him, and, so, he composed himself and returned to the room. But the apparition had disappeared by then. Biley regretted the missed opportunity and when he grew up to become a shaven-headed danda-kamandalu-clad sadhu himself, the world-famous Swami Vivekānanda, he after much reflection came to the conclusion that it was in all probability Bhagavān Buddha who had blessed him with his vision in his boyhood. But Biley never saw that sadhu in his lifetime again and, so, he could never get the opportunity to ask the monk what it was that he had wished to say to him when he was a boy.

Written by Sugata Bose

THE BOY BILEY ... 7

Biley was an adventurous boy. When very young he would go out to see local fares, escorting even younger friends along for the same. Once while returning from such an event he suddenly saw a horse-carriage that was rushing towards a mother and her small son. Instantly Biley reacted. He plunged ahead and rescued the child from almost under the wheels of the carriage and gave him to the mother who was in utter shock at the suddenness of it all. In later years Swami Vivekananda likewise had stood guard in between a raging, charging bull and his female disciple who was behind him. The bull charged at the Swami, then just when it was within yards of him, stopped abruptly, changed course and went its way. So we see, morning shows the day.

Written by Sugata Bose