[Fegasderty]

Infant prodigy

Every Avatar who has come down to earth as a Religious Teacher for the fulfillment of a divine mission has been born in a manner that is supernatural and mysterious.

The few Supermen who were born in historical times for the resuscitation of religion all made their advent in ways which were extraordinary. Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Christ are well-known illustrations. Sankara too was born partaking of the nature of Lord Shiva.

Sivaguru was delighted to find that the dream in which he had a boon from Shiva had indeed come true. He saw that his son was of a divine lineage and bore the marks of an incarnation.

The mark of wheel on the baby Sankara's head, the impress of the third eye on the forehead and the sign of the Trishul on the shoulders made wise men decide that he was an incarnation of Shiva.

Sankara was an infant prodigy. The superior genius and the extraordinary intelligence were clearly sprouting in him even when he was a child. This wonder of a child had even by his third year finished reading many books, and by only listening to the readings and chanting of the Vedas, the Vedanta, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas learnt them by heart. The most surprising thing about the boy was that he was a Sruthidhara (a person who can repeat in full, all that he hears just once). Whatever he read or heard got indelibly impressed in his memory.

Once Aryamba was shocked to find a large cobra coiled around the neck of Sankara. However, while she was watching, it turned to a garland.

Sivaguru was extremely happy to find his son endowed with super natural powers. He wanted to perform the boy's Upanayanam (initiation into bachelorhood) in his fifth year, and then to send him to the preceptor's house for study. But, Sivaguru died before he could have the Upanayanam done.