Yogis and Serpents
Swami Vivekananda
When Swami Vivekananda was just a young boy, he played with his friends in the playroom, engaging in a meditation game. They would sit quietly with their eyes closed, and the one who stayed still the longest, without opening their eyes, would win. Naren (as young Vivekananda was known) was a natural meditator, slipping easily into a deep meditative state. His friends, wanting to impress him, followed suit.
After a few minutes, one of the friends partially opened his eyes to sneak a peek and was startled to see a cobra in front of the meditating Naren, its hood fully spread but still, as if in a trance. He screamed, "Snake! Run, run!" and dashed away to alert Naren's parents. Naren’s mother rushed into the room but froze in fear as she saw the cobra reared up before her son.
Thankfully, the snake slowly lowered its hood, slid down, and left the room without disturbing anyone. When Naren was later asked how he felt about the snake, he simply replied, "Oh, I didn't notice it at all." [1]
Sources
- Swami Vivekananda- by Kuvempu and other books on his Swamiji's childhood.