Nimais Childhood - The Snake Pastime

Dadi**: Guddu beta, have you ever heard of a baby who played with a giant snake like it was a toy?

Guddu**: A baby playing with a snake?! That sounds dangerous, Dadi!

Dadi**: For any normal baby, yes! But this was no ordinary baby. This was little Nimai - who would grow up to be Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, one of the greatest saints India has ever known.

Guddu**: What happened with the snake?

Dadi**: One morning in the town of Nabadwip in Bengal, little Nimai was crawling around the courtyard of his house. His family had a small fence around the area to keep him safe. But somehow, a gigantic serpent slithered into the yard!

Guddu**: Oh no! Did his mother see it?

Dadi**: Not at first, beta. The snake was huge - many times bigger than the little baby. Any normal child would have cried and run away. But do you know what little Nimai did?

Guddu**: What?

Dadi**: He crawled straight toward the snake! He grabbed it with his tiny hands and started playing with it like it was a rope! Then - and this is the amazing part - he climbed onto the snake's coiled body and lay down on it to rest, completely relaxed!

Guddu**: He lay down ON the snake?!

Dadi**: Like it was a comfortable bed! The snake didn't bite him, didn't hiss, didn't try to escape. It just stayed perfectly still while the baby played on its back.

Guddu**: That's so strange! Why didn't the snake hurt him?

Dadi**: Ah, beta, this is where the story becomes divine. The devotees say this was no ordinary snake. It was Ananta Shesha - the cosmic serpent on whom Lord Vishnu rests in the heavenly ocean!

Guddu**: The snake that Lord Vishnu sleeps on?

Dadi**: The very same! Ananta Shesha had taken the form of an ordinary snake just to come and be with his Lord, who had incarnated as baby Nimai. The snake recognized who the baby really was, even if the humans around couldn't see it.

Guddu**: What happened when his family saw?

Dadi**: When Sachimata, Nimai's mother, came outside and saw her baby lying on a giant serpent, she screamed! The women of the house came running, shouting in panic. They rushed to pick up the baby.

Guddu**: Did they scare the snake away?

Dadi**: They grabbed Nimai and pulled him away. But guess what he did? He immediately started crawling back toward the snake! Again and again they would pull him away, and again and again he would try to go back to his snake friend.

Guddu**: He really wanted to play with it!

Dadi**: The family was so worried! Some women started chanting protective mantras. Some sprinkled holy Ganga water on the baby. Some tied talismans and protective amulets on his little arms. They thought some evil had possessed him!

Guddu**: But it wasn't evil at all, was it?

Dadi**: Not at all, beta. When the commotion became too loud, the baby finally stopped reaching for the snake. And at that moment, the serpent - Lord Ananta Shesha - quietly slithered away, back to the cosmic realm from where it had come.

Guddu**: That's such a cool story! The snake came just to be with the baby.

Dadi**: Yes! This is called a "pastime" or "leela" - a divine play that the Lord enacts for those who have eyes to see. To the worried mothers, it looked like a dangerous snake. To those who understood, it was a beautiful reunion between the Lord and His eternal servant.

Guddu**: Did baby Nimai do other miraculous things?

Dadi**: So many, beta! He would cry and only stop when people chanted God's name. He would steal butter like Krishna. He performed many pastimes that hinted at who He really was. But most people just saw a beautiful, mischievous, golden-skinned baby.

Guddu**: Golden skin?

Dadi**: Yes! Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was famous for his golden complexion. He's called "Gauranga" - the one with a golden body. He grew up to spread the chanting of God's names throughout India, teaching that singing and dancing in devotion was the easiest path to God.

Guddu**: I like this story, Dadi. The snake and the baby were friends!

Dadi**: The deepest friends, beta - friends from eternity. Remember, what looks dangerous to us might be something completely different from a divine perspective. Things are not always what they seem!

Guddu**: Goodnight, Dadi!

Dadi**: Goodnight, my little one. May Ananta Shesha protect you in your dreams!