CHAPTER II.
CHILDHOOD AND EARLY INSTRUCTION.
It was noon when Isvar Chandra took his birth. His father, Thakurdas, was not at home, at that time. He had gone to the neighbouring Hat (market) of Kumarganja, which was nearly a mile off from his village. On his way back from the market, he met his father Ramjay, who told him that a bull-calf was born that day in their house. By this he alluded to his newly born grandchild by way of joke, but in this jest he darkly hinted at the future character of Vidyasagar. What he really meant by this joke, was that the child would be as stubborn as a bull-calf; and, most probably, he foresaw this from the marks on the child's fore-head and the lines on the palm of his hand. Besides, the science of astrology showed that the child was born at the moment when the moon was connected with the bull[1] (one of the signs of the zodiac). Those, who are born at such a time, must be stubborn and strong-minded like a bull. The Sastras say:—
সন্মার্গবৃত্তোঽতিতরাং প্রসন্নঃ সত্যপ্রতিজ্ঞোঽতিবিশালকীর্ত্তিঃ।
প্রসন্নগাত্রোঽতিবিশালনেত্রো বৃষে স্থিতে রাত্রিপতৌ প্রসূতঃ॥
- ↑ This is an abstruse subject of the Hindu Astronomy, and to understand it clearly, one must study the science thoroughly.
