Vasudeva was then eleven years old. One early morning, he came to Udupi. There lived a famous saint, Achyutaprajna, and the boy became his disciple. Nadillaya came looking for his son but Vasudeva told him: I have to fulfil the mission of my life. Leave me alone. I am going to become a ‘Sannyasi’."

Two other sons born to the Nadillaya couple had died very young. What should the old father do when the only surviving son says that he wants to become a monk? But the boy was determined. The father prostrated before him and begged: "Don’t throw us on the streets by taking to ‘Sannyasa’:

" Vasudeva answered: "It is wrong for a father to prostrate before his son who is not a ‘sannyasi’. Now that you have bowed to me, it means that you have accepted me as a monk." And he answered all his father’s arguments.

But Vasudeva had already decided on the mode of approach to his mother. "If you want your son to be before you, agree to my becoming a monk. Otherwise you will never see me again." His mother had to agree. She was only worried that there would not be a son to look after them in old age. Vasudeva had a ready reply to that also. He said: "All right, I will not take to ‘sannyasa’ till another son is born to you."