Bits of life

S-4 Words-2000

Words- 2000

Yudhishtar, the eldest brother of the Pandavas was not able to carry on with this constant bickering between the cousins. So, he came back to the palace. However, Bhishma, his great grandfather was not happy with this outcome. He chided Yudhishtar saying that if he could not accept a challenge at this age, there could be more difficult challenges for him waiting in the future. Yudhishtar realized he was at fault. He returned to the forest and the ashram of guru Kripacharya. Kripa had a sister named Kripi. She was married to another ascetic and a martial art expert named Drona. He was famous for his skill as an archer.
Once, the Pandava and the Kaurava princes were playing ball in the field. Someone kicked it hard and it went high in the air and fell into a well. All the kids surrounded the well and did not know what to do to get the ball out. Then they heard a voice behind them asking them what happened. He was Drona, whose hermitage was nearby.

“The ball fell into the well,” replied a prince.
Drona observed,

“If you cannot save a ball from falling into the well, how can you save your kingdom from falling into ruin?”

So saying he asked the kids to get some branches of the trees. When they brought the tree branches he sliced them into thin stems and threw one such slice aiming at the ball floating on the surface of the well water. It went with perfect aim and got stuck on the ball. Then he threw another stem and another to make a long string of them till he could hold the last one in his hands. With the help of the stringed stems, Drona was able to draw the ball out and gave it to the boys.

Soon after going to the palace, Arjuna, the middle brother of the Pandavas went to Bhishma and told him of their meeting with the strange man in the forest, who got their ball back to them from the well. When Bhishma heard the incident of how the sage was able to get the ball back, he realized that it must be Drona, the expert archer. Immediately, he went with Arjuna to the forest and met Dronacharya. He requested him to be the teacher for the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Drona agreed to be so and started teaching the children the art and skill of the archery. A few months had passed by.

One day, Drona wanted to test the princes of their learning in the martial art of archery. On the morning of the next day, he told the princes to wait on the shore of Ganga while he had his bath and then come to start the lessons. The princes went back to the ashram and waited. As Drona prayed to the sun god with folded hands, a crocodile spotted him and came swiftly to bite off a chunk of his leg. Drona let out a scream which brought all the princes running to the shore. While some of the princes including Duryodhana went to get help, a few others ran away in fear. Only Arjuna remained and looking at the open mouthed crocodile, he went to fetch his bow and arrow. Then he took aim from the shore and pierced the jaws of the crocodile. His aim was perfect and the animal died. Drona was released from the cruel grip of the animal appreciated Arjuna. Then he told Arjuna that he passed the test. He told him that the crocodile was not real but was a contraption of it.

A few days later, Dronacharya took the kids to a forest and showed them a parrot perching on a branch of a tree. He asked his pupils to tell him what they see when they aim their arrow at it.

Duryodhana said he could see the thick leaves and twigs around the bird. Yudhishtar said he could spot the whole parrot. When Arjuna was asked as to what he could see, he replied he could see the parrot head. A little later he said he could see only the eye of the parrot and nothing else besides. Drona was satisfied with this answer. He said that a good archer saw nothing but the object he wanted to shoot at. Concentration was the main element in archery.

As Drona was teaching his pupils, another boy was also learning from him. He was Ekalavya, a tribal youth. The youth saw Drona teaching the princes the art of archery. Since it was not possible for him to join the group due to differences in race and status, Ekalavya thought of a brilliant plan. He made a statue of Drona and started practicing archery before it. Every day he would come after bathing in the stream and start his daily practice after worshiping his guru or teacher Drona.

Once, when the princes were practicing target shooting in the compound of their hermitage, Ekalavya appeared and took part in the shooting and amazed everyone with his skill and perfect timing. On being questioned about his training by Dronacharya, Ekalavya replied that he learnt the craft from Drona himself. Drona was wonderstruck as to how this could have happened. Then, Ekalavya explained as to how he could attain his perfection.

Drona was not happy to learn the facts described by Ekalavya. He had grudging admiration for the boy. Then he asked Ekalavya if he needed to pay his gurudakshina (a return gift by the pupil to the guru or the teacher for the knowledge he imparted to him.) Ekalavya said he would love to pay the gurudakshina. Drona asked Ekalavya to give him his right thumb. Without a hesitation Ekalavya cut his thumb and gave it to the acharya.

Yes, it affects many of us to listen to the way in which a teacher of repute would do this to a pupil. However, anything could happen if there is a political motive behind the action. Drona was in favor of Arjuna to become the unconquerable hero who excelled in archery. Evidently, he did not want Ekalavya to be one up with him. So what better way to put an end to his ambition than asking him to sever the right thumb as his gurudakshina? The right hand thumb is of utmost importance in delivering a perfect aim in archery. Racism had its roots deep into the human psyche even at that pre historic time when people were supposed to be ethical and principled. Despite the time and ethics, it showed that good and evil lived side by side. It is only that sometimes, the balance between the two tilted and later righted only to tilt again.

However, at a later period, Ashwathama, the son of guru Drona asked him as to why he asked for the thumb of Ekalavya. He questioned his father if it was his caste and race that caused him ask for such a gurudakshina.
Drona explained that learning had no differences of caste, color or community. A guru was impartial to his students. Eklavya’s fault was that he stole the skill and art of archery. He did not ask for Drona’s permission before he picked up his training from him, albeit his statue. Drona affirmed that had it been a man belonging to the caste of kings or that of Brahmins he would do the same as he did with Ekalavya. Many do not know these facts of an apparently racist attitude of Drona.

Let us go back to Krishna’s story and see what was happening with his education and sage Sandipan’s hermitage.
At Sandipan’s school, Krishna had a friend named Sudama. Sudama came from a poor Brahmin family. He had enough to quench his hunger. After pursuing the study of Vedas from the rishi in the morning, the disciples would return to the hermitage and did as commanded by the teacher and his wife. Their duties usually ranged from collecting firewood to light up the fire or any small errands that the lady of the house needed to be done by them.

Once, the sage’s wife asked them to go collect some wood from the forest. She gave them a bundle of dried and pounded rice for food if they were to be delayed in the forest for some reason. Krishna and Sudama started collecting the dry pieces of wood.

Then it started raining and they climbed on separate trees and took shelter from the rain. The rain continued through the night. Sudama was consumed by pangs of hunger after a while. He started munching the dry and toasted rice without offering or leaving any of it for Krishna. It shows the power of hunger. It robs a man of the decent basic values of sharing, sympathy and consideration for others.

After reaching the hermitage, Sudama did some soul searching and found himself guilty of not giving Krishna a morsel of the food he consumed. He confessed his fault to the sage Sandipan who agreed that what Sudama did was not correct.

Time for departure arrived for Krishna, Balarama and Sudama from the gurukula of Sandipan. The rishi’s wife was not willing to let the boys, especially, Krishna out of her sight. She got used to their presence in the hermitage so much that she could not imagine life without them. Krishna and Balarama asked rishi Sandipan to tell them of the kind of gurudakshina he wanted from them. Sage Sandipan did not say anything. But Krishna knew what to give him.

He went to a demon called Shankhasura who had stolen the son of rishi Sandipan. Shankhasura took shelter in a shell and thus had hidden himself under the sea. Krishna made inquiries about him and found him. He slew the asura and went to the domain of Yama (the lord of death) to bring back the dead son of Sandipan. Yama appeared to Krishna and worshiped him and brought the rishi’s son back to life. Thus Krishna brought rishi Sandipan’s son to the father and made them happy. The mother was now consoled because she had her son with her.

Krishna presented the shell or shankha to the rishi. But rishi Sandipan had given it back to Krishna saying that he would need it during the ensuing war between the Pandavas and Kauravas. The conch shell was named Panchajanya and the sound of its blowing by Krishna was of utmost importance in the Maha Bharata war, for it signified the beginning of the eighteen day war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas.

The Kaurava and the Pandava princes returned to Hastinapur after their education under Dronacharya was over. Their mothers Gandhari and Kunti were anxious to receive their sons. All of them have grown up and were in the prime of their youth and energy. Drona looked happy and satisfied with his pupils, the princes.

On the next day, the princes were to show their skill and prowess to the court and the people of their country in an open arena. The royal family, the priests and the teachers and grand old man of the Kuru clan, Bhishma were present and waited for the princes to exhibit their expertise.

When the signal was given, the first to test was Dharmaraja or Yudhishtar. He was challenged by his brothers simultaneously. Different weapons were used for the combat. Lances, swords and other instruments of war were shown flashing in the sun. Yudhishtar was able to defend and offend his opponents successfully. There was loud applause from the crowd.

The next two were Bhima and Duryodhana the arch rivals in mace war. They were pitched against one another in fierce fight. Somewhere in the middle of the show, it turned out to be more fierce and militant. Soon it became a war to decide who lived and who died. Such was the animosity that they bore for each other.
Arjuna, the middle prince among