In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of the “Adharma” that was slowly starting to build, as per Sage Veda-Vyaasa’s words to his mother, Satyavati. We had witnessed how Dhronaachaarya went all the way to meet King Drupada to ask for a share in his kingdom, just because King Drupada had given a word when they were children. As Dhronaachaarya was suffering in an extreme poverty situation, he thought that it was the right time to go and approach King Drupada and remind him of their “childhood deal”. However, when King Drupada declined Dhronaachaarya’s deal, Dhronaachaarya became extremely angry and vowed to avenge King Drupada for allegedly “cheating” him. Pledging thus, Dhronaachaarya straightaway hurried to Sage Kripachaarya’s hermitage and explains the entire set of events that conspired between him and King Drupada.
It is to be remembered that Dhronaachaarya has married Kripi, who is the sister of Sage Kripachaarya. Hence, Dhronaachaarya made his way to Sage Kripaachaarya’s place and all three were living there together. The couple lived with Sage Kripachaarya for a few months, until one day, Dhronaachaarya spots the Paandava children playing with each other at a distance. As they were playing with a ball and a ring, suddenly against the run of play, both the ball and ring fell into a small pit and the children did not notice that. As their playing items got lost, the children searched for them and finally found them to be under that pit. They tried to get the ball and the ring from the pit, but somehow they did not succeed in pulling them out! Dhronaachaarya was watching all of this from a distance and was keeping quiet. Suddenly, he got up and approached the children and asked what happened to them and why they are frantically running here and there. As Dhronaachaarya asked thus, the children explained how their ball and ring fell into the pit and they were unable to take them out.
Upon hearing thus, Dhronaachaarya made a casual remark thus, “Oh wow! This is a small pit, isn’t it? To pull out a ball and a ring from even this small pit, you do not have the capability! It’s a shame and pity on you! Is this what your Guru had taught you? It shows the level of competence of your Guru!” Hearing thus from Dhronaachaarya, the Paandava children replied, “Oh Sage! We do not want to know whether our Guru has the requisite competence or not. Now we want our ball and ring back. Can you help us in getting them out”? Dhronaachaarya accepted it and took four pieces of “Dharba” grass from the ground. He chanted a “Mantra” with the “Dharba” grass and put it inside the pit where the ball was. The power of the “Mantra” made the “Dharba” grass stick to the ball. Similarly he chanted the same “Mantra” with the remaining pieces of the “Dharba” grass and threw them into the pit. All the pieces went and stuck to the ball. With the same “Mantra”, Dhronaachaarya pulled out the ball very easily from beneath the pit!
As Dhronaachaarya succeeded in pulling out the ball from the pit, the children were happy! However, the ring is pending, isn’t it? They requested Dhronaachaarya to pull out the ring too. Dhronaachaarya took the bow and arrow, aimed one arrow on the ring and straightaway went and took the ring out of the pit! Upon seeing this, the kids were surprised and delighted! On one hand, they were happy that they got back their ball and the ring. On the other hand, they were awestruck by Dhronaachaarya’s expertise! As that day came to a close, the children went to their grandfather, Bhishmaachaarya and explained what had happened! They explained how they had met a person with such a high level of expertise with “Mantras” and various forms of artillery. As the children explained the characteristics of this man, Bhishmachaarya understood whom the children were talking about! He immediately asked them, “Oh children! Did you see Dhronaachaarya?” The kids did not know the name of that person whom they had seen and replied in the negative. However, Bhishmaachaarya was damn sure that this person is none other than Dhronaachaarya, who had such a great expertise in warfare techniques.
Next day, Bhishmaachaarya took the children to the place where they found that man with the great expertise. As Bhishmaachaarya expected, that man was none other than Dhronaachaarya! Bhishmaachaarya was extremely happy and pleased to meet him, and with this, he explained to the kids thus, “Oh children! From today onwards, your education would continue under Dhronaachaarya! He would be your Guru from now onwards. You should pay all the respects to him and accept him as your teacher. I’m confident that Dhronaachaarya is going to share all his expertise with you and with that, you would become exceptional warriors in the future!” In turn, Bhishmaachaarya also requests Dhronaachaarya to formally take over the education of the kids. Thus, Bhishmaachaarya introduced the kids to Dhronaachaarya and from that moment onwards, Dhronaachaarya became “Guru Dhronaachaarya” to them! The kids were extremely happy to accept him as their Guru and even Dhronaachaarya was extremely happy to accept the kids as his students.
As Guru Dhronaachaarya was about to take over the education, he asks Bhishmaachaarya two questions. What are those two questions which Guru Dhronaachaarya is going to ask Bhishmaachaarya? Let us wait till the next episode to witness! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 