In the previous episode, we had witnessed Guru Dhronaachaarya officially taking over as the principal educator for the Paandavas and the Kauravas. Initially it was Sage Kripachaarya who was doing it for the children, but subsequently, upon Bhishmachaarya’s advice, Guru Dhronaachaarya was given the honor to take over the formal education for the children. As we had witnessed in the yesterday’s episode, Guru Dhronaachaarya gave individual attention to each child and identified the innate talent that each child possessed. Bheemasena was extremely strong and he was trained in the “Gadha-Yuddha” techniques. Similarly, Arjuna was an exceptional boy in terms of concentration and hence, Guru Dhronaachaarya trained him specially in the bow and arrow that required enormous amounts of concentration to hit the target. Yudishtra was an epitome of “Dharma” and he was the one who had the patience to learn many important “Mantras” and “Yantras”. Nakula and Sahadeva had the ability to throw, and hence they were trained in the art of javelin throwing. Like this, some other kids were trained in employing the sword to fight, and this process continued for days and months together.
As this was going on, Guru Dhronaachaarya was constantly having this vengeance in his mind with regards to King Drupada and how he insulted him. Guru Dhronaachaarya was observing each kid closely and was searching for the right person to take up this vengeful assignment. One day, Guru Dhronaachaarya was sitting amidst the children and suddenly he asked a question to all of them thus, “Oh children! Now that you’ve all learnt a good portion of your training syllabus, I’m thinking of giving you an assignment to test your skillsets and how much have you learnt. So please tell me who is willing to take up this assignment first!” As Guru Dhronaaachaarya asked thus, none of the children opened their mouths and volunteered! Perhaps they weren’t very confident of what they’ve learnt, or they might have been scared that their Guru might give them a tough assignment that might cost their life! However, there was one boy who rose up for the challenge! That boy was none other than Arjuna! As the others were quiet, Arjuna confidently stood up amidst the entire lot and replied to Guru Dhronaachaarya thus, “Oh respected Guru! I’m up for the challenge! I’m confident that I would be able to apply whatever you’ve taught me so far and finish your task with perfection! So please tell me what should I do!”
As Guru Dhronaachaarya hears this from Arjuna, he was elated beyond words! He was expecting this to happen and called Arjuna ner him. Guru Dhronaachaarya hugged Arjuna with him and decided that he is the right person to challenge King Drupada! Thus from that day onwards, Guru Dhronaachaarya started to train Arjuna separately from others. He gave some special classes for Arjuna and trained him specially in the bow and arrow. Moreover, Guru Dhronaachaarya gave him close attention to teach him some intricate skills on how to effectively use the bow and arrow with ease. There were others also who were learning under Guru Dhronaachaarya in the likes of the Yaadavas, and others, including Karna. However, Arjuna was slowly becoming one of Guru Dhronaachaarya’s “pet” students. He was getting trained specially just for this sole agenda of avenging King Drupada.
Even though Arjuna was a “pet” student, there was another boy who was Guru Dhronaachaarya’s own son (Ashwatthaama) whose jealousy was gradually increasing. Even though Ashwatthaama was a great warrior and Guru Dhronaachaarya was giving due attention to him, Ashwatthaama was feeling insecure! He was having a feeling that Arjuna was getting “undue” advantage and felt that as a son, his father Dhronaachaarya is not giving much attention! Guru Dhronaachaarya too saw that his son Ashwatthaama was feeling bad that he is not getting the due attention as a son. Hence, Guru Dhronaachaarya slowly started getting trapped into the “Putra-Vaatsalya” and started giving something special that he did not give Arjuna!
This is where we see “nepotism” creeping in and this is exactly where Guru Dhronaachaarya gets royally trapped into! As we know, nepotism is a concept in Management today wherein the leader gives an undue advantage for one person whom he / she is a close relative or a friend over the others in an organization. This is exactly where Sage Dhronaachaarya too fell into! In the next episode we shall witness what happened and how Ashwatthaama was favored more than Arjuna and the others. Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 