The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important analysis of how a “Guru-Sishya” relationship be, and what are the various roles that a Guru and a Sishya should play, so that effective transfer of knowledge happens from the Guru to the Sishya. We had witnessed simultaneously as to how Arjuna was a devoted and a proactive student and how he ensured that he outsmarted his Guru subtly by learning lessons that were only meant for Ashwatthaama. On the other hand, we’ve also witnessed where Guru Dhronaachaarya went wrong – He showed partiality towards the other students and kept his own son Ashwatthaama on a higher plane, so that Ashwatthaama obtained an undue advantage of learning some secretive lessons that others did not get to learn. However, Arjuna’s shrewdness and proactiveness limited this from happening too much. 

Moving on thus, we’re going to witness how Guru Dhronaachaarya is going to react to Arjuna’s extreme proactiveness. As we’ve witnessed earlier, Arjuna was once trying his bow and arrow techniques in the dark and he was constantly practicing it without a break. As the others were enjoying their meal in the dark, Arjuna had other plans. His mind was working like a computer and he immediately took the bow and arrow to start practicing his skills in the pitch darkness. As Guru Dhronaachaarya was hearing some unusual sounds at a certain distance in the dark, he did not understand who was making that sound. As he comes out of his hut and sees, it was none other than little Arjuna who was trying his bow and arrow in the wee hours of the night! Upon seeing this, Guru Dhronaachaarya was extremely impressed and amazed at Arjuna’s keen interest to excel! 

Guru Dhronaachaarya thinks within himself thus, “Oh wow! This was something that I did not want to teach Arjuna – Using the bow and arrow in the dark! However, without even me teaching it, he has somehow mastered the art by himself! Wow! I never expected this from a student, and this is the first time I’m finding a student who is extremely proactive in learning! Without a doubt, this little Arjuna is my best student! Till now it was me who had committed a mistake of avoiding Arjuna for Ashwatthaama! But I realize that I’ve made a mistake! Rather than training Ashwatthaama specially, I should give this special training to this little Arjuna! He is going to be a great warrior in the future without a doubt, and my contribution to shaping up this little child is extremely important!” 

Thinking thus, Guru Dhronaachaarya runs up to the little child, hugs him and appreciates him for his proactiveness and keen interest to learn. Moreover, Guru Dhronaachaarya observed another important uniqueness in little Arjuna – Normally when people use the bow and arrow, it is a usual habit that they use one hand constantly to hold the bow and the other hand constantly to use the arrow. For instance, if we look at how Bhagawan Rama employed the bow and arrow, He normally holds the bow firmly in his right hand, and uses His left hand for the arrows. However, in Arjuna’s case, it was different – Arjuna could easily hold the heavy bow in either of the hands and employ it! For instance, Arjuna could hold the bow in the right hand and employ the arrows with the left hand. At the same time, he was having the equal power to hold the bow in his left hand and employ the arrows from the right hand! This is an extremely rare talent to find! 

In English, we call this “Ambidextrous capability”. For instance, we might also observe today that some people are very good at holding the pen in their right hand and write, whereas some are good with their left hand in writing. However, it is very difficult to find someone who is good at using both the hands equally for writing. This is what we refer to as the “Ambidextrous capability”. In Sanskrit, we call this “Savyasaachi”. Arjuna is also nick-named as “Savyasaachi” because he was able to use the bow and arrow with equal power in both the hands. It is said that in the Kurukshetra battle, Karna had lost the war to Arjuna purely because he was not able to judge which hand Arjuna employed to hold the bow and from which hand the arrows came! The change in hands happen at a lightning speed with Arjuna that nobody could even understand or comprehend in which direction the arrow is going to come and hit them! 

Upon seeing this ability at such a young tender age, Guru Dhronaachaarya was extremely impressed and he thus benchmarked Arjuna as his greatest student ever! To get such a certificate from the great Guru Dhronaachaarya isn’t an easy thing to achieve, isn’t it? So for today, let us congratulate little Arjuna and celebrate his achievement and with this, let us wait for the next episode to find out how Guru Dhronaachaarya fine-tuned Arjuna’s skills and how he used Arjuna to seek his revenge on King Drupada! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed how Arjuna ended up outsmarting his own Guru when it came to learning some secretive lessons on warfare. Guru Dhronaachaarya, as we had witnessed, was trying to give some secretive lessons to his son Ashwatthaama alone, and not to the others. However, Arjuna sniffed this happening, and he made sure that he was there for all the lessons that Guru Dhronaachaarya was teaching Ashwatthaama one on one. As it was a lesson on warfare techniques, Guru Dhronaachaarya couldn’t deny Arjuna from being there amidst Ashwatthaama and hence, he ended up teaching all what he did for Ashwatthaama. Eventually, Guru Dhronaachaarya did not want to teach Arjuna the art of bow and arrow during the night time amidst the darkness. He tried his tricks to avoid Arjuna while he taught the same to his son. However, Arjuna learnt it by himself by taking the bow and arrow and practicing the art amidst pitch darkness. Eventually, as he was trying it for himself, he slowly started to gain the expertise in handling the bow and arrow in the dark. 

Thus, we can witness here how Arjuna was an extremely proactive student in learning. He did not wait for Guru Dhronaachaarya to teach him this, but he had that innate interest to learn something new everytime. This interest motivated him to go for it and thus, Arjuna was clearly miles apart from the other students. He was an extremely smart and a shrewd candidate and showed all the qualities of a prolific student. These are all important lessons for all of us as well – Here, Sage Vyaasa is clearly explaining the detailed roles of a teacher and a student. A teacher should treat all his students equally without any bias. A teacher should pass on all the expertise that he had gained over the years, to the student, without any jealousy or blemish. A teacher should be the first one to feel happy if his student is excelling in all the lessons and should motivate the student to learn more. If the student is going wrong somewhere, it is the bound duty of the teacher to correct the student and mend his ways. There should be no partiality between one student and the other. 

We can witness all these important characteristics being clearly illustrated in Guru Dhronaachaarya, isn’t it? Of course, Guru Dhronaachaarya as a teacher got certain things right and certain things wrong. With regards to the aspects that he excelled in, Guru Dhronaachaarya ensured that he passed on his great expertise to his students without any blemish or jealousy. He was also a strict teacher wherein if the students go wrong somewhere, he would be the first person to criticize them. However, having said these, Guru Dhronaachaarya did a couple of things wrong too – The biggest mistake that he committed was to show bias. He somehow wanted his son, Ashwatthaama to have an upper hand as compared to the others, including Arjuna. When it came to certain intricate details in warfare, he wanted Ashwatthaama to know them better than Arjuna. This was something wrong, and it clearly shows that Guru Dhronaachaarya was not treating his students equally on the same plane. Just because Ashwatthaama was his son, Guru Dhronaachaarya treated him “differently” and this was not expected from a Guru of such a great caliber. Secondly, Guru Dhronaachaarya wanted to use Arjuna as a weapon to satisfy his grudge against his enemy, King Drupada. Thus, we never know whether Guru Dhronaachaarya really acknowledged Arjuna from his heart as one of his best students. Of course, Arjuna being a smart child, he made use of this opportunity and learnt whatever he could from Guru Dhronaachaarya proactively. However, had Arjuna not been proactive enough, perhaps Guru Dhronaachaarya would have just portrayed Arjuna as his best student for namesake and not with his utmost sincerity. All the due importance would have gone to Ashwatthaama, and he would have gained an undue advantage. 

Thus, Arjuna’s proactiveness and shrewdness illustrates how a student should behave towards a Guru and approach him for learning. Of course, the Guru cannot cover all the topics of the syllabus, owing to various human limitations. It is thus the duty of the disciple to think and extrapolate by himself as to what the Guru has taught him, and with that, he should be able to learn more than what the Guru actually taught during the class. Thus, this would enhance the research skills of the student, and with this, the application of whatever is being taught is strengthened. In other words, the disciple should learn all what the Guru is teaching, as well as those which the Guru hasn’t taught! Thus, an overall 360 degree understanding of the subject should be the ultimate aim of a student. 

So for today, let us appreciate the learnings that we obtain from Guru Dhronaachaarya and Arjuna and let us wait till the next episode to continue with how Guru Dhronaachaarya reacted to Arjuna’s newly found expertise of employing the bow and arrow in the darkness! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed how Guru Dhronaachaarya fell into the trap of “Putra-Vaatsalya” and how he slowly tilted towards his son Ashwatthaama during the formal education sessions. As the other children were asked to fill water in their pots with small mouths, Ashwatthaama’s pot alone was with a bigger mouth and with this, Ashwatthaama was able to fill water faster in his pot. Before the other children arrived with their full pots, Guru Dhronaachaarya used to teach some secretive lessons on warfare to Ashwatthaama, which he hasn’t taught Arjuna too, even though Arjuna was his most important student! However, as fate would have it, Arjuna spotted something fishy happening between Ashwatthaama and Guru Dhronaachaarya. He wanted to find out what was happening during this time lag between him and Ashwatthaama reporting to Guru Dhronaachaarya. 

Thinking of this, Arjuna made a plan. He took his bow and arrow, used his smartness and employed one arrow on to the mouth of the pot. He has to be very careful here – On one hand, he shouldn’t break the pot with the arrow. If the pot is broken, he would come under Guru Dhronaachaarya’s scanner. At the same time, he should ensure that he elongates the mouth of the pot. However, this too is not easy. If he elongates the mouth of the pot too much, there is a chance that the mouth section alone might break off! This might be difficult to carry the water carefully, because the water might leak out of the broken mouth. Thus, Arjuna being an extremely skilled child in the bow and arrow techniques, made sure that he elongates the mouth of the pot without damaging the mouth itself and the pot as well. Thus with this, Arjuna was able to fill the pot with the same speed as Ashwatthaama did. Thus, he was able to bridge the time gap between himself and Ashwatthaama and he too reported to Guru Dhronaachaarya at the same time when Ashwatthaama did. 

Thus, Guru Dhronaachaarya was caught off the wrong foot! Arjuna ensured that whatever Guru Dhronaachaarya taught Ashwatthaama, he too was there beside and learnt all of it! The plan was clearly foiled! This is how a student should be smart and shrewd enough! On one hand, Arjuna shouldn’t spoil his relationship with Guru Dhronaachaarya, and on the other hand, Arjuna should ensure that he doesn’t miss out on any secretive lesson that is being taught. Thus, Arjuna ensured a fine balance between both – He ensured that he was present for all the secretive lessons, and at the same time, he ensured that he did not spoil his relationship with his Guru! Here, even Guru Dhronaachaarya did not have an option to stop teaching Ashwatthaama. Had he done so, it would have exposed his mistake of being partial! Thus, with Arjuna’s shrewdness, Guru Dhronaachaarya was pushed to a fix and he had no other option but to teach all secretive lessons of warfare to Arjuna as well! This is why, we’re going to see during the Kurukshetra war, how Arjuna and Ashwatthaama were equally talented warriors and how they challenged each other till the end! 

As days passed by, since Guru Dhronaachaarya’s plot failed here, he thought of another plan. After the lessons for the day were over, all the kids used to feel very hungry and they would be served some delicious meals after their long day at work. However, Guru Dhronaachaarya instructed the cook not to serve any food during the night for Arjuna. As the other kids were eating, Arjuna was alone not served any food during the night. This made Arjuna thoughtful. One day, due to an extremely windy condition, the lamp that was lit during dinner time went off and the place became dark. On that day, Arjuna was feeling hungry after a long day of classes. He wanted to eat something. Due to the darkness, while serving the meal to the children, the cook accidentally served food to Arjuna as well. It was a mistake on the part of the cook, but Arjuna used this as an opportunity to satisfy his hunger. He was able to eat easily even in the dark and his hand-eye coordination was working very well! 

This slowly made Arjuna think thus, “Oh wow! If I’m able to eat with my hand-eye-coordination very easily in pitch darkness, why can’t I use the same hand-eye coordination to use the bow and arrow to perfection to target an enemy in the dark? Why can’t I try this and check it out for myself, instead of waiting for Guru Dhronaachaarya to teach me?” Thinking thus, Arjuna immediately ran to the place where his bow and arrow was kept. He took it and went to the river bank where it was pitch dark at night. He started trying his skills on the bow and arrow during the night time amidst complete darkness. This is one aspect Guru Dhronaachaarya did not want to teach Arjuna on purpose, because he had taught this to Ashwatthaama, who is going to employ this skill at a later stage to create a complete disaster! However, Arjuna was smart enough to learn this on his own proactively! 

Such is the characteristic of a student! A student should be able to grasp keenly whatever the Guru is teaching him, and also all the allied aspects of the lesson that the Guru is not teaching him. This is real proactiveness of a student. So for today, let us understand until this point wherein Arjuna outsmarts Guru Dhronaachaarya and let us wait till the next episode to witness how Guru Dhronaachaarya reacted to Arjuna’s smartness! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed how Arjuna emerged as Guru Dhronaachaarya’s most important student during the tenure of education. Guru Dhronaachaarya had his personal agenda – To seek revenge against King Drupada for allegedly insulting him by not honoring his word.  Guru Dhronaachaarya had pledged revenge against King Drupada and when he was teaching these Paandava and Kaurava children, he was on the constant lookout for someone who could potentially challenge King Drupada in war. Eventually, Arjuna stood up for the challenge and with that, Guru Dhronaachaarya was elated beyond words! Therefore, he took special care of Arjuna and trained him extremely well in terms of employing the bow and arrow in warfare. Moreover, he taught Arjuna certain other smart techniques that many might not know, when it comes to warfare. Eevntually Arjuna was getting more attention than anyone else in the school, which irked Ashwatthaama. Ashwatthaama, being the son of Guru Dhronaachaarya felt bad that he was not getting due attention from his father, but someone called Arjuna is getting all the due attention. 

Eventually, Guru Dhronaachaarya also realized this, and slowly because of the “Putra-Vaatsalya”, he started drifting towards Ashwatthaama. Guru Dhornaachaarya was however smart in executing this – He used to ask the children to go to the river bank to get a pot of water. The pots that the other children were given, had a very small mouth. Whereas, the pot that Ashwatthaama was given, had a bigger mouth. What does this mean? Ashwatthaama could fill his pot easily and quickly with water and bring it to Guru Dhronaachaarya, whereas the other children took some more time to fill up their pots – Because the mouth of their pots were very small. Hence, Ashwatthaama was the first to bring the full pot of water, and within the time that others come with their pots, Guru Dhronaachaarya educated Ashwatthaama with some secret lessons, which he did not teach the others! 

We can imagine here, how brilliant Ashwatthaama was! If he has to learn some smart secret lessons within the time that the others come there with their pots, he must be someone who was extremely alert and sharp, isn’t it? This was happening for a few days and nobody really understood this trick that the father and son were playing. This was outright partiality that Guru Dhronaachaarya was showing towards his students and this is the second major “Adharma” that was happening as part of the “Mahabhaarata” story! We’ve already witnessed the first major “Adharma” wherein different people have started conspiring against each other even at a young age, and now even a “Guru” is acting differently to different students, especially when it comes to his own son. Now this is where we’ve to learn our lesson – As a Guru, one should never treat one student over the other, irrespective of whether that student is his / her son or daughter or family relative or anyone. A Guru should treat all students equally and should inculcate the education in all students in a fair manner. There should not be any partiality between students. This is exactly where Guru Dhronaachaarya went wrong! As he was giving some “special attention” secretively to his son over others, this was something that he could have avoided. 

Moving on, as days and months progressed, this saga continued! Ashwatthaama was getting some secretive lessons day in and day out! However, there was one student who spotted this happening on a daily basis! That student was none other than Arjuna himself! If Ashwatthaama was smart, Arjuna was ten times smarter than him! He somehow observed Ashwatthaama going faster to Guru Dhronaachaarya than the others! Now what did Arjuna do? How did he counter Ashwathhaama’s smartness? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we were at an important juncture in the Mahabharata text, where Dhronaachaarya is getting transformed into Guru Dhronaachaarya! This transformation wasn’t easy for Dhronaachaarya to make. We had witnessed earlier that he was suffering from acute poverty wherein he was not even able to feed milk three times a day to his son Ashwatthaama. Thus, he eventually remembered King Drupada’s promise of handing over half of his kingdom when he became king. With this, Dhronaachaarya confronted King Drupada, only to receive a negative reply from him! Cheated by King Drupada thus, Dhronaachaarya pledged to avenge this insult that was meted out to him. As he came back, Dhronaachaarya lived along with his wife and brother-in-law, Sage Kripachaarya, until one day, things changed towards Dhronaachaarya’s fortune! He spotted the Paandava children playing alongside, and with the help that he offered to them to take out their ball and ring from a pit, the Paandava brothers were extremely impressed and happy! Upon Bhishmaachaarya’s advice, the Paandavas accepted Dhronaachaarya as their Guru and thus, the transformation happened – Dhronaachaarya became “Guru Dhronaachaarya”! 

As Guru Dhronaachaarya was all set to take over the education of the Paandavas, he asked Bhishmaachaarya two important questions – Firstly, now that he is going to take over, the children were already obtaining their education under Sage Kripachaarya, isn’t it? What if he gets angry that Dhronaachaarya is “poaching” his students? Secondly, since Dhronaachaarya was suffering from poverty, he asked Bhishmaachaarya whether he would get a place to stay and food to eat. Bhishmaachaarya replies thus, “Oh Dhronaachaarya! You do not need to worry about Sage Kripaachaarya getting angry. He is a good friend of mine and I shall let him know the way in which it has to be done. You do not need to worry about that. Secondly, I shall give you whatever you ask for. You asked for food and shelter, isn’t it? I shall give it to you from this moment itself! From now onwards, you are an integral part of our Hastinapura kingdom. I shall give you all the luxuries and key positions that you wish for! All I need from you is to teach these children well and share your expertise with them!” 

As Bhishmaachaarya explains thus, Guru Dhronaachaarya was also extremely happy and satisfied! On one hand, he was happy and relieved that his poverty situation has finally come to an end. On the other hand, Dhronaachaarya was thinking that he shall use this opportunity to avenge King Drupada in some way! We’ve seen this, isn’t it? King Drupada refused to share his kingdom with Guru Dhronaachaarya. Now that Guru Dhronaachaarya has obtained a “say” in the Hastinaapura kingdom, he thought that he can use this to avenge King Drupada! As the deal was struck between the two of them thus, Guru Dhronaachaarya started to happily teach the children. He first identified which child can be good in which art form. 

This is the main role of a teacher here – A teacher should be able to identify the innate talent in each of his / her student and make that talent dazzle in them. A teacher’s role is to develop the students’ talent in whatever they are good at. Thus, Guru Dhronaachaarya is identifying which child is good in what. One child was good at throwing weapons. One child was good at using the sword. One child was good at using the “Gadha”. One child was excellent in the bow and arrow. Similarly, he identified each child’s talent and started training them according to what they are good at. The children were getting individual attention from their Guru and they were extremely happy with it. The children were very bright and they learnt extremely quickly! 

As the education was continuing in full swing thus,  Guru Dhronaachaarya had this intention in his mind always – Can he use anybody in this lot to go and avenge King Drupada? Guru Dhronaachaarya was looking out for the best amongst his students. He was constantly on the look out right from day one! So was he successful in his pursuit? Whom did Guru Dhronaachaarya pick out as his best student to go and avenge King Drupada? We shall witness this interesting set of events in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

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! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the children going for their formal education at the age of twelve, and it is Sage Kripaachaarya who is doing the needful for the children. We’ve also witnessed the background of Sage Kripachaarya’s birth in yesterday’s episode. We had witnessed that Kripa and Kripi were the children of Sharadwaan, who was in turn the son of Sage Goutama. Sage Kripaachaarya’s sister, Kripi was married to Dhronaachaarya, who in turn had a son by name Ashwatthaama. This Ashwatthaama is going to play an extremely crucial role until the end of the Mahaabhaarata story, and eventually we would see how and what was his contribution. For now, Ashwatthaama was also a child of equal age as that of the Paandava and Kaurava children and was also playing with all of them. It is to be noted here by the readers that the event of Sage Kripachaarya’s birth also took place precisely during the same time as that of Dhirdiraashtra and Paandu. This is why we’re witnessing that Ashwatthaama is also of an equivalent age of that of the Paandava and Kaurava children. 

Moving on thus, as the children were learning their lessons under Sage Kripachaarya, during the same time, Dhronaachaarya was under extreme poverty. He did not have any source of income of any sorts to protect his family and child. It was very difficult for Dhronaachaarya to meet the basic requirement of three meals a day. Even it was difficult for him to feed milk to Ashwatthaama. It is at this time, Dhronaachaarya remembers one of his classmates with whom he had learnt all his lessons. He was none other than King Drupata. When they were children, Drupata had once said to Dhronaachaarya that when  he becomes a king later on in his life after his father, he would give half the kingdom to Dhronaachaarya. Of course, at that point in time, they were children of twelve or thirteen years of age, and they did not realize what they were talking to each other. Also since the two were very close companions, little Drupata did not know what he was talking, and thus, he had told such things to little Dhronaachaarya. However, after so many years of finishing the education, Dhronaachaarya remembers this word that Drupata had given him. 

Accordingly, one day, unable to bear the intense effect of the poverty situation, Dhronaachaarya sets out to meet King Drupata. Meanwhile, Dhronaachaarya also learnt that his friend Drupata had succeeded his father to the throne. With this knowledge, he goes straight to Sage Kripachaarya’s house first, and from there, he sets off to meet King Drupata. As King Drupata sees Dhronaachaarya coming, he was very excited to welcome him and offer a seat for his pal. As the two were talking and recollecting their old childhood memories together, Dhronaachaarya slowly asks King Drupada thus, “Oh Drupada! Do you remember? Once, when we were children, you had promised me that you would give me half of your kingdom when you become the king, so that we shall share the responsibilities together as friends! So now, because I’m also in a very bad situation currently, can you please share your kingdom with me, so that, it would be helpful for me to come out of my poverty!” 

As Drupada hears thus from his friend, he initially did not understand and remember the words that he had given! He immediately fumes at Dhronaachaarya thus, “Oh Dhronachaarya! I would have said so many things while being a child. At that time, both of us lacked maturity and understanding of the real world. How can you keep that as a base and come and ask me for my kingdom? So now I understand the real purpose of your visit! It is not to meet me! It is to take away my kingdom, isn’t it? Moreover, you are a “Braahmana Rishi”, and how can you rule a kingdom if you are not a “Kshatrya”? Isn’t this something that you do not know? Perhaps, since you’ve come all the way, I shall give you a sumptuous meal and respect. Beyond this, I cannot give you anything else!” 

As Drupata explains his stance thus, Dhronaachaarya gets extremely angry and feels insulted! He replies back in extreme anger thus, “Oh Drupata! You’ve forgotten the promise that you had made to me earlier! Moreover, you’ve insulted a Brahmana Rishi who had taken all the pain to come and visit you! With this, you’ve committed a great mistake and you would repent for this one day! I hereby take a pledge that I shall avenge this insult that you’ve given to me today in some way or the other!” Saying thus, Dhronaachaarya hurried out of King Drupada’s palace. He straightaway made his way back to Sage Kripachaarya’s place and explained the entire set of events that had conspired at King Drupada’s palace! 

So here, we’re seeing one of the most important pledges made in the Mahabharata story – Dhronaachaarya’s pledge to King Drupada that he would avenge the insult! We’ve already witnessed one such pledge against Bhishmaachaarya and like this, we’re going to witness many more such pledges taken by different people against each other and how they’re going to avenge each other! The entire Mahabharata story would be filled with such things moving forward, and we’re going to see how “Adharma” is going to build up enormously from this point onwards, according to Sage Vyaasa’s words to his mother Satyavati! We shall continue this discussion further with regards to how Dhronaachaarya went about with things from this point onwards! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bheemasena escaping from the trap set up by Duryodhana for the third time. More than just escaping from the trap set up by Duryodhana, Bheemasena also used this as an opportunity to meet Snake Vaasuki and Aaryaka in the Naaga Lokha and in turn obtained enormous power (Power equalling that of eight thousand elephants) by consuming a “special rasam” that was meant to be a “power booster”. Thus in this way, Duryodhana’s trap literally backfired on him as Bheemasena gained enormous strength. With this, Bheemasena came out of the river waters and made his presence felt to Kunthi Devi and his other Paandava brothers. All of them were elated to see Bheemasena safe and secure. 

Thus, we’ve witnessed how Bheemasena attained the power of thousands of elephants from the Naaga Lokha. Moving on to the next Upa-Parva, Sage Vyaasa describes a very important person here. He talks about Sage Gouthama, who had a son by name “Sharadwaan”. This “Sharadwaan” had two children, namely Kripa and Kripi. This Kripa was a great sage, and is often referred to in the Mahabharata text as Sage Kripaachaarya. The sister of Sage Kripaachaarya was Kripi. As Sharadwaan had the two children born, he was sitting on the banks of the River Ganges, along with the two new-born babies. At that time, King Shantanu was sitting there as well, and he saw these two new-borns. Readers might wonder as to where did King Shantanu come from all of a sudden? We should connect the dots here – Sage Vyaasa is continuing to explain the different people who were born as part of this Mahabharata event. He had explained the entire “Chandra-Vamsa” and now he’s explaining some other people associated with this “Chandra Vamsa”. So, we’ve to trace backwards a little to King Shantanu’s time period, because Kripa and Kripi were born during King Shantanu’s tenure. 

As King Shantanu saw these two babies, he fell in love with them and was so attracted towards them. As both children grew up, King Shantanu took special care of both of them. Kripi grew into a beautiful girl and it is this Kripi who is marrying Guru Dhronaachaarya. Now who is Dhronaachaarya? Dhronaachaarya was none other than Sage Bharadwaja’s son. Thus, Kripi and Dhronaachaarya got married and they had a son. As this son was born, there was a sound that horses make! As this comes, the heavenly celestial beings named this baby as “Ashwathhaama”. “Ashwam” means “horse” and since this child was born along with the sound of horses, he obtained this name. There is a detailed description about Dhronaachaarya’s marriage with Kripi and how Ashwathhaama was born out of that marriage. I’m not going into much detail of that here, and we shall just touch upon it and move on further. 

As Ashwathhaama was growing up, he too was playing along with Duryodhana, Yudishtra, Bheemasena, etc. Dhronaachaarya encouraged Ashwathhaama to mingle with all the kids and everything was going good. Now as the time came for the children to take up formal education, initially, it was Sage Kripaachaarya who is teaching these kids with all the basics of bow and arrow, and other war techniques, along with the basics of all the “Shaastras”. We might have a doubt here – Isn’t Dhronaachaarya the Guru to the Paandavas and the Kauravas? He was at a later stage, but initially the education was happening under Sage Kripaachaarya. If that is the case, when did Dhronaachaarya take over? Why did Sage Kripaachaarya leave the kids mid-way? The answers to these questions lie in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bheemasena being targeted by Duryodhana to be killed. Duryodhana executes his treacherous plan to poison Bheemasena in multiple ways together in the form of food, snake bites, etc. and finally drowning him into the river. Of course, nothing really worked on Bheemasena’s body! The poison that he consumed through the food was neutralized by the poison that was injected into him by the snake bites! Thus, Bheemasena was totally unharmed and with this, the snakes took him underground to meet their leader, Vaasuki. Upon seeing Bheemasena, Snake Vaasuki was very happy to meet him and he blessed Bheemasena with all powers and strength to overcome any obstacle in life. Meanwhile, we’ve also witnessed that Vidura was the only person who came to the rescue of Kunthi Devi and the Paandava brothers, who were frantically searching for Bheemasena. Vidura assured that he would get into the matter to check for the whereabouts of Bheemasena. Eventually, Vidura knew in hindsight that it was Duryodhana who has plotted something against Bheemasena, but did not want to disclose that in the public domain, as it might create rifts between the two families. Vidura smartly played it down in front of Kunthi Devi but swung into action to check what Duryodhana had done to Bheemasena! 

However, there was an ancestor in the Kunthi Devi family who was very dear to her, by name “Aaryaka”. When Bheemasena was conversing with Snake Vaasuki, Aaryaka made his way there and introduced himself to Bheemasena. Aryaka explained to Snake Vaasuki thus, “Oh Vaasuki! You do not need to give all the “Ratnas” and other gift items to Bheemasena, as he is already part of the royal king family. Instead, we’ve to give him something that would enrich his strength immensely. Yes, you’ve already blessed him with strength, but this is not enough. Please bring the “Rasam” (A special type of liquid) that we have, which would give him the strength of a thousand elephants. Let Bheemasena drink it how much ever he wants to. By doing so, Bheemasena would obtain a strength with which nobody in this world would be able to take him down!” 

Upon hearing this from Aaryaka, Snake Vaasuki was very happy with the idea and ordered his assistants to bring all the pots wherein the special “Rasam” was stored and give them to Bheemasena. Bheemasena sat nearby and started consuming pot after pot! Each pot of the “Rasam” would give the strength of a thousand elephants put together. In this way, Bheemasena drank eight such pots, one after the other! With this, Bheemasena became tired, and he slept there itself for the next eight days without getting up even for a single minute! Meanwhile, the entire Hastinapura was worried about Bheemasena’s whereabouts, but here is Bheemasena who did not worry about anything that was happening outside the river! Thus, Bheemasena used this ploy of Duryodhana as an opportunity to increase his strength multi-fold! Hence, in fact, Duryodhana’s ploy of killing Bheemasena backfired very badly on him, and eventually in the future, Duryodhana is going to realize the same! 

After eight days, Bheemasena woke up from his long slumber and with this, the “Rasam” had digested completely and his body had taken over its effect! Now, Bheemasena had been transformed into a person with the strength of eight thousand elephants put together! This is real immense power! With this, Bheemasena thanked Snake Vaasuki and Aaryaka and left the Naaga Lokha. As Bheemasena returned back from the river banks, safe and secure, he straightaway ran to the Hastinapura palace and Kunthi Devi was ready to receive him. She, along with the Paandava brothers heaved a huge sigh of relief as Bheemasena was back with them, safe and secure! But little did they know what had happened to Bheemasena when he visited the Naaga Lokha. Bheemasena fell on Kunthi Devi’s feet seeking her blessings, and thus, Bheemasena became an invincible force! 

So for today, let us understand until this point and we shall see how Duryodhana is going to react upon seeing Bheemasena again! An interesting accord awaits us tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂