The Princes grow up!

In the last part we read about the birth of the five Pandavas, Pandu and Madri’s subsequent demise and that the Pandavas moved to Hastinapur. Now let us read about the princes’ student days…

​Kripacharya in his childhood days, known as Kripa, along with his sister Krupi, orphans from a Brahmin family, came to King Shantanu (Bhishma’s father). Shantanu was a kind-hearted king. He raised Kripa and Krupi with care. Kripa, put in a lot of effort and became a master in the art of warfare and was then known as Kripacharya. Krupi was married to Drona, the son of rushi Bharadwaj; Rushi Bharadwaj was the best archer of his time. He ran a school to teach martial arts to the princes. Bharadwaj, personally trained his son Drona. During his student life, Drona became a close friend of prince Drupada who promised Drona that he would share half his kingdom with him when he became king.

After rushi Bharadwaj’s demise, Drona took over his father’s responsibilities and came to be known as Guru Dronacharya. In those days, an ideal teacher provided free education to all of his students and was satisfied with the honour showered by his students and the community. Vidyadan was considered to be the most superior thing to do. As a result, he stayed poor in meeting his daily needs unless some king provided financial support. Dronacharya had a son named Ashwatthama whom he loved dearly. One day Dronacharya witnessed Ashwatthama’s playmates mock his poverty. (Dear children, never be rude to anyone, because each one of us has a part of God in us. So be righteous and do not insult anyone because of his shortcomings.)

​Dronacharya decided to approach his former schoolmate Drupada for financial help. Drupada had become a king and since he was immersed in his royalty, he ignored his childhood promise to Dronacharya. He openly insulted Dronacharya and called him a beggar. Dronacharya was deeply offended and vowed that one day he will exact revenge on Drupada and left the court! He soon left his hermitage and arrived at Kripacharya’s residence along with his wife Krupi and Ashwatthama. (Dear children, remember to never go back on your word. Once you give a promise live up to it. Be trustworthy !)

Once when the princes of Hastinapur were playing ball, Dronacharya was passing by. He saw the bouncing ball fall into a nearby well. The princes were wondering how to get the ball out of the well. Dronacharya came forward. He listened to the princes and then threw his own ring into the well. He then claimed that he would get the ball and the ring out with the help of his skill in archery. And in quick succession threw blades of grass that helped pull the ball and the ring out of the well! The excited princes all requested Drona to see their grandfather Bhishma. Bhishma, heard what had happened and instantly recognized this as Drona’s skill. He immediately appointed Dronacharya as the princes’ teacher. Dronacharya was very pleased with his position that considerably improved the economic condition of his family. He began to instruct the princes with great care and love.

Of all the disciples, Dronacharya loved Arjuna the most. He was the most skillful and Drona once promised Arjuna that he would make him the best archer in the world. One-day Ekalavya, son of a nishada king, requested Dronacharya to accept him as a disciple. Dronacharya was committed to teach only the royal princes of Kuru dynasty. Hence, he refused to take Ekalavya as his disciple. Ekalavya was disappointed but did not lose hope. He went into a deep forest, made an idol of Dronacharya and considered that the idol itself was guiding him, practiced archery diligently. Through his devotion and constant practice, Ekalavya became an archer par excellence.

One day the Kuru princes went hunting into the jungle where Ekalavya lived. Their hunting dog strayed from the party and saw Ekalavya. It began to bark while Ekalavya was busy practicing. Ekalavya shot a volley of arrows at the dog such that it corked its open mouth. The dog ran back to the royal party and the princes were amazed to see its plight. They all came to Ekalavya, along with Dronacharya, in order to identify the person who has surpassed them in the art of archery.

​Ekalavya saw Dronacharya and fell at the feet of his guru. Drona was highly pleased by his devotion and diligence. He soon recognized that Ekalavya will eventually become the indomitable rival of Arjuna and Drona may not be able to keep his promise. So, with a heavy heart Drona asked for Ekalavya’s right thumb as Guru dakshina. Ekalavya obeyed and promptly placed his right thumb at the guru’s feet, despite knowing that this would greatly hamper his archery skills. What a glorious example of obedience to teachers! (Dear children, today when the teacher-student relationship is deteriorating, how do you respect your teachers?)

When the princes had completed their training, grandsire Bhishma arranged for a competition in order to demonstrate their sportsmanship. Various dignitaries were invited in the grand ceremony. Arjuna surprised everyone by his feats of archery. When the tournament was about to be concluded, Karna arrived on the scene. No one knew that he was Kunti’s son who was raised by a charioteer. He challenged Arjuna. At this point, Kripacharya raised an objection that the competition was meant for royal princes only and not open to ordinary people.

On hearing the objection, Duryodhan, who was intensely jealous of Arjuna, came forward and offered Karna the state of Anga, making him a prince. Karna in turn pledged his undying friendship and loyalty to Duryodhan. Karna proved to be as as good as Arjuna, and no one could decide who was the superior of the two; but this incident proved to be the start of Karna and Arjuna’s rivalry.

The day completed and the royal princes, came to Dronacharya to pay their respects. Dronacharya reminded them of their duty of offering Gurudakshina and asked them to capture Drupada, the king of Panchal, and to bring him as a prisoner. The Kaurava princes went first, but failed to capture him. But the Pandavas had no problem and shortly a chained Drupada was presented before Dronacharya.

​Dronacharya reminded Drupada of the insults he inflicted on him and said, “Drupada, as a friend I am returning half of the kingdom to you, but I hope that in the future you will remember the lesson and respect the promises that you make.”

Dear children, we learned about the immense gurubhakti (devotion towards one’s teachers) from Ekalavya’s incident. Also we learned that we should be true to our word and never renege on a promise from Drupada’s incident. Shall we implement these lessons in out lives from today ?

Click here to read part five !