Grace and Duty - Story of Sandipani's son
Grace and Duty – Krishna’s way – Story of Sandipani’s son
(HariVamsa Purana)
Once the last rites of his uncle
Kamsa had been performed, Krishna and Rama, crowned the old and wise king
Ugrasena as the King of Mathura. Once things got stabilised, their parents
wanted them to attend a Gurukul even though they were older than the normal age
in which children started their education.
The elders decided that Balarama
(called Rama, Krishna’s brother) and Krishna were sent to the Ashram of Guru Sandipani.
Guru Sandipani had his ashram at Avanti (present day Ujjain) and was renowned
for not only his knowledge of the Vedic scriptures but also for his intricate
knowledge of DhanurVeda.
(DhanurVeda is called a Upaveda
and is linked to Yajurveda. Dhanur indicates bow as well as knowledge in Sanskrit.
DhanurVeda deals with weaponry and the art of warfare and usage of weapons. In Vedic
age, learning the DhanurVeda was considered important for all the men of the kshatriya
varna. The teachers who normally tended to be from the brahmana varna impacted
the knowledge to these princes who came to them for studies.)
Rama and Krishna were not only
obedient students, they excelled academically. They learnt the entire syllabus that
Guru Sandipani had to offer in sixty four days and nights. (Imagine finishing your
entire school and college studies in sixty four days. Must be pretty cool, isn’t
it?)
(When children finish their
studies at the Gurukulam, they normally offer the Guru and his family a small fee
as a token of appreciation. Unlike the present day system, the Guru and his
wife were responsible for the overall welfare of the children who had been
entrusted to them including feeding them, taking care of them when they are unwell
etc., The children in turn help the Guru in various activities like grazing the
cows, collecting firewood, fetching water and planting trees. This way they
learnt life skills while also getting their academic education.)
Lord Krishna and Balarama were
princes and were grateful to Guru Sandipani for taking them as students and
generously parting with his knowledge about various rare and powerful weapons.
When their education came to formal conclusion, they went to Gruru Sandipani
and asked him. ”Learned Sage. We are grateful that you took special care and helped
us learn all the Vedas, scriptures and Upavedas within this short period of
time. We would like to give you a GuruDakshina. Please let us know what can we
give you.”
Krishna and Balarama went in search
of the demon Panchajana. After swimming for many yojanas (a Vedic measurement
of distance. The equal measure in kilometres varies with many saying different
numbers.)
Krishna realised that the Guru’s
son had reached the abode of Yama, the God of death. Yama was respectful of
Lord Krishna but was not willing to part with a dead entrusted to him. This
resulted in another confrontation between Lord Krishna and Lord Yama. Victorious,
Lord Krishna brought from Yama’s abode his preceptor’s son lost for a long
time.
Lord Krishna literally brought
back Sandipani’s son from the dead. Krishna took Sandipani’s son, lot of rare
jewels from Yamaloka and the Panchajanya that he acquired from the ocean and
returned to Sandipani’s ashram.
Krishna dedicated all the jewels
and the boy to his Guru Sandipani. Guru Sandipani was overjoyed to see his son
after so many years. He blessed his students Krishna and Balarama. The two
brothers took leave of their Guru and returned to Mathura.
Krishna’s Gurubhakthi and
commitment to his word took him to many dangerous and unchartered territory.
After all that hardship, he did not ask for anything for himself and gave the
riches to his Guru. Another example of just doing one’s duty and not expecting
anything in return.
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