Sage Dhaumya and his disciples - Part 1

 Sage Dhaumya and his disciples Part 1

 

The position of a Guru is kept at a very high level in the Sanatana philosophy. A Guru is more than just a teacher. Guru is someone who shows a path, while perhaps a teacher is more like someone who educates you or gives you a skill.

Our Puranas and Ithihasas are full of Gurus who are exemplary in their knowledge, powers, thoughts and words. It is believed by many that the Guru seeks out a disciple. A Guru also knows what to give which student. So in a class of a few students, the Guru may choose to give different lessons / focus to different students.

The Gurus in ancient times also tested the disciples. Here is an interesting story of one such Guru and his disciples.

Once upon a time, there was a Guru called Ayoda Dhaumya. This story is mentioned in the Mahabharata and he is also associated with many significant events in the Mahabharata.

Anyways, this story is about this Guru Dhaumya. Dhaumya was well known as a very knowledgeable Guru who was very good for the disciples to learn from. On the other hand, Dhaumya was known for his strict discipline.

Dhaumya had many disciples. Three of them were Aruni, Upamanyu and Ved. They had been at Dhaumya’s ashram for a while. It was time for them to graduate into the world. This is also the time when Dhaumya used to give the toughest tests for them.

One day, Dhaumya and his three disciples were walking through a village. They see that water was flooding a rice field. The dyke (a small hurdle created around fields to retain water). As we know too much of water can spoil the crops.

Dhaumya felt bad that the rich and lush crop was getting spoil due to excess water. Dhaumya turned to Aruni who came from the Kingdom of Panchala and said “Aruni, see the water flowing into the rice field. It will flood the field and spoil the crops. Just close it so that water is not wasted and the rice is also not spoilt.”

Dhaumya left the place while Aruni went to do the job given by his Guru. Varuni first tried to close the gap in the dyke with some mud. The flow of water was very forceful and this kept getting breaking the barrier. Then Varuni tried to put some stones to plug the gap. It did not work. Then he tried a different method and it worked. What did he try? Which method worked? We will see soon.

In the meanwhile, at the Gurukul (school), Dhaumya was sitting in his ashram with his other students. Suddenly Dhaumya realised that Aruni was missing.

He asked his disciples “Where is Aruni?” The other boys looked at each other and then said to Dhaumya “Guruji, he is doing the job you gave him.” Dhaumya was surprised. He had even forgotten that he had sent Varuni to prevent the flooding of the rice field.

Dhaumya asked his students “Is he still repairing the dyke. I gave him that job long ago.” Since the students who are sent to the Gurukul (school) stay with their students. It was the responsibility of the Guru to take care of the safety and welfare of the students also. Now with Aruni not coming after so much time, Dhaumya started to get worried.

He told his other disciples “Why is this taking so long? Come. Let us go and see if Varuni is alright.” They came to the field and looked for Aruni. After sometime Dhaumya called out “Aruni, where are you? Come here.”

Aruni, who was lying across the gap in the dyke to prevent the water heard his Guru’s voice and called “Guruji, I am here. I am preventing the water flooding the fields. Should I get up and come?”

Dhaumya, Upamanyu and Ved rushed to the place where they heard the voice came from. They say Aruni lying across the gap trying to prevent the water from flooding the field.

Dhaumya was moved. He told the other two disciples, Upamanyu and Ved to help Aruni and all of them together managed to repair the dyke.

When the job was done, Dhaumya looked at Aruni and said “Son, I am very pleased how you followed the Guru’s orders. Aruni, since you arose from the ditch and reopened the course of water, you shall henceforth be called Uddalaka as a mark of my favor. And because you have been obedient to me, I bless you that you shall obtain all good fortune and that the meaning of all the Vedic scriptures will shine in you.”

Thus, Aruni was able to close the dyke to the satisfaction of his Guru. This helped the village people also. He was blessed by his Guru who was pleased with the way his order was followed.

What did Dhaumya ask Upamanyu and Ved to do. We will see in the next edition.