During the reign of King Janmayjay, there lived a Guru named Ayuddhaumya. He had three main disciples - Aaruni, Upmanyu, and Ved.
This is the story of his first strudent, Aaruni.
One day, the Guru summoned Aaruni, “Son, the levees of the field have been damaged and the irrigation water is rushing out from the field. Please, go and repair the levee.”
Aaruni bowed to his Guru’s wish and went to the field. However, the work was more difficult than he thought. He tried several times but could not build a levee. Tired and exhausted, he thought of an idea. In place of the levee, he laid down, which blocked the water flow. He remained in this position the entire day.
When the evening came and Aaruni did not return, Ayuddhaumya was worried. He asked his disciples, "Where is Aaruni?"
His disciples answered, "Sir, you sent him to build a levee in the field."
The teacher said, "Come, let us see where he has gone."
When they reached the field, the Guru called out, "Aaruni! Aaruni! Where are you, son?"
When he heard his teacher calling out, Aaruni stood and came to him with folded hands, "Sir, I am here. I apologize for not paying my respects to you in the evening, but I could not leave the field. When I could not stop water from flowing out by any means, I laid in place of levee. When I heard you calling for me, I stood up and have come to you for service. Please accept my greetings. Command me, what can I do to serve you?"
The Guru was pleased with the selfless service of his student. He smiled and replied, "Son, you stood up after breaking the levee. From now on, you will be known by a new name, Uddalak (the one who gets up after breaking things). When you could not build a levee, you laid in place of it. You did this great service to your Guru without worrying about food, drink, or physical comfort. Therefore, you will be also known as Kalyan. All Vedas and Dharmashastras will be learned by you automatically."
With these blessings from his Guru, Aaruni bid farewell to the aashram and happily returned to his native town.
To be continued.
This is one of the most believable stories of Indian mythology that I have known. It does not talk about anyone's supreme strength or celestial power. It is a simple tale of a young boy's devotion to his teacher and the task given to him. I think it is a good message for small children even know, as to how when he could not perform a task through the normal way, he thought of an unorthodox way to complete it. It speaks of out-of-box mentality that management gurus are so fond of. Aaruni did not care for any reward or punishment. He set out to do a task and completed it - period. If only, our lethargic, corrupt babus in the Indian government and other sectors could be more like Aarunis, then this country can certainly turn into Ram Rajya!
ReplyDeleteSo nice story.I like it so much
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