My trials, tribulations, triumphs and more... - Arjuna.

Chapter 11: Gurukul of Guru Dronacharya

Around afternoon time, we started our journey to the Gurukul of Guru Dronacharya. We all felt immensely sad to leave our loved ones behind. Guru Dronacharya who was observing the gloom filled faces of ours, spoke in a gentle manner to comfort us, he said as Kshatriyas it was our primary duty to be proficient in wielding all kinds of weapons which will enable us to safe guard our kingdom from enemy forces and bring law and order. That talk from Acharya helped soothe our feelings of sadness.

On our way to the ashram, we realized that the city of Hastinapur has grown even bigger in the last few years than when we first arrived here. We saw several new sprawling towns developed in the outskirts of the city and it was bustling with people and with business activity. Precious jewellery, stones, decorative ornaments, fine clothes made of silk and so on were being sold at these markets. It looked like people were living happily and prosperity was spread all through the kingdom. As it was a long journey, we stopped at various points to relax a bit and have some snacks and juices. Also, we requested Acharya to give us permission to roam around these towns for a bit and have a glimpse of the people and their lifestyle.

As we were roaming around the towns, we saw several entertainment centres where large crowd was gathered and songs/dances were being performed by various artistes and along with those we saw dice games being played and people were betting on them and were behaving very wildly during these dice games. This was one game which I hated the most, as I felt it was a game which was decided purely on luck rather than skills of the player. Unfortunately outcome of one such cruel game in future would devastate my heart and soul forever, and cause a part of me break that day completely never to recover fully.

As we took some breaks during the journey, soon people got to know the resting place of ours and quickly large crowd gathered around to have a glimpse and greet us. Even though most of the people saw our cousins few times earlier during various ceremonies held at the palace but many of them were seeing us Pandavas for the first time. They competed with one another to have a closer look at us brothers and we could hear them praise us to the skies saying that these Pandava princes look so majestic. The people were mesmerized to see us as most of them were having a look at us for the first time, they were commenting about the serenity and dignified behaviour of Yudhi bhai and how in future he will become emperor of Aryavarth, strong and powerful physique of Bhim bhai and how easily he can crush the enemies, handsome features of Nakul and intelligence and wisdom of little brother Sahadev. About me, they were saying that, he is the third Pandava whose face is glowing like a bright sky, he is invincible in battle and destined to conquer the world with his valour and hearts of beauties with his charm. Even though, we brothers grew somewhat habituated at these words of praise, but all of us were still uncomfortable to hear such praises.

Eventually, we reached the ashram just before sunset and were welcomed in by our Gurumata Kripi and our Gurubhai Ashwathamma. I instantly got connected with both of them and took blessings of Gurumata and embraced Gurubhai Ashwathamma. I felt an indescribable feeling of joy and excitement at the ashram. The ashram looking serene surrounded by large trees and greenery and it was huge ashram spread across acres of land and was equipped with large grounds for conducting different types of weapons training. We saw students of different age groups going through different kinds of training and also were hearing evening prayers and chants. The atmosphere at the ashram was blissful and peaceful, I instantly felt at home.

After the introductory session with various teachers at the ashram and with the other students, we were taken to the huge dormitory where we had to settle in along with other students of the ashram. As we had to travel a long journey, we all were very exhausted and wanted to retire to bed as soon as possible. We had a modest dinner which comprised of couple of rotis/sabji and buttermilk. It was clearly not enough for Bhim bhai though and he asked for one more round to be served, we heard loud laughter from other students at that request from Bhim bhai, but he never cared for such comments or laughter from others and carried on with his dinner unperturbed. Duryodhan/Dushsasan were very unhappy with that modest dinner and asked if they can get any other special dishes cooked for them, but were immediately silenced by one sharp look from Guru Dronacharya. In fact, one of the conditions laid by him to teach us was to treat us as any other student of the ashram and we will not be given any special privileges at the ashram. We all five brothers slept nearer to one other and Yudhi bhai recollected the session where our mata wanted us to conduct ourselves with utmost discipline at the ashram and learn everything with single-minded focus and bring name and fame to our father and to our lineage. Recollecting that pep talk of our mother made us determined.

The night was filled with mixed feelings for me, a part of me was sad to leave my mata, pitamah, my sister, badimata, kaka and friends at Hastinapur but other part of me was filled with excitement as I was eager to learn new techniques and skills under Guru Dronacharya.