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

Chapter 12: Life at Gurukul of Guru Dronacharya

Soon after the dinner and short conversation with my brothers, I went to deep slumber as I was super tired with the long and tiring journey we undertook earlier on in the day. Somehow, I felt so peaceful and blissful in the ashram and slept without any concern in the world. I think the serene environment at the ashram made me sleep like that. Next day, I woke up with a jerk to the sound of the bells ringing outside our dormitory, it was a wake-up call for the students to rise from their beds and go to the nearby river to have bath and perform the prayers to Lord Suryanarayan and be ready for the early morning class.

We all brothers and cousins went to the class after completing our bath and the early morning prayers at the river. As we stepped into the class, we felt immensely charged-up on hearing the Vedic hymns that were being recited by the students group of other class and the musical melody of that synchronized chanting of Vedic hymns energized the whole environment. The classroom was a large one with kusa grass spread over the floor and the class was equipped with different kinds of books placed in the racks. The classroom looked splendid and ideal for learning with lush greenery spread outside and serene ambience inside.

We were called one by one by Guru Drona to formally introduce ourselves as there were other students as well who were attending the Gurukul from different kingdoms. After the introductory session was over, Acharya looked at the students and asked who is ready to give him Guru Dakshina, and he mentioned it will be a very difficult one to accomplish. And, warned the students not to renege, once they hear the task that should be accomplished for Guru Dakshina. As I looked on, I observed other students to be puzzled and apprehensive and not clear in their minds. But, I did not entertain any such negative thoughts and came forward and bowed before Acharya and told him, "I Arjuna, disciple of Acharya Drona, hereby promises my Guru that whatever he wishes will be fulfilled by me as Guru Dakshnia, even if that costs me my life. And, I promise to honour this in the name of my Guru Acharya Drona."

I saw Acharya Drona's face shone brightly on hearing my words and was shedding tears continuously. He came near me and blessed by kissing my forehead and clasped me to his heart and in front of everyone said, "this little boy Arjuna will be my foremost student and enhancer of my glory and will be remembered for eternity as an ideal student". I was overjoyed to be showered by such blessings from Acharya and saw my brothers looking at me with pride. But, at the same time I could see utter disdain of Duryodhan directed at me. I failed to grasp why Duryodhan harboured such hostile feelings towards us, even though we all tried our best to be on friendly terms with him. In fact, we had terrific relationship with our other cousins like sister Dushshala, brothers Vikarna and Yuyutsu and also had good relationship with the rest of the cousins apart from Duryodhan and Dushshasan. Whatever was the reason for such nasty behaviour of Duryodhan, I simply ignored him and promised myself that I will focus on getting myself better each day and try not to be influenced by negative feelings of others or any factors that are outside my control. Ashwatthama who was Acharya Drona's only child looked at me with affection and after the class he embraced me and asked me if he can be my friend, and I said I would love to have friend like him. The mutual respect and friendship of ours lasted almost to the end of our lives and only ended on that dreadful night when Ashwatthama lost his senses and caused indescribable mayhem that tore our hearts.

The first day at the Gurukul turned to be very eventful and memorable one for me. After the early morning classes which included academic subjects, we took break for our lunch. We went to the dining hall and saw that the lunch was being prepared by Gurumata Kripi with the aid of some others in the huge kitchen room adjacent to the dining hall. I felt it was a daunting task to prepare meals for those many students at the ashram but looked like Gurumata Kripi did not mind that and in fact was looking so peaceful while preparing meals. When I saw her, I felt I was looking at my matas (Kunti mata/Madri mata) and rushed to her and clasped her and became emotional. Gurumata Kripi was initially surprised by that action of mine, and after a few minutes she gently caressed my hair which was thick, curly and as usual unruly tied in a topknot and wiped off my tears and said I was no less than Ashwatthama to her and promised me that she will fulfill the role of Kunti mata during my stay at ashram and I was free to share with her about everything and treat her as his own mata. She jokingly said her first major task would be to arrange my unruly hair neatly. When I reminiscence all these beautiful memories, I thank Almighty to have blessed me to be in the company of such wonderful people who showered their blessing and unconditional love for me and always were selfless in their affection.

Bhim bhai closely followed me to the back of the dining hall where I was talking with Gurumata Kripi and he came to her and innocently asked, if he could have at least three extra rounds of the food portions during the meals, since even the two extra rounds which he had in the yesterday's dinner was not sufficient for him. Gurumata after hearing such an innocent plea from Bhim bhai laughed uproariously and tapped Bhim bhai's shoulder and said she will definitely serve him more rounds of food but only when Guru Drona is not around and Bhim bhai can come to her kitchen when no one was there and have as much as food as he wants. Bhim bhai was so happy at this that he immediately lifted Gurumata in the air and made her shriek. It was such a joy to be around with Bhim bhai, as he was always a person who was open with his feelings and with no malice in his heart and had child like innocence. Gururmata loved such child like innocence of Bhim bhai and would save for him variety of dishes in huge quantities, so Bhim bhai could fulfill his appetite. Rest of our brothers soon joined us and Yudhi bhai as usual was respectful and he greeted Gurumata courteously and formally but that was not the case with Nakul though. He came in and clasped her just like how he would to Kunti mata and asked Gurumata with a little bit of disappointment that he did not see any girls at the ashram, and asked was it only for boys to which Gurumata controlled her laughter and faked anger and gave a gentle slap on Nakul's cheek. I thought my brother Nakul will never change. Nakul was always active and wanted to spend time in physical activities be it playing outdoor games, exercises and so on and when he was not doing that then he was busy in tidying himself as he knew he was the most good looking one amongst us all and was very conscious of that fact. Sahadev as usual was calm and did not talk much, Gurumata Kripi came near Sahadev and said to him she will try her best to make him feel at home, since she was able to decipher quickly that Sahadev was a sensitive child who was deeply attached to Kunti mata and separation from her took a lot of mental toll on him. I don't know what made Gurumata Kripi shower such unconditional love for us, but I can only thank God for blessing us to have a Gurumata such as our Kripi mata.

Thus the start to the memorable time at the Gurukul of Acharya Drona happened ...