Drona and Ekalavya

 

Summary

Dronacharya asked Ekalavya to cut his thumb when he faced a very complex challenge. 

1. The Kuru kingdom gave him money, power and recognition when he was enduring abject poverty. So, he was obligated to respect and strive for the sovereignty of the Kauravas. Ekalavya is from the enemy side of the Kuru kingdom. So, Dronacharya denied teaching archery to him. But Ekalavya learnt all the knowledge clandestinely. When the Kuru prince asked about him, Ekalavya introduced himself as a disciple of Dronacharya. So, it looked like Dronacharya trained an enemy who can challenge the Kauravas.

2. Dronachaya promised to make Arjuna the greatest Archer in the world. But Ekalavya clearly outsmarted Arjuna's skills. On top of it he had introduced himself as Dronacharya's disciple. So, this would have made a bad example of an Acharya who cannot keep up his promise. 

So, Dronacharya had two challenges in front of him. 1. To nullify any threat to Kauravas from Ekalavya, 2. To ensure there is no body on top of Arjuna in archery skills. On top of it, he has to punish Ekalavya for deceiving his guru. So, he asked Ekalavya to cut his thumb. 

As you can see, there is no caste discrimination in this. Infact, after Ekalavya cut off his thumb, Dronacharya felt very sorry and gave him a boon. The story of Drona and Ekalavya is an intricate play of greed, mastery, politics and integrity. All the players are ultimately defined by their destiny.

Story of Dronacharya

When saint Bhardwaja saw an angel named Ghritachi on a riverbank, he

wished to bear offspring. Then his sperm fell into a pot. It developed into

an embryo, and a child is born from that pot. That child was brought to the

hermitage and was named Drona.

Drona and Prince Drupada were good childhood friends. Both Drona and Drupada learned all the sciences in saint Bharadwaja's hermitage. Drupada once promised to help Drona in his time of need. As time passed, Drupada became the king of the Panchala kingdom. Drona became a sage and teacher. Drona had a son named Ashwatthama. Drona was poor because he was not interested in material wealth. Once, Drona's son Aswatthama saw his friends drinking milk while playing with them. He asked them for some. But instead of giving him milk, Aswatthama's friends mixed flour with water and gave it to him. Drona felt sad and angry when he heard this. He remembered Drupada's friendship and his childhood promise. He went to Drupada's palace and requested a cow to provide milk for his son. But Drupada was in a different mindset by then. He refused to recognize their past friendship and insulted Drona by calling him a beggar. This insult angered Drona. He left that place, vowing to take revenge on Drupada. At that moment, Bhishma came to Drona along with Kripacharya and requested him to teach all Kauravas the Pandavas. Drona agreed to that and started teaching lessons to Kauravas and Pandavas.

One day, Drona saw Arjuna practicing archery in complete darkness. When he asked Arjuna about it, he said," O Guru Drona! I saw my brother Bhima eating food in the dark. Then I thought if Bhima's hand can find his mouth in complete darkness, why cannot my arrows find their target in darkness? So, I started practicing archery at night". Drona was very impressed by Arjuna's concentration and determination. He promised Arjuna that he would make him the greatest archer on earth. Drona taught special knowledge of Dhanurveda to Arjuna. He taught mantras to wield Brahma's most potent divine weapon, known as Brahmasirashastra but instructed Arjuna not to use this invincible weapon against any human being.

Ekalavya is the son of chief Nishada. He requested Dronacharya to teach him archery. But as his father was a general under Jarasandha, the ruler of Magadha (an enemy kingdom), Dronacharya refused to train him along with the Kauravas and Pandavas. But undeterred by this, Ekalavya secretly began learning archery from Drona. He sculpted a clay idol of Dronacharya and began worshiping him as his guru. With hard work and determination, Ekalavya acquired exceptional archery skills.

One day, a dog of the Kuru princes barked loudly when Ekalavya was observing them at the training camp of the Kuru Pandavas with a keen eye. Ekalavya got distracted by the sound of that barking dog. Enraged, Ekalavya shot arrows at the dog. He filled the dog's mouth with arrows so it could not bark. He did it so skillfully that the arrows filled the dog's mouth but did not cause a wound. Unable to shout, the dog came to Kuru princes. The Kuru princes were surprised to see it and searched for the archer who shot arrows so well. Then Ekalavya accosted Kuru prince and introduced himself as Drona's disciple. Arjuna learned about this incident. He knew that he would not be able to shoot arrows into a dog's mouth without causing a wound on it. He was sad that he did not have the talent to shoot arrows as well as Ekalavya. This incident landed Drona in trouble because he promised to make Arjuna the greatest archer on earth. He pondered on how he could fulfill his promise to Arjuna. He greatly admired Ekalavya's skill and dedication, but he did not like Ekalavya learning archery from him without his permission. Moreover, the lord of Ekalavya's father and Drona's king are enemies. So, Drona would not have a suitable answer if his king asked why he taught such skills to their enemies. Drona accepted Ekalavya as his student, but to limit his abilities and further growth in archery, he demanded the thumb of his dominant hand as Dakshina (tuition fee). Ekalavya was a devoted disciple. He worshiped Drona's clay idol every day. So, he immediately cut off his thumb and offered it at Drona's feet. Moved by Ekalavya's sacrifice, Drona blessed him to attain erudition even without his thumb.

Raga and Dwesha

 As explained in the 4th chapter of Laghu Vasudeva Mananam. The root cause of all the suffering is IGNORANCE. Ignorance leads to indiscrimination. Abhimanam arises from indiscrimination. This Abhimanam leads to Raga (passion) and Dwesha (hatred). We then embrace Karma, and this leads us to more Janmas (rebirth) and in each Janma we have to suffer.

AJNANA --> AVIVEKA --> ABHIMANA --> RAGA-DWESHA --> KARMA --> JANMA --> 

DUHKHA

(Ajnana here refers to lack of knowledge of Atma. Aviveka means lack of discrimination between Atma and Anatma. Abhimana represents passion towards one's own body. Karma is the product of desire, effort and action. Janma means rebirth and duhkha means sorrow)

As you may observe, Raga-Dwesha is the center piece of this seven-bead chain of sorrows. So, if we break this chain by overcoming Raga-Dwesha, we can overcome sorrow. To understand Raga-Dwesha, we must look at the creation from the creator's eyes. Doing this will help us understand why Raga-Dwesha exist.

FREEDOM IS THE ESSENCE OF CREATION AND FREE WILL IS

UBIQUITOUS

All the beings perceive the outer world through their sense organs. And when their mind receives a sensory input, it triggers a stimulus. The stimulus can be either pleasant or un-pleasant. It depends on the nature of the being. Every being is absolutely free to perceive things as it likes. This freedom is the essential characteristic of this creation, and nothing can ever stop/remove it. Let's look at a couple of examples to understand this.

Example 1: Imagine you are walking on a road, and you approached a Parijatham tree. Your nose would perceive the fragrance of the Parijatham flowers. Immediately, an internal stimulus is generated indicating that it is pleasant. This is a natural process. If an odor carrying agent enters into the nostrils through air the nose will perceive the smell. After the smell is perceived, an internal stimulus is generated classifying it as either pleasant or unpleasant. This classification is subjective. It is the being's choice to treat it as pleasant or unpleasant. 

Example 2: Imagine you continued walking further and approached a Fish market. Your nose would perceive the smell of dead fish. Immediately an internal stimulus is generated indicating the smell is unpleasant. Again, this is subjective. There may be other beings (stray dogs) that might like the same smell. So, wherever you see, there are beings perceiving the outer world and there is a stimulus generated inside them classifying things as pleasant or unpleasant.

CHIT - MEMORY - TENDENCIES

Let us call the device inside the body which is generating the stimulus as Chit. And every stimulus recorded in the memory as tendency (Vasana). Raaga is the cumulative effect of all the pleasant tendencies Dwesha is the cumulative effect of all the unpleasant tendencies. 

PERCEPTION --> STIMULUS --> MEMORY --> RAGA-DWESHA

Let's understand this better with some examples:

Example 1 - Take a case of a person suffering from hyper-acidity. Every time he/she eats something tangy or spicy, his/her stomach burns giving a very unpleasant feeling. After suffering for a considerable time like this, he/she would develop a repulsive feeling towards tangy/spicy stuff. All his/her tendencies are filled with unpleasant experiences attached to spicy and tangy tastes. He/she would feel uncomfortable at the sight of a raw mango or vineger. This is an example of Dwesha. It started with perception of a particular taste. Then there is an accumulation of unpleasant stimulus in the memory attached to that taste. The combination of all the unpleasant tendencies resulted in a repulsive feeling towards certain objects which is called Dwesha.

Similarly, when you accumulate pleasant tendencies about some in the memory that leads to Raga. People developing liking towards a music director, or a singer can be an example of Raga.

RAGA-DWESHA --> MENTAL BIAS --> BUDDHI --> WRONG DECISIONS

The biggest impact of Raga-Dwesha is incorrect decisions. Tendencies kick-in even before you start thinking about something. So, you won't even be aware that your thinking has got some bias. Raga pulls your decisions towards things that are attributed to pleasant tendencies and Dwesha pushes your decision away from things that are attributed to unpleasant tendencies. They don't care about dharma or adharma. Right or wrong, Useful or harmful. 

DON'T LET IT GET INTO THE HEAD

You cannot stop stimulus, but you can refrain from creating a strong memory out of such experiences. Yes, by maintaining neutrality towards pleasure and pain, you can avoid creating tendencies of these experiences. A neutral mind would also weaken your existing tendencies. And when the tendencies are weak it reduces the bias in your decision-making process. You would have observed that your decisions are quite balanced when you are thinking about something that does not bother you at all. This is the secret behind it.

THATAKI - AHALYA - SITA

Ramayana has a beautiful explanation about how to mend your Chit and the tendencies. There are 3 important woman characters in Ramayana. They are, Thataki, Ahalya and Sita.

Thataki - Thataki is an ogre with demonic lifestyle. Rama fought vigorously with her and killed her ruthlessly. Thataki represents your chit dominated by Tamasic tendencies. Example of a tamasic tendency is feeling lethargic to do bath early in the morning. You can overcome these types of tendencies with strong will power and determination. When you make a strong resolution and wake up early and bath for week, you will overcome the lethargy completely. You will remove all its traces from your mind. Rama killing Thataki symbolizes you overcoming Tamasic tendencies with strong will power and determination.

Ahalya - Ahalya was the most beautiful woman in God's creation. She was ordered to do penance by her husband Gautama due to her non-dharmic allegiance with Indra. She becomes a rock and waits for the Rama to atone her sins. When Rama touches the rock with his foot it transforms back into beautiful Ahalya. Then she offers pranams to Rama. Rama blesses Ahalya and moves on to his journey to Mithila. Ahalya represents your sensual cravings or Rajasic tendencies. You cannot overcome these with strong determination and will power. You need to teach your chit to mend its ways and change gradually. Take a person with diabetes for example. Imagine Ladu is his favorite. It is not possible for him to withdraw from the desire of eating Ladu by strong will power. The stronger you pull back the sensual cravings, the stronger they recoil and push you towards the desire. It is not possible to overcome them by satisfying the want either. Every time that person eats a Ladu, the tendency becomes stronger. So, a diabetic person who is trying to stay away from Ladu has to first learn the bad effects eating sweets. Then he should be reminding it to himself repeatedly. Develop a sense of guilt for eating Ladu. Then his Chit would gradually move away from it. This is the only way to overcome sensual cravings.

Sita - Sita is the princess of Mithila and daughter of King Janaka. She represents Chit dominated by Sattvic tendencies. Devotion to God, respect for Dharma etc is your Sattvic tendencies. You should not try to overcome these. These are required until you reach certain higher levels in your spiritual Sadhana. Rama marrying Sita explains how you should embrace these Sattvic tendencies coz they help in your spiritual progress.

CHIT - TEMPTATION - EGO

Chapalatva or temptation is the nature of sattvic chit. Resisting temptations is very crucial. Ramayana teaches us the importance of resisting temptations by the episode of Sita apaharana (kidnap of Sita). The episode begins with Sita being tempted towards a beautiful golden colored deer. When the temptation arises in her mind, Rama went far away from her (to catch the deer). When both Rama and Lakshmana were away, Ravana who symbolizes desire comes in the disguise of a harmless Sadhu and kidnaps Sita. This is what happens if we succumb to temptations. The moment you feel a temptation, you have already lost your stable and neutral mindset. There is an element of fear of adharma inside you that causes some hesitation (Lakshmana). But if you still persist on the temptation that will also go away. Then you get into the clutches of desire. 

Conclusion

You are free to perceive objects as pleasant or unpleasant. Your chit will generate either pleasant or unpleasant stimulus at every event. Endure them with a neutral mind. Don't let them go into your head. And most important, never succumb to the temptations. Then you will overcome Raga-Dwesha and break the seven-bead chain of sorrow.

98.సమయాచారతత్పరా

లలితమ్మ సమయాచారమునందు ఆసక్తి కలది. 

సమయాచారం అనగానేమి:

1. దక్షిణామూర్తి ఋషిగా, కామేశ్వరీ కామేశ్వరులు అధిదేవతలుగా ఉన్న మంత్రానుష్టానమే సమయాచారము. శివ శక్తులకు పంచసామ్యమున్నది అని చెప్పటమే సమయాచారము. కుండలినీని మూలాధార చక్రం నుండి పైకి లేపి సహస్రారం చేర్చి మళ్ళీ తిరిగి మూలాధారం వద్దకు తీసుకురావడమే సమయాచారము. 

2. వ్యాసం పాణిని, సూర్య, పింగళ, యావకా, మను, యాజ్ఞవల్క్య, ఆపస్తంబ, గౌతమ మొదలగు ఋషులు వ్రాసిన స్మృతులు సమయాచారాన్ని బోధించాయి. 

3. హృత్పద్మంలో పరమేశ్వరిని భావన చేసి, షట్చక్రాలలోను భావనోపనిషత్తులో చెప్పిన విధంగా అర్చన చెయ్యటమే సమయాచారము. 

4. గురువు వద్ద మహావేధ అనే సంస్కారము పొంది షట్చక్రబేధనము, చదుర్విదైక్య సంధానము తెలుసుకుని, వాటి ప్రకారము జగన్మాతను అర్చించటాన్ని అంతర్యాగము అంటారు. ఈ రకమైన అర్చన అమ్మకు చాల ఇష్టం. అందుచేతనే సమయాచార తత్పరా అని చెప్పబడింది. 

మకారపంచకం - దేవీపూజకు మకారపంచకమును వినియోగిస్తారు. మకారపంచకం అంటే 

మద్యం మాంసం తథా మత్స్యం ముద్రా మైధున మేవ చ
శక్తిపూజా విధానాధ్యయ్హ్ పంచతత్వహ్ ప్రకీర్తితః

కొంతమంది తెలియక ఈ మకారపంచకముయొక్క బాహ్యార్ధాన్ని గ్రహించి తప్పుచేస్తుంటారు. శక్తి సంగమతంత్రంలో ఈ మకార పంచకానికి నిజమైన నిర్వచనం ఇచ్చారు. 

1. మద్యము అంటే బెల్లపు పానకం 
2. మాంసము అంటే గారెలు తెలగపిండి
3. మత్స్యము అంటే వెల్లుల్లి, తిత్తిడిపదార్థాలు
4. ముద్ర అంటే గోధుమలు మినుములచే చేయబడిన పదార్థాలు
5. భక్ష్యభోజ్యముల కలయికే మైధునము 

ఇది కౌళాచారము. 

మహానిర్వాణ తంత్రంలో మకార పంచకం గురించి ఇలా చెప్పారు 

న మద్యం మాధవీ మద్యం, మద్యం శశికిరణ రషోద్భవం

కర్మాకర్మ పశున్ హత్వా జ్ఞానఖడ్గేన చేశ్వరీ

మానోమీనం తృతీయే చ హత్యాసంకల్ప వాసనః 

భక్ష్యభోజ్యాన్నం భక్ష్య మింద్రియనిగ్రహః తాం చతుర్ధామ్ విజానీయాత్

హంసఃసోహం శివః శక్తి శ్చైవ ఆనందానిర్మలః పంచమీమ్ తాం విజానీయాత్

1. చంద్రబింబము నుంచి జాలువారు అమృతమే మద్యము
2. కర్మాకర్మలను పశువులను జ్ఞాన ఖడ్గంతో సంహరించటమే మాంసము. 
3. మనస్సే మత్స్యము దాని సంకల్పవాసనాలను హరించుటయే మత్స్య సమర్పణ.
4. ఇంద్రియ నిగ్రహమే భక్ష్యభోజ్యాలు. ఇది ముద్ర.
5. హంసస్సోహం అనే మంత్రార్థమయిన శివశక్తుల కలయికే మైధునము. 

ఇది సమయాచారము 

పంచపుష్పాలు:

అహింసా ప్రథమం పుష్పం పుష్ప మింద్రియనిగ్రహః 

దయాక్షమాజ్ఞానపుష్పం పంచపుష్పం తతః పరం 

1. మొదటిపుష్పం - అహింస 
2. రెండవ పుష్పం - ఇంద్రియ నిగ్రహం 
3. మూడవ పుష్పం - దయా 
4. నాల్గవ పుష్పం - క్షమా 
5. ఐదవపుష్పం - జ్ఞానం 

98.Samayacharatatpara

 Divine mother likes Samayachara

What is Samayachara:

1. A mantranushtana where Lord Kameswara and Kameswari and Adhidevatas and Dakshinamurti is Rushi. Samayachara proclaims that Siva and Shakti have panchasamya.

2. The process of awakening the Kundalini at Muladhara chakra and taking it to the sahasrara and bringing it back to Muladhara is Samayachara.

3. Smrutis written by saints like Vyasa, Panini, Surya, Pingala, Yaska, Manu, Yagnavalka, Apastambha and Gautama teach Samayachara to all of us.

4. Bhavanaopanishat described a process of performing Archana to Divine Mother by visualizing here near the heart chakra. This is Samayachara,

5. Achieving Shatchakrabhedana and Chaturvidhaikya sandhana after learning Mahavedha from a Guru is Samayachara.

Makarapanchaka:

Madhyam mamsam tadhaa matsyam mudraa maidhuna meva cha
shakti puja vidhanaadyaih panchatatvah prakirtitah

Devotees perform oblations to Devi with Makarapanchaka. But many people make a mistake by taking the literal meaning of Makarapanchaka. Shakti Sangama tantra has the real explanation of Makarapanchaka. It goes as follows:

1. Madhyam - Syrup made with jaggery (Not liquor)
2. Mamsam - Telaga pindi (residue after extracting oil from sesame seeds), Vada made of black gram. (Not meat)
3. Matsyam - Garlic (not fish)
4. Mudra     - Delicacies made of wheat and blackgram.
5. Maidhunam - Combination of various types of foods like bhakshya and bhojya. (Not physical intimacy)

The above explanation of Makara panchaka is for followers of Koulachara.

The real meaning of Makara panchaka for those who follow Samayachara is explained in Mahanirvana tantram.

Na madhyam madhavi madhyam, 

Madhyam sasikirana rasodbhavam

karmaakarma pashun hatva jnanakhadgena cheshwari

Manomeenam trutiye cha hatyasankalpa vasanah

bhakshyabhojyannam bhakshya mindriyanigrahah

taam chaturtham vijaneeyaat

hamsahsoham shivah shaktischaiva anandanirmalah panchamintam vijaniyat

1. Madhyam - The amruta dripping from Chandra bimba.
2. Mamsa - To kill the beasts called karma and akarma with a sword called jnyana.
3. Matsya - To remove all sankalpa and vikalpa from the mind. The mind is the Matsya.
4. Mudra - Indriya nigraham
5. Maidhunam - Shiva shakti sangamam

Panchapushpa

Ahimsa prathamam pushpam pushpa mindriyanigrahah

dayakshmaajnanapushpam panchapushpam tatah param

1. Ahimsa, 2. Indriya nigraha (self control), 3. Daya, 4.Kshama, and 5. Jnyana are the 5 flowers to be offered to Divine Mother.