The Spirit of Dronacharya

The guide, Jay, stopped talking on reaching this spot, folded his hands in a namaskar, and bowed in obeisance for a minute. He moved a few steps back, and then, proceeded to inform us in a low voice,

“The great Guru Dronacharya used to rest here. One of his favorite students, Arjuna, had carved out this bed, for the teacher to relax. Folklore says that his spirit still comes here to meditate, and hence, we take care, not to disturb him.”

We followed the guide’s actions, clicked a few pictures and then, moved away to talk over a shell of  coconut water, served in the coconut with a  straw.

“Tell us, Jay, did Arjuna specialize in manufacturing beds? He made one from arrows for his revered granduncle, Bhishma, and that became his death-bed”

“Arjuna was turned into an epitome of flexibility, by Lord Krishna, to fulfil the goal of winning the battle. The end became more important than the means. This was just one of his many controversial acts. Arjuna was the genius warrior, a tool in the hands of his boss-mentor, Krishna. It was necessary to mould his thinking, so that he did not get stuck in the mire of ethics. The battle had to be won, the goals had to be met, whatever the sacrifices to be made, including the values and ethics he had grown up with.”

We were a group of students from a premier management institute. All of us fell silent, on hearing his utterances. We could sense Guru Dronacharya’s spirit meditating on the wooden bed,

“What was the purpose of my life, if only the techniques taught were applied, not the values and spirit behind it? I had to make compromises, too, which tarnished my image. I was treated as a paid employee by the Kauravas, not their teacher…. “ (Sound of teardrops falling on leaves).

There was no peace after Death. Politics, business and Karma do this to people.

 

This is a take-off form my poem ‘Dronacharya’ published in themachineryindia.com

Dronacharya – by Reena Saxena

It is inspired by the epic story of Mahabharata, though these are not historical facts.