Story of Upamanyu

The great Sage Dhaumya had many disciples. One day, a hefty looking boy, entered the hermitage (ashram) of Dhaumya Rishi. He was covered with dust and dirt. The name of the boy was Upamanyu. He requested the sage to accept him as his student and to enlighten him. The sage admitted Upamanyu and kept him with the other students. Upamanyu lacked in many good qualities that a student should possess. Firstly, he did not have much interest in learning the scriptures as he found them very difficult. He could not learn things by heart as he was a little dull witted. He was not obedient either.

Sage Dhaumya was a highly enlightened soul and was a Guru in the true sense of the word. He knew how to tackle this boy. In spite of all the faults and defects that the boy had, the sage loved him very dearly and much more than he loved the other students. Upamanyu received so much love from his master that soon he too began to love his Guru. Now his love towards his master developed so much that he was ready to do anything for his master. Sage Dhaumya understood this. He knew that the ground was prepared to plant the seed. The only cause for Upamanyu’s defects was that he overate which made him dull and unhealthy and also developed Thamo guna in him. Dhaumya wanted Upamanyu to control his tongue and eat only as much as was necessary for the body.

He then asked the boy to take the cows to graze early in the morning and to return at dusk. Dhaumya’s wife would cook some food and give it to Upamanyu for his afternoon lunch. But Upamanyu was a big eater. The food given to him was not sufficient. So he would milk the cows and drink whenever he was hungry. After a few days, Dhaumya noticed that Upamanyu had still not shed the extra fat from his body. He was quite surprised. When he asked Upamanyu about his diet, he came to know what Upamanyu had been doing as Upamanyu spoke the truth. Now Dhaumya told Upamanyu not to drink milk without his master’s permission as the milk did not belong to Upamanyu. As the boy loved his master very dearly, he readily agreed to obey him. But Upamanyu could not control his hunger. In the afternoon, when the calves sucked milk from their mother’s udder, Upamanyu would cup his hands and drink the milk that fell from the Calves’ mouth. He thought that he was not disobeying his master as he was not milking the cow for himself. After a few days Dhaumya noticed that there was no change in Upamanyu’s weight and came to know the reason. He explained to Upamanyu very lovingly that it was a very bad thing to drink the milk that fell from the calf’s mouth and that it would cause harm to his health. The boy promised not to do it again.

But one day in the afternoon, Upamanyu was so hungry that he could not control his hunger. So he ate some of the fruits that were hanging from the branches of the trees. The fruits were poisonous and they made the boy blind. Unable to see, Upamanyu fell into a well. When the boy did not return for a long time and the cows came, Dhaumya went in search of the boy. Finding him in the well, the sage was moved with compassion. He taught the boy a mantra by which the Aswinikumars (the Doctors of God) appeared and restored the boy’s eyesight.

Thereafter, the boy understood how greediness leads to disaster and total destruction. Dhaumya explained to the boy that greediness made the boy blind not only physically but also mentally. It made him dull-witted and thus falling into the well, he would have been in danger and would have died. The lesson now appealed to the child’s heart and he at once gave up eating in excess. Thus, he soon became fit healthy and intelligent.

This is how the Guru acts as Brahma, the Creator, Vishnu, the Protector and Maheswara, the Destroyer of Evil. Sage Dhaumya created love for the master in the child’s heart, then he protected it by his loving advice and destroyed the evil habit in the boy that came in his way of success.

Illustrations by Selvi. Danusri, Sri Sathya Sai Balvikas Student.
[Source: Sri Sathya Sai Balvikas Guru Handbook Group I]