Period 23 – Guru – Teacher

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Sloka

Gurur Brahma GururVishnu Gurur Devo maheshwarah
Guru Sakshaath Parabrahma tasmai Sri Gurave Namah

Story of Upamanyu

Once there was a great sage Dhaumya who had many disciples.One day a hefty looking boy, entered the hermitage (ashram) of Dhaumya Rishi. He was covered with dust and dirt.

His name was Upamanyu. 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 byheart. 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 of all the faults and defects the boy had, the sage loved him dearly and much more than he loved the other students. Upamanyu received so much love from his master that too began to love his Guru.His love towards his master developed so much that he was willing to do anything for his master.Sage Dhaumya knew that the time has come to tackle the boy.

The only cause for Upamanyu’s defects was that he overate which made him dull and unhealthy. Dhaumya wanted Upamanyu to control his tongue & eat only as much as was necessary for the body.

One day, Sage asked Upamanyu to take the cows to graze in the morning & return in the evening. Dhaumya’s wife cooked some food and gave 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 found that Upamanyu had still not shed the extra fat from his body. When he asked Upamanyu about his diet, he came to know what Upamanyu had been doing as Upamanyu spoke the truth. 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 he was not disobeying his master as he was not milking the cow for himself.

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 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 Aswinikumars ( the Doctor’s of God) appeared & 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.

Upamanyu gave up his habit of eating in excess. Thus he soon became fit, healthy & intelligent.

Song

“Brahma – the Creator”

Brahma- the Creator,
Vishnu- the Sustainer (protector),
Shiva- the Destroyer of evil
We pray to almighty, to give us strong spirit
To face the tricky game of devil.
Veena vahini bestows upon us knowledge to remove ignorance
Mata Lakshmi brightens our life to glow with full of brilliance
Devi Parvati expels the fear and takes our courage to great level
We pray to almighty to give us strong spirit
To face the tricky game o f devil

Game- Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh

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