…contd….
Why is this important? Well, only a student who is not
ashamed of his Masster, who is not jealous of his Master, who doesn’t compete
with his Master will be humble enough to have faith in his Master to receive
what his Master is capable of giving him. A look at the story of Aruni – a
great disciple will give you a clearer picture of this fact.
Well, we are talking about the time when students would be
staying in ‘Ashrams’ along with their Guru. Students would do all the work of
ashram themselves and also cater to the needs of the Guru – like keeping
firewood and other requirements ready to keep the sacrificial fire burning,
tending of cows in the ashram, look after the requirements of Guru like making
his bed, collecting items required for his Pooja, keeping his room, clothes
clean et like. In such ashram of a Guru Dhaumya there was a student called
Aruni. He hardly would be able to grasp whatever was taught. But, his bhakthi
for Guru was unquestioned. He would be ever ready to do ‘seva’ to his Guru.
This he would do without any ulterior motive or desire. It was sheer bhakthi
for his Guru that would drive him to wait on his Guru. His intent was ever
pure.
On such night it was raining heavily and Guru Dhaumya allotted
different duties to each of his student. He called Aruni and asked him to go to
the fields and see that the mud bunds built were intact so that excess water
did not flow into the fields. Aruni rushed to fields to see that the bund was
broken and water was gushing into the fields. It wasn’t the era of
‘cell-phones’ or ‘whatsapp’ to ask his Guru’s next order. He tried his best to
build it and arrest the flow of water but nothing seemed to work. After having
tried various methods and failed, Aruni simply lied down on the bund to arrest
the flow of water into the fields. For him, fulfilling his Guru’s order was
only important. He never had “I tried but still nothing happened. What else
could I do? So I came back…” etc nonsense and it certainly was not his idea of
carrying off his Guru’s order.
In the morning, when all students assembled, Guru Dhaumya found
Aruni missing and asked about his whereabouts. When nobody could tell as to
where he was, Guru remembered the work he had allotted to him and rushed to the
fields – only to see Aruni laying down frozen on the ground arresting the flow
of water. His eyes filled with water, lifted Aruni and embraced him and with
heart felt with love blessed Aruni “for your bhakthi and innocence I reward you
with the knowledge that you’ll receive even without learning it”. And Aruni
knew all that he had to learn.
Everyone wants Guru to do this for them but no one wants to
have bhakthi of Aruni. You receive what you give. Your intent decides your
returns. And to think people “pray” that their Master goes from their midst to
be “the centre of attraction”. How sorry is their state of existence!
….contd….
