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Sri Krishna Kathamrita Sri Krishna Kathamrita Tav k QaaMa*Ta& TaáJaqvNaMa( tava kathāmta tapta-jīvanam BBBiiinnndududu Fortnightly email mini-magazine from Gopal Jiu Publications Issue No. 27 23 April 2002 Śrī Kāmadā Ekādaśī, 26 Vishnu, 516 Gaurābda • FOLLOW GURU; DON’T SPECULATE Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja • EKALAVYA’S FAULT Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada Highlights Highlights · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · FOLLOW GURU; DON’T SPECULATE If someone is serious, then what should he do in the face of such a test? He should not leave. He Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja should stay with leech-like tenacity. Whatever the guru has said, one should just In the Mahābhārata there is the story of execute it as it is, with no speculation. Not that, Ekalavya. Dronacharya was teaching archery. “Gurudeva has said this, and that’s all right. But Ekalavya once approached him requesting to I may do like this, or it may be done in another be his disciple. Ekalavya did not belong to a royal way.” No, no, no. Just do exactly what he said, family. He was from a tribal family. When he as it is, with no speculation. There should be no requested, Dronacharya said, “No, no, no. You addition and no subtraction. Execute it as it is, are not allowed. Get out of here.” Ekalavya left, and then you can get the mercy of guru. Other- but he had the desire, “I must learn this thing.” wise you cannot get his mercy. Disciple means Dronacharya´s dear disciple was Arjuna. under strict discipline. There is no slackness. It is Arjuna had received the full mercy of very serious. The guru will inflict very strict dis- Dronacharya. Dronacharya promised that no cipline upon you. He will test you to see if you one would be able to surpass Arjuna in archery. are a real disciple. Just as there are bona fide Arjuna was also a devotee of Lord Krishna. One sadhus and gurus as well as bogus sadhus and who is a devotee of the Lord naturally gets the gurus, similarly there are also bona fide and bo- mercy of guru. And, yasya prasādād bhagavat- gus disciples. Whoever does not strictly follow prasādo — one who gets the mercy of guru also the instructions and directions of the guru, as it gets the mercy of the Supreme Lord. Since is, is a bogus disciple. He is a speculator. No mat- Arjuna was a devotee he had both the mercy ter how strict and severe the discipline inflicted of his guru, Dronacharya, as well as of Krishna. by guru may be, one should ungrudgingly ac- Because of the blessings of guru, it was not cept it, at any cost, even at the cost of your life. possible for anyone to surpass Arjuna. But The guru will put you in such a test: “Let us see Ekalavya thought, “No. I must excel him.” whether he is a bona fide disciple or a bogus dis- So Ekalavya returned to the jungle and made ciple. Is he serious to get the mercy and under- a deity of Dronacharya out of clay. He estab- stand Krishna, or not?” Strict discipline will be lished the deity and said, “This is my guru.” inflicted. The guru tests the disciple. Whenever He knew that without guru one cannot learn, a disciple approaches a guru, the guru will first so he made a deity of Dronacharya. say, “No, no, no. Get out! Get out! I don’t accept Ekalavya was a very expert person. He had disciples.” Or he may say, “No, I cannot accept some good material qualities, but mere mate- you. Go somewhere else.” This is the guru’s test. rial qualities are not qualities at all: Issue Twenty-seven, Page — 2 é[q k* Z<ak QaaMa*Ta ibNdu yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā Ekalavya saw that his Gurudeva had come. sarvair gu(ais tatra samāsate surā) He offered his obeisances and Dronacharya harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-gu(ā asked him, “Whose disciple are you?” manorathenāsati dhāvato bahi) “I am your disciple.” Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (5.18.12) says, “Auto- Dronacharya said, “All right. If you are my matically all good qualities manifest in that disciple, then give me guru-dak+i(ā [a person who has developed unalloyed devo- disciple’s gift to the guru, the traditional pay- tion unto Krishna. Even all the demigods ment for the guru’s gift of knowledge].” manifest in his person. However, harāv “I will give. What guru-dak+i(ā do you want?“ abhaktasya kuto mahad-gu(ā — one who is not “Cut off the thumb of your right hand and a devotee of Hari has no good qualities at all.” give it to me. That is the dak+i(ā.” Immedi- By the material angle of vision he may have ately Ekalavya cut off the thumb of his right some good qualities, but they are not actu- hand and gave it. ally good qualities. He may appear to be a It seems that Ekalavya must be a great devo- very expert person, but his so-called exper- tee of his guru. What the guru asked, he im- tise is actually only speculation. mediately gave. With his right thumb cut off manorathenāsati dhāvato bahi) — He is simply he could not shoot arrows, so he could not wandering here and there on a chariot of surpass Arjuna. One may thus think, “Oh, this speculation concocted in the mind. is Dronacharya’s partiality. He did this in or- Ekalavya was like that. He was very expert, der to make his dear disciple great.” One may but he was speculating. Ekalavya stayed in the also consider this to be due to the jealousy of jungle, one yojana, eight miles, away from Arjuna. He informed Dronacharya about this Hastinapura where Dronacharya was teach- so Dronacharya came and asked for Ekalavya’s ing archery to the Kauravas and Pandavas. thumb as dak+i(ā. One may think that this is Ekalavya cleared the trees from the jungle. He enviousness on the part of Arjuna. had such clear eyesight that from eight miles Such thinking is not good. This is the material away he could see what Dronacharya was consideration. But how is it that Ekalavya got teaching and he would follow it. He became a such skill and how is it that a devotee like Arjuna great archer. He achieved such ability that he became jealous? Is this bona fide? Is what’s been even surpassed Arjuna. Once, Dronacharya done correct or incorrect? If Ekalavya had no asked his disciples, the Kauravas and right to learn this skill, then how could he get Pandavas, to go to the forest for hunting. it? That is not the issue. The point is that if Sometimes k+atriyas go hunting. While out in Ekalavya had such guru-bhakti, and if he had the forest there was one dog who was going the mercy of guru, then quite naturally he would ahead of them. The dog disappeared for some also have the mercy of Krishna. But later on time. Suddenly they saw the dog. He had Ekalavya was killed by Krishna. How was it seven arrows simultaneously pierced through that he was killed by Krishna? The demons his mouth. They thought, “Who has done who are killed by Krishna get sāyujya-mukti this?” Then they met Ekalavya. It was he who [impersonal liberation]. Ekalavya got sāyujya- had shot the arrows into the dog’s mouth. mukti. That means that Krishna was not Arjuna could understand, “Oh, he is such a pleased with him and Drona was not pleased. great archer! I could not have done this. He Nobody was pleased with him. has surpassed me! But my guru has said that According to material calculation, one would no one will be able to surpass me!” Then they say there is nothing wrong with Ekalavya. He asked Ekalavya, “Who is your guru?” He told was very devoted to his guru. When them, “Dronacharya is my guru.” Arjuna then Dronacharya asked him to cut off his thumb went back and informed Dronacharya that for dak+i(ā, he immediately gave it. Material- although Ekalavya was refused by you, he istic people cite this example and say, “We will came to the jungle and has made a deity of become like Ekalavya. We will sit at home and you from clay and has learned such expert make a mūrti of guru and get everything. Why archery that he has shot seven arrows into the should we go and get it directly from the guru’s mouth of this dog. Dronacharya went there. lips? Why should we hear? This mentality is Sri Krishna-kathamrita Bindu Issue Twenty-seven, Page — 3 Krishna so he got sāyujya-mukti. One who wants to surpass a vai+(ava commits an of- fense. Ekalavya had committed an offense and by cutting off his thumb this nirviśe+a- vāda was checked. This is our paramārthika- vicāra [spiritual consideration]. In the mate- rial field, everyone glorifies Ekalavya. How- ever, he could not get the mercy of Dronacharya or Krishna. If you don’t get the mercy of guru, how can you get the mercy of Krishna and how can you overcome māyā? You cannot. Never, never. Therefore one should serve the guru, please him, and get his mercy. Then you can overcome māyā. Then you can understand and approach Krishna. Otherwise you cannot.- — From a class on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.5.30 in Bhubaneswar. 20 April 1991. EKALAVYA’S FAULT Prabhupada Srila Saraswati Thakur In his book of essays entitled Upākhyāne- upadeśa, “Instructions in Stories”, Srila Painting entitled: ekalavyera guru-dak'i(ā, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur gives the fol- from a late 19th century Bengali edition of Mahābhārata.
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