SRI KRISHNA KUCHELA - A STORY OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP (Holiday story 2)

2. KRISHNA - KUCHELA 

– a story of true friendship 

Guruvayur Temple, a renowned Sri Krishna Temple in Kerala, celebrates Kuchela Dinam  in honor of Kuchela or Sudama, a friend and ardent devotee of Lord Krishna. Our epics defined true friendship long before friendship day came into existence. Read on to know how Lord Sri Krishna taught us the value of friendship years ago.

 

Legend

As per the Bhagavata Purana, Lord Sri Krishna studied at the ashram of Guru Sandipan along with Kuchela, a poor brahmin boy.

The two became close friends and shared mutual respect. They parted ways after finishing their studies at the ashram.

 While Sri Krishna ruled the Kingdom of Dwaraka, Kuchela remained as a poor brahmin.

Kuchela married a woman by name susheela and started a family. However, he could not afford to even feed his family. One day, susheela reminded him about his friendship with Lord Krishna and asked him to seek the Lord’s help.

Kuchela was reluctant in the beginning, but he made up his mind to visit Sri Krishna unable to bear the sight of his impoverished family.

Having very little provisions in the kitchen, Susheela gave Kuchela a small bag of beaten rice and asked him to gift it to Sri Krishna. Kuchela started off for dwaraka with a hope that his family’s condition would improve after meeting Lord Krishna.

When he reached the palace, the royal gatekeepers did not allow him inside as he was dressed in rags. One guard took pity on Kuchela and told Sri Krishna about his arrival.

On hearing the news, Sri Krishna rushed to the gate and welcomed Kuchela with utmost respect.

He then washed Kuchela’s feet with water and seated him comfortably in the palace. Kuchela was hesitant to offer the bag of beaten rice to the Lord as he considered it to be a small gift.

Sri Krishna sensed that Kuchela had brought the bag and asked him about it. Kuchela reluctantly gave the beaten rice to the Lord who savored every grain. Kuchela was too embarrassed to ask Sri Krishna anything and left the palace empty handed.

   However, the great Lord knew what his friend was going through and with his powers transformed Kuchela’s hut into a palace filled with riches. A stunned Kuchela thanked Sri Krishna and remained his ardent devotee.

Values of the story :

1.    Friendships should always be selfless.

2.    Habit of Dependency in friendship is not good.

3.    A real friend helps his/her friend without asking.

4.    We should value the relation at every stage of life.

5.    Real richness lies in respecting the individuals but not their wealth.

Source : https://www.onlinetemple.com/blogs/updates/16323980-krishna-and-kuchela-a-story-of-true-friendship

Eklavya - The Great Learner - (Holiday stories 1)

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Happy reading ...   Holiday story : 1       

Eklavaya

                 Since ages, the story of Eklavya( a character from the Indian epic- Mahabharata) has come to define exemplary discipleship. But there is an unheard and unseen side to the famous story.

                 Eklavya was the son of a poor hunter. He wanted to learn archery to save the deer in the forest that were being hunted by the leopards.  So he went to Dronacharya (a master of advanced military arts) and requested him to teach him archery. Dronacharya was the teacher of the Royal family.

                In those days, as a rule, a teacher to the members of Royal family was not allowed to teach the state art to anybody else. It was forbidden to make anyone as powerful as the princes for the safety of the region.

           But Eklavya deeply desired to study under Dronacharya.  Dronacharya, bound by the state law, could not accept him as his student. Eklavya in his heart had already accepted Dronacharya as his Guru. He went home and made a statue of his Guru. 

Over the following years, with sincerity and practice, he learnt archery and became better than the state princes at the art.

    He became so good at it that, he would hear the sound of the animal, shoot an arrow at it and claim the animal.

             One day, Arjuna, the prince found out about this talented archer. Making matters worse, he saw that Eklavya was far better than him. He went to Eklavya and asked him, ‘Who taught you archery?’  

    ‘Dronacharya,’ said Eklavya.   Hearing this, Arjuna was furious. He went up to Dronacharya and said angrily, ‘What is this? You have cheated us. What you have done is a crime. You were supposed to teach me exclusively, but you taught this man and made him more skillful than me.’

Dronacharya was baffled and confused at Arjuna’s allegations. He wondered who this student of his was, who had learned the art from him but whose name and identity he did not know! He thought hard but could not come up with an answer for Arjuna. He could not believe, this student was better than even Arjuna.

Both, Dronacharya and Arjuna decided to meet the boy.

Eklavya welcomed his master with great honor and love. He led both of them to the statue he had made of Dronacharya. Eklavya had practiced archery over all the years, considering and believing the statue to be his Guru.

In ancient times, a common practice in learning was- Guru Dakshina, where a student would give a token of gift or fee for the knowledge gained by the student.

Dronacharya said, ‘Eklavya, you must give me some Guru Dakshina. You must give me the thumb of your right hand.’ Eklavya knew that without the thEklavya without a second thought gave the thumb of his right hand to his Guru.

In this story Dronacharya is commonly viewed as being cruel and self-centered. The perceived understanding is, this boy who has learned the skill on his own and is good at it, is made to give it up for the vested interest of Dronacharya.  But when one looks at it from the point of view of the wise, one finds, if it were not for this incident, nobody would have ever known Eklavya.

Though on the outside, it seemed as if Dronacharya had done injustice to Eklavya, actually Dronacharya uplifted Eklavya from just being a student to becoming an epitome of discipleship. 

Dronacharya blessed Eklavya with immortality by asking him for his thumb. So when people think of devotion, they think of Eklavya, and not Arjuna.

“See the greatness of Dronacharya, he took the blame on him and uplifted his student. That is why, even if the Guru is wrong, if your devotion is there you can never go wrong. But the Guru is not wrong, it appears he was partial but he uplifted Eklavya and preserved his Dharma (duty) also. His duty was to maintain the law of the land: You cannot have anyone much better than the prince.”

                                                               - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

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