What Arjuna gave to his teacher as Gurudakshina?

Arjuna’s gurudakshina to his teacher

One wonders that what kind of gurudakshina Arjuna offered to his teacher, Drona. Drona gone to great lengths to ensure that Arjuna becomes  the best archer in the world. We find only one story, and that too was a gurudakhina by all pandavas, when the captured Drupad, once a close friend of Drona. Drona returned his half kingdom and kept half for himself. Probably, the gurudakshina was to fight his teacher in the battle of Mahabharat. Arjuna, after Shri Krishna’s advise, fought with his Guru, Drona alongwith Bhishma and others.

Going back to the question, why was Arjuna so blessed that everyone worked for his cause. We know for sure that Karna was better, but we also know that, he was on the wrong side. But what was the problem with Ekalvya? We don’t know of any wrongdoing done by him, yet Drona, his “teacher”, wanted his thumb.

But why thumb, he could have asked straightaway that Ekalavya should leave archery. Why the poor soul has to loose a limb? Why was Drona so cruel to him? We will never get an answer to this, but one thing is certain, Indian culture may be famous for the pupils showing respect for their teacher, but here we find that teacher has not set a good example.

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Ekalavya practicing archery with the idol of Drona in Mahabharat

There is not enough information that what gurudakshina Bheeshma has given to his teachers, Parshuram and Brihaspati, but his character is such that he would not have missed this.

In another incident involving teacher and pupil,  Shri Krishna has asked Barbarik to give his head as gurudakshina, which he promptly obliged. He had three arrows, who had the power to defeat anyone in the world. Before decapitating himself, Barbarik told Krishna of his great desire to view the forthcoming battle and requested him to facilitate the same.

Krishna agreed and placed the head on top of a hill overlooking the battlefield. From the hill, the head of Barbarika watched the entire battle. Barbarik is also known as khatushyam jee. Barbarik is one of the three persons who has watched Shri Krishna in his virat avatar. Others are Sanjay and Arjuna.

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Barbarika giving his head in Gurudakshina to Shri Krishna in Mahabharat

Shri Krishna was fortunate, as he had the powers to bring back his teacher, Sage Sandipani’s son. Imagine, if he was asked for his finger, then who would have wielded the Sudarshan chakra?

The run which made whole India standstill

This is how the Master reached his hundredth 100.

Sachin's hundredth hunderd

The One run which made whole india wait

 

Stories of Boon in Indian mythology

 Stories of Boons from Indian Mythology

In Indian mythology, especially in times of Mahabharat and The Ramayana, we find many interesting stories related to boons. These boons were awarded by gods and sages to their devotees.  The devotees  performed penance so that they can be granted boons. Following are the narratives of some of the famous boons.

 The boon (or curse) of Ashwaththama

 It is believed that Ashwaththama had a boon from his father Drona, that he would not die. Another account say that he was cursed by Shri Krishna to live in seclusion till the end of Kalyuga. This is because he targeted Parikshit in an attempt to render the Pandavas heirless.

Ashwaththama firing the dreaded weapon

In Mahabharat war, Ashwaththama using the powerful weeapon – Brahmashira

The boon of Bhishma

Bhishma had a similar boon to choose his own death. His father Shantanu bestowed this boon to him after he declared that he will never marry, so that Satyavati’s sons can become the ruler of the kingdom. Before that, he also forgone the throne, which was rightfully his.

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Bhishma taking oath for being unmarried – Bhishma Pratigya

The boon (or curse) of Kumbhakarna

 Kumbhakarna pleased Brahma and intended to ask the throne of Indra as a boon. But Indra asked Saraswati to help him. So instead of asking “Indraasana” (seat of Indra), he asked for “Nidraasana” (bed for sleeping). It is also said he intended to ask for Nirdevatvam (annihilation of the Devas), and instead asked for Nidravatvam (sleep). His request was granted. But his brother Ravana asked Brahma to undo this boon as it was in reality a curse. So Kumbhakarna slept, and was awake for six months, when he ate everything in the vicinity, including humans.

Boon of fragrance to Satyavati by Parashar

Satyavati, the mother of author of Mahabharat, Ved Vyasa smelled like a fish. Sage Parashar saw her once and got smitten by her beauty and proposed her. Satyavati put forth couple of conditions, one of them was that she should get rid of the smell from her body. Parashar told her that this would be fulfilled and instead of the smell, a fragrance will emanate from her body which can be sensed miles away.

Vyasa boon to Gandhari for hundred sons.
Ved vyasa has told Gandhari that she would be a mother of hundred sons. These sons were born from a lump of mass which gandhari gave birth to after pregnancy of two years. Ved Vyasa cut them into pieces and put them into jars. With time they came out as sons of gandhari thus making his boon true.

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Gandhari mourning the death of her son – Mahabharat

The boon of Vali
Vali was famous for the boon from lord Shiva, according to which anyone who came before him lost half his strength to Vali, thereby making Vali invulnerable to any enemy. Once Ravana called Vali for a fight when Vali was doing his regular Sandhyavandanam. He took Ravana in his tail and took him around all the world. He was killed by Rama, when Sugriva was fighting with him.

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Battle between Vali and Sugriva – Rama about to kill Vali

The boon of Jayadratha

Jayadratha had been enslaved by the Pandavas as a punishment for trying to kidnap Draupadi. Enraged, Jayadratha had performed penances to please Lord Shiva who granted him the boon that he would be able to overpower all the Pandavas except Arjuna on one day in battle. Abhimanyu entered the Chakravyuha and the Pandavas tried to follow him but Jayadratha single handedly held them all back and Abhimanyu, unaided, was killed in the Chakravyuha.

The boon of Bhasmasur

Bhasmasur obtained a boon from Lord Shiva that anything will turn into ashes, if he put his hand. He tried to test his boon on Lord Shiva only. Lord Vishnu came to his rescue and saved Lord Shiva from Bhasmasur.

Link to Recommended Reading

 

If Sachin does not get to the hundred mark?

This article is not to predict whether Sachin will get his hundredth ton or not, rather this article is about the similar instances and landmarks of sport persons, which have been hard to come by.

By this time, this is irrelevant to talk about the capability of the prodigy called Sachin Tendulkar,because he had made enough runs in both forms of cricket, which will require some effort to supersede individually, forget about any person reaching the milestones in both forms of this game.

Sachin Tendulkar - playing upper cut

Sachin Tendulkar – playing upper cut

This does not make him superhuman though, as we see in following cases,  athletes struggling at the proverbial “last hurdle”.

Kapil Dev, the charismatic all rounder, who led India to their first world cup victory, was seen struggling in his last stages of career, when trying to upstage Sir Richard Hadlee. Azharuddin did not get to play his 100th test, because for the reasons not related to cricket. Saurabh Ganguly struggled for a place in the eleven at the fag end of his career.

Perhaps, the exception has been Anil Kumble, who became more skilful at the twillight of his career, but one person stands out of this, who is Sunil Gavaskar who is truly an exception to these. He said good bye to cricket in prime form.

Another is Imran Khan, who inspired a not so good team to a world cup win. Similarly we saw Ivan Lendl never winning a Wimbledon despite being at top for long, we are witnessing Rafael Nadal showing signs of fatigue at a very young age, which makes Roger Federer look good.

Well, the question is , even if he does not get it, would Sachin, the phenomenon Tendulkar’s achievements will become less great? I doubt, after all, Sir Don Bradman did not get those four runs. Sir Jack Hobbs struggled a lot to equal W G Grace’s record, and was “helped” by opposing team when he actually broke the record.

But guess, who will be remembered along with Tendulkar, if does not get it at all. The answer is, Ravi Rampaul.

First published on 04 March, 2012, Sachin made his 100th ton on Mar, 16, announced retirement from ODI before the team selection with Pak Series on 23 Dec, 2012.

Kitne aadmi the? famous dialogues from Hindi movies

Famous dialogues from Hindi Movies

You may wonder why a blog on indian mythology would have this kind of article. Well, you are right but the temptation is too much for me. Forgive me for thinking that a person who likes mahabharat will also like hindi movies and following post will become interesting for him as well. If you are still with me, then I have struck a note with you. Happy reading!!!

Kitne aadmi the

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A still from Sholay

There are few dialogues, which always ring some bells, but there ones, who have defined a whole career of an actor and Gabbar Singh has been defined by the lines “Kitne aadmi the?”. This dialogue from a movie released almost 35 years ago, still fresh in memories. Another famous dialouges from the same film are  “Tera kya hoga Kaalia” and “Bahut yaarana lagta hai”.

Lets go through some more of  them to see if they evoke some memories? “Mogambo khush hua” . This should be easy. The movie was first in india made on science fiction and first hit by Anil Kapoor. Shekhar Kapoor directed this landmark film. Following lines will not so easy to guess, but the author likes them so mentioning here. They may prove to be difficult to guess.

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Mughal e Azam by K Asif – Hindi Movies

Yeh dhandha hai to beimaani ka, lekin hum karte imaandari ke saath hain.

This dialogue was said by Nana Patekar in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s movie.

Jahe naseeb, kaanton ko murjhaane ka khauf nahi hota.

Above is an old classic from hindi movies which had actors Madhubala and Dilip Kumar.

Dong kabhi wrong nahin hota.

Amrish Puri said above words.

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Parina – Hindi movies

 

Topi sambhalo Dinkarrao, hawa tej chalta hai.

Agle hafte ek aur majdoor hafta dene se inkaar karne waala hai, Rahim chacha!

Above two films have acquired cult status in hindi movies. Following lines have been taken from a Amitabh Bachchan classic whose remake has been made recently.

Aaj 6 baje apun ka maut ke saath appointment hai.

Jab dushman apni chaal kahatam kar le, tab main apni chaal shuru karta hoon.

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Amitabh Bachchan in Hindi movies – Agneepath

Following dialogues from Hindi movies should be again easy to identify with.

Yeh Dhai kilo ka haath jab padta hai to aadmi uthta nahin, uth jaata hai.

Don ka peecha to gyarah mulkon ki police kar rahi hai………..

Holi kab hai. Again by Amjad Khan.

Yeh haath nahin , phaansi ka phanda hain?

Shakaal kya nahi kar sakta.

Pistol jail mein aa chuka hai.

Above lines are taken from Sholay, Shaan and Damini.

Following are recent favourites:

Thappad se dar nahin lagta babujee, pyar se lagta hai. and I like the following as well:

Mujh par ek ehsaan karna, ki mujh pe koi ehsaan na karna.

Hindi movies have given us few unforgettable lines over the years and fans definitely identify with these. I forgot one another which is hilarious as well.

“Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti?”

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Gabbar Singh with Kaalia

But perhaps the most defining and effective dialogue was told in the hindi movie, Deewar.

“Mere paas Maa hai”

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Deewar – Amitabh and Shashi’s landmark film

This article is one of the most read articles of this blog. Overwhelmed, the author is adding few more golden nuggets. I have deliberately not mentioned the name of the movie, may be you can exercise your memory.

1. Mogambo Khush hua

2. Dong kabhi wrong nahi hota.

3. Jani ye chaku hai, lag jaaye to khoon nikal jaata hai.

4. Hamare desh mein kaam dhoondna bhi ek kaam hai

Mere baap ne do shadiyan ki hai, do … ek meri maa ke saath … aur ek apni naukri ke saath

5 Nasik ho yah Bambai … ladkiyan ladkiyan hoti hai, patane ka tarika aana chahiye … pyar kiya nahin jaata, karvaya jaata hai

6 Agar main tere liye mar sakta hoon, toh tujhe maar bhi sakta hoon

7 Yeh tum janti ho ki yeh revolver khali hai … main janta hoon ki yeh revolver khali hai … lekin police nahin janti ki yeh revolver khali hai

8 Giraftaar hone ki aadat mujhe bilkul nahi hai

9 Mujhe do tarah ki ladkiyan pasand nahi aati … ek woh joh mere pass aane mein bahut derr lagaye … aur ek woh joh bahut jaldi aa jaye