743. Ekalavya

Knowledge passes on from one to another by itself. Ekalavya was a hunter who desired to learn archery from Drona. As his direct instruction to a low caste hunter was not possible, Ekalavya made a statue of the venerable Acharya and learnt archery sitting in front of the statue. That made it possible to learn everything the Acharya knew. This is a phenomenon known to the ancients. Knowledge of one comes to another whose submission to him is total. What we know as Mind is our surface mind. This is limited, personal, finite and acts through memory and intellectuality. Far below this is the subliminal mind which is impersonal, universal and knows all the three Times. Our greatest knowledge crosses our surface mind and is collected in our subliminal, which is in real powerful contact with the entire world.

A sishya submitting to a guru can directly receive knowledge from the subliminal of the Guru, with or without the knowledge of the guru. A husband, for this reason, cannot hide any information from a wife who is truly devoted to him. She would know automatically. One who receives from the subliminal of the guru is the true sishya. Drona came to know of Ekalavya and his method of education. He disapproved of it, as it was taken without his knowledge or consent. Drona demanded the thumb of Ekalavya as gurudakshina. He was an Acharya. He was one who builds the character of his pupils. It was not right for an Acharya to be vindictive. He asked and Ekalavya gave, which appeared to be the end of it. In truth, it had a sequel. Drona vowed to defeat Drupada as the latter had humiliated him. Drona was an Acharya only next to a guru. He was not a mere upadyaya who teaches information. The guru gives spiritual awakening. Drona had no cow to feed his son Aswatthama with milk. True vidya attracts prosperity. Vidya leaves the man poor when his temperament is defective.

Drona should have felt humbled by the fact that his knowledge had no power to attract prosperity. Still, when his request was refused by Drupada, his high character should have desisted from a vow. Anyway, he vowed.  On the battlefield, news of his son's death disarmed him. He threw away his weapons and sat in meditation. Drishtadyuma who had vowed to kill Drona cut off his head. As Drona cut off Ekalayva's thumb which is equal to a head for an archer, Drona's head was severed in the same fashion. The act repeats, repeats leaving its footsteps reminding of the earlier act of cutting off the thumb. Acharya or no Acharya, he was human to be humiliated, to vow, to make a cruel demand of his ardent disciple and the law of life had its say to repeat it on his neck. Good acts do repeat in the same fashion, as Draupadi's earlier help to a sannyasi helped her to receive Krishna's protection from being disrobed. Acts are alive. They repeat ad infinitum. No act dies a death by dissolution.