"Aruni had it, do you have it too"

Once upon a time, there lived another learned mind, Aruni was one among the favourite disciple of sage Maharishi Ajodhya Dhaumya, along with Upamanyu and the one named 'Veda' (Mbh 1.3). He was from the country of Panchala and was known as Aruni of Panchala.

As per epic Mahabharata (MBh 1.3), One day Aruni's Guru Maharishi Dhaumya, asked Upamanyu to go with Aruni to the field. But, Upamanyu stalled the attempt by giving an excuse that he had to tend the cows in the cow-shed and also to water the Ashrama garden, and then make garlands for the “Dev-Pooja.” So, the great sage seeing a plethora of excuses smiled only too well as he knew the avoiding nature of Upamanyu. To this immediately, without batting an eyelid, young Aruni said, “Gurudev, let brother Upamanyu tend the cows here and do the Ashrama work. I am very strong like Bhima-the Pandava prince. I can handle the task alone.” So, Rishi Dhaumya had no reason left but to allow him to go alone to the field and oversee that water was flowing well to a certain field. Aruni went there and found that water is not freely flowing, so he created a mud-wall bund from the nearby mud. A second later, the mud-wall could not withstand the overflowing water and broke the wall that Aruni had made. Again, quickly, Aruni tried; but the water flow was not being stopped from its designated path. Aruni tried to stop water by all means but became unsuccessful. He then lay there using his body to prevent the breach of water. Due to this Aruni did not return to the hermitage. Maharishi Dhaumya with his other disciples, grew worried as it was night and freezingly cold. They all came to the spot in search of Aruni. By now, there was frostbite on Aruni, and fever was raging like a bull; still Aruni who lay unconscious, didn’t give up.

Dhaumya was very pleased upon Aruni and gave him the title, “Uddhalaka--the savior”. Later Aruni became very famous under that title.

Questions for pondering:-

1. What was the need for Aruni to be such a staunch supporter of a cause?

2. Why did Aruni not come back to the Ashrama and leave the field to be devastated?

3. What quality of Aruni, do you like to emulate?

4. How do you rate Aruni, a coward or a patriot?

5. Why did Upamanyu not go to the field instead of Aruni?

6. What lesson do you learn from this story?

7. How do you see the above story helpful to solve any problem you have faced? Do share here.