|
Mahābhārata The History of the Great India
<< 26 Ekalavya's Fault >>
 |  | Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, in his book of essays entitled Upakhyane Upadesa, "Instructions in Stories" (Gaudiya Mission, 1936), gives the following commentary on the story of Ekalavya:*
| | | To many people, Ekalavya's devotion to his guru is ideal, but there is a special consideration. What was Ekalavya's fault? That should be considered. Wearing the mask of guru-bhakti (devotion to the guru), Ekalavya revolted against his guru. Whether his guru actually considered him disqualified by birth in a low-class family, or was simply testing him—for whatever reason—when his guru refused to teach him the art of Dhanur Veda, Ekalavya was dutybound to accept the instruction of his spiritual master. But Ekalavya did not like that. He wanted to become great. He needed a guru to be considered bona fide, or perhaps it would not be possible to become great without accepting a guru. With these considerations Ekalavya formed an imaginary or clay material form of the guru.
| | | Ekalavya's main intention was to learn Dhanur Veda and become great. He wanted to satisfy his own senses. He did not want to sacrifice himself to the will of his guru. That was not his honest desire.
| | | Some may say that ultimately Ekalavya accepted the cruel order of his guru without protest. But if we consider this issue more carefully and deeply, we can see that Ekalavya considered mundane morality greater than transcendental devotion. To offer daksina to the guru when he asks for it is a moral code. Ekalavya's sense of morality inspired him to cut off his thumb. He did not offer the daksina with spontaneous devotion. (Otherwise, he would have accepted the guru's first order).
| | | Real devotion is simple and spontaneous. If Ekalavya had unconditional and natural devotion for Hari (God), guru, and Vaisnava (the devotee of the Lord), then the guru, Dronacarya, and the best of Vaisnavas, Arjuna, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, would not have been dissapointed by Ekalavya's behavior.
| | | Ekalavya's endeavor to learn the Dhanur Veda and his desire to become great were not accepted by his guru. In the core of Ekalavya's heart, he desired to become better than the best of Vaisnavas, Arjuna. The desire to become greater than the Vaisnavas is not devotion.
| | | By mundane consideration the desire to become great is a good desire. But devotion is the effort to remain submissive to the Vaisnavas. Ekalavya wanted his skill to be greater than that acquired by learning the Vedic wisdom directly from a bona fide spiritual master, as Arjuna had done. By asking Dronacarya to do something about Ekalavya, Arjuna showed Ekalavya that Ekalavya's approach to learning the Vedic science was wrong. If Arjuna had not mercifully pointed that out to him, impersonalism would have prevailed. To learn sciences and devotions, people would have created imaginary, mundane, unconscious gurus instead of approaching a bona fide guru.
| | | So Arjuna took care that such an atheistic principle not be established. Arjuna was not envious of Ekalavya. Arjuna's action was a manifestation of his mercy toward Ekalavya and the whole world. If Ekalavya had been an unalloyed devotee of his guru, Krsna would not have destroyed such a guru-bhakta, an earnest disciple of the guru. Krsna always protects His devotees. But Ekalavya was killed by the hand of Krsna. That is what finally happened to Ekalavya. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that we cannot judge a devotee just by seeing his external austerities. The demons also perform austerities, even more than the demigods.
| | | Ekalavya wanted to become greater than a Vaisnava, against his guru's desire. That is why he was killed by Krsna and ultimately given impersonal liberation. Only the demons are killed by Krsna, and the devotees always protected. Hiranyakasipu and Prahlada are the proof. Therefore we should never try to become greater than Vaisnavas and, wearing a mask of guru-bhakti, actually become an impersonalist. That is what we should learn from the example of Ekalavya. Proficiency in performing activities is not a symptom of guru-bhakti, devotion to the guru. Bhakti means remaining subordinate and submissive to the Lord's loving servants, the Vaisnavas.
| | | * Translated from Bengali by Bhakti Caru Swami
|
|
| |
|---|
English
Español
Pусский
Português