The Story of Drona: Not from woman born.

महाभरत

Mahābharata

As retold by

Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

Drupada and Drona Part 1

        The following morning, before the great kings and elevated sages gathered there on the battlefield, the Pandavas gathered again to hear from the great warrior who lay dying, impaled on a bed of thousands of arrows.

Ten of Swords: Tarot Cards. An image inspired by the Mahabharata story of Bhisma impaled by arrows.

         King Yudhisthira, leader of the Pandavas, asked Bhishmadeva, “You have spoken of Shikhandi, and how that great chariot-warrior had been Amba in his previous life. You told of how Amba swore revenge for her abduction at the swayamvara ceremony, where you took her for your brother Vichitravirya. You told us of her penances and austerities, and how by the grace of Shiva she was born as the daughter of Drupada. You spoke of how Drupada had sworn revenge against you as well, and how Shikhandi was transformed into a man by the Yaksha Sthuna in the dark forests of Kuvera. But why were Drona and Drupada such bitter enemies? In part this bloody warfare owes to the great enmity between those two. 

Bhishma impaled by arrows

           Drupada was a great king, the ruler of Panchala. My own wife Draupadi was his daughter. And Drona was your friend and ally and our mentor and guru. How was it that those two great souls became such terrible enemies. Tell us, Grandfather,  of Droṇa and Drupada. I know that they were once friends. How was it they met and how did they become enemies? And what was the origin of our guru, Drona?”

Drona and Drupada: Best friends and bitter enemies...

            Bhishma replied, “The house of Drupada was the cause of my ruin. How the great king Drupada became my enemy, and how his children became the cause of my downfall is a long story. Why he hated Drona and swore revenge against me as Drona's ally is the story of how friends become enemies. Listen now, and I shall tell how Drona Acharya was born, how he grew in the ashram of his father Bharadwaja, and how he became friends with Drupada."

           "Drona's story begins a long time ago, in the ashram of a great sage, a rishi who was known as Bharadwaja. Dronacharya was born as the son of a brahmana. His father, Bharadwaja was a sincere mystic and yogi who spent his time contemplating the divine in deep meditation. 

         Bharadwaja knew no worldly pleasures, but lived a simple life in a grass hut close by the banks of the sacred river. He rose early, studied the Vedas, intoned the ancient mantras of self-enlightenment and practiced a strict form of self-abnegation. He avoided contact with women and followed vows of celibacy. In the afternoon, he would sit under a large tamarind tree, whose shade gave shelter to his students. There he would explain the laws of dharma to a few students who brought him alms, a few handfuls of rice to live on. He was a simple man who loved truth. He had no worldly desires, but saw that our life in this world is as temporary as a drop of water trembling on a lotus leaf. He knew that the human form of life should be used to contemplate the divine, to dedicate one-self to the absolute. But while the spirit is strong, the flesh is often prey to temptation. Even great saints fall into temptation. 

Apsara

Bharadwaja had completed a long fortnight of especially difficult fasting, penances and austerities. One morning after having completed his Vedic prayer,  Bharadwaja went to take his  morning bath in the warm waters of the holy Ganges, desirous of cleansing whatever sins remained in his heart.

A light mist had formed over the waters. Just as he was at the banks of the river, ready to enter the clean liquid, he noticed a figure on the far banks of the river, moving through the misty waters. As he entered the water He paused by the tall rushes in the mud. The bamboo growing there hid him in the twilight as he watched the figure moving across the water. It was a girl. It had been a long time since Bharadwaja had seen such a lovely girl.  As she played in the water, she came closer. Bharadwaja hid in the bamboo and watched her lithe figure moving gracefully through the clear liquid. Through the rushes he could see clearly now, the figure of a water nymph. She was the fair apsara, the water-nymph Ghritachi. She was a maid of immortal beauty. Her piercing lotus eyes were deep green, her hair black as a bumblebee. Bharadwaja was ashamed of himself for hiding in the bamboo and staring at her rosy lips. She began walking away. But when she reached the banks, she turned and looked directly at his hiding place, as if she knew he were there. Bharadwaja felt the cold dagger of desire pierce his heart. His loins warmed.

She turned as if to leave. But then, she smiled. Was she smiling at him? She left her sari by the banks and wandered into the water again, hip-deep. He grew impatient with desire for the beautiful nymph and her lithe body, who frolicked naked in the cold waters of the Ganges.  The young man, overcome with desire and ashamed of his lust, spilled his seed into a small clay vessel, which he used for bathing. When he finished this sinful act, he turned to see the beautiful apsara who had enchanted him for a brief moment. She was was gone. 

Ashamed of his sin, Bharadwaja hid the clay vessel filled with his seed there on the banks of the river.  Bharadwaja was no ordinary man, but a great mystic, and his seed was potent.  From the fluid in that vessel was born a son. Now since the clay vessel is called a "Drona," Bharadwaja named him Droṇa, that he not forget his error and the sin of spilling his seed into a clay vessel, being seduce by the sight of the Apsara. 

So it was that Drona, the great warrior among brahmanas was not from woman born.