DaanveerPutri

Yudhishthira's DharmaGuru (Part I)

"In veneration, the preceptor excels ten sub-teachers, the father a hundred preceptors, and the mother a thousand fathers." (Manava Dharmashastra, Verse 2.145)

Mitra struggled to keep her focus intact, as Yudhishthira enlightened her about verses from the Manava Dharmashastra and their interpretations. She had just completed her breakfast with the family and was about to dash to her room and fall asleep again, before Uncle Nakula found her for sword practice. That's when she remembered she had her morning lessons with Uncle Yudhishthira.

Yes, she was no longer the small girl whom the Pandavas had adopted as their own post the Kurukshetra war. She was now an aspiring teenage princess of the Kuru clan. Which meant she could not mollycoddle her way through escaping her lessons anymore. Arjuna had made sure of that and entrusted each Pandava brother to instruct Mitra on a specific form of education. Yudhishthira would give Mitra lessons on the Dharma Shasthras and wielding of the spear. Bhima would teach her how to use the gada, Arjuna would teach archery and Nakula and Sahadeva would focus on sword training.

When Mitra had complained to her Baba that he was piling on too many lessons for her, Arjuna with paternal pride in his eyes had told her something that would always resonate with her.

"You are the Princess of Kuru dynasty. Your father was a mighty archer, but I promise you, I will make you a champion, that even your father watching from above will be mind blown. Not only will you be a splendid archer, but I'll ensure that you will be the first princess to have excelled in all forms of art, dharma and war strategies."

Mitra had been awestruck by the love her family showered her with daily. She imagined how lucky the five children of Draupadi and Brother Abhimanyu must have been to have been loved and trained under the shadow of the mighty Pandavas. As much as she loved them and wanted to prove their words true with her training, she just could not disagree with the fact that her education sessions, especially physical training, were not so easy. Walking into the training arena smelling like a fresh flower, and leaving with multiple bruises and smelling like a rat was not exactly every girl's dream routine.

The downsides of being the only princess raised by mighty warriors she sighed as she let her mind steer back to the present – seated in the royal library with Yudhishthira.

"Tell me Putri, how do you interpret this verse from the Manava Dharmashastra?" asked Yudhishthira with a smile on his face.

"It is addressing the order of the provision of great respect or reverance, Uncle. The preceptor is superior to the sub-teacher, the father to the preceptor and the mother to the father."

Yudhishthira smilingly replied, "Very good, dear. I'm proud of your understanding of this verse."

Mitra looked intently at Yudhishthira with mild curiosity in her gaze.

"Does this statement hold true in all circumstances, Uncle?"

Over the last few years, she had really started to settle in well with the Pandavas at Hastinapura. Relationships were slowly mended between each other, and the atmosphere was beginning to return to how it had been prior to the battle, despite the scars of the wounds that will always remain etched in the hearts, as a memory of the happenings. The relationships between the Pandavas and Mitra, Kunti and the Pandavas and the Pandavas and their wives, had all grown stronger than it was initially. The only broken bond that went unnoticed to all, except the intelligent eyes of Daanveer Putri was the mother-son bond between Kunti and Yudhishthira. Yudhishthira, being Dharmaraja's son himself, would never disrespect or speak harsh words to his mother. Yet, the hurt he carried, as a result of his elder brother's death, and his mother's actions, were expressed by his sorrow-filled eyes and limited conversations with his mother. Being a staunch follower of dharma, Mitra can tell her uncle suffered greatly between his love for his mother and his inability to justify the adharma he witnessed in her action of abandoning her eldest son.