Krishna’s Guru Dakshina_ Pirating Away the Pirates

2/4/2016 KrishnasGuruDakshina:PiratingAwayThePirates

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Apr 3, 2015 | 9 Comments

Krishnas GuruDakshina: PiratingAway The PiratesLast week, we saw how Krishna promised his GuruSandhipaani, that he would find and rescue his son,who had been kidnapped by pirates. This week, welook at how Krishna boards the pirate ship, andwith guile and charm, commandeers the pirates.

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Last week, we saw how Krishna promised his Guru Sandhipaani, that hewould find and rescue his son, who had been kidnapped by pirates. Thisweek, we look at how Krishna boards the pirate ship, and with guile andcharm, commandeers the pirates.

Sadhguru: Krishna came to know that Panchajana wouldsoon be coming with his ship to a particular port to sellhis pirated goods. Panchajana arrived at the port,

anchored his ship and started making his deals. He sold preciousstones and gems, rare herbs and people, the kind of people thatland would not have ever seen. Because his trading was going well,he camped in that place for a month. Krishna patiently waited,following him and being around wherever Panchajana was, learningall his ways and how he dealt with things. When he saw thatPanchajana had made his final deals, Krishna and Udhava swam tothe ship and hid themselves. The ship was waiting for the rightwinds and had not yet sailed, when old Bikru, the navigator of theship, discovered them. Who are you? he asked. Why did you getonto the boat?

Krishna was armed only with his smile, so he put it on and said,We have come here because our brother Punardatta was takenaway by you. Take us wherever you took him and leave us there. Wecant be away from our brother.

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Krishna was armedonly with his smile,so he put it on and

said, We have comehere because our

brother Punardattawas taken away by

you.

Bikru was very amused by this. He thought these were just a coupleof local thieves who had come to take something from the ship andgo. He said, You come and sit here in front of me. You should notmove. He wanted to make sure that the ship moves into the deeperocean, and see what these boys would do. He thought they wouldget desperate and jump off the ship when it sets sail.

But the boys just sat there happilychatting with him, makinginquiries about navigation, wherethey go, where they come, andmaking small talk. Krishna asked,Would you teach me navigation? Iwould like to learn how to navigatea ship. All this was very amusingfor Bikru who had been navigatingthis crime ship for a long time. Hehad never seen anyone sitting onthe deck and smiling at him,making conversation all the time.Such a thing had never happenedin that place. It was always rob, killand murder; that had been his life.

He wondered if there was something much more diabolical in theseboys that he had not understood and thought it was better not totake any risk. So he asked someone to bring a rope and tied up theirhands and legs and just put them there in front of him. He didntwant them to go out of his vision for a moment.



Lying there with hands and legs bound, Krishna continued to makeenquiries about navigation, about the stars with which Bikru guidedthe ship. So what if your hands are bound, you can still learn! Theirears werent plugged so he continued his conversation. This was toomuch for Bikru. Slowly, he started liking the boys. They were sosincere and they just wanted to know about navigation. This manhad been navigating the ship for over 50 years. He said, My fatheralso navigated the same ship. After he died my uncle navigated thisship and I have been navigating it now for fifty years. For the firsttime, someone was showing so much interest in navigation,wanting to know. He was a treasury of knowledge about navigationand he got the opportunity to share his knowledge and he talked tothem the whole night. By morning they were great friends, but theirhands and legs were still tied up.

The chief of the ship, Panchajana, was a hard man. If anything wasout of the way from the way he wanted it, people were severelypunished or killed. So, Bikru reported to Panchajana that they hadtwo boys here. Panchajana came and looked at them, sized them upand thought, This is good cargo. This blue boy can fetch us a realgood price somewhere. And the other fellow is not so bad either.So he told Bikru, Dont give them any hard work. Feed them well,let them just be here. Well sell them somewhere. At the next portwe are going to, we will definitely fetch a good price for boys likethis. I dont want them all sun-burnt and bruised. I want them theway they are. Keep them this way.

So, Krishna and Udhava were given good food and taken care of.Krishna went about freely in the ship making friends with everyone.



Panchajana cameand looked at them,sized them up and

thought, This isgood cargo. This

blue boy can fetchus a real good pricesomewhere. And theother fellow is not so

bad either.

Panchajana watched this. He didntlike friendship. Friendship isdanger. He wanted the whole shipto be on the alert constantly and infear of him. When he saw thatpeople had started talking toKrishna and laughing with him, hesaid, This is too much. Come intomy cabin and sit in this hold, dontgo out. Krishna sat withPanchajana and started longconversations with him.Unwittingly, Panchajana couldnthelp answering the boys questionsand getting involved inconversations and arguments withhim.

Krishna made enquiries aboutwhere they were headed and Bikru told Krishna that the nextdestination was Kausthali. Our master would like to sell you therebut if you dont fetch a good price there, we will take you toVyavasthapuri, the next port which is a much longer journey. Thereyou will definitely fetch a good price and that is where we soldPunardatta. So Krishna said, Thats fine I would like to be soldthere.

In the meantime, a young carpenter who was working as a crew onthe ship happened to sleep off on his job because he was not well.



The whole crew verystealthily came andwatched this eventof one man caring

for another.

The report went to Panchajana. Panchajana did not take this kindly.The boy was dragged and brought on the deck. Panchajanaconstantly had two gigantic bodyguards named Hukku and Hullu.These huge men always carried cattle whips, and anyone out of linewas punished with a whipping. Panchajana wanted to make ademonstration out of the boy, so he asked Hukku to take the cattlewhip and give him six lashes. The boy was held down and this giantof a man using the whip, left bleeding wounds on the boys backwho passed out. Krishna did not like the situation at all. When nightset in, Krishna and Udhava went to the boy and took his head intohis lap. Krishna took a cloth, and using what they could save oftheir little quota of drinking water, he cleaned all the boys woundsand applied some medicine that was available on the ship. Krishnaand Udhava sat there with him till he fell asleep.

This was a strange situation on thepirate ship. It had never happenedbefore that one human being hadreached out to another andexpressed love and care. So, thewhole crew very stealthily cameand watched this event of one mancaring for another. They hadalways lived as every man forhimself. But these two boys,without caring for the punishmentthat would invariably be given to

them, were nursing this boy till he fell asleep. After he fell asleep,they left.



The next morning, this news slowly spread among the crew. Thenext day, another boy of 17 happened to steal something, and wasalso given the same punishment but with 12 lashes. His whole backwas ripped off. Again that night, Krishna and Udhava sat up withthis boy through the night, cleansed his wounds with their owndrinking water, making him alright. The boy was in such pain sothey sat with him through the night.

Then, a huge hulk of a man appeared at the door. Hullu had come.He couldnt believe that these young boys dared to sit with this manwho had been punished and were nursing him.

What are you doing? he asked.

Krishna said, Were just putting him to sleep.

Hullu said, You cannot do such things.

Who says so?

Our master says so. Panchajana says so. You cannot do suchthings.

But this is what I do. Someone is in pain, I reach out. Your mastercannot stop this.

Hullu, though he was a great hulk of a man, did not have answersfor these kinds of statements especially when someone wassmiling and talking to him. He had no answers for such a face. He



had always been used to faces that were terrorized the moment theysaw him. But this young boy was looking up at him, smiling andtalking to him, and asking him questions about the fundamentals ofhis job. He didnt know what to do. He said, You come with me. Letme take you to the boss. You talk all this with him.

He took Krishna and Udhava to Panchajana. Panchajana wasfurious, What were you doing? he asked.

Krishna said, We were just helping him sleep. Is there any problemabout that?

You dont do such things on my ship.

This is my dharma, nobody can stop me from doing it. If I seesuffering, I reach out.

What is this dharma nonsense? I am the law on this ship. I sayno!

That doesnt go with me. Wherever I am, I follow my dharma. Mydharma is I reach out to people no matter what the law is.

Panchajana thought, It looks like they need some treatment.But then he looked at the boys and he saw they were such goodmerchandise. If he whips them and strips off the skin on theirbacks, they may not sell well. So he said, Hullu, lock them up inthe wooden cage in the hold. Give them food, dont let them out.There is no point using the whip on them. We will lose the price.



They didnt knowwhat to make of

these strangepeople who were so

puny and smallcompared to them,but they go aboutdoing their own

things in their ownway.

So, they were taken and locked up in the wooden cage.

By now, many stories about thesetwo boys had spread among thecrew and they didnt know what tomake of these strange people whowere so puny and small comparedto them, but they go about doingtheir own things in their own way.Never before had another mansurvived the wink of an eye afterhaving dared to stand up and speakin front of Panchajana, and notfollow his orders. So, slowly,among the illiterate crew, storiesspread that there was somethingabout them. Maybe they werespirits, not real human beings.Especially, Hullu and Hukku thewhip men had been brought up indesert lands where the fear of evil

spirits was really put into them. They sat down and prayed thatthese evil spirits who had come on the ship should not touch them.

Later that night, Bikru the navigator, came down to the hold andtold Krishna, We are changing direction, we are not going toVyavasthapuri. We are going much further away. Krishnaimmediately asked Bikru, I want to get to Vyavasthapuri. Get meout of this cage, or I will break it and come out.



Hullu looked atKrishna. Krishna justsmiled at him. Hullu

got terrified.

Bikru went and brought the carpenter whom Krishna had nursed.Krishna broke out of the cage and the carpenter fixed the cage as itwas. Then, Krishna and Udhava started walking freely about thedeck. Panchajana came to know of this and asked, Who let themout?

Everyone said, Nobody let them out.

So, they have broken the cage. That means the death penalty.Money or no money, enough! Lets put an end to these two fools.Has he broken the cage?

Hullu went and inspected the cage and saw that it was not broken.The cage was intact. The lock was right there as it was but the boyshad just come out. He was totally terrified. These were definitelysome evil spirits! In total terror, he went to Panchajana and toldhim, The boys have not broken the cage. The lock is still intact.But theyve just come out. Panchajana also felt a little tremorwithin himself What kind of boys are these?

Panchajana decided that this wasspreading the wrong kind ofsituation among the crew andwanted to punish these boys infront of everyone. He called thewhole crew onto the deck and hadthe boys brought up. He told Hullu,Whip these boys.



Hullu looked at Krishna. Krishnajust smiled at him. Hullu got terrified. This is some kind of evilspirit. He came out of the cage without breaking it and since hecame, he has been doing such strange things. All the tales he hadheard about evil spirits had gone into him. Terror took over and hecould not use his whip.

Panchajana saw that things were going out of control. He didntwant the situation to look like Hukku or Hullu were not followinghis instructions. So, he said, Let me do this personally. Give methe whip. Handling a very long cattle whip needs some skill.Everyone cant do it. If you try to use the whip, you will mostprobably end up whipping yourself unless you know how to handleit. A cattle whip is something that you must know how to use.

Panchajana was not an expert in using a cattle whip. Krishna, rightfrom infancy, has lived among cattle. He knows how to use a cattlewhip very well. Panchajana tried to whip Krishna but it didnt reallymake proper contact. Normally, this whip will peel the skin off butit just left a red welt on Krishnas back. Krishna caught hold of theend of the whip, took the whip away and really gave the whippingof his life to Panchajana. This big man was whipped to such anextent that very little of his skin was left and he passed out.



Panchajana had a very fine conch with him which he always worearound his shoulder. A conch is used as a signal to order and to sailaway and these kinds of things. Krishna saw this conch. It was amost beautiful conch perfectly made and when he blew it, hesaw that it made a most wonderful sound. Conches were usedextensively in India at that time but this was a very special conchwhich came out with such a powerful musical tone. Krishna helpedhimself to the fine conch and said, I take this as a gift fromPanchajana. I am going to keep it for myself. The conch remainedwith him his whole life and he named the conch Panchajanya.Panchajanya become the symbol of power and victory throughoutMahabarat. It played a very important role.

Then, with the help of Hukku and Hullu, Krishna transportedPanchajana to his cabin and nursed him. When Panchajana regainedconsciousness, Krishna told him, See, I have no business with you.My business is just that I want to save my brother, my gurus son,whom you sold. I see that you hold no hatred towards my guru orhis son. You are just into some business of your own. You are athief. This is your dharma. You are doing it. I am doing my dharma



as a disciple. Just drop me on that coast and you go your way. Idont want to have anything to do with you.

But Panchajana was not made that way. He was groaning in painbut he was burning with the humiliation that he went through infront of his crew. And he knows that if he does not do somethingdrastic, no one is going to take orders from him anymore. He isfinished as a captain of the ship.

After they nursed Panchajana, they left him in his cabin and cameup. They put the ship back on course to go to Vyavasthapuri. Then,in the night, as Krishna himself was guiding the ship, they saw abig figure approaching them with a short sword. Panchajana wascoming to attack them. He was a very big man and fighting himwhen he has a sword in his hand would be very difficult. Krishnawas just looking for a way out. It looked like he would have to jumpoff the ship to save his life.

When he was just about to do that, Hullu, who had been a slave ofPanchajana all his life, suddenly came up from behind, pickedPanchajana up and threw him overboard. A skinless man in saltwater is not a very pleasant way to go! And they continued thejourney.

Editors Note: Watch the Leela series, for more of Sadhgurus talks onKrishna.



Image courtesy: Krishna blows the conch, Panchajanya, declaring the end of

Mahabharata war, Wikipedia.

Cancerisaserious



aberrationinthehumansystem.ClassicalYogabringsharmonyandneutralizesaberrations.

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POSTED IN: History of Yoga

TAGS: krishna stories, Starred

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HarishVarmaRaghavaRaju 10monthsagoVeryConfusing!!!howdidKrishnacometoknowthatPanchajanawouldsoonbecomingwithhisshiptoaparticularport.Andwhydon'thestoptheyoungboysfrombeingwhippedinthefirstinstanceratherthantakingcareofthemafterbeingsufferedifheisreallyconcernedabouthisDharma.AndinthelastwhatifHulludidn'tturnaroundtohisowner,wouldkrishnabekilledbyPanchajanaordrownedintheoceannotknowinginwhichdirectiontoswim.ThesearesomeofmyquestionswhichareV.Important.IthinkSadhguruisthebestandonlypersontoanswermyquestion.

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NRam 10monthsago

>HarishVarmaRaghavaRaju

Thatiswhatcalledkarma.IfthewhippingdidnothappenandKrishnadidnotnursethosetwoyoungmen,Hulluandothersonboardwouldhaveneverunderstoodanythingaboutloveandcaring.Thesetwoincidentschangedtheirmindsets.IfKrishnahadtriedtostopthewhipping,therewasa100%possibilitythatallthethieveswouldhaveturnedagainstKrishnaandkilledhim.Isn'tit?Toaspiritualperson,

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thewholeoftheexistenceworksinhisfavorandneveragainsthim.Iamnotsayingitforthesakeofit.Iamsayingfrommyownexperienceinlife.:)

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HarishVarmaRaghavaRaju 10monthsago>NRam

Thanks..alotforreplying.Butstillitsveryconfusing...itallonlymeansthathehandledthesituationonlybecauseheisbornasgod.I'llonlyunderstandwhenIprogressandexperience.OtherwisethewholepostisVeryVeryConfusing.

NRam

10monthsago

>HarishVarmaRaghavaRaju

KrishnawasnotGod.Eithereverybodyisgodornobodyisgod.JustlikeyouandI,hewasalsoaveryordinaryhumanbeing.Butheattained

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Krishna’s Guru Dakshina_ Pirating Away the Pirates