The Mahabharatha Saga :Contd. The story of Aruni Uddalaka. Aruni or Uddalaka was very famous sage from the Puranas. Aruni was often called Aruni of Panchala as he came from the Panchala kingdom. He was a disciple at the hermitage of Sage Ayodha Dhaumya where he studied along with other disciples like Upamanyu and Veda. At the gurukula he took up his duty as a disciple very sincerely and served his guru with love. Guru was very fond of him. One day on his way back to the Gurukula, Aruni noticed that his guru’s field was getting flooded with water. He rushed to his guru who instructed him to take care of it. Aruni saw that the water had breached the field and was moving away from its designated path. He tried every conceivable means to stop the water but with no avail. When the sage returned to the Gurukula that evening, he noticed that the hermitage was in pitch darkness. He had assigned Aruni to light the lamp at dusk. While the other disciples were lighting up the lamps in the hermitage the sage wondered why Aruni forgotten his duties and started to wonder as to why he was not at the hermitage. As the darkness of night fell, the sage realized that Aruni was missing and then he suddenly remembered to have sent him to the field. The sage along with his other disciples rushed in search of him, he was nowhere to be found. Finally at the field they heard a feeble response to their calls. The sage was struck and overwhelmed by what he saw. Aruni had laid down on the breach and prevented the water flow using his body. Sage Dhaumya was moved to tears, was so pleased with Aruni that gave him the title of Uddalaka. Later Aruni became very famous under the name of Uddalaka Aruni. As per the Chandogya Upanishad, Uddalaka was the son of Aruni and was therefore known as Uddalaka Aruni. In Katha Upanishad Aruni has been portrayed as a very learned sage with a bad temper, also called Vajashravas because he organized many community feeding programs. His wife was Vishwavaradevi and his son was the famous Nachiketa. Uddalaka was also the father and teacher of young scholar Shvetaketu, and grandfather of Ashtavakra, the author of the work Aṣṭāvakra Gītā, also known as Aṣṭāvakra Saṃhitā. Many works are ascribed to Aruni. Among those, “Tat Tvam Asi” illumines the Chandogya Upanishad, which is a part of the SamaVeda. Uddalaka Aruni is said to have systematized the Vedic and the Upanishadic thoughts.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 15:39:44 +0000