Lessons in archery

The birth of Kripa

The famous sage Goutama had a son by name Saradvan. The boy did not follow his father’s footsteps that was prescribed for a Brahmin. Instead, he was keen in the science of archery right from his young age.

Many of the advanced weapons in archery require the use of special Mantras that give them their intended potency. Such mantras are to be acquired through long and deep meditation, or Tapas in Sanskrit. That was what Saradvan did for long years. As a result he came into possession of various special arrows. Even then he did not stop meditating. His Tapas was so intense that Devendra, the king of gods, began to feel the impact. He felt it necessary to put an end to the penance of Saradvan.

So, he sent a damsel by name Janapathy to tempt the meditating sage. The result was that Saradvan begot a son and a daughter in her. But, the sage left her and the children immediately after to continue with his penance. The divine lady also left the children and went back to heaven.

The pair born to Saradvan were left to themselves in the forest. One day Bhishma went hunting into that forest. Some of his soldiers found the children and reported the matter to him. Bhishma learnt the background of the children from people living in the forest and took the children to the palace. He named the boy as Kripa and the girl, Kripi.

Kripa , like his father, showed interest in archery right from his childhood. Bhishma knowing the background of Kripa made all arrangements to teach him the science of archery from the best of teachers. Soon, Kripa became an expert on the subject. He became famous as Kripacharya, or the teacher with the name Kripa.

Bhishma , then, decided that Kripacharya would be a good teacher for the Kauravas and Pandavas. Accordingly, the princes started learning archery from the Acharya. Even princes from nearby kingdoms came to Hastinapura to study the science from the teacher.

Encounter with Drona

One day the princes of Hastrinapura were playing a game of village hockey which has a piece of short stick for the ball. The ball fell into a nearby deep well in the middle of their game. The children gathered around the well and tried all tricks to get it out, but failed. It was then that they noticed a stranger , looking like a Brahmin, in rags and approached him for help.
The Brahmin smiled and told them that he would drop his ring also into the well and pick both the ball and the ring by dispatching some straws as arrows into the well. He wanted to know what he would get in return.

Without waiting for their reply the Brahmin sent straws one after another directed to the two targets in the well. May be because of his gift of Mantras, the straws hit the targets and besides, they formed a string , one attached automatically to the other. Thus, he easily could take out the ball and his ring from the depth of the well.

The children were very much surprised. They asked him who he was and what reward they should offer him in return. He only wanted them to report the matter to Bhishma.
When Bhishma heard the strage story of an unknown Brahmin, Bhishma realized immediately that he was to encounter someone with extraordinary powers. He wasted no time to receive the Brahmin. On enquiry from Bhishma the Brahmin told his story. That follows as a sequel to this one.