Guru Dakshina - Kurusimana Narayanan Namboodiri(1800 to --)                                                               BACK

This is a story from Bhagavatham.

Vasudeva decides to take his children to the Ashrama of Sandipini Maharshi for their education. The children are thrilled but find it difficult to leave their home. Vasudeva entrusts them to Sandipini and returns back.

At the Ashram Sandipini starts their education. There is a brahmin boy called Sudama (Kuchela) already studying under the Maharshi. When the Maharshi leaves after giving them their lessons the two of them start playing.

 One day the maharshi was not in station when Guru pathni(Guru's wife) says to Krishna and Kuchela that there is no wood in the house for cooking. Krishna and Kuchela start off to the forest for collecting wood. Krishna wants to go into a deeper forest but Kuchela is scared to go that far. He waits at one place and being hungry eats the rice flakes given to them by the Guru pathni. Krishna goes and meets a Forest dweller(Kattala) who opposes Krishna from collecting wood in his forest. But Krishna drives him off, collects wood and comes back. By the time they bundle up the wood, it is night and it starts raining also. The forest is full of wild animals. They spend the night shivering in a cave formation of a tree trunk.

When Sandipini Maharshi returns home his wife tells him that the children who went for collecting wood did not come back. Sandipini angrily scolds her. It is early morning and Sandipini goes into the forest searching for the children. On the way he meets the children coming back from the forest. He embaces the children and bring them back.

Time passes and their education is over. They ask the Maharshi (their Guru) what Dakshina or fees they have to offer him. The Guru doesn't want any Dakshina. But when he casually discusses this matter with his wife, his wife suggests they bring back their only child who was lost in a river some years back. Coming to know of this Krishna goes to the sea and meets a Demon called Shangha who had eaten the Guru's son and kills him. Then he goes to Yama and takes back the Guru's son and entrusts him to his Guru. This is the story of Guru Dakshina.

 In this story Vasudeva, Krishna and Balarama are Pacha vesham, Kattala and Shankha are black and red Beards, and all the rest are MInuku.