Through the enclosed story, we visit the crucial reason why tantric or occult knowledge has traditionally been kept secret and revealed by adept gurus only to worthy disciples. This story occurs in the Mahabharata and was published in the Prabuddha Bharata Magazine in August 1896. It has been taken from there, and presented below.
Durvasa’s Hasty Bestowing of a Boon to Wicked Duryodhana
Once upon a time, while the Pandavas were in exile, the sage Durvasa came to king Duryodhana’s court. The king courteously welcomed him and gave him a sumptuous feast, and so greatly pleased was the sage with the welcome and the dinner, that he offered to grant his royal host any boon he might ask.
The wicked king Duryodhana’s one main desire at all times was, to do all the mischief in his power to the Pandavas. He had contrived to drive them away into the forest in exile, and yet was not satisfied, as he learnt that they were leading a very happy life, even in the forest, doing great deeds and conversing with great rishis.
All this very much roused his envy, and now, that a new opportunity presented itself for doing them harm, he addressed his guest and said: “O great sage, the great king Yudhishthira is the eldest and the best of our race; he is now living in the forest with his brothers. Please become the guest of that illustrious one, even as you have been mine. Visit them with all your disciples at a time when the beautiful and excellent lady, the celebrated princess of Panchala (Draupadi), after having regaled with food the Brahmins, her husbands and herself, may lie down to rest.”
In asking for this boon Duryodhana’s motive was, that Durvasa and his numerous disciples will prove to be too heavy a burden on the Pandavas, especially if they go at a late hour and being unable to feed them, the Pandavas will be cursed by the wrathful rishi (Durvasa was known for his ill-temper).
Durvasa and His Entourage Become the Guests of the Pandavas
The boon was granted and accordingly Durvasa and his ten thousand disciples repaired to the forest and presented themselves before the Pandavas at a late hour.
Yudhishthira, suspecting nothing, advanced with his brothers towards the sage, and gave him and his disciples a fit and hearty welcome and said: “Return quick, O adorable sage, after performing thy daily ablutions (bath) and observances.”
And Durvasa, not knowing, how the king would be able to provide a feast for him and his disciples, proceeded with the latter to a neighboring river, to perform their ablutions.
Meanwhile, the excellent princess Draupadi, devoted to her husbands, was in great anxiety about the food to be provided for the rishis. And when after much anxious thought, she came to the conclusion, that she had not the means to provide a dinner, she inwardly prayed to Krishna, the protector of the humble:
“O Supreme and Infinite Being,” she said, “O giver of all good, the refuge of the helpless. I seek Thy protection!”
Lord Krishna Rushes to Draupadi’s Help
The great and sovereign God, the Lord of the earth, of mysterious movements, the Lord Krishna, thus adored by Draupadi, and perceiving her difficulty, instantly appeared before her. Beholding Krishna, Draupadi bowed down to him in great joy and informed him of the untimely arrival of the rishis.
But Krishna said to her, “I am very much afflicted with hunger, give me some food without delay from the Akshayapatra given by the sun and then we may talk of those things.” (The Akshayapatra was a vessel which supplied food endlessly until Draupadi took her last meal.)
Hearing this Draupadi got greatly perplexed, for she had no food to give him and said, “That vessel remains full, till I finish my meals, but as I have already taken my meal today there is no food in it now.”
Then the lotus-eyed and adorable Krishna said to Draupadi, “This is no time for jest, go quickly, bring the vessel and show it to me, I am very much distressed with hunger.”
“I assure you the vessel is empty, there is nothing in it”, said Draupadi bringing the vessel which Krishna quickly snatched from her hand and looking into it said, “Look here! There is a particle of rice and vegetable. This little bit of rice from this vessel is more than enough for me. May this please God Hari, the soul of the Universe and may that God, who partakes at sacrifices, be satiated with this!” And so saying he swallowed that little bit.
“I suspect that you are up to some trick” said Draupadi. “Your hunger must have been of a very special sort to be appeased by half a grain of rice.”
“This is how you all mistake me,” replied Krishna. “No matter if you don’t believe me, you were talking to me of some rishis who had come for dinner. Where are they?”
“They are at the river performing their ablutions. I do not know how to provide for them”, said Draupadi.
Krishna – “Let them come. Send Bhimasena to fetch them.”
Draupadi – “And if they come, what shall we do? I have nothing to feed them with.”
Krishna – “We shall chide them for having come at an untimely hour, tell them to wait till tomorrow and teach them to be more careful about their dinners in the future.”
Durvasa Regrets His Hasty Boon
Meanwhile, those rishis while bathing and performing their ablutions suddenly felt their stomachs becoming full. Indeed they became so full, as to render even breathing difficult. The surprise of the rishis knew no bounds, and they stared at one another being hardly able to speak, and turning towards their common guru Durvasa, with great effect said:
“Having bade the king to have our meals ready, we have come here for bathing. But how, O holy sage can we eat anything now, for our stomachs seem full to the throat! We feel so full that we can hardly get up and walk. The repast has been uselessly prepared for us. What is the best thing to be done now?”
Durvasa did not know what to do, he regretted that he foolishly gave power to Duryodhana to use him for his own wicked purposes. While he was immersed in this miserable plight, there appeared Bhimasena who said: “Come O sage with all your disciples, for my brothers, Draupadi and Krishna are waiting to receive you.”
At the very mention of Krishna’s name, poor Durvasa trembled from head to foot; his fears gathered new strength and he inwardly felt greatly ashamed to face the Pandavas, but there was no helping it. So, he addressed his disciples and said, “Rise, exert all your might and let us walk on to the abode of the Pandavas, for in truth, there is no helping it.”
Durvasa Begs Sri Krishna For Forgiveness
With no small difficulty, they reached the abode of the Pandavas and were duly welcomed by Yudhishthira and the rest. Krishna showered special attention on Durvasa, which only made him more miserable than before. The face of the poor rishi was covered with shame, he bowed to Krishna and with his eyes cast down, said:
“Lord please forgive me for my foolishness. I hastily placed myself under the power of a wicked man but my only consolation is that no harm could come to the Pandavas, who have always been piously devoted to you.”
Draupadi listening to all this suddenly understood the mystery and exclaimed, “O Omnipotent Krishna, I now see why you were so hungry for half a grain of rice. By your taking in that little bit of rice, all these rishis have got satisfied. What example could there be more plain than this, to show that you are the soul of the Universe, the Paramatman, in whom all men and things live, move and have their being. You are in all the world as oil is in the sesame seeds, as brightness is in the diamonds, as smell is in the flowers. All praise and glory to you who are our refuge, our friend, our guide, and our teacher! No fear can ever come to the followers of Hari, no danger to the worshippers of the lotus-eyed Krishna!”
Needless to add that the rishis were forgiven and all rejoiced at the event and sang the glory of Krishna.
Summary
So from the above story, which occurs in the Mahabharata, we can see that a guru must evaluate the worthiness or Patrata of a disciple, before bestowing the disciple with Divine boons. Without the necessary Patrata, divine boons are not only wasted, but they can also be misused by wicked recipients, to harm others.
This truth is particularly relevant to the left-hand path of the Tantra tradition, alternatively known as the Vama-Marga, where the occult knowledge over the powers of nature, has tremendous potential to be misused. It is keeping this fact in view that much of the knowledge of the occult realm has been kept secret and is not found noted down in books. Rather tantric knowledge is strictly transmitted only from guru to a worthy disciple. We must note that an adept guru in such cases need not always be present in his physical body, but is perfectly capable of transmitting occult knowledge to a worthy disciple from the subtle or astral realm.
Now you may ask: Don’t many books on the Tantras already exist? And the answer is yes, many books do exist, however they only contain brief summaries of certain spells. The full methodology needed to attain supernatural powers over nature, has been purposely left out. This fact has been explained by the sage Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya in his superb book: Gopniya Gayatri Tantra. So merely by reading some books on the Tantras, an aspirant cannot advance much in the occult sphere. Finding an adept guru is crucial, and such gurus are not only rare, but unlike the hasty Durvasa, they test the Patrata of the aspirant before sharing their Tantric knowledge.
More Posts in the “MAHABHARATA & PATRATA” Series:
- Mahabharata Summary | A Concise Retelling by Swami Vivekananda – An engaging retelling of the Indian epic the Mahabharata by Swami Vivekananda. This Mahabharata summary is enhanced with beautiful illustrations.
- Part 1: What is Patrata? Why is it Critical For Receiving the Divine’s Grace? (VIDEO) – Why don’t saints bestow Divine boons such as Kundalini Awakening freely to everyone? Why do they place Patrata (worthiness) as a critical condition?
- Part 2: Patrata: Krishna & Sudama | To Receive Divine Boons, Give God Something (VIDEO) – Sudama’s story: To receive Divine boons (e.g. Kundalini awakening) we must deepen our Patrata by emptying our inner nature of its egoistic qualities.
- Part 3: Develop Patrata | Why 5 Friends Failed to Receive the Divine’s Grace (VIDEO) – Story by Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya which highlights the key spiritual qualities we must cultivate to become worthy of receiving the Divine’s Grace.
- Part 4: Can Divine Grace Wipe Away Our Past Karmas & Alter Our Destiny? (VIDEO) – Can God’s Grace save us from bearing the karmic effects of our past actions? The ans. revealed through the tale of Markandeya a boy fated to die at 16.
- Part 5: Do the Bodies of Some Saints Transform Into Flowers After Death? (VIDEO) – VIDEO – Did Kabir’s body convert into roses after death? Did Meerabai vanish into Krishna? Mother Mirra (Aurobindo Ashram) offers the Vedantic answer.
