Tin…tin…tin

A bell starts to ring as all of the princes run in a particular direction. Rudra was curious to see this as he asks from Yudhishthira,

“Big Brother! Yudhishthira what’s the matter? Why all of you are running towards the direction of bell.”

Yudhishthira stops as he explains to Rudra,

“Rudra, Guru Drona is about to start his lecture and we don’t want to miss it. Hurry up and come with us, as the lecture will begin soon.”

Rudra nods his head as he starts to chase the rest of them. All of the princes and Rudra gather near a shed as they patiently wait for Guru Drona to start the Lecture.

Guru Drona takes out a leaf parchment and a quill made of Peacock’s feather. He dips the quill as he starts to take the attendance of the princes.

“Yudhishthira”  “Yes Guruvar”

“Bhima” “Yes Guruvar”

“Arjuna”  “Yes Guruvar”

Guru Drona raises his head as he looks in the direction of Arjuna and nods affectionately. 

‘Arjuna is his favorite disciple and also the successor of his art of weapon and military warfare. Soon, he will teach Arjuna in the art of Celestial weapons and Divya Astras.’

“Nakul” “Yes Guruvar”

………….

…………

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“Duryodhana” “Yes Guruvar”

“Vikaran” there was no reply. “Vikaran” no one responded.

Guru Drona impatiently raises his head as he asks,

“Dushashsan! Where is your younger brother Vikaran? Why isn’t he present today?”

Dushashsan looks in the direction of Bhima then to Duryodhana before he turns to Guru Drona and replies,

“Vikaran is in ‘Chikits Alaya’. He is being treated by Vaidhji.”

“Chikits Alaya, what happened to Vikaran for him being sent to Vaidhji?” Guru Drona questioned Dushashsan.

Dushashsan hesitates for a while as he looks in the direction of Bhima who clenches his hand into a fist and shakes it. Dushashsan gulps his saliva as Duryodhana interrupts him.

“Reply to Guru Drona’s question. Don’t be afraid of anything.” Duryodhana chimes in.

Dushashsan gathers enough courage as he replies to Drona,

“Guruvar! Yesterday we had a scuffle with Bhima on a minor matter and in a fit of rage Bhima badly beats Vikaran to the point of being sent to ‘Chikits Alaya’. He also threatened us, if we revealed this matter to you, he will beat us too. Please Guruvar! Save us from the tyranny of Bhima and punish Bhima for his behavior.”

“It’s not like that Guruvar, the matter wasn’t minor. It was…..” Bhima starts to explain.

“Stop!...it doesn’t matter on the severity of the matter. Vikaran is your brother and you beat him so badly to the point of being sent to ‘Chikits Alaya’. Is this what I taught you? Today after the lecture and your weapon practice, you will stay behind to have a discussion with me.”

“But Guruvar…”

“No buts allowed… now sit silently as I take your class.”

“Yes, Guruvar! I will follow your orders.”

Guru Drona continued to take attendance for a while until he reached the last name on Parchment.

“Rudra” “Yes…Yes Guruvar”

Rudra replied nervously. It is his first time attending a lecture in a ‘Gurukul’ and that too a prestigious one attended by Princes of the Kingdom.

“He will be your new junior brother who will attend the classes with you all. Be nice to him and treat him well. Alright then, now I will start the lecture.”

Guru Drona starts to lecture as he unfolds a large pine parchment and hang it on a peg.

“Almost all of you are from Kshatriyas’ lineage. Kshatriyas are known as the class of warrior famous for their proficiency in battles. From birth, they are blessed with superior battle senses and instincts to dominate their foes in battle. A battle is fought with Battle strategies, weapons, and battle formations. All of them are an integral part of a battle. But all of these are secondary things. An army is strong if the strength of the individual warriors of an army is great. But not all are born equal and the strength of all warriors is unequal too.”

Guru Drona pauses as he allows his students to digest the information for a while. When all of them digested the information, Guru Drona starts again,

“There are various ranks of warriors in an army, but it doesn’t demonstrate their individual strength. Today all I will explain the ranks of warriors based on their strength. Now let us start with the explanation.”

Guru Drona points to the pine chart as he begins to explain,

“Let us start with the weakest warrior and we will progressively increase in strength of the warrior.”

Guru Drona shows them the picture of a warrior with a spear in his hand. Another soldier with a scimitar stood side by side to the first warrior.

“This here is the picture of a foot soldier. His warrior name is ‘Padatik’. He is an infantryman who makes up the majority of an army. These warriors are easiest to train as all they need is some basic training in weapon art. They are unable to imbue any energy in their weapons and don’t possess any Divya Astra or celestial weapons. Most of them work as guards for our kingdom and they are responsible for the security of the Capital. Now, do you have any questions?”

Guru Drona stares at his disciples as he waits for anyone among them to pose a question. After waiting for a while and seeing the lack of any confusion or question among the students, he continues as he replaces the first page of Chart with another one.

A picture of a warrior sitting on a horse while wielding a spear or a sword is depicted on the chart.

Guru Drona points to the warrior in the chart as he starts to explain,

“This here is a representation of a warrior who rides on a horse. His warrior name is ‘Ashvarohi’. He is a brave skilled in riding a horse and capable of leading a small legion of Padatiks. He is proficient in at least one weapon as his main weapon and can wield another weapon if required. The Ashvarohi is capable of using a small amount of inner energy to infuse in weapons. This alone grants the Ashvarohi an edge in the battle against Padatiks. At his peak power, an Ashvarohi can battle twelve Padatik warrior and easily triumph over them. They are mainly assigned as the vice-captain of the guards in the Capital and are responsible for leading a small squad of Padatiks to maintain order and security in Capital. Now, do any of you have any questions?”

Guru Drona patiently waits for the students to process the information and pose any question to him.

Rudra begins to recall about the Village Chief of Shambhala Village. When the village chief fought against the Rakshasa, the village chief was riding a horse while carrying a spear as his main weapon. The weapons of Village Chief were coated in some sort of energy as he attacked the Rakshasa. It also helped the Village Chief recover faster from his injuries.

Unable to hold back his curiosity Rudra asks Guru Drona,

“Guruvar! While explaining about the Ashvarohi, you mentioned something about the use if Inner energy. Would you please shed some light on this inner energy.”

Guru Drona nodded to Drona as he begins to answer,

“Good question Rudra! The energy I mentioned is the energy derived by a warrior from his Chakras present in the body. Chakras are various focal points present in the body. They are used in the art of meditation to channel energy from within your body to outside your body using the technique called ‘Tantra’. There are seven Chakras in the human body. The seven Chakras are the source of power in the body. 

A warrior needs to awaken at least one of them to access his inner energy. The more Chakras a warrior is able to access, the higher his battle power is and the higher his rank is. But a warrior is not decided just only by the usage of a Chakra energy, physical strength also plays a vital part in the determination of rank. Both you and Bhima possess superior physical strength. This alone can promote both of you to higher ranks of the warrior. But to ascend to greater ranks you need to synchronize both your physical body and Chakra.

As for the names of Chakra, their location, their role, and methods to access them would be a topic for an entirely different lecture. For now, if none of you have any questions, we will proceed to the next part of the lecture.”

All of the disciples nodded to Guru Drona as Guru Drona flips the Pine Chart and reveals the figure of a warrior sitting on top of an elephant while wielding three different weapons. As he was about to explain further in detail about the warrior a bell starts to chime.

“Oh! Time passes so quickly when all of you are so focused on the lecture. Go and have your lunch as we will continue after lunch.”