While explaining the ideal guru shishya relationship, Mahabharata narrates the story of Aruni.
We had seen with caution earlier the guru shishya relationship is not about the part-time guru shishya relationship as we see it today.

The evening gurus.
The weekend gurus.
The spiritual camp gurus.
The pravachan gurus.
The youtube gurus.
The tv channel gurus.
The whenever a problem comes gurus.
The yogasana gurus.
The breathing technique gurus.
The meditation gurus.
Or the mind control gurus.

This story is about the shishya who lives with a guru from his childhood, 24x7.

The capable guru observes the shishya throughout and decides how knowledge should be imparted to the shishya.

It might even take months or years even to start the first lesson.
The guru should know the aptitude of the shishya.
The guru should know the capability of the shishya.
Or the whole transfer of knowledge will happen in an instant when the guru is convinced that the shishya is mature and ready and his vessel is big enough to hold all that he is going to give.

One of the ways through which such maturity or readiness comes is through complete surrender to the guru.

I don’t know anything.
He knows everything.
Let him decide how to teach me.

So this is not like how parents keep track through an app how much portion is being covered and whether the teachers and school are doing justice to the huge fees being paid.

This is a completely different system and this system in its wholeness may not ever come back also.

But it will be good to know how it worked.
Aruni’s guru was Dhaumya.

One day, Dhaumya called Aruni and said that the border around the paddy field is broken and water is flowing out of the field.

You know how water is retained in the grain fields.
Border is made around the field with the clay, of the field itself.

When water is to be taken into the field, a portion near the water source is broken and water flows in.
Once sufficient water is taken in, then this is closed.

Here the clay boundary or border broke and water was flowing out.

Dhaumya told Aruni: go and repair it.
Make sure that there is sufficient water in the field.

Aruni went there, tried so many things, but still he could not repair the boundary.
Water was flowing out.

He laid down where the boundary had broken and with his body stopped the water from flowing out.

After some time, since Aruni was not coming back, Dhaumya asked the other shishyas, Dhaumya had only three shishyas, mind you.

Those days gurus kept only a very few as their shishyas.
So it is not like you have to ask over the loudspeaker.

The other shishyas said: you only sent him to the field, guruji.

Dhaumya felt something amiss.
Why has he not come back?

So all three of them went to the field and found Aruni lying down there and stopping water from flowing out.

Dhaumya called out: Oh! son, come here.

Aruni got up, went and stood near the guru.
Water again started flowing out.

Dhaumya asked: what are you doing there?

Aruni said: you told me to stop the water from flowing out.
I couldn’t do it otherwise, so I lied down at the broken part of the boundary and stopped.

But then why did you get up?
See, water is flowing out again.

Because you asked me to get up.

This is blind obedience.

Aruni did not say: guruji if I get up water will flow out again.

He didn’t want guruji to appreciate his intelligence and say: Oh! see, how smart he is.

He didn’t want guruji to appreciate what a sacrifice he has done and say: see how great Aruni is, you also have to become like him.

He didn’t bother if he gets up all that he did for the past few hours would go waste.

These are not his concerns.

He is focused.

Guruji said, stop water; he did that.

Guruji said, come here; he did that.

Guruji knows everything; you just have to follow what he says.

This used to be the guru shishya relationship in the past.

There is no challenging of the guru’s capability, knowledge, or judgement.

If guruji makes a mistake, that is also with a purpose.
And it really used to be like that.

Guruji can fake a mistake, but guruji can not make a mistake.

Until here Dhaumya had not imparted any knowledge to Aruni.

He only used to say, do this, do that.
Nothing else.

But now Dhaumya said: I am blessing you with the knowledge of all the Vedas and all the shastras.

Now you can go home.
Everything I have planted inside you.
Now you can go home.

See what Aruni achieved, simply by following guruji’s instructions.

Nothing else.. no mantra deeksha, no meditation, no yoga, no memorizing of Veda mantras or shastras.

Everything in a split second.
Achieved.

To my knowledge, we no longer have such gurus and shishyas.
But it is good to know that they were there.

Another point here, after he obtains knowledge, the shishya has to go back and be on his own.
He has to get married and run his family.

So it is not like you take deeksha, move around with the guru, coordinate his public events life long.

Guru shishya relationship with physical proximity is only for a certain period, say a few years.
Then the shishya is on his own.

This is called upakurvana system of brahmacharya.

There are a very few, very very very few, that also the guru has to allow, who can continue to be brahmacharis life long and be with the guru’s family and assist him.

They are called Naishtika brahmacharis, but very few.