ARYAN-
Mission Accomplished

Soon, Kirti’s parents were taken to an asylum were they were looked after well.  If there was anything worth appreciating in Uttamnagar it was the grand palace that the King had built and the beautiful gardens which existed in the kingdom.  The King seemed to be a lover of plants and flowers as these gardens were very well maintained.  It was said that he never allowed his subjects to even enter these gardens for he felt that they would spoil them!  After much deliberation, Aryan and his friends decided to set up their ashrams in these gardens which was complete in a week.  They identified the people of Uttamnagar by their districts and segregated them evenly among the ten of them.  King Dharmaraja had provided them with ascetic robes, manuscripts that were required for reference and learning and even weapons to train the people in the field of weaponry. The responsibility of educating Kirti’s village had fallen in Aryan’s jurisdiction.  He informed the people of that village before hand that he had decided to take Kirti as his pupil.  This led to vehement protests among the parents of those children in the village who were to learn under Aryan.  As they felt that Kirti turned violent due to insanity, they feared for the safety of their children.  Aryan’s friends were ready to take over Kirti’s responsibility because their students did not know about the boy for they belonged to other villages. But Aryan was adamant. He decided to change the attitude of the people and make them accept Kirti in his ashram. Throughout the morning Aryan and his friends were busy teaching their students, that comprised of both the young and the old, prayers, moral values of life and even provided them with tips in weaponry.  Aryan and all of his friends took personal interest in each and every student and ensured that they benefited immensely by joining their ashrams. In the afternoon, during his spare time, Aryan went to Kirti’s house and taught him all that he had to his other students during the day (including weaponry).  This shocked one and all but they were unable to criticise his act, as it did not adversely affect anyone in the ashram.   Kirti was a very good learner and he stoutly followed all that Aryan taught him.  He dressed like a hermit and ate simple food that comprised of fruits all of which Aryan provided him.  He practiced archery in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep by keeping specific targets. A few months passed by.  One day Aryan asked all of Kirti’s villagers to assemble in his ashram.  He arrived there with Kirti, which surprised everyone.  He glanced at the people who had assembled and spoke in his sonorous voice, “When I and my friends first went to his house in our door-to-door campaign for creating an awareness among the people about the need to have education, we were stopped by a man.  He told us that this is a house of mad people who get violent and attack others for no valid reason.  As we wanted to witness this “violent” reaction with our own eyes, we ignored him and knocked at the door, which was opened by this young boy.  All of us were deeply moved after conversing with him.  Here was a boy on whom fate had never been kind.  He was born to a mentally retarded couple who already had an insane son.  Instead of according a benign approach towards this unfortunate child, the villagers assumed him to be like his family members and always looked upon him with scorn and disdain.  All of you accuse him of being violent but you do not realise that you are the very cause for this behaviour of his.  Just imagine!  If someone always refers you as mad which you are not, what would be your reaction?  How long will you keep quiet?  Out of sheer frustration, you are bound to react intemperately. I have spent so much time with this boy and have even been imparting education to him.  He has never behaved abnormally with me. Can anyone of you explain the reason for that?  All he expects from you is to treat him affectionately and allow him to lead a normal life.  I have taught him some holy slokas like Hanuman Chaalisa (verses written by Tulsidas in praise of Lord Hanuman), Naamaramayana (recital of the entire Raamayana in a song) and the Gaayatri Mantra.  I have taught this to all of my students.”  He turned to Kirti and asked him to sing these slokas to the villagers.  The boy sung so beautifully that he had all his audience memerised!  What’s more, he even managed to narrate the profound meaning of each of the verses he sung in his mellifluous voice!  After he had completed singing, Aryan asked one of his students (who was a boy of Kirti’s age) to fight with him using various weapons (mace, sword, bow and arrow).  The fight yielded in no result, as both the boys were equally skilled and talented.  Finally, Aryan stopped the fight and complimented both the boys.  He, then, addressed everyone, “If Kirti is insane, how is he able to memorise and recite these slokas so impeccably?  Can any one of my students present here even say these slokas as explicitly as Kirti, leave alone singing them?  In the fight that we now witnessed between these two boys, Kirti was not able to win but his rival was not able to defeat him either.  This only shows that Kirti is equally competent and agile as this boy whom you all consider sane.  Please do not think that I am comparing.  I am only trying to clear the misconceptions you have about this poor boy. Just because the father of a child is a thief does not mean that the child would too follow his footsteps.  Similarly, just because Kirti belongs to an insane family does not necessarily indicate that he, too, suffers from the same disorder. Why should a person always be judged by what his/her family is?  Always allow everyone to prove their credentials and then pass a judgement on them.   We have no right to spoil Kirti’s life by plainly assuming him to be something, which he is not.  From this moment, I want to take Kirti in my ashram.  If anyone has objections, please raise your hand and convince me as to why I should not have him in the ashram.” No one objected and the crowd remained silent.  Aryan turned to Kirti and said with joy in his eyes, “I no longer need to come to your house for teaching you.  You will stay here and get education like my other pupils.” Kirti fell at the feet of Aryan.  “I am so glad today, guruji.  Thank you!”  Aryan blessed him and led him to the ashram. *********** Sage Suryananda concluded, “While Aryan continued with his noble work of educating the people of Uttamnagar, King Dharmaraja enacted several measures for ensuring it’s prosperity like cleaning the roads, providing canals for irrigation and improving water facilities, building asylums and dharmasalas for the needy like Kirti’s parents.  Thanks to Aryan and his ten gurukul friends, after completing their education some his pupils became musicians, singers, poets, administrators, armymen while some like Kirti followed the footsteps of their guruji and became teachers. King Dharmaraja was so pleased with Aryan’s work that he renamed Uttamnagar as Aryannagar. Although Kirti’s parents never recovered from their ailment, they were looked after well at the asylum till they breathed their last.  Much to Kirti’s glee, his brother rehabilitated marginally due to the love and affection of the asylum authorities. Dear children, it is rightfully said that God helps only those who help themselves.  Aryan could have very well gone in the wrong path of his father but he showed tremendous restraint and the will to lead an honest life.  Therefore, God helped him in the form of Dharmaraja that changed his life.  Those of you who would be future rulers have a lot to learn from King Dharmaraja.  His subjects meant everything to him and it was this attitude of his which ultimately led to the kingdom’s prosperity.  If you want God’s blessings and grace to always shower on you, be noble and virtuous in life.”

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