Upamanyu's Absolute Obedience

Upamanyu was a student at the ashram of Sage Ayodha Dhaumya. His guru decided to test his obedience and humility. First, Dhaumya ordered Upamanyu to tend the cows all day and forbade him from eating any food without offering it to the guru first.

Upamanyu obeyed. When he returned looking healthy, the guru asked how he survived. 'I beg for alms,' Upamanyu replied. Dhaumya forbade him from begging.

A few days later, the guru again found him healthy. 'I drink the milk left over by the calves,' Upamanyu said. Dhaumya forbade that too.

Next, Upamanyu said he licked the foam that fell from the calves' mouths. Dhaumya forbade even that.

Driven mad by blinding hunger while tending the cows in the forest, Upamanyu ate the toxic leaves of the Arka plant. The poison instantly blinded him. Stumbling in the darkness, he fell into a deep, dry well.

When he didn't return at sunset, Dhaumya went searching and found him in the well. The guru smiled, his test complete. He instructed Upamanyu to chant the Ashwini Kumaras' mantra. The twin celestial physicians appeared, restored his sight, and offered him a sweet cake.

But Upamanyu refused to eat it. 'I cannot eat this without offering it to my guru first.'

Deeply moved by this absolute, unbreakable surrender, the Ashwini Kumaras blessed him. Dhaumya pulled him from the well and blessed him with the supreme knowledge of the Vedas and all sciences, which manifested in his mind instantly.