Dhamma Weera: Wise student of Nagaloka

The ancient university town of Nagaloka, the city of Nagaloka (present-day Nagpur), located in central India, was a famous seat of learning in Jambudipa, the ancient name for India. Students came from all across the Indian sub-continent as well as from foreign lands to study in the famous universities of Nagaloka. Many of them came from as far as Persia in the West and China in the East. The young students were attracted to the renowned city of higher education to advance their knowledge and to develop their talents and skills. Some others were keen on further their spiritual progress.

The students were taught by famous acariyas (tutors or teachers) whose ancestors were also renowned tutors who were all steeped in the Indian vidya (education) tradition. They had resided in Nagaloka for several generations so that their wisdom could be passed on from one generation to the next.

Acariya Sanjaya was the highly learned and devoted tutor.

Most students began their learning and training from around the age of fifteen. In keeping with established practice, a student was expected to spend around six to eight years of continuous study under the tutelage of an acariya.

The more competent students chose to stay on for another three to four years to further advance their knowledge and wisdom. For this they sought the guidance of famous acariyas who has distinguished themselves in some specialized field of study. Acariya Sanjaya was one such expert tutor. He was in fact respected as one of the most learned tutors in Nagaloka. Only dedicated students were eligible to enroll under his tutelage.

The renowned Acariya Sanjaya was a widower. Ever since he lost his wife due to an incurable illness, his daughter, Priya Kanti, looked after him lovingly. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also a very obedient and caring girl. Priya Kanti, she looked after her father’s every need with boundless affection daily. She attended to his meals diligently and managed the household affairs in an excellent manner. Acariya Sanjaya loved his one and only child very dearly. She was truly the apple of his eyes.

Priya Kanti the beautiful daughter of Acariya Sanjaya. Priya Kanti grew up to be a most attractive maiden. Acariya Sanjaya was delighted that she had blossomed into a charming lady. Aside from possessing a pair of captivating lotus-shaped brilliant eyes, she was adorned with long wavy hair that was the envy of everyone in the university-town.

Much as he loved his adorable daughter, Acariya Sanjaya felt that the time had come for her settle down and start a family of her own.

He was ever mindful that it was his fatherly duty to see that she got married to a loving and caring husband. According to custom, he was responsible to ensure that the husband he chose was responsible lad as well.

As he sat alone and pondered over Priya Kanti’s future, Acariya Sanjaya thought it would be wonderful if she could marry one of his cleaver students and enjoy a happy family life together in Nagaloka. “Indeed, this would be marvelous. My daughter could then live close by to me after her marriage. Her presence in my old age will be such a great blessing. I could also spend quality time with my grandchildren.” He thought to himself wishfully.

Acariya Sanjaya felt confident that since Priya Kanti was attractive, well-mannered, kind and caring, his students would be glad to have her as a life-partner. But then, he was not sure as to who exactly from amongst them was best suited to marry his lovely daughter. He knew that all of them were hard-working and capable.

Also, the came from very respectable affluent families. In addition, most of them were handsome, healthy and physically strong. However, he knew only too well that outward qualities and material wealth alone were not good enough for her husband to have. He had to be absolutely sure of making the right choice of a husband for his ever-loving precious daughter.

Acariya Sanjaya pondered deeply on the best way to find out exactly which one of his students was best suited to marry his daughter. Finally, he came up with a test to determine who amongst them marry his lovely daughter.

The next morning, Acariya Sanjaya instructed his students to assemble under the grove of rose apple trees close to his home. He informed them of his decision to give the hand in marriage of his daughter to one of them.

The surprise announcement sounded like music to the student’s ears. Their faces lit up in excitement. They looked at each other in great expectation to be the lucky one to marry Priya Kanti. In a way, this was hardly surprising for they all greatly admired her beauty and deeply appreciated her good nature and kindness.

One of the more bashful students named Panduka, surprised everyone when he rose and remarked eagerly, “Guru Ji (respected or revered tutor or teacher), it will be a great honor, privilege and pleasure for me to be the one who is to wed your most attractive and charming daughter.” Another student soon found courage to express his intention, “Guru Ji, I want to be the lucky one to marry your elegant daughter! I will look after all her needs and take care of the future family like no other person would. I assure you that I will live up to all her expectations, Guru Ji.”

As a third student stood up and was about to express his interest, Acariya Sajaya raised his right hand to signal his students to be quiet. They held their silence and waited anxiously to hear what their Master was about to say.

Acariya Sanjaya took a few deep breaths, looked intently into the eyes of his students and declared, “I am getting old. Although I have worked for several decades, I do not have much savings to give to my daughter as dowry (wealth, traditionally given to the bride to help begin a family life) for her future family life”. He then paused for a moment before continuing. In a stern voice, he stressed, “So, it is left to the one who wishes to marry my daughter to provide for her wedding expenses and the needs of the future family. She deserves every comfort for caring after me so lovingly ever since her mother passed on. She truly deserves a happy married life.”

Acariya Sanjaya concluded that because of the foregoing reasons, the student who can provide the most amount of money for the future happiness of Priya Kanti would be the one to marry her.

All the students exclaimed almost in a chorus, “But Guru Ji, we are students, we are yet to earn a livelihood and accumulate such a lot of wealth to marry Priya Kanti!”

Acariya Sanjaya looked hard at his students before responding in a low measured voice, “Now, all of you listen very carefully. Since none of you is able to provide the wealth required immediately, you are granted seven days to gather as much valuables as possible from the houses in the village for my daughter’s hand in marriage. You may take away whatever jewels, gold, other precious items and money from the houses, so long as no one sees you. The student who succeeds in producing the most valuables shall be the one to marry my daughter.”

The students were initially somewhat startled by their Acariya’s request. One of them asked the Master nervously, “Guru Ji, what if we get caught?” Acariya Sanjaya responded curtly, “Well that is not my problem. As I said earlier, it is up to you to take as much valuables as possible from the houses, as long as no one sees you. So go and do your best right away and bring as much valuables as you possibly can.”

Every night when everything was enveloped in darkness and everyone was fast asleep; the students headed for the village. They crept through the bushes and quietly approached the houses. As good fortune would have it, they were able to enter the houses quite easily for the doors and windows were not bolted. When they entered the bedrooms, they found everyone fast asleep. They quietly removed whatever valuables they could lay their hands on and loaded them into their sacks. They then quietly returned to their dormitories and safely tucked away their loot.

Since the students had encountered no problems in removing the valuables, they became more confident and courageous. So, they took away even more items from the houses the following nights.

At the end of the week, Acariya Sanjaya summoned his students to assemble along with all the precious items and money they had removed from the villagers’ homes. This was to see who had collected the most wealth to marry Priya Kanti.

Each of the students proudly presented their bags of valuables. They waited in bated breath for their Master to declare who had performed the best.

Acariya Sanjaya congratulated his students for having done so well in removing sack-loads of valuables from the houses. Yet strangely, he did not appear to be pleased. He noticed that one student had no loot to show. He did not even have a sack in his hand! This was Dhamma Weera, the handsome and contemplative youngster, whose distinguished family hailed from Nagaloka city itself.

Acariya Sanjaya was eager to know why Dhamma Weera who was usually very obedient had nothing to offer him. He asked him to come forward to find out the reason. He questioned him sternly, “Dhamma Weera, all the students have done extremely well and collected big bundles of valuables and money. But you have nothing at all to offer me. You have failed to bring even a single piece of jewellery? Why have you disobeyed my instructions? Is it because you are not interested in marrying my daughter? Explain at once your insolence in disregarding my instructions.

Dhamma Weera knelt at the feet of his master in the customary respectful way. Upon rising to his feet, he replied in a voice filled with great reverence, “Most respected Guru Ji, I too truly want to marry Priya Kanti. I am very fond of her. I great admire her good nature and noble character.

It is not that I have been disobedient, Guru Ji. On the contrary, I have followed your instruction thoroughly, great Master. Like the other students, I broke into the houses of the villagers in the darkness of the night to take away their valuables as you had instructed. I saw a lot of jewellery and other valuable items and even stashes of money on the dressing tables in all of the houses I entered. No one was around. There was nobody to see me, if I were to have taken away any of the precious belongings. Even so, I just could not bring myself to take anything. So, I felt without removing even a single item from the houses.

Raising his eyebrows, Acariya Sanjaya posed Dhamma Weera a pointed question, “if you have not taken any of the jewellery, valuables or money, Dhamma Weera, how can you say that you have obeyed my instructions?”

Dhamma Weera explained calmly, “Guru Ji, you had instructed that we may remove valuables if no one was watching us. Isn’t that correct, venerable Master?”

In response to Dhamma Weera’s clarification, Acariya Sanjaya concurred, “Yes that is exactly what I said. Now go on and tell me why you did not take any of the valuables when no one was around to see you remove them?”

Dhamma Weera paused for a moment before replying, “Guru Ji, although no one was around to see me take away anything, there was still someone who was watching me who knew that I intended to steal the valuables.”

Acariya Sanjaya questioned Dhamma Weera intently, “How is that you say that no one was around and yet someone was watching you? Who was that someone watching you that you keep mentioning, Dhamma Weera?”

The righteous Dhamma Weera elaborated confidently, “Guru Ji, though no one was around, I was watching me. I knew, or to put it more precisely, my mind was completely aware of all my thoughts and actions. There was no way I could shut my mind off that it was wrong to steal the valuables of the villagers even though no one was there to see me do this. My mind was totally aware that I would be committing a theft. I know fully well that it is wrong to take anything that does not belong to me. I believe that we should not commit a wrong even if no one was seeing us do this or would come to find out about this later. So long as we know it is wrong, we should regulate ourselves and not commit the wrongdoing.”

Dhamma Weera’s explanation thrilled Acariya Sanjaya to the core of his being. He exclaimed with great delight, “Thank goodness, my long years of tutoring have not been in vain. There is at least one student amongst you who has understood my instruction. Dhamma Weera, you have honored me admirably. You have strength of conviction and possess a strong moral and ethical fiber. More important than taking care of my daughter’s material needs, I want for her a husband who is strong in character and unshakeable in upholding his precepts, just like the towering Himalayan Mountains.

As it is, I have enough money which I have saved over the years for my daughter’s future. Neither do I need more money for my future requirements. You have proved without a doubt that you are truly of good character and invested with wisdom. You are worthy of marrying my precious daughter.

The rest of you have shown that you have not fully developed your inner wisdom. This was the real intention of the Wisdom Test I had put you all through. Now, gather all the valuables you have stolen from the houses and return them to their respective owners. The villagers were informed in advance about the Wisdom Test I had put you through. So don’t worry, none of you will be harmed or punished for having stolen their valuables. The villagers will only think that you are very silly students and have a good laugh at your foolish behavior.”

All the students except Dhamma Weera bowed their heads in shame for failing in their acariya’s test. They went to the villagers sheepishly and returned all the jewellery they had stolen from their homes. However, they were grateful that they had all learnt one of the best lessons from their acariya’s Test of Wisdom. That is, to self-regulate all of their thoughts, speech and actions throughout life.

Dhamma Weera who proved to be the wise and virtuous student got to marry the beautiful Priya Kanti. The couple lived with Acariya Sanjaya in Nagaloka as one happy family. When Acariya Sanjaya passed on, Dhamma Weera stepped into his large difficult-to-fit shoes. In time, however, he too became a renowned acariya just like his famous Master and father – in – law who had placed great expectations on him to continue the noble Indian vidya tradition.

Understand and Reflection Time

It is important in education to facilitate a student to fully understand the text than put her or him through a routine exercise of posing questions to test whether he or she is able to give the correct answers. For this, a learning culture of providing time for Understanding and Reflection instead of the conventional Reading and Comprehension Exercise is proffered. Such an approach to education would simultaneously render learning to be fun instead of a boring chore.

Parents, care givers and teachers are urged to encourage the child to interact and improve their communication skills, thinking, comprehension and imagination as they help her or him to understand and reflect on the happenings in the story. They should make a deliberate effort to spend some time to discuss with their child salient aspects of the story and discuss with her or him the questions listed below as a facilitator:

What the unique about Nagaloka?

What do you think about the ancient Indian tradition of acariyas?

Why was Priya Kanti so much liked by everyone?

Discuss Acariya Sanjaya’s Test of Wisdom.

What have you learnt about the human mind?

What moral lessons have you learnt from the story?

What do you understand by the teaching of self-regulation and self-responsibility?

Give examples of how you self-regulate your thoughts, speech and actions in daily life.

How have you benefitted from cultivating self-regulation and self-responsibility in your thoughts, speech and action?