Beware! Krip plays both ways--he can take you to God or dog!
The birth of Kripacharya too is as mysteriously interesting as was that of Dronacharya. He too was born when Rishi Gautam’s son and archer Shardwat fell to the charms of an apsara Janapadi. His semen fell on a wayside leaf which tore it into two. The one became Krip and other his sister Kripi. Kripi was later wedded to Dronacharya. King Shantanu was passing by the jungle and spotted the two divine looking children. He adopted them. Later, rishi Shardwat came to know of the two. He approached Shantanu and performed all the childhood rituals for them. He also taught Krip archery and the Vedas. Shantanu appointed Krip as the master trainer of his children. That is how Krip got the name Kripacharya. Bheeshma praised him as the great archer who could take on 60,000 warriors single-handedly. Strangely, he fights for the Kaurvas and survives as an immortal like Ashwatthama. It is said he is the ruling rishi of the Kaliyug—the modern age.
Real import: This is history. Two Sanskrit words कृ and प: make कृप: |Kripah means which draws something to Pah. Pah means the ruler when it is suffixed as in gopah and nripah . Therefore, Kripah means the one who draws everything to the ruler. But, what does he represent in our body-mind system? For that we will have to get deeper into the episode of his birth. His father Shardwat (शरद्वत) is charmed by Janpadi (an enchantress). A charmed Shardwat gives up his weapons and his semen drops on a leaf as he walks into the jungle to perform penance with his mind torn by the duality—one part saying enjoy sensuality and the other refusing to digress from the penance--spirituality. In this state of mind, his energy is diverted into two directions (semen falls on a leaf which splits into two—one Krip and another Kripi). But, when does the energy’s direction change? It is when he (शर:-arrow. द्वि+वत्—shot into two directions) is charmed by Janpadi. Janpadah (जनपद:) in Sanskrit means “the line of hereditary (वंश)”. And suffix“I (इ)” makes it the power of genes or hereditary. What happens when such an event takes place? Two selfish genes are born which bind everything they couple with to duality. Kripi is wedded to Dronacharya (the memory) and lends it the duality. What happens? Ashwaththama (The brain stem and the energy channels —nervous system. The brain has two major sides) is born. Krip is self-seeking genetic duality. He represents whatever we seek for ourselves —money, land and even God’s grace (Kripa). Whatever we seek immediately gives rise to duality—will get it, will not get it. Good or bad. Hot and cold. This selfish gene trains every aspect of our personality into duality without fail. Therefore, he is shown as Kripacharya —the unfailing archer, who can shoot on all sides and combat 60,000 warriors at a time. According to yogashastra , there are 72,000 energy channels in the human system. Out of which, Kripacharya can control 60,000—the remaining 12,000 are beyond his capacity. These remaining channels are the only possibility to command selfishness in us. We will discus how some other time.
Kripacharya is shown as the immortal combatant and ruling rishi of the modern age. It is because modern age people have an intensely selfish attitude —they can’t think beyond themselves. The genetic bind cages their personality. However, without legitimate selfishness, one cannot even live in the body. Therefore, we need to have respect for selfishness as long as it helps us sustain our body mind system. Beyond that it is the seed of all corruption. If you completely remove selfishness, then you won't be able to seek even God's grace, or food. Without Krip and Kripi, the duality will not be. And without duality neither our memory, genetic and brain systems nor the world will be. Therefore, the selfish gene is required to keep our individuality--and hence Kripacharya is immortal.
Example: You want a car. But, if you don't have the selfish gene, you cannot get it. Likewise, you cannot attain anything in this world without Kripa (blessings). But, there is a catch---you will continue to experience duality as long as you seek. This is how it is.
Takeaway: Be a Kripacharya as long you have to achieve a goal. But after achieving it be as graceful as Krishna who draws and distributes everything to everybody (That is one of the meanings of Krishna ) .
Next : Who is Shantanu?
Vivek Sharma