WHAT IS CULTIVATION ?

everyone went out to clean themselves of the sweat, which formed due to the training they under went. as everyone is taking their bath unknowingly a black substance is ooze out of their bodies. as they are unaware the changes happening in their bodies, they had completed their cleaning and changed into fresh cloths. they moved towards the dorms which were prepared by viki's father.

as they entered the dorms they are welcomed by a strong aroma of well cooked food as they had never smelled something like that they are drawn towards it and they entered another room where the food is arranged neatly on a table.

"did you clean yourselves properly?" asked sumithra , who is standing next to the table.

by hearing the question of sumithra they came out of their dazed state and answered in unison that" yes, mentor sumithra".

" okay, the food is ready. eat full to your heart contented, after that you have to learn how to read and how to write. so eat fast and come to the room next to the exercise room, there you can find me" said sumithra.

after hearing about something that they have to learn, they looked like they have lost their appetite as they had just now gone through hell.

as if understanding of what they are thinking sumithra said with a reassured smile that" it not like body training, you just need to sit down hear the lecture and remember it".

after hearing the explanation of sumithra, they sighed in the relief and started to move toward the table and serving themselves with the food they had never tasted. as they are started to eat their depleted stamina started recover as fast as it was consumed. as they are eating the food, they are wondering how it is cooked as it didn't have wood burnt smell as the smoke will seeps into the food in their house. they don't know that it is cooked with fire formed by spiritual energy which is devoid of any impurities and how can it be compared with food prepared by wood.

after they had completed eating food and moved towards the place where sumithra will be present. after entering the room they were welcomed by a neatly arranged futons in three rows and three columns and in front these there was a bench which is holding a ink bottle, a feathered pen and a stack of papers. after entered the room their other thought of disturbance were being wiped out of their mind and their minds are as clear as white paper and ready to get filled with new things. they orderly came into the room and seated on their respective seats showed by sumithra waited for her lecture.

"today I will tell you how to write and read the letters, without knowing how to read and write you will not be able to do anything on the outside world, so listen carefully. firstly we will learn about the script presently used in the outside world, the script is called devanagari script. it has 1400 vowels and 3300 consonants and it is used for almost all adoptive writing systems in the world. but there are exceptions like some other script in the world, but I will teach only one you have to learn others by yourselves, when you visiting the outside world, don't underestimate the other scripts as some are very ancient ones which are source for present scripts. now, look closely the way I hold the pen in my hand and dip it in the ink right next to you. after that follow after me as I write on the white board and imitate me, as it is more affective than me helping each other, as you will get the first hand feeling of it and pronounce the word after me" said as writing on the board.

as sumithra is writing on the board everyone is imitating her and writing it on piece of paper with a clear mind as it is the effect of the mind clearing incense powder, which makes the ones who are inhaling it as fast learners, it is only effective on mortals. without any second thought they immersed completely in learning. without knowing they had learnt all the letters, which is almost impossible for any one, even if they are under the effect of the incense. sumithra is genuinely surprised by their capacity and without giving any break she let them write the letters repeatedly to make them not to forgot even a single letter. even among all chanakya was the first one who in learning and right after him is nakula and sahadeva. at last everyone learnt all the letters of devanagari script, as sumithra is thinking of to let them learn about the word formation, bheem who is not good with learning, is unable contain his thoughts and got distracted. by seeing that bheem is not up to it sumithra stopped her lecture there.

"okay, today I will stop it here and tomorrow we will learn about how the word are formed. if there are any doubts you can rise now regarding any thing from class or morning exercise and anything you want know to loose up your brain" said sumithra with bright smile, as she is completely satisfied with their performance.

" mentor, why we have to do exercise, that hardly" asked chanakya as he is the one who is most weak one, out of all.

"that is obviously, for improving your stamina and make you prepare for the proper foundation for the cultivation path you are going to take" said sumithra.

" mentor, why is the food so good here when compared to my mothers food" asked bheem with a curiosity in eyes.

" that is because it is made by flames by the spiritual energies of the cultivator" said sumithra.

" mentor, you keep on saying these "cultivation, cultivator" stuff what are these" asked vasusena.

"a cultivator is someone who cultivates" said sumithra.

" then what is cultivation and why we have to cultivate" asked chanakya.

" first I will tell you all that why we have to cultivate, that is because in the outside world, strength is everything even if you are correct, if you don't have strength to back up, you will not be treated a human being and most of the people outside are cultivators. by cultivating you will gain the strength to back up your words, remember it clearly in the outside world everyone is as nice as the people in the village and to gain something and to increase their strength some are even kills their own parents and children but not everyone is not like that " said sumithra.

"and secondly cultivation is defined in different ways by different people, but cultivation is ultimately is the path to the greater heights in their own paths and it has no ending, and for example if cultivation is compared with a mountain and moving to the peak is way to the cultivation, then different people move in different directions but ultimately everyone's goal is the peak. and as there will be mountains higher than the previous one and the difficulty is also higher" said sumithra.

as she completed her talk and waited for them to ask more, she took a glance at the kids, only to see them making a confused and "what is going on here" face. by seeing their looks she suddenly remembered that they are little kid only at the age of five and this is their first time of learning.

" ahem, now I will say in the simple manner, bheem your father rears fishes in the pond and chanakya your father grows mango trees. then do you know that, what they are doing also a type of cultivation and rearing fishes and growing mango trees is their way of cultivation. by improving in the growth of fishes means, you father is making progress, like wise chanakyas father by growing more fruits means, he is making progress in his way" said sumithra.

"then what are we going to cultivate" asked partha.

"it depends on the way you choose to move on, as there are myriad way in the path of cultivation and some cultivates their body, while others their blood. as ones cultivation increases their life span also increases, as it is the reason for some peoples to cultivate. you will know more about it in future and you have to choose your path by yourself only" said sumithra.

"then mentor, what is your path" asked chanakya curiously.

"my path, it is alchemy" said sumithra.

" alchemy?, what is it?" asked nakula.

"you don't need to know about it now, so go and take rest and after one hour your training will resume" said sumithra.

"you are the one who said ask and now you are not saying it" murmured chanakya.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, SAY IT AGAIN YOU LITTLE BRAT" asked with death glare at chanakya.

suddenly shivers run down in their spines and suddenly bheem dashed toward chanakya and closed his mouth and said to sumithra that" mentor I will tech him a lesson, so please excuse us".

bheem dashed out of the room followed by other leaving sumithra alone in the room.