Sage Aruni was a skilled saint who always believed in principles and duties. Every one used to respect and praise Sage Aruni. Arunkopnishad and Kathupanishad also talk about the magnificence of Sage Aruni. His character and personality has been thoroughly explained in these Upanishads. Hence, Sage Aruni is also known as a great Upanishad saint. Sage Aruni is known by many different names including Uddalak, Uddalak Aruni, Upmanyu and Ved Aruni. He was a disciple to Saint Dhaumya.
Sage Aruni was devoted to his Guru
Saint Bhaum used to live in an asylum which he built in the forest. He was a great scholar and had immense knowledge about the Vedas. He had a lot of students. Aruni was one among his disciples. Aruni always followed Saint Bhaum’s orders and was a very obedient student. He was an average student when it came to studies. He was liked by Saint Bhaum because of his obedience.
According to a famous story about Sage Aruni, once there was a lot of rain in the asylum. The whole asylum was filled with water. The fields beside the asylum also started filling with water. Saint Bhaum was worried about the fields as he knew that the food and cereals would be destroyed if the fields were filled with water. He asked Sage Aruni to visit the fields to check if everything was alright. He also asked him to close the dam if he saw any danger.
Sage Aruni visited the fields and saw a broken wall due to which water was passing through into the fields. Aruni tried to stop the flow of water but could not succeed even after many efforts. Sage Aruni put his own body in the water’s way and this controlled the flow. Even the rain eventually stopped.
Saint Bhaum was worried about Sage Aruni as he did not come back to the asylum till night. He, along with a few other disciples visited the fields and started searching Sage Aruni. Saint Bhaum saw Aruni laid on the ground to stop the flow of water. He was filled with emotions when he saw this.
Saint Bhaum took hold of Aruni and hugged him tightly. Saint Bhaum was so impressed that he blessed Sage Aruni with immense knowledge. He also said that Sage Aruni would always be remembered as an obedient student. He also said that he would be named Uddalak which means ‘originated from water’. Hence, Sage Aruni came to be known as Uddalak and received immense knowledge even without studying.
Other Information related to Saint Uddalak Aruni
Kath Upanishad explains why Sage Aruni was a great scholar. He was also known as Vajshrawas. He was always involved in charities and yagyas. According to Chandogaya Upanishad, he was born to Uddalak Aruni and hence, came to be known by the same name.