On training Drona (Habit) - Chapter 1 Verse 2
“सञ्जय उवाच
दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवानीकं व्यूढं दुर्योधनस्तदा ।
आचार्यमुपसंगम्य राजा वचनमब्रवीत् ॥२॥
Sanjaya said:
Then King Duryodhana, seeing the Pandava army arranged for battle, approached his teacher Drona and spoke these words.”
At first glance, this verse appears to describe a simple military observation: Duryodhana sees the Pandava army and goes to consult his teacher. Psychologically, however, the verse reveals one of the most important mechanisms of inner life.
Duryodhana represents the ego-driven, desire-bound mind. The Pandavas represent the higher faculties of consciousness — wisdom, discrimination, aspiration, willpower, purity, and intuition. The moment Duryodhana sees the Pandava army, he becomes aware of a higher possibility. Symbolically, this is the moment when the ego realizes that a person is beginning to align with truth rather than impulse.
The sequence is important:
Ego becomes aware of a higher possibility → Ego feels threatened → Ego consults conditioning.
This conditioning is represented by Drona.
Drona symbolizes habit, conditioning, samskaras, and the impressions left behind by past thoughts and actions. Yogananda traces his symbolism to the Sanskrit root dru, suggesting something that remains impressed or embedded in consciousness. Thoughts do not simply disappear after they occur. Repeated thoughts and actions leave grooves within the mind. These grooves become tendencies. Tendencies become habits. Habits eventually become character.
Drona taught both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Likewise, habit itself is neutral. It can support either wisdom or ignorance, growth or stagnation. A habit is simply accumulated energy moving in a familiar direction.
The tragedy is that, in the ordinary person, habit usually sides with the Kauravas—not because habit is evil, but because egoic patterns were established long before conscious spiritual effort began. The devotee enters the battlefield already carrying years of conditioning. Thus, when the battle of Kurukshetra begins, Drona naturally appears to stand with the Kauravas.
The lesson is profound: spiritual growth is not achieved merely by suppressing urges or constantly fighting temptation. One must retrain the subconscious itself. The goal is not to destroy Drona, but to reclaim him.
Habitual distraction → Habitual study
Habitual avoidance → Habitual action
Habitual anxiety → Habitual reflection
Habitual reactivity → Habitual awareness
Through meditation, yoga, self-observation, and repeated right action, Drona gradually changes allegiance. The same force that once strengthened the ego begins strengthening wisdom.
The spiritually mature person is not someone who constantly battles temptation every moment of the day. Rather, it is someone whose habits have become aligned with truth. At that stage, discipline, reflection, study, compassion, and self-control become increasingly natural. Drona is no longer serving Duryodhana; he is serving the Pandavas.
