In Gokula, where Krishna grows up, the atmosphere has been idyllic and playful; but in Mathura as a Kshatriya, He and Balarama are expected to be formally educated and the Bhagavata Purana narrates the Gurukula term of the brothers under sage Sandipani. It is held that the boys spend sixty four days in the ashram when they quickly master all the sixty four arts and branches of learning. The Lord is a ‘Sarvajna,’ says Narayana Bhattatiri to emphasise that He is the essence of omniscience and the source of all knowledge and that perhaps formal learning may be superfluous for the Lord. But this episode only highlights the importance of learning under a guru, pointed out Sri Dushyanth Sridhar in a discourse. It reinforces the efficacy of the tradition where knowledge is handed down from master to disciple since days of yore.
After completion of studies, Krishna and Balarama, as grateful disciples, wish to show their gratitude to the Guru for his instruction. This is the Guru Dakshina that a disciple is expected to offer to the master and it has to be done in the bhava of service. The sage asks for the restoration of his son who had disappeared in the waters of Prabhasa Tirtha. The guru’s wish, an impossible task for any ordinary disciple, could be achieved by none other than the Lord. With great determination, Krishna and Balarama go to the ocean. The ocean king pays obeisance to them and informs them that the boy has been taken away by a demon named Panchajana. Krishna kills the demon, but the boy is not with him. Krishna then enters the kingdom of Yama and finds the boy there. Yama is happy to welcome Krishna and the Lord brings the boy back to the hermitage of Sandipani. He turns the demon into a conch named Panchajanya.
