The tale of Eklavya.. - Page 3

^^ I mentioned that Eklavya decided to fight for the Kauravas. He was killed by Krishna before the war started.

Again they have distorted the whole story of Eklavya .

I second you! Why don't the makers understand Mahabharat isn't a crap daily soap. Causing deviations to our greatest epic is disgusting.

hi all
the tale of eklavya is quite a controversial one. few points i would like to add (see bold)
And hearing reports of his skill, kings andprinces, desirous of learning the science of arms, flocked to Drona by thousands. Amongst those thatcame there, O monarch, was a prince named Ekalavya, who was the son of Hiranyadhanus, king of the Nishadas . Drona, however, cognisant of all rules of morality, accepted not the prince as his pupil in archery, seeing that he was a Nishada who might (in time) excel all his high-born pupils.
But, the Nishada prince, touching Drona's feet with bent head, wended his way into the forest, and there he made a clay-image of Drona, and began to worship it respectfully, as if it was his real preceptor, and practised weapons before it with the most rigid regularity. In consequence of his exceptional reverence for his preceptor and his devotion to his purpose, all the three processes of fixing arrows on the bowstring, aiming, and letting off became very easy for him.

drona asks his right thumb to pacify arjuna.

Arjuna, in particular, thinking all the while, O king, Ekalavya, saw Drona in private and relying upon his preceptor's affection for him, said, 'Thou hadst lovingly told me, clasping me, to thy bosom, that no pupil of thine should be equal to me. Why then is there a pupil of thine, the mighty son of the Nishada king, superior to me?"
On hearing these words, Drona reflected for a moment, and resolving upon the course of action he should follow, took Arjuna with him and went unto the Nishada prince.
Drona answered, 'O Ekalavya, if thou art really intent on making me a gift, I should like then to have the thumb of thy right hand.' "Vaisampayana continued, 'Hearing these cruel words of Drona, who had asked of him his thumb as tuition-fee, Ekalavya, ever devoted to truth and desirous also of keeping his promise, with a cheerful
face and an unafflicted heart cut off without ado his thumb, and gave it unto Drona. After this, when the Nishada prince began once more to shoot with the help of his remaining fingers, he found, O king, that he had lost his former lightness of hand. And at this Arjuna became happy, the fever (of jealousy) having left him.

eklavya losing his thumb was necessary for the pandavas to win as he was a better archer. even krishna says so. its is the same case as of karna.
O best of men! for thy good, the Nishada's son also, of prowess incapable of being baffled, was, by an act of guile, deprived of his thumb by Drona, assuming the position of his preceptor. Proud and endued with steady prowess, the Nishada's son, with fingers cased in leathern gloves, looked resplendent like a second Rama.
Undeprived of thumb, Ekalavya, O Partha, was incapable of being vanquished in battle by the gods, the Danavas, the Rakshasas, and the Uragas (together). Of firm grasp, accomplished in weapons, and capable of shooting incessantly day and night, he was incapable of being looked at by mere men. For thy good, he was slain by me on the field of battle.


However eklavya still learns to shoot by his lefover fingers and also becomes ambidextrous( learns to shoot fron his left hand). That in itself shows that he didnt learn by overhearing drona's leasons. cause drona wouldnt have allowed it a second time and he doesnt even teach arjuna to shoot arrows by left hand.

In defense of arjuna's insecurity, in the epic drona is potrayed as a reluctant guru. its only arjuna's dogged determination and talent that makes drona share the secrets of archery with him which otherwise he would reserve for his son ashwatthama.
"Thus Drona continued giving lessons to the princes in the science of weapons. And while he gave unto every one of his pupils a narrow-mouthed vessel (for fetching water) in order that much time may be spent in filling them, he gave unto his own son Aswatthaman a broad-mouthed vessel, so that, filling it quickly, he might return soon enough. And in the intervals so gained, Drona used to instruct his own son in several superior methods (of using weapons). Jishnu (Arjuna) came to know of this, and thereupon filling his narrow-mouthed vessel with water by means of the Varuna weapon he used to come unto his preceptor at the same time with his preceptor's son. And accordingly the intelligent son of Pritha, that foremost of all men possessing a knowledge of weapons, had no inferiority to his preceptor's son in respect of excellence.

And Drona, beholding his pupil's devotion to arms, summoned the cook, and told him in secret, 'Never give Arjuna his food in the dark, nor tell him that I have told thee this.' A few days after, however, when Arjuna was taking his food, a wind arose, and thereupon the lamp that had been burning went out. But Arjuna, endued with energy, continued eating in the dark, his hand, from habit, going to his mouth. His attention being thus called to the force of habit, the strong-armed son of Pandu set his heart upon practising with his bow in the night. And, O Bharata, Drona, hearing the twang of his bowstring in the night, came to him, and clasping him, said, 'Truly do I tell thee that I shall do that unto thee by which there shall not be an archer equal to thee in this world.'

The post by bhas1066 clarifies that Arjun was jealous and insecure. I had a bit of confusion regarding this. Thanks for the clarification :)

Originally posted by: -Shruti

I second you! Why don't the makers understand Mahabharat isn't a crap daily soap. Causing deviations to our greatest epic is disgusting.

Wonderful post was sad to se Eklavya sacrificng his thumb seemed almost unfair.

eklavya and karn in my opinion very good warriors.. arjun ego was big ..because he had dron and Krishna under his wings..The truth is if Krisna wasnt on the side of Pandavs ..arjun couldnt win the war between the Kauravs...

Originally posted by: .Reshama.

eklavya and karn in my opinion very good warriors.. arjun ego was big ..because he had dron and Krishna under his wings..The truth is if Krisna wasnt on the side of Pandavs ..arjun couldnt win the war between the Kauravs...

Was it also so important in satyayug that u could only become a warrior/khsyatria because of ur cast only??

Or were all mankind all respected because they were humans and Equal??

Another thing the atmaa is a gods gift so when u tell a lower cast that he or she is nothing or lower you insult god himself because he reside in everyhuman

Dont humans have the right to improve themselfs??

@Bold - This is misconception that Arjun had a huge ego..
Arjun was proud of being an archer and he did have feelings of insecurity, jealousy, worry and distress like every other human. But he also had the capability to understand these faults and correct it.

It also does great injustice to Arjun's talent that it is just pushed under the rug as something that was a by product of Krishna's and Drona's allegiance to him.

Both Lord Krishna and Drona helped Arjun because he deserved it. He proved himself not only to be a good archer but also a good man. Why would God align himself to someone who is not on the path of Dharam? Arjun was favored because he had proven himself worthy of their respect and trust and that speaks volumes about the kind of person he was and his strength as a warrior. Their Allegiance makes Arjun look better IMHO and not vice versa.

I guess Arjun's fault is that he was known as the hero wherein today we like to make villains into tragic figures and depict heroes as unworthy.. Unfortunately or fortunately in MB, facts show that Arjun was indeed a hero of unparalleled skills though human. He did have his faults and failings but he rose above them to make a name of himself..

His humility would not be more apparent when he chose Lord Krishna and surrendered himself to Him

During the times of MB, for all the freedom available, there were certain lines drawn in each society that was respected across. People like Karna and Eklavya had to toe this line like everyone else if they had to remain in Hastinapur. They had the choice to pursue their interests in kingdom like Nishad and Magadh if they so desired.

And at the end of the day, these lines were broken when the person deserved it, like Karna was made king of Anga inspite of his being a charioteer's son. People like Vishwamitra also broke across lines but it required that they deserve such honor.

Why did society have such rules is very complex to answer. Every human was treated with compassion by the king if he was someone wise.. Like Pandu did.. but there were also kings who would really be cruel and not respect the fact that a human life was indeed a human life. There is no difference between them..

And yes. Every human has the right to improve himself but how remains the question. Just like someone cannot force another to love them, it also is true that one cannot force another with beliefs.
In the act of improving oneself, Karna and Eklavya should have remembered that they were doing so at the cost of destroying a pure trust that remains between two people. One can improve oneself but not at the cost of someone else's vow. Just my PoV