The tale of Eklavya.. - Page 4

Originally posted by: rasyafan

I read a different story about Eklavya and the dog, he filled the dog's mouth with the arrows to make him stop barking without injurying him. He was such a great archer.

Dronacharya was selfish and ambitious because he wanted to use both Kauravs and Pandawas against Drupad to snatch away his kingdom to take revenge against him and to make his son king of Panchal.

He had already given his vachan to Arjun to make him the world's greatest archer.
He asked for Eklavya's thumb because he knew that if this child has learnt dhanurvidya without actually his teaching him just by watching he also has the potencial to become world's greatest archer and Arjun was just learning at that time.

Dronacharya was insecure and when he saw danger and obstruction in front of his ambitions he removed that competition.

He did it for the second time when he refused to accept Karn as his student.

Both Eklavya and Karn were far better archer then Arjun simple reason being that they both had huge talent and they learnt archery themselves and Dron knew it very well hense his insecurity.

Just because it is being considered for thousands of years that Arjun was the greatest archer but the doubt also has been there always that Karn and Eklavya might be far better archers then Arjun.

The fact that Eklavya was not cruel to the dog his character can be judged from the fact that he at once cut his thumb and gave it to Dronacharya in guru dakshina without uttering a single word.

Personally I think that Eklavya and Karn were far better archer then Arjun.


One day while Ekalavya is practicing,he hears a dog barking. Before the dog can shut up or get out of the way, Ekalavya fires seven arrows in rapid succession to fill the dog's mouth without injuring it. The Pandavas come upon the dog, and wonder who could have accomplished such a feat. Searching the forest, they find a dark skinned young man, dressed in all black with long hair and strong muscles. He introduces himself as Ekalavya, a pupil of Drona.

I read this story in school when I was in first class 😆 😆

Originally posted by: bhas1066

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.'

Originally posted by: koolsadhu1000

This is what i know . I am not saying it is THE correct version but i always read this only .

Eklavya travelled to Hastinapur , sought an audience with Drona and requested official training .

Drona , though impressed , refused . 2 reasons for the refusal .

Caste WAS definetely one . Clearly the Mahabharat says that Drona enquired about his caste and creed . In those days only the Kshatriyas and Brahmins had a permission to obtain the knowledge of warfare as the society was based on Varna ashrama . Drona refused Eklavya as he was a Nishada , a tribal , of a much lower caste than Kshatriyas . He refused Karna as he was a suta putra , again a lower caste . Drona followed the varna ashrama dharma implicitly . He did not refuse these 2 out of personal disdain but bcoz it was the social norm . Parshuram trained only brahmins . Others like Drona trained only brahmins or kshatriyas .

Drona accepted Drishtadyumna as he was a kshatriya . The fact that he accepted him inspite of knowing his purpose shows his large heart but the social norm of caste was followed .

Second is that the Nishadas were not exactly friends of the kingdom in which Drona was employed . Drona was the Rajguru and it was his duty to look after the benefit of the kingdom. The Nishadas were a source of constant trouble to Hastinapur . So accepting Eklavya was an absolute no no .

Undeterred , Eklavya practised archery on his own , without Drona or any training , and excelled . He practised it before a statue of Drona .

Once Drona took the princes to the forest for training . When they were sleeping at night a wild dog started barking . He barked non stop . It was the no moon night . Amavasya . Before they could do anything of it , seven arrows sewed the dog's mouth in such a way , that the barking stopped AND the dog was uninjured . Specifically mentioned . Astonished and impressed the princes and Drona went to find further and found Eklavya practsing shabd bhedi shooting at night . This type of shooting was practised in the dark by hearing sounds and hence the accuracy towards the dog .

Drona was impressed and pleased and Eklavya prostrated before him and showed the statue .

Drona had promised Arjun that he would make him the world's best archer . A visibly insecure Arjun reminded him of his promise . He felt jealous of Eklavya all right .

To keep up his promise to his best student Drona asked for Eklavya's thumb as guru dakshina as the thumb was an integral part in archery .

Eklavya gave it .

The fact that Arjun had an ego of his archery skills is true coz in the Maha Prasthanika Parva it is clearly mentioned that when Arjun fell dying , Bheema asked Yudhishtir the reason and Yushishtir answered that he could not enter heaven bcoz of his ego about his archery skills ...he had said that he would win the war in 1 day while it took 18 days to be precise .

I differ about the cruelty to an innocent animal argument . Firstly it was a wild dog and wild dogs can shred u to pieces . Secondly they were Kshatriyas who hunted as a game , that era was different . Dasharatha and Pandu made mistakes while hunting deer . The Pandavas sanctioned a lot of burning of wild life when they ordered the burning down of Khandav van . So no , i differ there .

This is what i heard of Eklavya . Other versions may be there but i read this only .

Originally posted by: -Shruti

Eklavya, a self made man, a self learned student. Eklavya could learn archery better without Drona's blessings, knowledge and endorse. Better than even Drona's favorite student. He taught himself without submitting himself to a teacher and this is a reason he's treated as a hero.

Well said 😛(sorry replying to posts in random order)

Eklavya was born in a tribe, nishada tribe and that was engaged in anti-social acts. They were used to create trouble for the citizens as well as the Kuru dynasty. This is the reason they were allotted to live in the forest. And from there too they were creating problems for the people. When Eklavya approached Drona, he refused to accept him as his student. Most of the people claim this was due to his cast. But let's keep in mind that Drona had been sheltered and appointed by the Kurus. So how could he teach someone who belonged to a cast harming them? I don't think Drona was so narrowed minded.

Because Drona accepted Dhristadyumna as his student despite of knowing he would slay him in the future. So he wouldn't have accepted him in case his mind was so narrow.

So perhaps Drona observed that Eklavya didn't had the character of a protector. A person gains knowledge by not just being expert in the art but after understanding how to use the art he learned. Eklavya had the potential to become the best archer but the character to protect was missing.

Most tribals are very sensitive and more close to animals and birds and nature in general even today as compared to the mainstream civilisation. Eklavya displayed his snsitivity to animals by shutting the dog;s mouth without injuring it. He had packed the arrows inhis mouth by shooting it in quick succession and stopped the barking without hurting the dog , a feat that astonished the princes and Drona! So it would be wrong to interpret that Drona wanted to restarin Eklavya for his cruel nature. IT could be more of a politicalreason han any other as he could be sen as a threat to Hastinapur. A the same time I wonder about the guru's inability to transform his pupils frommfoes to friends. Drona seemed to restrict his teachings to that of warfare. Though the kauravs and pandavas spent yars togerther under him their mindset and insecurities towards each other did not seem to improve one bit. I would have expected the teacher to be imparting a more holistic sort of teaching to all the students considering the number of years they spent in isolation with their gurus!

Still, Eklavya's determination to learn was unparalleled. He made a clay form of Drona and practiced in front. He practiced; he learnt and became an expert. One day when Drona was travelling in the forest with his students, they spotted a dog which had his mouth sewn up with arrows. Eklavya had been practicing and the dog had been barking. An irritated Eklavya shot arrows to silence the dog. Arjuna was amazed and stunned to see this extraordinary competence in archery used against a harmless creature. All dogs bark, but do this mean we all need to shoot arrows to quiet them? Never! There are several ways to get rid of them without harming. This was such a cruel act against an innocent creature.

That the dog was not harmed at all and that it was a wild dog has already been commented by other members so wont repeat. So no cruelty exhibited at all by Eklavya , rather a great sensitivity and skill were displayed.

Arjuna wanted to know who did this and went to inform Drona. Drona came forward and Eklavya bent to him. He addressed Drona as his teacher.Drona then demanded his "Guru dakshina" and the self-made archer had to sacrifice his thumb. Many argue he demanded his thumb as he never wanted anyone to be better than his favorite student. Yes this is a main reason for sure, not the sole reason. He may have thought that Eklavya may become an anti-social element in the future, looking at how he treated a harmless dog. So in the future he may create troubles for innocent people. To end all the possibilities, he demanded his thumb. Eklavya without a hesitation agreed and sacrificed his thumb. He will always be remembered for his selfless adoration and respect for his Guru, a Guru who never considered him his student, who never taught him. I've always been against this act of Drona. Eklavya cut his thumb without a bit of hesitation, so wouldn't he have developed a character he lacked, if Drona wanted him to do so? Indra felt ashamed after Karna handed over his Kavach and Kundal to him. This is the reason he gave him a powerful weapon, Bramhastra. Drona would have given something to Eklavya.

The simple natured Eklavya\s adoration or reverence to Drona proved to be his undoing

But Eklavya still practiced the art and decided to battle for the Kauravas in the war.

Thats the irony! He could have been an asset to whichever side he chose.

So before the war, Krishna challenged him and killed him in the battle between them. He was purified and released by Krishna.

This is significant that even after the guru dakshina of his thumb Krishna regarded him skillful enough to be seen as a threat against the pandavas in the war!So Eklavya had the ability to become the greatest archer, but he lacked the character. This is the reason he used his skills against a harmless creature. His character would have caused troubles for him and others too.

Eklavya did become a great archer inspite of Drona's nily wily attempt to thwart his ambitions 😛 Anyone who did not owe allegiance to the Hastinapur kingdom could be seen as a threat and denied education. Ironically Eklavya had wanted to fight from the Hastinapur side during the war!

Drona's act can't be considered fair, and so he received a curse. Did he? - what curse?

Both sides were guilty!

Originally posted by: -Shruti

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: peridot.

Drona much more guilty according to me! Eklavya's only fault was that he revered Drona too much, more than he desrved to, in fact!

Nice post and views everyone. I missed todays epi where they may have shown Drona's reasons for the cruel dakshina demand made to Eklavya Hope to catch uo the re runs or the written updates on the forum 😛

👏 love your poitns Dronacharya took advantage of a child and asked for his thumb tried to ruin his entire life. A sage that also a teacher can never demand such a high price form a child. Dronacharya was no acharya no guru he was cheap sordid and full of insecurities and feelings of revenge. He was not in control of his feelings he had all that disqualification which is not expected in a guru a perfect teacher.

Dronacharya cheated Eklavya and he never gave his time or spent any money on Eklavya to ask for guru dakshina when he never taught him any thing then what right he had of demanidng guru dakshina 😡

But Eklavya was such a great archer that he learnt archery by using his 4 fingers only and he became a threat to pandawas due to which Krishna himself had to kill Eklavya

so definitely and obviously Eklavya was much greater Archer then Arjun.

I have respect for both the archers so i won't go into the who is a better archer argument but will say this much

Originally posted by: rasyafan

👏 love your poitns Dronacharya took advantage of a child and asked for his thumb tried to ruin his entire life. A sage that also a teacher can never demand such a high price form a child. Dronacharya was no acharya no guru he was cheap sordid and full of insecurities and feelings of revenge. He was not in control of his feelings he had all that disqualification which is not expected in a guru a perfect teacher.

Dronacharya cheated Eklavya and he never gave his time or spent any money on Eklavya to ask for guru dakshina when he never taught him any thing then what right he had of demanidng guru dakshina 😡

But Eklavya was such a great archer that he learnt archery by using his 4 fingers only and he became a threat to pandawas due to which Krishna himself had to kill Eklavya

so definitely and obviously Eklavya was much greater Archer then Arjun.

Thanks Rasyafan. Very difficult to know what Drona's actual intentions were but the explanation offered in the present MB show seems quite logical to me 😊 It is possible that Drona did not like what he did but felt compelled to nip the potential enemy in the bud. Drona was bound to Hastinapur (being on its pay roll) unlike sages like Parashuram who had complete freedom to choose his students.

Maybe I needed to do some research on the dog part 😛

Above all, the truth is that Eklavya is best remembered for his selfless adoration and respect for his spiritual guru. Whenever people will talk about an ideal student, Eklavya's name will be taken with pride and respect.