Learn Mahabharta with Story of Eklavya - An Ideal Disciple

Eklavya story is the tale of a long-long gone era. In the country of India, almost 5 thousand years back, lived a boy named Eklavya, the son of a tribal leader in the forests of the kingdom- Hastinapura. Eklavya becomes a brave, good-looking boy. He became cherished by all. But he is now no longer happy.

His father noticed that something afflicted Eklavya. More than as soon as he observed his son lost deep in notion while other boys loved the pleasures of hunting and playing. One day the father asked his son, "Why are you so unhappy, Eklavya? Why don’t you be part of your friends? Why are you not inquisitive about hunting?".

Now, let us go through Eklavya's story with pictures to understand how Eklavya persuaded his father to be an ideal Disciple.

Eklavya Story by Ravi Shankar

"Father, I need to be an archer" responded Eklavya, "I need to grow to be a disciple of the tremendous Dronacharya, the tremendous coach of Archery in Hastinapura. His Gurukul is a mystical vicinity in which regular boys are potent warriors."

Eklavya noticed his father was silent. He continued, " Father, I understand that we belong to the hunting tribe, however, I need to be a warrior, father, not a trifling hunter. So please permit me to depart home and grow to be the disciple of Dronacharya."

Eklavya's father got into problems since he realized his son's goal would be difficult to achieve. The leader, on the other hand, was a caring father who did not need to deny his best son's demands. So the kind parent praised his kid as he traveled to Drona's Gurukul.

Eklavya set on his way. Soon he reached the part of the forest wherein Drona taught the princes of Hastinapur.

Eklavya and DronaIn those days, there was no such system as a school, college, college, or hostel. The best vicinity in which one should get a few training sessions was a " Gurukul". A Gurukul (Guru refers to "teacher" or "master"; Kul is a Sanskrit phrase kula, which means extended family.) is a sort of historical Hindu residential school for shishyas or students and the guru or trainer residing in proximity, many a time in the identical house. The Gurukul is the vicinity in which the students reside collectively as equals, irrespective of their social status. The students learned from the guru and additionally helped the guru in his daily life, including carrying out mundane chores which include washing clothes, cooking, etc. The training imparted thus, was a wholesome one.

Having stated this much, let us now go back to Eklavya. When the boy reached Dronacharya’s Gurukul, he noticed that it consisted of a collection of huts, surrounded by trees and an archery yard. The disciples were practicing shooting arrows with their bows and arrows in the yard. It becomes an enticing sight. But Eklavya’s eyes searched for Drona. Where was he? Will he be capable of seeing the person? Without Drona, all his purpose for coming right here might be meaningless. But all his concerns quickly subsided. He shouldn’t watch for long. There become the man standing close to a tree busy educating a boy, who was the third Pandava prince Arjuna, as Eklavya got here to understand later. Though Eklavya had never seen Drona earlier, he put his guess at work. He went close to Drona and bowed.

The sage was amazed to look at a strange boy addressing him. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Dronacharya, I am Eklavya, son of the Tribal Chief in the western part of the forests of Hastinapura," Eklavya responded. "Please accept me as your disciple and train me in the outstanding art of Archery."

Drona sighed. "Eklavya..." stated he,"... in case you are a tribal hunter, you need to be a Shudra, the bottom social network consistent with the Vedic Caste System. I am a Brahmin, the very best caste in the kingdom. I can not train a Shudra boy."

"And he is additionally a Royal teacher," said Prince Arjuna. "Our Guru has been appointed by the King to teach us, the princes and the highborn. How dare you come to the Gurukul and seek for him? Leave! NOW!" he spat out, looking enraged that Eklavya had disturbed his practice.

Eklavya was bowled over (impressed) at Arjuna's behavior. He himself was the son of the leader of his clan, however, he never insulted anyone under him in this way. He looked at Drona for a few kinds of support, however, the sage remained silent. The message was loud and clear. Dronacharya additionally desired him to depart. He refused to teach him.

The innocent tribal boy was deeply harmed by Drona's refusal to teach him. "It's not fair!" he thought miserably. "God has given understanding to all, however, man by myself differentiates his kind."

He left the vicinity with a broken heart and a sour taste in his mouth. But it couldn't shatter his ambition to learn Archery. He was nevertheless determined to learn Archery.

"I can be a Shudra however, does it make any difference?" thought he. " I am as robust and zealous as Drona's princes and disciples. If I practice the artwork each day, I can clearly grow to be an archer."

The Story of Eklavya to Becoming a Self-made Powerful Archer

Eklavya reached his own forests and took a few specks of dust from a close-by river. He made a statue of Dronacharya and decided on a secluded clearing in the forests to surround it. Eklavya did this due to the fact he faithfully believed that if he practiced before his Guru, he might grow to be an able archer. Thus, even though his Guru avoided him, he nevertheless held him with high respect and thought of him as his Guru.

With each passing day, he took his bow and arrow, worshiped the statue of Drona, before starting his practice. In time faith, braveness and perseverance converted Eklavya the mere tribal hunter into Eklavya the fantastic archer. Eklavya has become an archer of fantastic prowess, advanced even to Drona's first-rate pupil, Arjuna.

One day whilst Eklavya is practicing, he hears a dog barking. At first, the boy neglected the dog, however, a non-stop disturbance in his practice angered him. He stopped his exercise and went toward the vicinity in which the dog was barking.

Before the dog could get out of his way, Eklavya fired seven arrows in fast succession to fill the dog's mouth without even injuring it. The consequence was, it roamed around the forests with its mouth open.

Eklavya continued his practice. He was blind to the reality that just a few distances away, the Pandava princes were also present in that region of the forest. As destiny might have it, that day, they'd come with their teacher, Drona, who was teaching them about a few finer points of archery by making them analyze the real-life circumstances of the open jungle.

As they were busy practicing, they abruptly chanced upon the "stuffed" dog and were surprised who could have removed such a feat of archery. Drona was surprised too." Such an excellent intention can best come from a robust archer." he exclaimed. He advised the Pandavas that if any individual was such a good archer then he definitely needed to be met. The practice became stopped and collectively they commenced looking at the forest for the one behind such a brilliant feat. They observed a dark-skinned man dressed all in black, his frame besmeared with grime and his hair in raveled locks. It was Eklavya. Dronacharya went up to him.

"Your aim is certainly remarkable!" Drona praised Eklavya, and asked, "From whom did you learn Archery?"

Eklavya was pleased to listen to Drona's praises. How amazed he could be if he told Drona that he, in reality, was his Guru!

"From you my Master. You are my Guru," Eklavya answered humbly.

"Your Guru? How can I be your Guru? I have never even seen you earlier!" Drona exclaimed in surprise. But all of a surprise he remembered something. He remembered a keen boy who had visited his Gurukul numerous months ago. " Now I remember," he stated. "Are you not the same hunter boy whom I refused admission to in my Gurukul a few months back?"

"Yes, Dronacharya", answered the boy. "After I left your Gurukul, I came home and made a statue like you and worshiped it each day. I practiced before your image. You refused to train me, however, your statue did not. Thanks to it, I even have ended up an excellent archer."

Eklavya Practicing Archery in Front of a Self-made Statue of Guru Dronacharya

Arjuna was enraged when he heard this. "But you guaranteed me that you'd turn me into the country's greatest archer!" he charged Drona. "How is that possible? Now an ordinary hunter must get to the level of me!"

The other princes remembered their master often praising Arjuna that he had immense skills and could be the finest archer in the kingdom. They waited with bated breath. What will their teacher do now?

Drona stayed quiet despite not being able to respond to Arjuna's query. The sage, too, was disappointed that his pledge to Prince Arjuna would be broken. He was also upset with Eklavya because she had disobeyed him. As a result, the sage decided to chastise Eklavya.

"Where is your Guru Dakshina? You have to give me a present for your training," the sage demanded. He had eventually observed a way to make Eklavya suffer for his disobedience.

Eklavya was overjoyed. A guru Dakshina was the voluntary price or gift presented through a disciple to his guru at the end of his training. The guru-shishya parampara, i.e. the instructor-pupil tradition, was a renowned tradition in Hinduism. At the end of a shishya's study, the guru asks for a "guru dakshina," for the reason that a guru does not take fees. A guru Dakshina is the very last presentation from a student to the guru before leaving the ashram. The teacher can also additionally ask for something or nothing at all.

"Dronacharya, I'll be the happiest character on this planet to serve you. Ask me something and I will provide it to you as my guru Dakshina "he stated.

"I would possibly ask something you do not like to provide me. What if you refuse the Dakshina I want?" Drona requested cunningly.

Eklavya was shocked. It was considered a grave insult and a first-rate sin if a guru's Dakshina was refused. "No! How can I, teacher? I am not that ungrateful. I'll never refuse something you ask, Dronacharya," promised the unsuspecting boy.

Drona did not wait anymore. "Eklavya, I am looking to have your right-hand thumb as my guru Dakshina" he declared.

Silence befell everyone. Everyone was shocked, even Arjuna. He checked out his teacher in horror and disbelief. How could their teacher make any such merciless demand? That too, from an insignificant boy?

For a moment Eklavya stood silent. Without his thumb, he may want to never shoot arrows again. But the teacher must be satisfied. "Ok Gurudev, as you wish," he stated. Then, without the slightest hesitation, Eklavya drew out his knife and cut his thumb!

Eklavya Cut his Thumb as an Offering for The Learning

The princes gasped at Eklavya's act of bravery. But the tribal boy betrayed no signs of pain and held out his severed thumb to Dronacharya.

"Here is my guru Dakshina, Drona", Ekalavya stated. "I am glad that you have made me your disciple, despite the fact that I'm an insignificant Shudra hunter."

The sage was humbled. He blessed the younger archer for his courage. "Eklavya, even without your thumb, you'll be referred to as a first-rate archer. I bless you that you'll be remembered for all time on your loyalty to your guru," Drona walked out of the woods.  He was gratified that his pledge to Arjuna had not been broken. Eklavya was anointed from up high by the Gods.

But regardless of his handicap, Eklavya persevered to practice archery. How could he do so? When one is dedicated, you can actually make even mountains bow. With exercise, Eklavya learned to shoot arrows with his index fingers, and as a result, he had become better in archery than he had ever been. His brilliance was felt widely. Once Drona learned of this, he discreetly congratulated the child and prayed for heavenly pardon.

In the end, we get to learn from the Eklavya story with pictures that an ideal disciple to Drona, Eklavya is praised because of the most unswerving and courageous pupil in the epic of Mahabharatha.