Story of Eklavya

 It was a very ancient time when the principle of Gurukul was believed. Where the disciples had to live in the Guru's ashram to receive education. All the disciples used to get education and live together with the Guru and his entire family. This is from the time when education was also given according to the class, like only the disciples of high noble Kshatriya and Brahmin clan could take training in warfare and scriptures. At the same time, the name of a promising disciple became famous who, without a Guru, received the education which no one could receive even in the presence of a Guru. That famous disciple was Eklavya, who is more known for his Guru Dakshina than for his art. Let us know the story of Ekalavya in detail:

This is a very old incident. About five thousand years old, when the rule of the Kuru dynasty was much talked about in India. In those days, there was a Bhil boy whose name was Ekalavya. He was the son of the king of Bhils. Eklavya was a promising child with a beautiful and muscular body. And he was very different from the children of his age. From a young age, he had dreams and his own ideas, due to which everyone was influenced by him.

One day the Bhil king was looking at his son Ekalavya very seriously and was in thought. Eklavya was looking very lost and restless. Like other children, his mind seemed to be entangled not in childhood mischief, but in some confusion. Father and son ask Ekalavya the reason for this seriousness. Then Eklavya expresses his heartfelt feelings to his father – Father! I want to become an archer and I want to take lessons from Guru Drona. Hearing this, the father gets worried, he knows that Guru Drona educates only the Rajkumars and giving education to the Bhil caste is against the religion of Guru Drona. But the father could not say anything in front of Ekalavya's strong desire to become an archer and ordered his son to go to Guru Drona.

Eklavya starts his journey towards Gurukul with great enthusiasm and with many dreams and resolutions in his mind, he reaches Guru Drona's Gurukul. At that time Dronacharya was educating the princes of Hastinapur.

When Eklavya enters the Gurukul, his eyes quickly search for Guru Drona. He had never seen Drona but he had a special image of him in his mind and he searches for that image. He sees the Guru with a child in the training area of the ashram who is teaching the child the lesson of archery. At a glance, Ekalavya realizes that this is his Guru Drona, from whom he has come so far from his home to acquire knowledge. Ekalavya goes near Guru Drona and salutes him. Seeing an unfamiliar face, Guru Drona questions, asks – You! Who is it, whom I have never seen in my ashram? Eklavya folds his hands in a humble manner and replies – O Guru, the best! I am Ekalavya, son of the Bhil king and have come from a long distance with the desire to learn archery from you.

Drona says – You are a Bhil, that is, according to the rules of the scriptures, you are a child of Shudra caste, oh child! I am a high class Brahmin and as per the scriptures, I can give education only to the children of high class i.e. royal family and Brahmins and this is my religion, I cannot help you in any way, it will be against my religion. Ekalavya is deeply hurt by his Guru's words, this practice gives him unbearable pain, he stands with his head bowed. Then the prince standing nearby asks Ekalavya to leave from there in insulting words. That prince was none other than Arjun who said to Ekalavya – Don't you have the slightest knowledge of caste rules, that you have come with the desire to learn knowledge from Guru Shrestha? In this way Arjun humiliates Ekalavya and shows him the way out of the ashram.

Ekalavya goes out of the ashram with a heavy heart, but his desire to become an archer does not change even a bit, rather he becomes determined to achieve his goal. Coming to his area, he chooses a quiet place in the forest, cleans it, builds a grand statue of Guru Drona there and worships him day after day and practices archery. Due to his dedication and selfless devotion towards his Guru, Ekalavya's art keeps improving day by day. He moves towards becoming a great archer.

A few years later, one day Ekalavya was practicing in the forest. Then a dog starts barking, which was disturbing his practice. At first he would ignore the sound of barking but when it was too late, he would get angry and he would pick up his bow and aim towards the dog and without hurting the dog, put the arrows in its mouth in such a way that the dog's mouth remained open. He goes but he does not feel any pain, thus his barking stops.

At that time, all the princes along with Guru Drona were practicing at some distance in that forest. Then everyone's eyes fall on the dog, seeing which Guru Drona is surprised and the curiosity arises in his mind that who is this great archer who stopped the barking of this dog so well. Drona expresses his desire to meet him and sets out with everyone in the forest in search of the great archer.

At some distance they see Ekalavya whom they do not recognize and asks – Are you the archer who stopped the barking of this dog? Ekalavya bows his head in yes, saluting him with the same humility. Guru Drona says – Oh great disciple, I want to meet your Guru who has made you capable of this. Then Ekalavya bows his head and says – The name of my great respected Guru is Guru Drona. Hearing this, Drona says with surprise – How is this possible? Drona is my name and I am not your teacher. Ekalavya shows his statue to Drona and reminds him of the incident that happened in the past – O Guru! I am the same Bhil child who came to Gurukul with the desire to take education from you. 

Then you said no to me by calling me a Shudra but my desire was strong, hence I practiced day by day in front of your statue considering you as my guru and could become an archer. Seeing this, Guru Drona becomes very happy but his ego also gets hurt because he had taken a vow that he would make Arjun the best archer and this was not possible in the presence of Ekalavya. Guru Drona is unable to bear this insult.

Then Guru Drona says to Ekalavya – You have received education, but do you know, Guru Dakshina is given to the Guru in return for education, will you not give me Guru Dakshina? Eklavya is very happy to hear this, it was a big thing for him that Guru Drona called him his disciple and he says - O Guru, it will be my good fortune, if I can give you Guru Dakshina as a disciple, whatever you say. I will definitely give it to you. Drona says – Think once, if you cannot give then your education will be in vain. Eklavya says – Whatever you say, I will do it even by giving my life. 

Guru Drona says very cruelly – O great archer! I want the thumb of your right hand in Guru Dakshina, hearing which everyone standing there gets stunned because asking an archer for his right hand thumb was equivalent to taking his teachings from him, but Guru Drona had to make Arjun the best, which That could not have happened without Ekalavya. Smiling, Eklavya takes out the knife tied in his waist and without any trouble, cuts the thumb of his right hand and gives Guru Dakshina to his Guru. 

As soon as he does this, Guru Drona feels remorse but he becomes cruel in front of his vow. Guru Drona steps forward and places his hand on Ekalavya's head and blesses him – Son, even after giving the thumbs-up, you will be known in the pages of history as a great archer. Your story will be on the lips of every person when someone talks about Guru Dakshina and Guru Nishtha.