Eklavya or Arjuna? Was Dronacharya On the Wrong Side When He Asked For Eklavya’s Thumb?
Mahabharata is the epic where the topic about Gurudakshina of Dronacharya from Eklavya is debatable. Talking about Eklavya and Arjuna in terms of their art of archery, there was no doubt that each of them lacked any talent or diligence.
The epic of Mahabharata has different interpretations and so people have different views on the topic which we are talking about. Some people even accuse Dronacharya of carrying pure classism against Eklavya. However, Dronacharya was not an ordinary preacher. He was the manifestation of the teacher of Gods and was trained under Lord Parshuram. The question here arises could such a guru can commit error when it comes to distributing his knowledge?
Why Did Arjuna Protested Against Eklavya?
When Eklavya showed interest in taking ‘siksha’ from Dronacharya to learn ‘Shabdvadi’ (the art of shooting arrows to the direction of sound), Arjuna protested. Many people have a strong perception that Arjuna did this because of jealousy. However, some people have justified Arjuna’s protest by highlighting the fact that Arjuna’s pure concern was whether Dronacharya would be able to keep his promise of shaping him as the best archer. So, did Arjuna doubt his prowess after witnessing Eklavya’s talent?
Eklavya caught the attention of Dronacharya while Dronacharya was walking in the forest with Pandavas and Kauravas. He saw a dog whose mouth was jammed with arrows and due to which the animal was unable to bark. However, it did not harm the animal in any way. Drona was surprised to see such a construction of arrows and was curious to know who was behind it.
As soon as Eklavya revealed his identity, he also told Drona that he considers Drona as his Guru. This emphasizes the fact that Eklavya was learning this art without knowledge of Dronacharya while Arjuna was learning under the patronage of his Guru. This also kind of justifies Arjuna’s protest against Eklavya.
Dronacharya Asked For Eklavaya’s Thumb
Before we get into this, here is the information about why Eklavya was refused from Dronachrya’s ashram. Most of us are under the influence that Eklavya was not accepted by Drona because he was from a lower class and Drona would do anything to make Arjuna the best when it comes to archery. This has a different set of justification.
Eklavya belonged to a tribe called ‘Nishada’ and this tribe was involved in hunting and killing animals. This tribe was also a major ground where decoits used to meet and plan to kill people for personal gains. Droacharya as a concerned preacher did not find any personal fault in him but as a keeper of ‘Dharma’ and for the welfare of society, asked for Eklavya’s thumb. Eklavya’s respect for Dronachrya was deep and without any sign of contamination. This was the reason that he cut his thumb and offered it to Drona without any second thought. Don’t you think this proves the good nature of Eklavya? Still, he was refused by Dronacharya.
Note: There is a lot more to this story. In parts of Mahabharata, there are places where Eklavya was directly or indirectly involved in the war against Krishna. This narrative is based on some small extracts from the great epic.
What do you think about this? Do you believe Drona was right in keeping Arjuna over Eklavya? Please share your thoughts.
