Story: Ekalavya's Tale

I was almost there! Years of training and dedication had gotten me this close to the temple. I could see the palace where the great guru, Drona, resided. It was late in the evening when I reached the top of the mountain, so I decided to make camp in a nearby cave and go see the great guru early in the morning. Arriving early would show my dedication to the art, right? He would surely accept me as soon as he saw how eager I was to be his pupil.

I sat by the fire and looked on to the temple. The stories of the great Drona reached my home in the depths of the forest. Drona was known to be the most skilled warrior, archer, and thinker ever. My father had told me awe-inspiring stories of Drona fighting battles and conquering beasts three times his size. As I thought of Drona’s conquests, my arm started throbbing again. I looked down to see the blood had seeped through the bandage. With my stronger hand, I quickly unwrapped it and placed the tip of one of my arrows into the fire. After the stone started to burn red, I gently placed the arrowhead onto my cut. I fought back the urge to remove the searing stone from my arm, knowing that if this tiger bite became infected, it would be the end of me. I tore another piece of cloth and bandaged my arm once again. I took one last look at the palace and laid down to rest.

The sunlight shone through the cave opening, waking me. I rose and went to the stream to wash my face and tried to look presentable. My future rested on today. I packed up the rest of my pack and headed to the great palace. The palace that held my future.

I finally reached the steps leading to the guru. Since he had come here to be alone, he only required a few helpers, so the temple was nearly empty. I walked into a great auditorium expecting the guru to be there, but to my disappointment, he was nowhere to be seen. As I turned to leave, I saw someone sitting outside on the balcony. This had to be the guru! Overjoyed, I rushed to greet him. When I reached the doorway, I saw it was the great Drona, but he was in deep meditation. I quietly set my pack down and walked over to sit across from him and waited. I closed my eyes to honor his meditation.

I don’t know how much time passed but I opened my eyes when I heard him stir. He quietly looked at me and I bowed to the ground.

“Guru, my name is Ekalavya. I have traveled away from my home, trekked dangerous terrain, and fought off beasts of the jungle to come ask you a simple question,” I said. Since my face was to the ground, I couldn’t tell how the guru had reacted to my statement, but he remained silent.

“I wish to be trained by you. I am a skilled archer and I believe with your training, I can be the best,” I said with my heart pounding in my chest. I had practiced these words continually over the past few years. I had trained just so I would be good enough to be eligible, and here I was. I was finally about to get my dream.

“No,” he said. I did not expect the guru to be so straightforward with his answer. I lifted my head to look up at him, wondering what I had done wrong.

“Child, I have devoted myself to the warrior class. Therefore, I can only train you if you are a Kshatriya, and from your silence, I assume you do not meet these qualifications,” Drona said in a very direct tone. He did not wait to see if I had a response and walked away into the auditorium I came from. As he left me on the floor of his balcony, I sat staring at the floor. Thoughts raced around in my head. How could this have happened? I had trained all my life and I thought I was more than qualified. Did my caste really matter that much? How could he judge me in an instant? He had no idea of my skill with the bow, or the potential that I knew I had.

I knew  I could  be the best archer there ever was. Once I realized this, the thoughts stopped filling my head and I could see clearly. If  Drona wasn’t going to train me, I will just have to do it on my own. I stood up, grabbed my pack, and walked straight out of the palace, not looking back. Drona and I will cross paths in the future, and when we do, I will show him what he missed. I will become the greatest archer without his help.

Ekalavya

Author’s Note: The final scene of the story I read this week ended with the story of Ekalavya. He met the Pandava brothers as they were traveling through the forest. The brothers were amazed at his incredible archery skills. However, Arjuna was frustrated because this stranger challenged his archery skills. Arjuna asked who Ekalavya's guru was, and he said it was Drona. Furious that Drona would betray him, Arjuna took Ekalavya back to their camp to ask Drona about the whole thing. Drona said he had no knowledge of this pupil. Ekalavya explained how he had once come to Drona to become a pupil, but Drona rejected him because of his social standing. Ekalavya decided to teach himself, and he used a cut out of Drona as encouragement. The story ends on a sad note because Drona asks Ekalavya to cut off his right thumb. Drona did this because he knew that without his thumb, Ekalavya could not be the greatest archer. This would allow Arjuna to take that title.

For the above story, I expanded on the meeting between the guru and the eager student from Ekalavya's point of view. I was surprised when I heard Ekalavya's story. We often read a story and think the protagonists wouldn't do anything wrong. This story shows that even though the great Drona was Arjuna's hero, he was Ekalavya's obstacle.

Bibliography: Epified Mahabharata: Ekalavya's Story

Reading: Mahabharata Part B

Pandu learns that Kunti had a secret. Long before she was married, the Sage Durvasa came to the court Kunti lived in. Since he was a scary man, everyone would avoid him. Everyone except Kunti. The sage delighted in Kunti so much that he gave her the power to summon any god she desired. Kunti decided to test this out. She looked up at the son and recited the words. Suddenly, the sun god appeared. Lost in his light, Kunti was given a child who was born with gold earrings and armor. However, she knew she could not keep the child. So she sent him adrift in a basket on the river.

Pandu takes his wives into the forest to rest. One day as he was hunting, he accidently shot a hermit. The hermit cursed him and said that any time Pandu is intimate a woman, he will die. Pandu, stricken with grief, decided not to return to the kingdom. Without telling him of her son, Kunti told Pandu that she was able to call any god she desired. Pandu insisted that she do just that and bare Pandu a son.

Kunti was able to summon three different gods and bore Yudhishthira the wise, Bhima the strong, and Arjuna the archer. Kunti also used her power to help Madri bare twins. All was well until one day. Kunti returned from a journey and found Pandu had died because of his curse. When the funeral happened, Madri decided to join her husband in the pyre. The forest reminded Kunti of everything she lost so she took the boys and returned to the kingdom.

Back at the kingdom, Gandhari’s pregnancy was a bad one where she was always in pain and she constantly had nightmares. When her day came, Gandahri found that she had not given birth to a baby but rather a lump of lifeless flesh. Vyasa had promised Gandahri that she would have 100 sons, so he took the lump, divided it into 100 pieces and dipped each piece into a jar of oil. As the eldest was born, everyone saw there was demonic presence about him. However, the king and queen, being blind, only cared for their children with love.

When the Pandu brothers returned, Duryodhana, Gandhari’s oldest, started to get jealous of the attention the Pandu brothers were getting. He especially hated Bhima. As his hate grew, Gandhari’s brother fueled the hate further. Duryodhana decided to invite the Pandu brothers to a retreat where he poisoned their food with sleep inducing poison. Bhima fell asleep by the river. Duryodhana tied Bhimas hands together and pushed Bhima into the river.

As Bhima drifted down, serpent tried to dig their fangs into him. Bhima woke up and started killing them off. Afterward, he noticed in had set foot in a different palace. He was greeted by Vasuki the serpent ruler. The two were related so the serpent treated Bhima as his own grandson, showering the boy with blessings. The serpent gave Bhima the strength of 100 elephants and Bhima left knowing that he had to grow into a man to face the dangers around him.

One day as the boys were playing, Bhima accidently threw the ball into a deep well. The Brahmin Drona came and shot an arrow into the well, hitting the ball. Then he kept shooting arrows. Each one attaching to the previous one. With the final arrow, he pulled the ball up. The boys asked the Brahmin to return to the kingdom to meet their grandfather, Bhishma. Bhishma realized that Drona would make the perfect teacher for the young boys.

Drona trained the Pandava boys and found that all of them excelled at their given talents. Arjuna epically was skilled with every weapon and was able great in hand to hand combat. Arjun and Drona’s son were given the ability to control the earth with weapons. Drona relieved that he was training the boys for vengeance on a kingdom.

One day as the Pandava brothers were traveling, they found Ekalavya. Arjuna was disappointed because Ekalavya was the best archer. Arjuna demanded to know who Ekalavya’s guru was. He said it was Drone. The boys returned with Ekalavya to Drone and demanded why he taught just a simple forest dweller. Ekalavya said that many years ago, he came to Drone to be taught but Drone refused him. So Ekalavya decided to practice with a cut out of Drone. Drone asked Ekalavya for his right thumb and left the boy. Drone knew that without his thumb, Ekalavya could not become the great archer, so Arjuna could be it.

The Pandava brothers in the forest

Bibliography: Epified: Mahabharata Videos

Reading: Mahabharata Part A

The Mahabharata was created to tell the story of a great war that happened in India. King Shantanu meets a beautiful woman by the river. She promises to marry him if he never questions her actions. As the years went on, Ganga would drown their newborns into the river. Keeping his promise, Shantanu didn’t question his wife until the eighth child was born. When asked, she said that she was allowing these cursed children to return to peace. With that, she left with Shantanu’s youngest child.

Sixteen years later, Shantanu’s son Devavrat, finds his way back to the king. The king returns to the kingdom with his son. Later, Shantanu falls in love with Satyavati. In order for the king to marry her, Prince Devavrat gave up his heir to the throne and said that he would never marry or have children so his father could marry Satyavati. Because of this vow, Shantanu allowed his son to choose his own death.

Shantanu meets Devavrat

As the years went on, Shantanu passed away, leaving the kingdom to the hands of his two sons. Chitrangada dies in a battle and Vichitravirya becomes sick. Bhishma decides to take the princesses Amba, Ambika and Ambalika as wives for his half-brother. Amba asks to leave so she can marry the king she loved, but when she got there, the king rejected her. She returned to ask Bhishma to marry her, but he rejected her as well. Broken hearted, she swore she would be Bhishma’s demise.

Vichitravairva dies, leaving the kingdom with no heir. Satyavati tells Bhishma to marry and father children but he remains true to his vow. Satyavati then tells Bhishma about another son she had before she married the king. Satyavati calls Vyasa, her first son, to come and father children with Ambika and Ambalika. Vyasa agreed, but the two princesses were horrified at the sight of Vyasa. Eventually, the two princesses and a servant girl were able to conceive Vyasa’s sons. Ambika’s son, Dhritarashtra was born blind, Ambalikas’s son Pandu was born pale and weak, and the third son, Vidura, was born healthy, strong and one of the wisest men.

As the boys grew older, there was a rivalry between Dhritarashtra and Pandu. Bhishma never saw this but Vidura did. The time came for Dhritarashtra to ascend the throne and rule but he was only king in name. Pandu was the one who actually ruled the kingdom. Bhishma went to a kingdom to find a wife for Dhritarashtra. He met Gandhari who blindfolded herself for life since her husband was blind. Gandhari and Dhritarashtra married and the kingdom rejoiced. The second son, Pandu also married two women. However, he learned that his older queen was keeping a secret. A secret that would change everything.

Bibliography: Epified: Mahabharata Videos