Ekalavya

Ekalavya was the son of Hiraṇyadhanu, the chieftain of the Nishādas, a forest people. He asked Droṇācārya to teach him archery and was refused. He then trained before a clay image of Droṇa and became a supreme archer. When Droṇa asked for guru-dakshiṇā (the teacher’s fee), Ekalavya cut off his right thumb and gave it.

The Harivaṃśa also names Ekalavya as a warrior king. He joined Pauṇḍraka in the attack on Dvārakā and was killed by Balarāma.

Coming to Droṇa

Ekalavya was the son of Hiraṇyadhanu, chieftain of the Nishādas, a forest people outside the varṇa order of the kingdom. He came to Droṇācārya at Hastināpura with a strong wish to learn archery.

Droṇa refused him. Droṇa taught only kshatriyas and brāhmaṇas, and he had an arrangement with the Kuru and Pāṇḍava princes. He also held to his aim that Arjuna would be the best archer of all. So no rival of equal skill could come from his teaching.

The clay image and self-training

Ekalavya took the refusal without protest. He went back to the forest and made a clay image of Droṇa. He treated it as his guru with full ceremony and respect. He practised archery before it as if it were a living teacher. He gave his whole attention and his whole śraddhā (faith) to this practice.

The result was remarkable. In time Ekalavya became an archer of supreme skill. The image had become a real teacher through the strength of his faith.

The seven arrows and Arjuna’s distress

One day a dog wandered into the forest where Ekalavya was practising and began to bark. Without looking up, Ekalavya shot seven arrows one after another. They filled the dog’s open mouth, each one set perfectly, and the dog was not hurt.

The dog went back to where the Kuru and Pāṇḍava princes were hunting. When they saw the dog with its mouth full of arrows, they were amazed. None of them could match such a feat.

They searched and found Ekalavya practising before the clay image. Arjuna was deeply upset. He went to Droṇa and reminded him of his promise that Arjuna would be his greatest student. Yet here was a man who surpassed them all and called Droṇa his guru.

The guru-dakshiṇā

Droṇa went to Ekalavya. He found a young man who received him with full respect and said he was Droṇa’s student. Droṇa asked for his guru-dakshiṇā. He asked for Ekalavya’s right thumb.

Ekalavya knew at once what this meant. Without his right thumb his archery would suffer greatly. He did not hesitate. He cut off his right thumb and gave it to Droṇa as dakshiṇā. After this he could still shoot with his other fingers. But the speed and exactness that had made him unmatched were less. Arjuna remained the foremost archer.

The Mahābhārata gives the act as it happened: Droṇa’s demand and Ekalavya’s gift. Ekalavya learned from a clay image what others could not learn from the greatest living teacher, because he had real śraddhā and gave himself to one aim.

His son and the Aśvamedha horse

The Aśvamedhika Parva tells of Ekalavya’s own son. He ruled the Nishāda kingdom after his father. When the Pāṇḍavas’ Aśvamedha horse came into that land, he met Arjuna in battle. The fight was so fierce that the hair of the Nishādas who were there stood on end. As in Arjuna’s other meetings on this journey, Arjuna, the unconquered son of Kuntī, won. Ekalavya’s son was honoured in defeat, and the horse moved on.

Ekalavya in the Harivaṃśa

The Bhavishya Parva of the Harivaṃśa names Ekalavya as one of the warrior kings who backed Pauṇḍraka. Pauṇḍraka falsely claimed to be Vāsudeva. When Pauṇḍraka gathered his forces and marched on Dvārakā, Ekalavya was among his allies.

In the battle that followed, Ekalavya fought Balarāma, the elder brother of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, and was killed by him. This is part of the larger account of the killing of Pauṇḍraka, which ends with Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself killing Pauṇḍraka.

The Mahābhārata tradition remembers Ekalavya as the Nishāda prince who taught himself archery by meditating on the form of Droṇācārya as his guru.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Chapter 134
• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 83
• Harivaṃśa, Bhavishya Parva, Chapters 92–103