The Legend of Eklavya

Destiny stirs uneasily. Eklavya is about to make his first move which will seal his fate forever. The tall wiry young man with his long locks and intense eyes proudly goes up to Drona with folded hands and makes his pitch. "I am Eklavya, the son of Hiranyadhanusha, chief of the Nishada tribe. I want to be the greatest archer in the world. Will you accept me as your pupil?" The master teaches only royalty and contemptuously refuses. Eyes downcast, Eklavya bows his head at this slight but has nothing but devotion to the teacher he will never have.

Refusing to give up on his dreams, Eklavya builds a clay statue of his adopted teacher. With a natural skill in archery combined with a deadly focus towards his art, he starts training. In his heart and soul, Drona is always around, guiding him all the way. As time passes, Eklavya’ s archery skills are that of the gods. And like they say, Practice makes awesome. 

Years pass. The kuru Princes are out on a hunt led by a pack of hounds. One dog picks up the scent of Eklavya practicing close by and goes in for the chase, barking furiously. His concentration disturbed, Eklavya lets loose a lightning volley of arrows and gags the dog's mouth. At that moment the kuru princes bursts into the scene. 

The sight is extraordinary - 7 arrows criss-crossed between the stunned animal's jaws without as much a scratch. Arjuna, the Pandava prince who would go on to be the greatest warrior of the era instantly knows he is in front of a warrior far more skilled than him. Incredulous, he asks Eklavya "From where did you learn to shoot like that?" Eklavya proudly replies - 'Dronacharya'. 

Blinded by jealousy, Arjuna confronts his teacher - 'How could you betray me? You promised to make me the greatest archer in the world'. A perplexed Drona is led to Eklavya. He silently looks at in wonder at his clay statue and Eklavya hitting his targets with deadly precision one after another. One look and he knows Arjuna has met his match. Drona is torn between affection for a student he has never taught and a commitment to make Arjuna the greatest.  Drona embraces Eklavya who is overwhelmed to be acknowledged by his master. 

Drona tells him "You consider me your teacher. As per tradition you have to pay me my due".  Eklavya bows "Whatever you wish, Acharya". Drona looks at Arjuna and says to Eklavya "I want your right thumb as my payment". Eklavya does not miss the look of complicity pass between Drona and Arjuna and knows exactly what is being asked of him. Without the right thumb, you can barely put an arrow to the bow, let alone be a marksman of the sublime level. Without a word,  Eklavya takes a knife and cuts off his thumb at the base and offers it to Drona - the ultimate gurudakshina ever.

That night, long after everyone has gone back to their lives, Eklavya weeps silent tears clutching his mutilated hand in excruciating pain - despairing at the troubled thoughts of what might have been. It was a day of irrevocable losses. Eklavya lost his thumb and with it his dreams. Drona lost a part of his soul. The skies opened up in anguish. That night 3 gods cried. The god of justice, the god of Fair play…. and the god of fate. 

The story does not end here.

The world has forgotten about him but Eklavya rises like the proverbial phoenix. Unwilling to be beaten by life, he again picks up his bow with a steely resolve and re-learns to shoot . Eklavya adapts to his missing digit and goes on to become one of the most feared archers of the time. A warrior will always be a warrior. And where the heart has hope, dreams will always be chased.

Time passes. It is time of conflict between the Kauravas and Pandavas and ancient India is preparing for war. With the drums of war starting to echo across the dusty plains of kurukshetra, it's time to take sides. On eve of the battle, Eklavya offers his services to the Kauravas. Drona is fighting for them. He has sworn to protect his teacher with his life. Besides, Eklavya has never forgiven Arjuna for what he did to him.

Lord Krishna knows thumb or no thumb; Eklavya poses a dangerous threat to Arjuna. He goes to the forest and tries to dissuade him from fighting the war. "This is not your fight. You belong to the forest”. Eklavya refuses to be swayed. Krishna knows he has to act know. He plunges a dagger in the back of the unsuspecting Eklavya. The dying Eklavya falls and gasps for breath - his tortured face searches Krishna for answers to this betrayal. At this point, the lord reveals his dazzling divine form to the unfortunate soul. Not many mortals get this chance. Eklavya's face changes from agony to ecstasy and he says "Lord, I am truly blessed to have the honor of dying at your hands. I just have one wish. My mother should not know any grief on my account". 

With his heart filled with grief, Krishna blesses the fallen warrior "You are a truly noble soul. Future generations will draw inspiration, courage and fortitude from your story. You will be synonymous with these qualities".  Eklavya finally departs from the world, his soul at peace - his spirit unbroken to the end. To keep his promise to Eklavya, Krishna claims the life of his mother as well, to spare her the sorrow of losing a son.

The circle of  destiny is complete.

5000 years later I relive the story of Eklavya with disquiet. In the maze of the epic story of Mahabharata, Eklavya’s story is a blink and miss episode - a collateral damage in a war which claimed countless lives. But he remains one of its most inspiring heroes. I am swept with a sense of crushing heartache at the deja vu of betrayals which Eklavya endured and the unfairness of the world. The questions are troubling. In the fight between darkness and light why did the lord Krishna did as he did. Where did the nobility of Arjuna disappear in face of being faced with real competition for the first time in his life? Most troubling is the role of Drona in the whole story. The lines of good and evil gets blurred here....One can't help but wonder at the vagaries of fate.

Note: There are many versions of how Eklavya died. The one in the above narrative has been taken from Anuja Chandramouli’s  "Saga of Pandava Warrior-Prince Arjuna".