(Ekalavya's Guru Dakshina: Wikipedia)
Drona became very famous as a perceptor, and many rajahs sons and warriors very extremely quick to try to be instructed by him. Drona mentored all that came to him, except for one man, Ekalavya. Ekalavya was the son of the rajah of Bhils, and the Bhils were highway men and cattle lifters. Because of the Bhils' status, Drona refused to teach Ekalavya, but Ekalavya continued to beg and beg.
Finally, Drona said, "Why would I teach a Bhil the great knowledge of weapons? That would be the utmost sin."
Drona's final decision infuriated Ekalavya, and he returned home while thinking, "If Drona and I ever cross paths, the only thing he will see is my arrow aiming at his body."
Once Ekalavya returned home, he trained at every waking moment. If Drona would not train him, then he would take matters into his own hands, and make himself the best archer the world has ever seen.
One day, Drona and the princes went hunting in the Bhil kingdom, and their dog was running freely through the woods, until the dog made a high pitched yelp. Drona and the princes immediately ran to the dog, and was met with not only the dog but with Ekalavya.
"Who art thou?", the princes demanded.
Ekalavya introduced himself, "My name is Ekalavya, son of rajah of the Bhils."
"Son of the rajah of the Bhils?", Drona curiously asked, "Have we met before?"
Ekalavya smiled and replied, "Why, yes, we have. And I am so glad I finally can see you again."
As soon as Ekalavya finished speaking, he raised his bow, pointed it at Drona, and was getting ready to draw his bow. However, Arjuna knew there was evil behind Ekalavya's smile and instinctively knew what was about to happen, and before Ekalavya could release his bow, Arjuna already beat him to it. As soon as Ekalavya's body dropped to the ground, Drona remembered how he met Ekalavya and understood why he drew his bow.
Author's Notes
I did not understand Ekalavya's reaction to getting rejected from Drona, so that is what I decided to change in my story. In the original, Ekalavya makes a clay doll, worshiped it, and trained in front of it, and in the end he still had to sacrifice his thumb to Drona. I had a hard time wrapping my head around that, so instead, I made a stereotypical revenge story.
Bibliography
Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie
Hello Elena,
ReplyDeleteThis was a very intriguing story and kept me wanting more, great job. One this I was confused about was the first sentence. I don’t know if I am reading it wrong or if the wording was mixed up. Other then that the story was great, I also had a had time understanding the journey Ekalavya had to take to still only have to sacrifice his thumb.
Hello there, Elena!
ReplyDeleteYour story was very interesting and really kept me hooked throughout! I had a similar confusion as you when I read the original story this derives from, so I was happy to see the twists and turns you used to have a more intuitive ending. I also love both this story and the original because the weapons of the Ramayana, particularly the bows and arrows, are some of the most interesting elements of the epic!