In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, Ekalavya (Sanskrit: एकलव्य, éklavya) is a young prince of the Nishadha, a confederation of jungle tribes in Ancient India, who aspires to study archery in the gurukul of Dronacharya. After being rejected by Drona on account of his not being of Kshatriya lineage, Eklavya embarks upon a program of self-study in the presence of a clay image of Drona. He achieves a level of skill superior to that of Arjuna, Drona's favorite and most accomplished pupil. Drona eventually comes to know this and demands that Eklavya turn over his right thumb as gurudakshina. The loyal Ekalavya cripples himself, thereby ruining his abilities as an archer.[1]
Contents |
In the Mahabharatha,[2] Ekalavya is introduced as a young prince of the Nishada tribes. Ekalavya was born to Devashrava (brother of Vasudeva) and a Nishadha woman into a forest-dwelling community.
Since Vasudeva was the father of Krishna, Ekalavya was blood related brother to Sri Krishna and was raised by Hiranyadhanus, the leader (King) of the Nishadhas, who was a commander in the army of Jarasandha (the king of Magadha).[3]
In another version of the epic, Eklavya is son of Kunti and Vasurayshdhfdeva's sister Shrutakirti though extra-marital relations with Hiranyadhanus. This makes him an analogue of Karna. In a cinematic Telegu depiction, Karan marries Eklavya's sister. She would in turn be Karna's first cousin in the Devashrava version of the epic, paralleling Arjuna's marriage to Subhadra. Shrutakirti 's daughter ultimately married Krishna, making Eklavya and Krishna brother-in-laws. Eklavya would also be a first cousin of the Pandavas in either telling of the story.
Eklavya was a bright boy who lived near the ashrama of Drona, where Pandavas and Kauravas used to take learn martial arts. He had a great desire to learn the art of archery from Dronacharya, but his mother told him Drona would not accept Eklavya as his disciple, and it was futile to dream of such a privilege. He asked Drona to teach him, but was refused.
Ekalavya is determined to master archery, and goes into the forest. he begins a disciplined program of self-study over many years. Eventually, Ekalavya becomes an archer of exceptional prowess, greater than Drona's best pupil, Arjuna.
One day while Ekalavya is practicing, he hears a dog barking. Before the dog can shut up or get out of the way, Ekalavya fires seven arrows in rapid succession to fill the dog's mouth without injuring it. The Pandavas come upon the dog, and wonder who could have accomplished such a feat. Searching the forest, they find a dark skinned young man, dressed in all black with long hair and strong muscles. He introduces himself as Ekalavya, a pupil of Drona.
Upon hearing of the incident, Drona is impressed but also angered. When the young man presents himself to Drona, the guru accepts him but demands his right thumb as gurudakshina. Ekalavya complies, but cripples himself and thereby ruins his abilities as an archer.
According to the Mahābhārata, Drona was fulfilling his dharma to protect the fated superiority of Arjuna. He has been criticized by some scholars for demanding something that was not his due. The deterministic suggestion also points out the contradiction that if Arjuna's superiority was truly fated, Ekalavya's mastery of archery would have no consequence on the destiny of the Pandavas.
Others have suggested that Dronacharya suspected Ekalavya learned his skill by secretly observing the training sessions of Arjuna and his brothers. In this scenario, although Drona could have demanded an even greater punishment for covert martial training under the law of the time, he asked only for Ekalavya's right thumb.
Ekalavya has been lauded by many Indians, including Adivasis, as a paragon of achievement who achieved great heights of accomplishment through his own self-initiative, to which the nobles of the Kuru house could only aspire through formal tutelage. Ultimately, however, the Mahābhārata does not settle these moral ambiguities, and leaves the tale open to speculation and discussion. It has also been suggested in mythology that Ekalavya later learned to shoot again using only four fingers.
Later, Ekalavya worked as a confidant of King Jarasandha. At the time of the Swayamvara of Rukmini, he acted as the messenger between Shishupala and Rukmini's father Bhishmaka, at the request of King Jarasandha.[3] Ultimately, Bhishmaka decided that Rukmini would marry Shishupala, but instead she eloped with Krishna. Ekalavya is later killed during a conflict between Krishna and King Jarasandha's army.[3][4] To be killed by the supreme godhead is considered a mark of exceptional divine favor in Krishnaism, as in most forms of Vaishnavism.
In Indonesian legend, in a former life Eklavaya was king Phalgunadi, killed by Drona and reborn as Dhrishtadamyuna to avenge the killing. In the this version, Arjuna gets his name Phalguna from Phalugandi. His famous and chaste wife Dewi Anggraini was always faithful to Phalgunadi, even after his death and despite Arjuna 's proposals.
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||