Eklavya's devotion to his Guru

 

Eklavya is a character in Mahabharata. He was the son of a Nishad named Hiranya Dhanu. Eklavya is known for his unmatched dedication to self-taught archery and his devotion to his Guru. After his faher's death, he Became the ruler of Shringber kingdom. With the advice of the Amatya Parishad, he not only ram his kingdom by forming a strong army and navy of Nishad Bhils. According to the story described in Mahabharata, Eklavya came to Dronacharya's ashram with the purpose of learning archery, but being a Nishad's son, Dronacharya did not accept him as his disciple. Disappointed, Eklavya want to the forest. He made a statue of Dronacharya and started practicing archery by considering that status as his Guru. By practicing with concentration, he became very proficient in archery in a short time. One day the Pandava and Kaurava princes went hunting with Guru Drona to the same forest where Eklavya had built an ashram and was practincing archery. The princes' dog wandered and reached Eklavya's ashram. Seeing Eklavya, it started barking. The dog's barking was disturbing Eklavya's meditation, so he closed the dog's mouth  with his his arrows. 

Eklavya had shot arrows with such skill that the dog did not get hurt in any way. When the dog returned, the Kauravas, Pandavas and Dronacharya himself were stunned to see this archery skill and while searching for the person who shot the arrow, they reached Eklavya. They were even more surprised to know that considering Dronacharya as his mental Guru, Eklavya himself had acquired this knowledge by practicing. According to the legend, Eklavya cut off his thumb and gave it to Dronacharya as Gurudakshina. It can also have a symbolic meaning that Dronacharya, knowing Eklavya to be Extremege of shooting a bow without a thumb. It is said that after his thumb was cut, Eklavya started shooting  arrows using his index and middle finger. This is where the modern way of archery was born Undoubtebly, this is a better way and archery is done in this way nowadays. In the present times, no one shoots archery the way Arjun used to.