A warning or an example?

[Guest guest]

Let me reproduce an article appeared in the Open

Page of The Hindu dated 30 October '01, titled 'A

Warning or an example?'<br><br>THE STORY of Ekalavya is

well known. Ekalavya was a young hunter who wished to

train as a warrior under Drona, the best-known guru in

this field at the time. Drona rejected him as a

disciple on account of his low birth, whereupon he

acquired the skills himself through rigorous practice,

after installing a replica of Drona. In modern

parlance, one might say that Ekalavya was an autodidact and

Drona taught him in absentia. Be that as it may,

Ekalavya soon surpassed Drona's favourite pupil Arjuna in

skill and, in order to ensure that no one could ever

surpass Arjuna as an archer, Drona demanded the thumb of

Ekalavya as his "tuition fees''. <br><br>This incident is

regularly cited as an example of social injustice within

Hinduism. The clarifying question to ask here is: is this

incident to be treated as an example, or as a warning?

<br><br>The critics of Hinduism might wish to treat it as an

example, but the Hindu would tend to look upon it as a

warning. It is an example only in the sense that it is to

be held up as an example of what happens when one

acts unjustly. In the end, Drona is slain by the very

Pandavas for the sake of whose supremacy Drona had

amputated Ekalavya! And the irony here is not that of a

Greek tragedy so much as that of a morality tale. Drona

lost his life as the result of a lie told to him.

<br><br>The point, moreover, does not consist of only the

moral message. It also possesses a spiritual resonance.

To hear the resonance, one must attune one's ears to

those vibrations of Hinduism, in which the guru is said

to play a vital role in one's search for perfection,

spiritual or otherwise. Ekalavya's story makes the point

that it is the guru as one's mental construct, rather

than his or her physical form, which is the

transforming agency. The guru, as a mental construct, imparted

some supreme skill to Ekalavya, the guru in the

physical form deprived him of his capacity to exercise it.

It was the desire of Ekalavya to be a great archer

which made him a great archer. No wonder Gautama

Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi and Ramana Maharshi had no gurus.

All that perfection ultimately requires of us is that

our desire for it be perfect. <br><br>Courtsey :

Arvind Sharma<br><br>I would appreciate to learn your

views, please.<br><br>Namaskaram!<br>Devan

[Guest guest]

tks devan for this wonderful explanation. But i

feel that Drona asked for the thumb of Eklavya not

because he was not of high caste but because Eklavaya

stole the education from Drona...he hid himself behind

bushes and would listen to the instructions of

Dronacharya and learn archery. If Drona had refused to accept

him his disciple, he had no right to steal the art

and become an archer...and that is why his thumb was

asked for by Drona, as punishment for the

theft.<br><br> Well i may be wrong <br><br>Hari Aum

[Guest guest]

we can see the whole episode with another

angle.<br>dronacharya was the guru of eklavya . guru is the best well

wisher of his disciple . he asked for his thumb because

he wanted ekalvya to be known in aerea of sacrifice

.. it was only dronacharya who knew that no matter

how efficient eklavaya has become but he is still

behind from arjuna. more over arjuna has been blessed

with lord krishnas support so in the aerea of skill

eklavya will not be known as he will be for his sacrice.

so it is the guru who knows what is the best for his

disciple n eklavya knew it very well <br>thats why hapiily

he gave his thumb . <br>another approach by swami

viveka nand <br>mamta shukla

[Guest guest]

Here is what I think. Dronacharya was very

impressed by Ekalavya's skills. Now he(Drona) was a Brahmin

and as a Brahmin he had made a promise that Arjuna

would be the greatest archer ever alive. <br><br>One

day in the forest the young Kaurava and Pandava

princes from the neighbouring provinces had come hunting

with their teacher Drona, one of their dogs wandered

to the place where Ekalavya was practicing. On

seeing Ekalavya, the dog began to bark. The barking

angered Ekalavya because it disturbed his concentration.

Furious, Ekalavya shot arrows into the dog’s mouth in such

a way that he did not hurt him, but merely stopped

him from barking. Ekalavya resumed his practice

without any more trouble from the dog. <br><br>The dog

returned to the princes who had come to the forest on a

hunting expedition. The Pandavas were amazed at the

unusual manner in which the arrows were shot. They gently

removed all the arrows from the dog’s mouth. The dog then

led them to the place where Ekalavya was practicing.

Drona was impressed at the way Ekalavya had shot the

arrows. All the princes were jealous of Ekalavya’s

archery skills. Drona asked Ekalavya who his teacher was,

and was surprised to hear Ekalavya reply humbly that

it was Drona himself. <br><br>Drona asked Ekalavya

to prove his mettle by fighting with the princes.

Ekalavya accepted the challenge and defeated every one of

them including Arjuna (the famous Pandava prince who

was a expert archer). Drona was both upset and angry

that Ekalavya had defeated even Arjuna his best

disciple. So he demanded Ekalavya to give him ‘guru

dakshina’ (A disciple’s offering to a teacher after

mastering a subject). Ekalavya, the devoted disciple was

only too happy to give whatever his teacher asked for.

<br><br>Was this a Brahmin's promise that made Drona do that?

Was it pride? I dont know. I think it was Drona's

ego. He saw what a student he had created. He probably

was very proud of his student but at the same time he

remebered his promise - Arjuna will be the greatest archer

ever born.<br><br>I do not think it was because of

Krishna's support towards Arjuna or the Pandavas. Arjuna

first came face-to-face with Krishna after Draupadi's

Swayamvar. And if that was teh case, Dronacharya would have

asked Arjuna to give up his thumb, as he (drona) was a

part of the Kauravas.

[Guest guest]

Namaste. <br>I believe in a different

explanation.<br>Acarya Drona had promised to Arjuna that he alone would

become the great, matchless archer.<br><br>When he found

out that Ekalavya had excelled Arjuna in Archery, he

knew that his promise to Arjuna could not be

fulfilled. <br>Moreover the Kauravas would definitely use

Ekalavya's skill to their benefit by recruiting him on their

side and that would not be good for the outcome of the

Mahabharata war.<br><br>Another important aspect of this

sacrifice (Guru dakhina) by Ekalavya is total selfless

surrender to the Master through whose Grace he was blessed

with perfection.<br>Even the fruits, the

accomplishments of our endeavors are to surrendered at the feet

of the Bestower. Even the Ego of success and

perfection has to be surrendered to the Master, for his

pleasure. The desciple's ego has to be merged into the

Master's will. <br>The Master's reputation is more

important than the desciple's success.<br>Desciple Ekalavya

had already made his Master proud by his skill in

archery. But he also made him keep his reputation

unblemished as per his promise given to Arjuna.<br>Ekalavya

put his Master first and surrendered totally and

selflessly for the pleasure of his Guru because they are One

and same and he had no other ego of his

own!<br><br>Jaya Sri Radhey!

[Guest guest]

why would one not happily give his thumb, as he

is giving to hisself, as he is the divine

krishna?<br><br>Ok, silly maybe but it makes sense to me May I ask

a favor? I do not know sanskrit or hindi or

bengali....if you use a word could you please put the english

version in parenthesis? I tend to find that my mind,

usually out of frustration, stops reading posts if they

are filled with words I do not understand, much less

pronounce ) Thanks so much for understanding my dilemma

) in love, mirabai

[Guest guest]

i don't know them either but would like to learn

could u send me some basics to read i find old language

comes quick to me if i can read it for myself and then

try it in different key places even tho i have spoke

with many physical gurus in the astral i hear things

in the astral and sometimes in the physical with a

gealic accent but email me at vandevinter

[Guest guest]

Hi Mirabai<br><br>I agree, it is difficult to

read posts with words that mean nothing to us and

naturally we tune it off. In fact, I tend to tune off posts

written in all caps which in cyber langauge implies

shouting. An occasional use of caps implies emphasis, but

used too much it seems to lose that meaning.<br><br>I

have requested everyone to attempt to add translations

to Indian words in their posts. Sometimes, however

it may not be possible for many reasons, to give the

meaning of each word, or characters of a mythology being

discussed. I too am at a loss sometimes, and to clarify, I

pick up one of my texts that I happen to have with me.

Or I "harrass" one of my teachers till it makes

sense to me! )<br><br>Plllease feel free to ask?

anytime! We have many many wonderful members in our family

who not only have a lot of information, and

experience but are also ready and willing to explain.

<br><br>Much love<br><br>_/\_ <br><br>Uma