Drona the teacher

Mahabharata Adiparva Sambhavaparva Section 135-136

Sri Sadgurubhyoh Namah

Drona accepted all the Kuru princes as his pupils. He asks them, "I have a purpose in my mind. Promise me when you learn warfare from me, to accomplish that task". None of the princes come forward to make that promise. Arjuna comes forward and says, "Master whatever be your purpose, I will accomplish it with your blessings". Gladdened by this promise, Drona sheds tears.

He starts teaching, not only to princes but also to various other pupils who join his school. Karna was one of them. Karna becomes a friend of Duryodhan and often used to quarrel with Arjuna out of jealousy.

Drona used to give a vessel with narrow mouth to all his pupils to go and fetch water. But he gave a vessel with broad mouth to his son Aswathaman, so that in the time interval he gained, He can teach his son special instructions. Arjuna realises this and he fills his vessel with water quickly and joins Aswathaman for this special instructions. Drona instructs the cook not to serve Arjuna in darkness. Once when Arjuna was eating , and light went off. Arjuna continued to eat in darkness. This propelled Arjuna to learn to shoot arrows in darkness. Drona hears the twang of bow at night and he sees Arjuna practicing in darkness. He is full of gladness, and Drona promises Arjuna that there will be none equal to him in the world in Archery.

Ekalavya, was a prince of Nishada kingdom and son of King Hiranyadhanus. He approaches Drona for learning archery. Drona did not accept him as his pupil, as he was knowing that Eklavya might excel in archery over the princes in time and might pose a threat in future to kuru kingdom. Eklavya goes back to forest, makes an image of Drona in clay, and starts practicing in front of it. Soon, Eklavya becomes adept at archery because of his faith. Once, when pandavas were hunting in the woods, their dog went before them. Eklavya shot 7 arrows into its mouth before it can shut its mouth. Pandavas enquired about him and then go back to Drona and recount all this. Arjuna asks Drona, "Once you promised me that I will be a greatest archer in world. How come there is another better than me, and that too your pupil". Drona thinks for a while and then goes to forest with Arjuna and asks Eklavya, "If I am your master then give me your thumb as my fees". Eklavya immediately cuts off his thumb and gives to Drona. Eklavya loses his skill in archery as without thumb he cannot shoot arrows.

Test of Archery :

Once Drona wanted to test his pupils. He made a wooden vulture and put it on tree. He asked Yudhistir to aim at it. Then he asks "What do you see? do you see bird, myself, yourself, other princes and the tree?" To this Yudhistir says , yes. Then Drona reproaches him saying that it is not for Yudhistir to shoot the bird. One by one all the princes answer the same. Then comes the turn of Arjuna. Arjuna aims at the bird, and Drona asks the same question. Arjuna replies "I see the bird, not you nor the fellow pupils nor myself". Well pleased at this Drona asks "Describe the bird". Arjuna says " I see only the head of the vulture". At this the hair of Drona's body stood on its end. He says 'Shoot the arrow'. Arjuna lets the arrow go off and it knocks off the head of the vulture. Drona becomes pleased.

Once, when Drona was taking a bath in river Ganga, an alligator seized his leg. Even though Drona is capable of fighting with it, he asked to all his pupils, kill this monster and rescue me. As soon as this words came, Arjuna shot 5 deadly arrows into the alligator in the water , killing it instantly. Looking at the readiness of Arjuna for action always, Drona becomes pleased and gives him the instruction on how to hurl and recall the Brahmasira, the ultimate deadly astra that can destroy the worlds. He extracts a promise from Arjuna that it must not be used against an inferior foe or human as there is no peer to that weapon in three worlds.

My Commentary :

There are three lessons from this story of Drona as a teacher,

1) Arjuna promising to accomplish Drona's purpose without knowing what it is. Such is the readiness of a kshatriya to fulfil his master's purpose. Usually Gurudakshina (fees to teacher) is paid after learning in sanatana dharma. Arjuna paid his fees upfront.

2) Eklavya giving his thumb as fee. He has not thought for a second. The readiness to fulfil Gurudakshina, whatever it is, whether thumb or life, is what we have to note here. Drona's cruelty towards Eklavya to protect the Kuru princes is debated even now in caste discussions.

3) When an archer takes aim, he has to focus and concentrate on the object. Arjuna has that ability to forget his surroundings and concentrate only on the head of the bird. Even today school children in India are given this example on how to study and learn with single-pointedness. It is apt that 'Arjuna' award is considered highest award given away by government of India to highest achievers in sports.

Hari Om