4/30/2020 Ekalavya - Wikipedia

Ekalavya
Ekalavya (English: एकल य, ékalavya) is a character from the epic The Mahābhārata. He was a young
prince of the Nishadha, a confederation of jungle tribes (Adivasi) in Ancient India. Ekalavya

Eklavya is called as one of the foremost of kings in the Rajasuya Yajna where he honours Yudhishthira
with his shoes.[1][2] Though he didn't have his right thumb, he was noted as a very powerful archer and
warrior.[3] He was killed by Shri Krishna when he tried to attack Dwaraka and the Yadavas.

Contents
Early life
Self-training
Guru dakshina
Indonesian legend
Legacy
Eklavya's dakshina of his right hand
In popular culture thumb to his guru
See also Information
References Family Hiranyadhanus

Early life

Self-training

In the Mahabharata, Ekalavya was the son of Hiranyadhanus, who was the chief of Bheel tribe , known to be forest dwelling hunters . He
served under King Jarasandha's army as General.Ekalavya was hurt when he was rejected by dronacharya because of an old "pratha"
where the rajkul guru was not allowed to teach others. Ekalavya still didn't give up on his resolute will to master archery. He once stayed
hidden in the forest while guru Drona was teaching the Kaurava and Pandava brothers, after they left to the ashram, Ekalavya collected the
mud on which his Guru walked, as a symbolic gesture of want to follow his knowledge and foot steps, later he went into the forest and
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made a statue of Drona under a big old well grown tree. He began a disciplined program of self-study
over many years. He accepted the statue as his guru and practiced in front of it every single day.

Guru dakshina

One day when Drona and his students were going out into the forest, Arjuna saw a dog that was unable
to bark due to an amazing construction of arrows in and all around his mouth. This construction was
harmless to the dog, but prevented the dog from barking. Drona was amazed, but also distressed:as he
had promised Arjuna that he would make him the greatest archer in the world. Drona and his students
investigated, and came upon Ekalavya. Upon seeing Drona, Ekalavya came and bowed to him.

Drona asked Ekalavya where he had learnt archery. Ekalavya replied "under you, Guruji", and showed
Drona his statue while explaining what he had done.

Drona then reminded Ekalavya that to truly be Drona's pupil, Ekalavya would have to pay guru
dakshina. Readily, Ekalavya offers to do anything for Drona. Drona knew Ekalavya in future will work Princes surprised at dog
for Magadha which was enemy of Hastinapur, Drona asks Ekalavya to cut off his right thumb as Guru
Dakshina. Happy and Smiling, Ekalavya cuts off the thumb and present it as gurudakshina to
dronacharya.

Indonesian legend
In Indonesian legend, in a former life Ekalavaya was king Phalgunadi, killed by Drona and reborn as Dhrishtadyumna to avenge the
killing.

Legacy
There is a Eklavya temple (Hindi: एकल य मं दर) temple in honor of Mahabharata fame Eklavya in Khandsa village in Sector 37 of
Gurugram city in Haryana state of India. As per folklore, this is the only temple of Eklavya and it is the place where Eklavya cut his thumb
and offered to guru Drona.[4]

In honor of Eklavya, Government of India runs a Ekalavya Model Residential School (EMRS) model residential school scheme for Indian
tribals. Ekalavya Award is awarded by Government of Karnataka for the outstanding performance in sports.

In popular culture

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The 2007 movie Eklavya: The Royal Guard featuring Sanjay Dutt and Amitabh Bacchan was named after Eklavya.

See also
Life Story Of Ekalavya In Hindi (http://www.apratimblog.com/eklavya-ki-kahani-%e0%a4%8f%e0%a4%95%e0%a4%b2%e0%a4%b5%
e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%af-%e0%a4%95%e0%a5%80-%e0%a4%95%e0%a4%b9%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%a8%e0%a5%80/)
Puruṣārtha

References
1. "Eklavya Honouring Yudhishthira" (http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m02/m02052.htm). Retrieved 19 November 2013.
2. "Eklavya—Foremost of the Kings of Rajasuya Yagna" (http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m02/m02036.htm). Retrieved 19 November
2013.
3. "Eklavya—A Powerful Archer and Charioteer" (http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m02/m02043.htm). Retrieved 19 November 2013.
4. Locals want tourist circuit developed for the Guru - April 2016 (http://www.hindustantimes.com/gurgaon/locals-want-tourist-circuit-devel
oped-for-the-guru/story-AQpvmWTxDPWz8sTaP8Od7K.html)

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