My trials, tribulations, triumphs and more... - Arjuna.

Chapter 17: Incident that shaped my life

On one fateful evening, an incident happened which put an indelible mark in my life and also a question mark on the character of my Guru. That incident changed my outlook towards life in many different ways, even though I was very young when this incident had happened, but I will not make it as an excuse of what had eventually transpired.

On that disastrous evening, in our training ground meant for practicing archery, we saw a dog running in hard and it's mouth being sealed with arrows in such a way that it was not able to make any noise. Even though the dog was in distress but we did not fail to notice the expert level of skills in archery needed to make the dog shut like that. When we came nearer to the place where the dog was resting after running in hard and out of breath, we saw a young looking man who seemed to me at least few years older than Yudhi bhai. He looked similar to the ones we encountered in the forests, with clothes made of deer skin and various coloured symbols imprinted on the face and on the hands. During our childhood, we saw people living in the forests worshipped forces of nature like fire, thunder, wind and so on and made various symbols of Gods, out of forces of nature. Their beliefs and wants in life seemed simplistic and people were so gentle and innocent in nature. We rushed back to the ashram and recounted to our Acharya what we saw back in the ground and he was shocked to hear all this and came with us to check it out himself.

Acharya came near to the young man and asked him, what was his name, from where did he come and why he was after the dog which made him fire arrows piercing it's mouth and causing a great distress and shutting it up. The young man answered, that he came from Magadh and he was a Nishada Prince named Ekalavya and he fired arrows to shut the dog as it was barking very loudly. Our Acharya's face turned grave when he heard that he came from Magadh. I later on understood from our Acharya that Magadh was a formidable kingdom ruled by a powerful warrior named Jarasandh and had hostile relations to Hastinapur. Only because of the valour and terrific might of our Pitamah Bhishm that Magadh never dared to fight with Hastinapur directly but was always trying various indirect ways to sabotage our kingdom. Acharya was highly impressed with the skills of the archer Ekalavya and I was totally stunned to see such amazing archery skills which made the dog completely shut. Acharya asked Ekalavya who the Guru who blessed him with such skills, and when he said it was Acharya Dron himself, I was close to tears and our Acharya was totally shocked when he learnt that. Acharya said he never taught anyone who resembled him during his life time and why was he telling a lie. Then Ekalavya recounted the incident which happened some years back when he came to learn archery skills under Guru Dron. He was refused admission by Acharya as he belonged to Magadh kingdom. So, from that day onwards, he used to hide in the branches on top of the trees and learn the techniques which Acharya was teaching the students and thus he perfected the basic skills by just looking on how the Acharya taught various techniques to his students. And, after sometime he went back to his native place and made a statue of Acharya Dron and made him as his Guru and continued improving his skills in archery.

On that night, I was really unhappy to see such skills of archery which I was not able to perfect and I was comparing myself to that young man Ekalavya. Our Acharya who saw me in that state was unhappy and embraced me gently and asked me why I was looking so stressful, I told him that I'm unable to sleep to see such amazing archery skills of Ekalavya. Then my Guru patted my back and said 'My dear Arjuna, you will never be able to shut a dog's mouth like that, it needs a hard heart and mind to do such a thing, but you are a warrior with gentle heart. You are a young boy and you should not compare yourself with Ekalavya. Ekalavya is way older than you and there is plenty of time for you to improve and better him. I truly reiterate the promise I made, there will never be any archer who will equal you my boy in this entire world'.

What happened next day, was to blow my mind and it changed me forever in the way I would learn and excel. Acharya Dron had asked thumb of Ekalavya as Guru Dakshina, and that young man of incredible skills without any second thoughts cut-off his thumb and presented to Acharya Dron as Guru Dakshina. I was stunned at that, and was crying incessantly. I was feeling so bad for Ekalavya. And, later on, when I was alone and miserable and sitting in the garden, Acharya came to me, for the first and last time ever in my life that I spoke to him in anger. I questioned my Guru what he thinks of me and whether he thinks that I will not be able to excel Ekalavya that he had to ask his right thumb to be cut-off, and was I such a poor student?

Acharya Dron answered gently, saying that, such skills shown by that young man who belongs to a hostile enemy such as Magadh poses serious threats to the well being of Hastinapur. And, as a loyal servant of Hastinapur, it was his duty to remove that danger and even though he felt immensely sad to do that, but he had to do in the interests of security of Hastinapur. And, he would not have asked for any Guru Dakshina, if Ekalavya was trained under any other Guru. And, Acharya Dron was not able to control his tears and told that Ekalavya would get great fame with this incident and he will incur a great blot on his character as a teacher, but as he was bound to the salt of Hastinapur, so he did not have any other option.

I was overwhelmed to see my Acharya in tears, I always treated him as my father and clasped him and asked him, how can I remove the blot on his character. He wiped his tears and with a gentle smile said, 'my dear Arjuna, prove to the entire world without any doubt, that there is no archer like you, not only Ekalavya, even the mighty bowman your Pitamah Bhishm would not be able to match your skills in wielding the bow. If you prove it without any doubt, then that will at least in some way help remove the blot on your Guru's character, it will at least make people understand that Acharya Dron had to act in the interests of Hastinapur and not in the interests of his favourite pupil'.

That night, I was deeply affected with various emotions running high in my mind. I was ashamed of my behaviour with regards to Ekalavya in comparing his skills to mine. That night, I promised myself, never ever in future, will I be comparing myself or my skills with anyone. And, will have only one aim which is to excel at every given opportunity and to make learning a life long habit and to never cease learning. I also promised another thing, which was to make myself supremely skillful in wielding the bow with both the hands. During the archery sessions, I practised in wielding the bow with the left hand, and during these sessions to simulate the cut-off right thumb (similar to Ekalavya's), I bent the thumb of my right hand and tied it with a cloth and after some years of rigorous practice, I became expert in wielding the bow with equal proficiency with both the hands and was thus honoured by my Guru by naming me as 'Savyasachi'. I was immensely happy to be bestowed with this honour, as it would mark my Pitamah's words come true and make him truly proud of his grandson. It was not the time to sit on laurels though but was only a beginning, as my Acharya and my Pitamah had great expectations from me and they expected nothing but the best all round skills from me in all branches of weaponry.