Ekalavya: Even Vyasa was Unfair to Him
Ekalavya: Even Vyasa was Unfair to Him
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All of us know the episode of Ekalavya of the Mahabharat. We feel
pity for the young and talented forest-dweller whose devotion to Drona, his
master-in-absentia went unrequited, hate the way the great teacher of
archery rendered the young man totally unfit for archery, doubt the talent of
Arjuna the insecure hero of the epic etc, etc. I agree with all these observations. Plus, I’ve my own little observation
too.
What’s that?
Look: Drona, after finding Ekalavya a greater archer than the one
he had groomed in the shape of Arjuna, asked the fellow to tell him who his
master was. Credulous simpleton as he was, Ekalavya said that he had achieved
excellence in archery by the blessings of the idol of Drona whom he used to worship
as his master ever since he was refused to be taught by him. Now Drona, standing before him in bone and flesh, demanded his fee (Guru dakshina, mentor's fee) and stated that the appropriate fee would
be the right thumb of Ekalavya. Upon hearing this, Ekalavya chopped his right
thumb off with his arrow and presented the same to Drona.
So, as the story goes, Ekalavya chopped his right thumb off, not with any knife but with his arrow. The probability is that he did not use the arrow in any other way
than the way an expert archer would have thought appropriate. That was his
dignity; an archer would not like to use his arrow as a sickle. A writer would
not use his pen as a pair of tweezers for extracting a thorn from his foot!
This means that Ekalavya had used bow and arrow with the help of his left hand
and some other limb, say his leg (toe), to chop off his own right thumb. Having
done that, he proved himself an expert archer not as a right-handed person alone
but as an ambidextrous performer, one who had the ability to perform the archery
with either of his hands and with the help of his legs (toes). This is my
explanation. Don’t we find these days expert but differently-abled painters who
paint with their legs?
If the above explanation sounds plausible, then ambidextrous Ekalavya
remained the same expert archer even after the trickery of his notional teacher
Drona deprived him of his right thumb. It is a fact that the epic does not say
if Ekalavya died of bleeding. So he was very much alive even after this
heart-rending episode. Vyasa abruptly left the character thereafter: he was
left to fade out and die. Having been made a victim of exploitation, (and at
least for the sake of compensation) he could have been given some celebrated role in the
war of Mahabharat to prove himself, how he could outlive the trickery and
jealousy. This can be treated as an unintentional omission. Maybe Vyasa had
only this much to show how mean a fellow was Drona and how insecure was Arjun.
Thereafter even Vyasa forgot Ekalavya. In a way, not only Drona and Arjuna were
guilty of dealing with Ekalavya unfairly but also Vyasa, the creator of the
character did not bother to highlight the talent of that forest-dweller when
the fellow had all the qualification for it!
________________
By
A. N. Nanda
Shimla
19-1-2015
_________________
Labels: Reflections
posted by The Unadorned | 10:49 AM
9 Comments:
I read it and points are correct.
Anyone who achieve anything itself by determination and practice, We reward them with special pro-name Eklavya. after all injustice, they could not hide the fact that Eklavya was far better than Arjun.
and second message : Everyone has capability. We can achieve our goal if we have determination
They're the two relevant points in the episode. I think Vyasji, who was not only the author of but also a character in the Mahabharat, could have made Ekalavya teach the jungle folk dhanurvidya and create a parallel education system based on equality and compassion. This would have been a befitting reply to the abominable practice of Drona and given a democratic alternative in the education system. Vyas created an excellent character in Ekalavya, a situation that engenders empathy and anger but failed to exploit the full potential of the plot. That's why I tried to prove that Ekalavya was still capable even after Drona's trickery, for he was ambidextrous.
Your knowledge of mythology is commendable. Comparing the ambidextrous talent of Eklavya to differently able people gives credibility to your viewpoint.
Let us keep in touch.
Welcome to my blog at http://books-era.blogspot.in/
Regards,
Vijay
Thanks a lot Vijay. It was just a reflection. The blog of mine has some posts of this nature. To enumerate a few:
(1) http://ramblingnanda.blogspot.in/2013/02/whither-draupadi.html
(2) http://ramblingnanda.blogspot.in/2008/08/remembering-hanuman.html
(3) http://ramblingnanda.blogspot.in/2011/04/little-off-track.html
You may like to visit them.
Dear Sir
Very different thinking. Vyasji through the character of Ekalavya fixed high rate for intellectual propriety .Ekalavya later killed by Krishna in battle at the time of marrying Rukmani.
After a long time ,I surfed and enjoyed.
--- N.Subramanian (Tirupur) at NewDelhi
Welcome you back NS. Vyas was not only the writer; he was one of the protagonists in his epic. Whatever he wrote can be amplified by the readers to suit the changed worldview. I did similar such attempt, to view his creation against the backdrop of present understanding of fairness of treatment and equality. Thank you NS.
An ingenious interpretation which had never occurred to me although i was well aware of the incident. An ambidexterous Ekalavya thus retained his peerlessness as an archer despite fulfilling the atrocious demand of Drona. It is indeed surprising that he completely vanishes from the scene while karna, the other archer superior to Arjuna, is made to meet his end.
You in your article have delved into our itihas with a contemporary connection. Nicely done sir
Nice one.
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