Rishimukh – July 2019

So, he went to Eklavya and asked him, ‘Who
is your Guru?’ Eklavya said, “Dronacharya is
my Guru!”

Arjuna went to Dronacharya and questioned,
“How is this possible? This is not acceptable.
You are supposed to teach only me, but you
taught this man and made him more skillful
than me.”

Dronacharya was baffled about this
unknown student of his, whom he had not
taught, and who had become a competitor
to the prince. They both go to meet this boy.
Eklavya leads them to the statue that he
made of Dronacharya , whom he considered
as his Guru.

Dronacharya then says, ‘You have to give me
some Dakshina (a fee for learning)’. He asks
Eklavya to give him the thumb of his right
hand as token. Eklavya, without a second
thought, cuts off his right thumb, and gives
it to the Guru. Without the thumb, there can
be no archery!

This story projects the Guru in a very cruel
picture. The boy has learnt on his own, while
Dronacharya goes and asks for his thumb,
thereby snatching away his skill. How
heartless can a Guru be! This is one way to

view this story: the Guru robbing the student

of his skill. But the other picture, if it were

not for this incident, nobody would have

ever heard or spoken about Eklavya. On a

superficial level, it seems as if Dronacharya

had done gross injustice to Eklavya, but

actually Dronacharya has uplifted Eklavya

in status and fame. This one act has made

Eklavya immortal. So, when people quote

Devotion, they only quote Eklavya, not

Arjuna.

See the greatness of Dronacharya, he

took the blame on himself and uplifted his

student. That is why, even if the Guru is

wrong, your devotion can never go wrong.

But, the Guru is not wrong, it appears as

if he was partial to Arjuna but he uplifted

Eklavya and preserved his Dharma (duty)

too. His duty was to maintain the law of the

land: There cannot be anyone better than

the prince.

This is a beautiful story. There is a full

dialogue on this, which is very interesting.

Yoga Vasishta has another nice story of how

Vasishta gives knowledge to Sri Rama. Very

beautifully, Vahishta gives knowledge to

Sri Rama and uplifts him from depression;

makes him realize that he is an incarnate of

Air is everywhere but when you sit near the fan, you can

feel it. In the same way, in the world, in the universe, the

Guru principle is there. When you recognize it, you feel

great, and you feel blissful.