User:Ekalayva

Ekalayva - An epitome of loyalty A tribal boy wanted to learn the skills of archery from the guru who trains the heirs of the royal throne. He is laughed at and refused to be accepted as a student. He himself assumes a stone to be the guru and starts learning archery. He trains profusely and becomes a expert archer. He still thinks of the stone as the guru and feels proud that he is a student of the great guru. He finds an opportunity to display his skill before the guru himself. The guru was astonished. He asks the tribal boy who taught him these "hard to learn" skills of archery. The boy replies "it was you who taught me how to shoot an arrow". The guru couldn't accept this. The boy told how he had assumed the stone as the guru and learnt shooting. The guru felt that the guru of a prince can't be the guru of a tribal boy. So, he asked the tribal boy as dakshina the right thumb of his hand so that he could never shoot an arrow. The tribal boy took a knife out of his waist, cut his right thumb and placed it before the guru. The guru was pleased with the act of the tribal boy. The tribal boy was Ekalayva and his Guru, Dronacharya who taught the royal princes Arjun, Bheema, Yudhista, Nakula, Sahadeva the art of warfare.