Drona, the son of sage Bharadwaja, had studied along with his friend Drupada, the future king of Panchala. He was expert not only in the scriptures but also in archery. Drupada often said that he would give half his kingdom to his friend Drona. During that time, sage Parashurama after donating all his wealth to the Brahmins was absorbed in meditation on mount Mahendra.
Drona went to sage Parashurama and asked him to donate. As he arrived too late to receive the gifts, the sage had nothing left to offer him. Instead, sage Parashurama took him as a worthy pupil and trained him in the art of warfare. After being well versed in the art of warfare at the hands of sage Parashurama, Drona married the sister (Kripi) of the Royal Preceptor Kripacharya. They were blessed with a son named ‘Ashwatthama’. Due to abject poverty Drona had barely any milk to feed his son. So, he thought of visiting his friend Drupada who had become king of Panchala. But Drupada brushed him off arrogantly and did not offer him even friendship. In hurt and anger, Drona vowed to punish Drupada in future.
Thereafter, Dronacharya went to stay with his brother-in-law Kripacharya. Once, he saw several princes gathered at a well. He went over there. All of them paid their salutation to him. On being asked about their introduction one prince spoke with humility, “I am Yudhishthira, son of King Pandu. This is Duryodhana, my younger brother. He is the son of King Dhritrashtra. Our ball has fallen into the well. We are trying to pull it out.”
Being pleased with the conduct of Yudhishthira, Dronacharya took a blade of grass, and reciting mantras, shot it like an arrow at the ball. He followed it up with more blades of grass till they formed a chain by which he pulled up the ball. The princes were very impressed with the prowess of this unknown Brahmana who had stopped to help them.
They returned to the palace full of admiration for him. Bhishma, when he heard of the incident, recognised the presence of Drona. He invited him to the palace and bestowed much respect and honour on him. He immediately made him preceptor for the Pandavas and the Kauravas.
On the request of Bhishma, Dronacharya became preceptor of the princes of Hastinapur. When Drona was teaching the Pandavas and the Kauravas, he was also teaching his own son, Ashwatthama. He decided to make Arjuna the finest archer seeing Arjuna’s prowess.
Soon Arjuna became an expert in the use of the sword, mace, spear and the bow and arrows.
One day, Dronacharya tested the boys by fixing a wooden sparrow on a high branch and asking each one in turn to shoot its right eye. Before the test, each student was asked what he saw. Some said they saw the entire scene around, the sky, the tree, the branch, etc. He stopped all from shooting.
When Dronacharya asked Arjuna, the latter said that he saw only the eye of the sparrow. Dronacharya asked him to shoot and Arjuna shot straight into the bird’s right eye. Drona was overjoyed.
In the forest near Hastinapur lived a peace-loving and brave Nishadha tribe. Their chief’s son was Ekalavya, who enjoyed archery. He wanted to be Dronacharya’s pupil. But Dronacharya refused his request. Ekalavya, however, made a figure of Drona with mud and, with great respect to his teacher, he began to practise archery.
One day, Drona saw a dog which could not bark because its mouth was full of arrows shot into it, without injuring it. He searched for the archer who was so brilliant and found Ekalavya, practising before his statue. He considered Arjuna to be the best archer. He didn’t want anyone to spoil his ambition. So, to test Ekalavya’s devotion, Dronacharya asked him for gurudakshina. He asked for the thumb of Ekalavya’s right hand, which was necessary for an archer. The worthy Ekalavya gave it to Dronacharya without thinking anything.
Seeing the devotion of Ekalavya, Dronacharya felt overjoyed. Later on, Ekalavya acquired the mastery of shooting with four fingers!
