Home > Mind , Body & Soul > Grandma stories >The gurudakshina Ekalavya, was the only son of Hiranyadhanu, the King of Nishada. The people who lived in Nishada were tribals whose main occupation was hunting.

Ekalavya had an ardent desire to learn the art of archery from Dronacharya, an expert archer. So, he left for Hastinapur to become Dronacharya's disciple and learn archery. But the great master refused to accept Ekalavya as his disciple on the grounds that he was not a Kshatriya.

Ekalavya was very disappointed but he was determined to be a great archer. He returned to the forest and made a statue of Dronacharya using clay. He treated this statue as his Guru and practiced archery everyday in front of the statue, after prostrating before it. Practising with dedication and concentration, soon Ekalavya mastered the art of archery.

One day, Dronacharya happened to take his disciples to the forest where Ekalavya lived, to teach them hunting. He noticed bow marks on the barks of trees. Just then, a hound standing near Dronacharya started barking and within seconds, the hound's mouth was covered by seven arrows. Dronacharya and Arjuna were stunned by such accuracy. They started looking out for the skilled archer and found that it was none other than Ekalavya.

Dronacharya and Arjuna introduced themselves to Ekalavya. Ekalavya's happiness knew no bounds. Dronacharya asked Ekalavya who his guru was. Ekalavya took Dronacharya to the statue and told him that his Guru was Dronacharya, an expert archer and a great warrior. He told the master that he practised archery everyday in front of the statue imagining that his Guru was physically present. It was then that Dronacharya recollected Ekalavya's request to teach him archery.

Dronacharya then asked Ekalavya to demonstrate his skill in archery .All the princes present there were astonished with Ekalavya's skill. Although Dronacharya admired Ekalavya's skill, he did not want anyone to excel Arjuna in archery.

He told Ekalavya that since he was his Guru, Ekalavya would have to give him something as Gurudakshina (a fee for the guru). Ekalavya agreed to do so. Dronacharya asked Ekalavya to cut his right thumb and offer it to him as his fee.

Ekalavya realised that Dronacharya's intention was to disable him from any further archery which would ensure that Arjuna remained the greatest archer in the world. But so great was Ekalavya's devotion to his Guru that he cut off his right thumb and offered it to Dronacharya as his Gurudakshina.

Even today, Ekalavya is considered a shining example of a dedicated and devoted student.