Mahabharata Vol. 1 (Penguin Translated Texts) (41 page)

Vaishampayana said, ‘Bhishma wanted his grandsons to do especially well and wished to instil discipline. He therefore asked around for a preceptor who would be learned in archery and would be valorous. A man of little intelligence, who wasn’t illustrious, wasn’t an expert in all weapons and didn’t have divine prowess, would never have been able to discipline the immensely powerful Kurus.

‘In ancient times, maharshi Bharadvaja was once getting ready to pour oblations into the fire. The rishi saw the apsara Ghritachi herself, bathing.
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The wind blew her garment away. At that, his semen issued out and the wise one placed it in a vessel.
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The wise
Drona was then born from that pot. He studied all the Vedas and the Vedangas. The powerful Bharadvaja, supreme among those who know dharma, taught the knowledge of the agneya weapon to the illustrious Agniveshya. O supreme among those of the Bharata lineage! The sage who was born from the fire
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gave knowledge of the great weapon agneya to Bharadvaja’s son.

‘Bharadvaja had a friend and he was a king named Prishata. A son named Drupada was born to him. Prishata’s son, that bull among Kshatriyas, always used to go to Drona’s hermitage to play and study with him. When Prishata died, Drupada became the king, a mighty-armed lord of men over northern Panchala. The illustrious Bharadvaja also ascended to heaven. Obeying the instructions of his father and driven by the desire to obtain a son, the immensely famous Drona took Sharadvat’s daughter Kripi for a wife. This descendant of Goutama was always engaged in agnihotra, the pursuit of dharma and self-control. She obtained a son named Ashvatthama. As soon as he was born, he neighed like the horse Ucchaihshrava. On hearing this, an invisible voice said from the sky, “Since this boy neighed like a horse and his voice carried over a long distance, he will be known as Ashvatthama.”
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Bharadvaja’s son was extremely pleased with his son. He continued to live there and became extremely skilled in Dhanur Veda.

‘The great-souled son
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of Jamadagni was a conqueror of enemies. O king! He
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heard that he was giving away all his wealth to Brahmanas. Bharadvaja’s son spoke to him when Rama
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was already leaving for the forest. He said, “I have come in search of riches. Know that I am Drona, a bull among Brahmanas.” Rama replied, “O one blessed with the power of austerities! Nothing is left of the gold or other riches that I possessed. I have given it all away to Brahmanas. I have given to Kashyapa, the goddess earth, right up to the boundaries of the ocean, with all her settlements and garlands of
cities. Now I only have this body with me, weapons and many precious weapons. O Drona! Tell me quickly what you want. I will give it to you.” Drona said, “O descendant of the Bhrigu lineage! Give me all your arms and weapons of destruction, especially the knowledge of releasing them and withdrawing them.” Agreeing to this, the descendant of the Bhrigu lineage gave him all his weapons, especially all the mysteries of Dhanur Veda. Having received this, that supreme among Brahmanas became accomplished in the use of weapons and happily went to see his beloved friend Drupada.’

Vaishampayana said, ‘O king! Bharadvaja’s powerful son went to Prishata’s son and said, “Recognize me.” Drupada replied, “O Brahmana! Your wisdom is lacking and inferior, if you suddenly begin to address me as your friend. O one with a dull mind! No great king can ever be a friend with men like you. You have no prosperity, nor do you have riches. Time decays everything, including friendship. It is true that we were friends once, but that was based on a relationship of equality. No friendship can be found in the world that does not age; desire and anger both destroy it. Do not therefore talk about a friendship that has died out. O best of Brahmanas! Find a fresh friendship. I was friends with you because it served my purpose. The poor cannot be a friend to the rich. The fool cannot be a friend to the learned. The weak cannot a friend of the strong. Who wants an old friendship? Those of similar wealth and similar lineage can have marriages and friendship together, not one who is rich with one who is poor. One who is learned in the Vedas
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cannot be a friend to one who is not learned. One with chariots cannot be a friend to one who has no chariots. A king cannot be a friend to one who is not
a king. Who wants this old friendship?” Thus addressed by Drupada, Bharadvaja’s powerful son was full of wrath and reflected for a while. The wise one thought about a course of action for Panchala
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and made his way to Gajasahrya
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, the chief city of the Kurus.

‘One day, all the Kuru princes came out of Gajasahrya together. The brave ones wandered around, playing with a wooden ball.
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While they were playing, the ball fell into a well. With all their efforts, they couldn’t find a way to recover the ball. The valorous Drona saw that the princes were unsuccessful in their attempts. He laughed at them a little and then softly told them, “Shame on your Kshatriya prowess! Shame on your knowledge of weapons! You have been born in the Bharata lineage and yet you cannot recover a ball. Here is a handful of reeds
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that I have invested with the mantra of my weapons. Look at their power, unmatched by that of anything else. I will pierce the ball with one of these reeds and that reed with another one and that one with another. With the chain of reeds, I will bring the ball up into my hands.” On seeing this, the eyes of the princes widened with wonder. They saw him pull up the ball and spoke to the one who had pulled the ball up. “O Brahmana! We pay homage to you. No one else has the knowledge to do that. Who are you? We wish to know your lineage. What can we do for you?” Drona replied, “Go to Bhishma and tell him of my appearance and qualities. He has great intelligence and will know what should be done.” The princes agreed. They went to Bhishma, the grandfather, and told him exactly what the Brahmana had said and done. On hearing this
from the princes, Bhishma immediately recognized Drona. He thought that this would be the right preceptor. He went to him in person and paid him the highest of respects. Bhishma, the greatest of those who wielded arms, then skilfully asked Drona about the reason why he had come there and he told him the entire reason.

‘Drona said, “Desiring to learn the science of Dhanur Veda, I earlier went to maharshi Agniveshya. I lived there for a long time, as a humble brahmachari with matted hair, desiring to learn Dhanur Veda. The powerful Yajnasena, son of the king of Panchala, hardworking and dedicated, also studied with me under that teacher. There he became my friend and was always willing to do what brought me happiness. I also loved his company. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! We studied together from the time we were boys. He would come to me and do things that were pleasurable for me. O Bhishma! He used to say things that brought me pleasure: ‘I am the favourite son of my great-souled father. O friend! When I am instated by the king of Panchala in the kingdom, it will be yours to enjoy. I swear truthfully on this. My pleasures, riches and happiness will all be yours.’ This is the way he spoke to me then. Having become skilled in use of weapons, I set out in search of riches. When I heard that he had been instated, I remembered those words. Happily, I went to see my old friend in his kingdom. O lord! Remembering those words, I went to my old friend Drupada and told him, ‘O tiger among men! Recognize me as your friend.’ But he laughed at me, as if I was a person who was unimportant. He said, ‘O Brahmana! Your wisdom is lacking and inferior. O Brahmana! Why have you suddenly come to me, claiming to be my friend? O one with a dull mind! No great king can ever be a friend with men like you. You have no prosperity, nor do you have riches. The poor cannot be a friend to the rich. The fool cannot be a friend to the learned. The weak cannot a friend of the strong. The king cannot be a friend to one who is not a king. Who wants an old friendship?’ O Bhishma! I was flooded with anger at Drupada’s words and I made my way to the land of the Kurus, in search of disciples who might have the right qualities.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Bhishma and Pandu’s sons accepted him as a preceptor. O king! With all kinds of riches, he handed over his grandsons as disciples to Drona, in accordance with the prescribed manner. Delighted, that great archer accepted the Kouravas as his disciples. Having accepted them, Drona called all of them together and told them privately, when they were seated at his feet, “O unblemished ones! There is a special task in my heart. You must promise me that you will give it to me when you have become skilled in the use of arms.” O lord! When they heard him, the Kouravas remained silent. But Arjuna, the scorcher of enemies, gave him a complete promise and he then inhaled the scent of Arjuna’s forehead repeatedly, embracing him delightedly and shedding tears of joy.

‘Then the valorous Drona taught Pandu’s sons the use of many weapons, human and divine. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Other princes also came to Drona, supreme among Brahmanas, to learn the use of arms—the Vrishnis, the Andhakas, kings from many countries and Radheya,
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the son of the suta. They made Drona their preceptor. The suta’s son was envious of Partha and always competed with him. With Duryodhana’s support, he showed his contempt for the Pandavas.’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Arjuna took a great deal of care in worshipping his preceptor and showed the greatest devotion in learning the art of weapons. He became a great favourite of Drona’s. Drona summoned the cook and told him secretly, “Never give Arjuna any food when it is dark.” One day, when Arjuna was eating, a wind arose and blew out the lamp and its light. Arjuna continued to eat in the dark, his hand moving to his mouth from force of habit. The
Pandava then began to practise in the night. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Drona heard the twang of his bowstring and came to him and embraced him. He said, “I promise you that I will do my utmost to ensure that you are the best archer in this world and there is no one equal to you.” Then Drona taught Arjuna the art of fighting from horses, elephants, chariots and on the ground. Drona taught the Pandava how to fight in narrow confines
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with clubs, swords, spears, javelins and lances. On witnessing his skills, thousands of kings and princes assembled to learn the science of Dhanur Veda.

‘O king! Ekalavya was the son of Hiranyadhanu, the king of the nishadas. He came to Drona. However, since he was the son of a nishada,
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Drona, who was learned in dharma, thought about it and refused to accept him as a student of archery, out of consideration for the others. That conqueror of enemies touched Drona’s feet with his head. He went to the forest and used clay to make Drona’s image. He began to worship and treat this as his preceptor, devoting his mind to learning archery in accordance with the proper disciplines. As a consequence of his exceptional faith and supreme devotion, he acquired great dexterity in fixing an arrow to the string of the bow, aiming and then releasing it. One day, with Drona’s permission, all the Kurus and the Pandavas, conquerors of their enemies, went out on their chariots for a hunt. O king! A servant followed the Pandavas, carrying the required objects with him and he had a dog with him. They wandered around in the forest, their hearts set on what they wished to do. The dog also wandered off in the forest, got lost and came upon the nishada. On seeing the dark nishada in the forest, his body covered with dirt and clad in a dark deerskin, the dog began to bark. When it kept on barking, he displayed great dexterity. In one instant, he shot seven arrows into its mouth. The dog dashed back to the Pandavas, its mouth full of arrows. On seeing this, the brave Pandavas were extremely surprised. At this supreme and dextrous feat of shooting blind,
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they praised the person who had done this, but were also ashamed of their own skills. O king! The Pandavas went out to search for the forest-dweller who had done this and found him, tirelessly shooting arrows. They did not know him and his appearance wasn’t handsome. They asked him, “Who are you and whose son are you?” Ekalavya replied, “Know me to be the son of Hiranyadhanu, the king of the nishadas. I am Drona’s student and I am trying to become skilled in Dhanur Veda.” The Pandavas ascertained the details of everything that had happened.

‘On return, they told Drona the entire story. O king! Kounteya Arjuna kept thinking about Ekalavya. He went to Drona and affectionately told him, “In your affection, you embraced me and told me that no pupil of yours would ever be my equal. How is it that you have another valorous pupil in this world, the son of the nishada king, who is better than everyone else?” Thereupon, Drona thought for a moment and arrived at a decision. He took Savyasachi
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with him and went to the nishada. He found Ekalavya, his body covered with filth. His hair was matted and he was attired in rags. However, with a bow in his hand, he was ceaselessly shooting arrows. On seeing Drona approach, Ekalavya went up to him. He prostrated himself on the ground and touched his feet with his head. After worshipping Drona in the prescribed way, the nishada’s son told him that he was his student and stood before him with joined hands. At this, Drona told Ekalavya, “If you are my student, give me my fee.” On hearing this, Ekalavya happily asked, “O illustrious one! What can I give you? Command me. O you who know the brahman! There is nothing that cannot be given to the preceptor.” Drona said, “Give me your right thumb as a fee.” On hearing Drona’s terrible words, Ekalavya kept his promise. Always devoted to the truth, he cheerfully cut off his own right thumb, with happiness on his face and peace in his heart, and gave it to Drona. O lord of men! After
that, when he pulled the bowstring with his other fingers, the nishada found that he was no longer as swift as earlier. Arjuna was pleased and his fever went away. Drona’s words, that no one would be able to surpass Arjuna, came true.