Week 6 Story: The Greatest Archer

Ekalavya wiped his brow as the midday sun beat down on him from above. Gritting his teeth, he tried pulling the bowstring back for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning. And, for the hundredth time, the bowstring snapped back as his missing thumb failed to hold it in place.

"Dang it" he exclaimed, lowering his arms. "I know I can do this. I should be able to do this. Why am I making it so hard?"

For, Ekalavya was facing no easy task. No, for he was determined to regain his formidable skills as an archer. Skills that his idol, Drona, stole from him when he demanded Ekalavya cut off his right thumb. I will gain back every part of my skill that I lost and show Drona and Arjuna who the real greatest archer is! he thought to himself, as he gathered his bow and again lifted it towards the target.

For many days and weeks, Ekalavya practiced. Through rain and wind and snow, he practiced. And on one day, the unthinkable happened. Ekalavya, turning to grab another arrow out of habit, straightened as he heard a thunk. Shocked, he whipped back towards his target. The arrow he had managed to fire had flown true! Sure, it was not a bullseye, not yet, but Ekalavya knew it was just the start.

Ekalavya lifted the arrow onto his bow, and took a breath. Letting it loose, he aimed the arrow at the target and pulled the bowstring back, which, after weeks of practice, was getting easier and easier. Taking aim, he fired off another arrow, and this one landed on the target, closer to the bullseye than before. He smiled. He was back!

Many months later, Ekalavya had, after much sweat and many tears, regained fully his archery skills from before his guru-fee to Drona. He was again able to feel peace and happiness when shooting his bow, and had, over time, forgotten any anger he had held towards Drona. After all, why does anger matter when he was the greatest archer in the land?

One day, Ekalavya was hunting in a nearby forest. Spotting a deer, he took aim and then fired two arrows at once, hitting the deer in both eyes. Smiling with satisfaction at his quick kill, he hopped down from his tree and made his way over to the deer. When he was almost there, however, he heard a rustling sound in nearby bushes. Turning slowly, in case it was a larger animal, he was surprised when none other but Arjuna stepped out from behind a tree!

"Ekalavya!", Arjuna yelled. "How did you make that shot? I couldn't have done it, and I am the best archer around, especially after you lost your thumb!"

Ekalavya smiled. "Well, my friend, it was just luck, and practice. Ever since I cut off my thumb for Drona, I have spent every waking second practicing with my bow. And now I have become even better than before!"

Arjuna was gobsmacked. His rightful title of the greatest archer had been stolen from him again! But, it was too hard for him to be mad at such a cheerful person as Ekalavya. It was clear from his observations that Ekalavya was born to be an archer. As he stood there staring at Ekalavya in disbelief, an idea formed.

"Ekalavya! You wouldn't mind showing me some of your secrets, would you?"

Ekalavya smiled. "I'd love to! I love anything involving archery. And who knows? Maybe soon we'll share the title of Greatest Archer."

And with that, the two men formed a relationship that started off as the comradery of men learning together, and ended with them becoming close friends. And, in the end, Ekalavya was happy to share the title of The Greatest Archer with his friend Arjuna.

Man Shooting an Arrow in front of a Pink Sky.

No Changes Made. 06-23-2015. Source: pixy

Author's Note: The main inspiration for this story came from Tale 35 from Tiny Tales from the Mahabharata by Laura Gibbs. This tale, "Drona Demands Payment" details how Drona, the guru to both the Kauravas and the Pandavas, learned that a man, Ekalavya, had been inspired by a statue he had made of Drona to learn archery so well that he became the best archer in the land. However, Drona had promised one of his true pupils, Arjuna, that he would be the best archer in the land. Thus, Drona sneakily demanded that Ekalavya pay him the guru-fee by cutting off his right thumb, so that Arjuna would be the better archer. When I read this, I was angry for Ekalavya, who clearly idolized Drona so much that he did not even question his demand. I thought that it would be interesting to show what might have happened after by having Ekalavya practice until Drona's guru-fee ended up being for nothing. And, to make it better, I thought it would be nice if Arjuna and Ekalavya ended up being friends and more skilled at archery than Drona could have taught them. Additionally, I made Ekalavya angry with Drona at the beginning, despite nothing in the story indicating he was angry, because I wanted to show how he was able to grow past that anger and become a better character. Thus, this is my interpretation on how the events of Tale 35 might've ended.

Bibliography: Part A, Page 4, Tale 35 of the Tiny Tales from the Mahabharata by Laura Gibbs. Link: Tale 35.

Reading Notes: Tiny Tales from the Mahabharata, Part B

My mixed feelings about the Mahabharata have definitely continued while reading Part B. There were more actions taken that confused or angered me, but I also at times laughed at the foolishness of the characters (usually the male ones). I hope that in the latter half of the epic the women characters have a more interesting story. Draupadi especially seems to have zero agency and I wish that was different.

The tale that stuck out to me the most concerning foolish characters was Tale 80, "The Game Begins". In this, Yudhishthira faced Shakuni at dice, as Duryodhana is jealous of his cousins and wants to take everything from them. Why honor dictated that Yudhishthira had to accept their challenge for dice I have no idea, but that seems like the most idiotic practice ever. Why would honor dictate you have to play a game and keep playing until you have nothing left?? Couldn't he just play one game, lose, and call it good?

The other idiotic part was that he staked his wife and his brothers in the game. But, he especially did not own his brothers so I don't know how that was allowed to fly. I guess back in those days it worked because he was the king. I think it would be interesting to change this story somehow to where Vidura was successful in getting King Dhritarashtra to stop the idiotic game of dice. Maybe somehow the gods stepped in? The Pandavas are, after all, children of the gods.

Image of a Statue of Yudhishthira.

No Changes Made. By: Ahish Bhatnagar on 08-15-14. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: Part B, Page 8, Tale 80 of Tiny Tales from the Mahabharata by Laura Gibbs. Link: Tale 80.

Reading Notes: Tiny Tales from the Mahabharata, Part A

The thing that stuck out to me the most throughout Part A was the sheer number of characters and changing relationships. I had to consult the glossary multiple times just to remember how a character was related to other characters.

Despite this, I am enjoying the Mahabharata so far, though I think I will end up liking the Ramayana more. There have definitely been many instances in Part A of the Mahabharata that have been different than how they would have been handled today. Ones that struck out to me mainly dealt with the treatment of women, though the actions of the devas were also odd to me at times.

The tale that stuck out to me the most, however, was actually Tale 35, "Drona Demands Payment". This one struck out to me because, nowadays, the trainer in the position of Drona would likely have been honored for his image and personality to have been so revered by Ekalavya to have resulted in his being the most accurate archer in the land. However, here I was shocked that Drona made him cut off his thumb as "payment", just so his "true" pupil could have the honor of being the best archer. I think this just shows that the actual Drona is not as good a teacher as he thinks...

This punishment of Drona's was also sad to me, because Ekalavya did not hesitate to give Drona what he'd asked, even though it meant all of his hard work would come to nothing.

I think it would be interesting to rewrite this story from a more modern lens, one where Drona rewards Ekalavya for his hard work, instead of punishing him for wanting to improve his skills. It would also be cool to see Ekalavya becoming the master and giving Arjuna some pointers to improve his skills. Another cool idea would be to keep the punishment from Drona but to show Ekalavya managing to overcome the loss of his thumb and becoming the best archer in the land once more!

Art of Drona in Battle.

No Changes Made. By: Skumarm on 10-28-2017. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: Part A, Page 4, Tale 35 of the Tiny Tales from the Mahabharata by Laura Gibbs. Link: Tale 35.