THE EKALAVYA CONFUSION

Reality Of Casteism In The Mahabharat

Apr 05, 2023

Most of us have heard the story of Ekalavya. The name is quite synonymous to dedication, great skills begot by practice, discipline and gurubhakti, as it is with caste discrimination.

We all know how poor lower caste Nishada came to Dronacharya hoping to learn the art of archery. But having been turned away by the guru for his caste, he went into the forest and carved a wooden idol of Drona and practiced each day before it. He became so skilful that Arjuna grew jealous and demanded his guru Drona do something. So the latter asked the Nishada to give him his thumb as gurudakshina, which Ekalavya abided. Thus losing his thumb and his skills in the process.

A sad story of casteist guru and suppression of talent in Hindu society and religion, gut-wrenching really.

But…is it really so? Most of us aren’t fully knowledgeable about the Hindu epics. Most of us don’t have the time to study or simply even read them, living the rattrap lives of Kali Yug, most of us consume depictions of these great epics by popular media and accept it for truth.

I don’t claim to be beyond such shackles, and most of us who try to read are obstructed by lack of our knowledge in language, our understanding of scriptures and availability of resources in general. But with my best efforts I have tried to make this article a window to take a sneak peek at the ocean of our scriptures and understand the confusion of Ekalavya.

Who is Ekalavya?

His appearance in Mahabharata

Ekalavya, albeit not first mentioned, but first appeared in Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata ( Sec. CXXXIV):

Amongst those that came there, O monarch, was a prince named Ekalavya, who was the son of Hiranyadhanus, king of the Nishadas (the lowest of the mixed orders). Drona, however, cognisant of all rules of morality, accepted not the prince as his pupil in archery, seeing that he was a Nishada who might (in time) excel all his high-born pupils.

- Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata (Sec. CXXXIV)

Let us analyze the verses:-

1. ‘cognisant of all rules of morality’

What morality? Casteist morality? Vedic morality? What exactly does the text refers to? Multiple translations (that were available to me) use similar vague words, thus we can’t determine much from it.

2. ‘he was a Nishada who might (in time) excel all his high-born pupils’

This verse indicates that Drona didn’t wish for Ekalavya to outshine the princes, not under his own teaching.

Historian-Youtuber Abhijit Chavda has made a great analysis on this issue. In one of his videos, Chavda says that Dronacharya was employed by Bhisma to train royal Kuru princes. Undertaking a commoner regardless of caste is thus a violation of contract and outright fraud. In another video, Chavda highlights that in any other place, such as medieval England, a royal instructor was neither allowed or should be allowed to undertake a commoner as disciple nor will an commoner will be excused for making such a daring request.

Why is it so different in this case?

Some have rejected this theory and called it presentism fallacy. Why it’s not, we will come to it in a bit.

A far better explanation is given by Youtuber Sanatan Reveals in his video on Ekalavya.

But first, who really is Ekalavya?

'You heroes, I am the son of Hiranyadhanus, king of the Nishadas. Know me also for a pupil of Drona, labouring for the mastery of the art of arms.'

- Ekalavya to kaurava princes (Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata( Sec. CXXXIV))

Ekalavya was son of Hiranyadhanus. Who was him? Hiranyadhanus was the commander of Jarasandha’s army according to Harivamsa. Harivamsa is authored by none other than Veda Vyasa and is a supplement to the Mahabharata itself.

In Harivamsa, we see Ekalavya in Jarasandha’s army when this king was waging war against Yadavas. Jarasandha previously had helped Krishna’s Uncle Kansa usurp the throne of Yadavas, and on his death in the Yogeshwar’s hands, wanted to level the city of Mathura and kill Krishna and his allies. He is explicitly described in both Mahabharata and Harivamsa as a sinner and enemy of Dharma.

Let Ansumana’s heroic son Kaitaveya, Uluka, Ekalavya, Dridaksha, Jayadratha, ever observant of Kshatriya duties…get upon the mountain from the east and rive it as the wind dissipates the clouds

- Chapter 42, Vishnu Parva, Harivamsa

So, Ekalavya was also an enemy of Krishna and ally to Jarasandha!!

While this alone doesn’t prove anything, given that Ekalavya hadn’t yet attacked Mathura and the conflict is here between Kuru princes not Yadavas; yet Sanatan Reveals points out that to teach a foreign prince whose father is an enemy is fraud and probably out of loyality to Kurus (who were already allies to Yadavas) Dronacharya turned Ekalavya down. Even if he wasn’t a threat, his father was already a commander to Jarasandha.

Did His Caste Play Any Role?

Yet, if we look at the text again:-

Amongst those that came there, O monarch, was a prince named Ekalavya, who was the son of Hiranyadhanus, king of the Nishadas (the lowest of the mixed orders). Drona, however, cognisant of all rules of morality, accepted not the prince as his pupil in archery, seeing that he was a Nishada who might (in time) excel all his high-born pupils.

- Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata (Sec. CXXXIV)

Really it is very suspicious that although the text does mention Drona rejecting Ekalavya for ‘best’ interest of Kuru princes, the verses put an unnecessary (?) emphasis on the caste of the young boy-

‘Nishadas (the lowest of the mixed orders)’

Many including Sanatan Reveals have said Ekalavya wasn’t a Nishada, that he was a khsatriya who grew up with Nishadas.

In Sambhava Parva (Section LXVII)of Adi Parva of Mahabharata, when king Janamejaya asks Vaishampayan about ancient kings of Bharat, the rishi talks about many kings and their genealogies. It is here he counts Ekalavya as a great king.

And, O king, from the tribe of Asuras called Krodhavasa, of whom I have already spoken to you, were born many heroic kings on earth.

Madraka, and Karnaveshta, Siddhartha, and also Kitaka;
Suvira, and Suvahu, and Mahavira…and king Janamejaya, Ashada…Ekalavya…

Also, in Harivamsa, he is told to be a relative of Krishna himself!!

Devashrava’s son Ekalavya was brought up by Nishadas and was accordingly called Naishadi.

- Verse 33, chapter 34, Harivamsa Parva, Harivamsa purana

But as soon as you look at the latter part of the second verse, the argument falls apart. It is definitive that he, to the society, was a Nishada.

So casteism it was, huh? Well…

Ekalavya loses his thumb:

The Krishna problem

Few days later when the Kuru princes went on a hunting excursion, they found Ekalavya. They had a dog, which roaming upon the forest found Ekalavya and started barking. Then:-

Thereupon the Nishada prince, desirous of exhibiting his lightness of hand, sent seven arrows into its mouth (before it could shut it). The dog, thus pierced with seven arrows, came back to the Pandavas.

Those heroes, who beheld that sight, were filled with wonder, and, ashamed of their own skill, began to praise the lightness of hand and precision of aim by auricular precision (exhibited by the unknown archer).

- Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata( Sec. CXXXIV)

The princes soon found him, and held him in high regards. Ekalavya introduced himself:-

'You heroes, I am the son of Hiranyadhanus, king of the Nishadas. Know me also for a pupil of Drona, labouring for the mastery of the art of arms.'

- Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata( Sec. CXXXIV)

The young princes relayed this to their guru on return and praised the Nishada. No one had anything against him, all but Arjuna. So when alone with Drona, he asked:

'You had lovingly told me, clasping me, to your bosom, that no pupil of thine should be equal to me.

'Vaisampayana continued, 'On hearing these words, Drona reflected for a moment, and resolving upon the course of action he should follow, took Arjuna with him and went unto the Nishada prince…when Ekalavya saw Drona approaching towards him…touched his feet and prostrated himself on the ground…

Then Drona, O king, addressed Ekalavya, saying,

'If, O hero, you are really my pupil, give me then my fees.'

On hearing these words, Ekalavya was very much gratified, and said in reply,

'O illustrious preceptor, what shall I give?...there is nothing…that I may not give unto my preceptor.'

Drona answered,

'O Ekalavya, if you are really intent on making me a gift, I should like then to have the thumb of your right hand.'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'Hearing these cruel words of Drona…Ekalavya…with a cheerful face and an unafflicted heart cut off without ado his thumb, and gave it unto Drona. After this, when the Nishada prince began once more to shoot with the help of his remaining fingers, he found, O king, that he had lost his former lightness of hand.

And at this Arjuna became happy, the fever (of jealousy) having left him.

- Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata( Sec. CXXXIV)

On mere reading of this part, one may cast all doubt out of their mind that not only a casteist Drona rejected Ekalavya to suppress his talent, upon realizing he had failed to do so, took the most despicable way to get rid of it. Only way Arjun could be the ‘best’.

This harms Chavda’s argument, since this isn’t any more a matter of aristocrat-normality. While Drona could have easily avoided this by declaring Ekalavya to be delusional and self-taught, didn’t do so; but went out of the way to suppress his talent!

So, ok maybe he was casteist! We will eventually analyze the Dronacharya’s character, but do we have any other in-epic perspective of other contemporaries on this issue?

Turns out, we have a very important one!

“…Proud and endued with steady prowess, the Nishada’s son, with fingers cased in leather gloves, looked resplendent like a second Rama. Undeprived of thumb, Ekalavya…was incapable of being vanquished in battle by the gods, the Danavas, the Rakshasas, and the Uragas (together).”

- Krishna to Arjuna, Ghatotkacha-badha Parva, Drona Parva (Section CLXXXI), Mahabharata

From the mouth of Vaasudev himself! Speaking to Arjuna, Krishna exclaims so. It is quite clear that this wasn’t a castiest rant, simply a strategic stand. After all Drona agreed that Ekalavya was much more skilled than Arjuna!

“…the mighty son of the Nishada king, had not been slain, they would have become terrible. Without doubt, Duryodhana would have chosen those foremost of car-warriors (for embracing his side). They had always been hostile to us, and, accordingly, they would all have adopted the side of the Kauravas…”

- Ghatotkacha-badha Parva, Drona Parva (Section CLXXXI), Mahabharata

For someone who attacked Mathura with Jarasandha, yes, that totally happening!

Surprisingly Krishna also says:

“O Arjuna, for your good, with the aid of diverse contrivances I have slain, one after another, Jarasandha and the illustrious ruler of the Chedis and the mighty-armed Nishada of the name of Ekalavya.”

- Ghatotkacha-badha Parva, Drona Parva (Section CLXXX), Mahabharata

*In the Harivamsa it is stated that Krishna slayed Ekalavya during one of Jarasandha’s invasions!

Ok, this becomes very clear when you read them one after another. Drona’s actions destroyed Ekalavya’s lightness of hand and Krishna latter killed him, all so that Pandavas and in turn, Dharma would have a chance!

Krishna is Veda himself, and Para Brahman.

यो मामजमनादिं च वेत्ति लोकमहेश्वरम् |
असम्मूढ: स मर्त्येषु सर्वपापै: प्रमुच्यते

Those who know Me as unborn and beginningless, and as the Supreme Lord of the universe, they among mortals are free from illusion and released from all evils.

- Chapter 10 , verse 3 , Bhagvad Gita

And he says that it was all done to save Dharma, not a casteist action. At the very least, The Supreme Lord wasn’t suppressing Ekalavya cause of his Nishada culture.

If this is a little unconvincing, the next verse clears this.

“…Other great Rakshasas having Hidimva and Kirmira and Vaka for their foremost, as also Alayudha, that grinder of hostile troops, and Ghatotkacha, that crusher of foes and warrior of fierce deeds, have all been slain."

- Ghatotkacha-badha Parva, Drona Parva (Section CLXXX), Mahabharata

None of these people were Nishada or lower castes. Some of them were allies even! Yet their death served the same purpose as Shishupal (king of Chedi) or Ekalavya’s death- victory of Pandavas, even better, establishment of Dharma!

Krishna is Rama. Both are the Avatars of Vishnu.

In Ramayana, Rama after his exile visits the Nishada Guha:

“…Shri Rama, seeing the chief of Nishadas, from a distance, went with Lakshmana to meet and welcome him. Perceiving Shri Rama to be in ascetic’s garb, Guha, distressed, bowing before him, said: “O Prince, let this small kingdom be as Ayodhya to you, please issue your commands, I am at your service…”

An overjoyed Rama thus went and hugged the Nishada.

Shri Rama answered: “O Guha, you have come to welcome me on foot out of affection, by this I am duly honoured, I am pleased with you.” Then taking him in his strong arms and embracing him, Shri Rama addressed him in cheerful accents, saying: “O Guha, through my good fortune I behold you and your friends in good health.

(Well, untouchability is annihilated, not that I was going after itJ)

Still doubtful?

The Vedas are source of all Dharma, so…what do they say?

स॒मा॒नो मन्त्र॒: समि॑तिः समा॒नी स॑मा॒नं मन॑: स॒ह चि॒त्तमे॑षाम् । स॒मा॒नं मन्त्र॑म॒भि म॑न्त्रये वः समा॒नेन॑ वो ह॒विषा॑ जुहोमि ॥
समानो मन्त्रः समितिः समानी समानं मनः सह चित्तमेषाम् । समानं मन्त्रमभि मन्त्रये वः समानेन वो हविषा जुहोमि ॥

स॒मा॒नी व॒ आकू॑तिः समा॒ना हृद॑यानि वः । स॒मा॒नम॑स्तु वो॒ मनो॒ यथा॑ व॒: सुस॒हास॑ति ॥
समानी व आकूतिः समाना हृदयानि वः । समानमस्तु वो मनो यथा वः सुसहासति ॥

“Common be the prayer of these (assembled worshippers), common be the acquisition, common the purpose, associated be the desire. I repeat for you a common prayer, I offer for you with a common oblation.”

“Common, (worshippers), be your intention; common be (the wishes of) your hearts; common be your thoughts, so that there may be thorough union among you.”

- Rigveda 10:191:3-4

“Give lustre to our holy priests, set lustre in our ruling chiefs
Lustre to Vaisyas, Sûdras: give, through lustre; lustre unto
me.”

- Shukla Yajurveda 18:48

When the Vedas call for the equality of all beings, regardless of Varna or caste, how is it Krishna discriminates against Ekalavya, a Nishada?

Had it not for the Dharma, he wouldn’t have said so.

Interestingly, this comes up in ‘Drona Parva’: the same Parva where Drona met his doom!

Ekalavya in the

Rest of Mahabharata

Ekalavya is told to be among the greatest kings as listed by Vaishampayan to Janamejaya:

“…And, O king, from the tribe of Asuras called Krodhavasa, of whom I have already spoken to you, were born many heroic kings on earth.

Madraka, and Karnaveshta, Siddhartha, and also Kitaka;
Suvira, and Suvahu, and Mahavira…and king Janamejaya, Ashada…Ekalavya…”

- Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata (Sec. LXVII)

And he was even present in Rajasuya Yagya of Yudhistira. Sishupal while insulting Krishna mentions Ekalavya, proving his presence.

“…When the invincible Bhishmaka and king Pandya possessed of every auspicious mark, and that foremost of kings—Rukmi and Ekalavya and Salya, the king of the Madras, are here, how, O son of Pandu, hast you offered the first worship unto Krishna?”

- Rajasuyika Parva, Adi Parva (Section XXXVI), Mahabharata

Definitely he was a king and given the respect of a king. His Nishada status didn’t harm him a bit. His treatment wasn’t any different from other kings. As previously said, his Nishada status wasn’t the supreme cause, Krishna’s cunningness to establish Dharma saw the doom of Ekalavya as it saw the doom of Shishupal, Hidimva, and even Drona himself!

Now, most of us perhaps missed a very surprising thing about the Ekalavya story, that which I will reveal to you!

Wait, Who Wrote The Mahabharata?

Ever felt uncomfortable reading the story in the Mahabharata?

Let’s read the text and look at the choice of words the author uses while telling this story:-

“…the Nishada prince, touching Drona’s feet with bent head, wended his way into the forest, and there he made a clay-image of Drona, and began to worship it respectfully, as if it was his real preceptor, and practised weapons before it with the most rigid regularity. In consequence of his exceptional reverence for his preceptor and his devotion to his purpose, all the three processes of fixing arrows on the bowstring, aiming, and letting off became very easy for him…

…Hearing these cruel words of Drona, who had asked of him his thumb as tuition-fee, Ekalavya, ever devoted to truth and desirous also of keeping his promise, with a cheerful face and an unafflicted heart cut off without ado his thumb, and gave it unto Drona. After this, when the Nishada prince began once more to shoot with the help of his remaining fingers, he found…that he had lost his former lightness of hand.

And at this Arjuna became happy, the fever (of jealousy) having left him…”

- Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata (Sec. CXXXIV)

The texts don’t even slightly condemn Ekalavya for his ‘daring’ acts; just underline his top notch discipline and practice and gurubhakti, even to the point praising him for not even showing a hinge of hesitation to abide Drona, whose very actions are deemed cruel by the author himself. Dhananjaya’s disease of jealousy is also highlighted to show their sin.

The text never again speaks of him in any lesser manner, as we saw in the previous section, giving him due respects.

Or else, if he was potrayed as a sinner, won’t he be at least not praised by the author for his actions?

If you are unsure, let’s see who the dictator of Mahabharata was!

Ved Vyasa, whose real name is Krishna Dvaipayana, was born of Sage Parasara and Satyavati. Who was Satyavati?

Satyavati was a fisherwoman of a lower ‘caste’!! Now think, Ved Vyasa was a great Bramharshi cause of his birth or tapasya? And does caste matter?

It simply seems regardless of Drona’s conceived ‘morality’, the Mahabharata (whose author was a lower ‘caste’ by birth) doesn’t discriminate Ekalavya!!

Was Dronacharya Sinless?

“Amongst those that came there, O monarch, was a prince named Ekalavya, who was the son of Hiranyadhanus, king of the Nishadas (the lowest of the mixed orders). Drona, however, cognisant of all rules of morality, accepted not the prince as his pupil in archery, seeing that he was a Nishada who might (in time) excel all his high-born pupils.”

- Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata (Sec. CXXXIV)

If you read the very text we started with, it still seems that Drona wasn’t acting out of the reasons Krishna mentioned in Drona Parva.

Although not completely free from debate, we can declare some sinful (casteist or not) behavior was shown by Dronacharya in his part. Many have pointed this out.

But this isn’t anything new. Sanatan Reveals states that if Drona wasn’t sinful, he wouldn’t have been led to his doom in Kurukshetra war; we see even allies like Ghototkacha was deemed sinful thus worthy of their deaths by Purushottam Shri Krishna for Dharma. So we can safely assume, Drona did commit a sin here.

(I mean this ain’t the first time such gurudakshina had been asked by our guru; his very goal to train the Kuru princes was to find the best among warriors (who in this case was Arjun) and ask him to defeat and humiliate Drupada (his former friend who humiliated him) as, you guessed it, GURUDAKSHINA L)

Also, no. Since Drona isn’t the perfect human (unlike Krishna), his sin doesn’t taint the whole religion and if his behaviour is based on sin it’s not presentism fallacy to say he was ‘influenced’ by his time!

Some Additional Points

Was The Doom Of Ekalavya Hinted At The Beginning?

“…And, O king, from the tribe of Asuras called Krodhavasa, of whom I have already spoken to you, were born many heroic kings on earth.

Madraka, and Karnaveshta, Siddhartha, and also Kitaka;
Suvira, and Suvahu, and Mahavira…and king Janamejaya, Ashada…Ekalavya…”

- Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata (Sec. LXVII)

This sloka came much before the 1^st appearance of Ekalavya in Mahabharata, probably his first mention.

Here he is told to be incarnation of an Asura. The next sloka:

"There was also born on earth a mighty Asura known amongst the Danavas by the name of Kalanemi, endued with great strength, of grand achievements, and blessed with a large share of prosperity. He became the mighty son of Ugrasena and was known on earth by the name of Kansa.”

- Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata (Sec. LXVII)

Kalnemi, reborn as Kansa, was sinful.

This may show that incarnation of Asuras were sinful by nature, so was Ekalavya. This however isn’t really backed up with other sources and due to almost no data on other kings.

Was Ekalavya Evil And Violent By Nature?

Some believe ekalavya was sinful by nature due to him destroying the dog’s ability to bark with his skiils in archery, even when a dog’s nature is to bark!

“Meanwhile, the dog also, in wandering alone in the woods, came upon the Nishada prince (Ekalavya). And beholding the Nishada of dark hue, of body besmeared with filth, dressed in black and bearing matted locks on head, the dog began to bark aloud.

"Thereupon the Nishada prince, desirous of exhibiting his lightness of hand, sent seven arrows into its mouth (before it could shut it). The dog, thus pierced with seven arrows, came back to the Pandavas.”

- Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata (Sec. CXXXIV)

But this is a shallow argument since pandavas themselves had gone out on a hunting excursion themselves (!), showcasing similar attitude to such matters.

"And one day, O grinder of foes, the Kuru and the Pandava princes, with Drona’s leave, set out in their cars on a hunting excursion. A servant…followed the party at leisure, with the usual implements and a dog. Having come to the woods, they wandered about, intent on the purpose they had in view.”

- Sambhava Parva of Adi Parva in Mahabharata (Sec. CXXXIV)

Thus is line of argument isn’t accepted as well!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS AND ARTICLES

1. Mahabharata (English) by Kisari Mohan Ganguli

https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-mahabharata-mohan

2. Ramayana of Valmiki by Hari Prasad Shastri

https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-ramayana-of-valmiki

3. Harivamsha Purana by Manmatha Nath Dutt

https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/harivamsha-purana-dutt

4. Rig Veda (translation and commentary) by H. H. Wilson

https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/rig-veda-english-translation