Eklavya Poem by Ajit Das

Eklavya, the forest dweller Nishada, motivated
by his intense desire to excel in the art of archery,
approached Dronacharya, the royal Astra-Guru,
imploring to accept him as one of his disciples.
But he was turned away for being of low caste.

Disappointed, he came back, but never gave up.
He made a statue of Drona and took self-lessons,
honing his skills at archery before the guru's idol.
Gradually, he grew into an extraordinary archer.
But destiny had scripted for him a different story.

One day when Drona and Arjuna were passing
by the side of Eklavya's hut in the forest, they saw
an unbelievable feat of a dog's mouth sealed off
with seven arrows without hurting it in any way.
It led them to chance upon the self-taught archer.

Drona could at once see a rival outmatching Arjuna,
so asked for his right hand thumb as guru-dakshina.
Time as if froze for a moment; trees around bowed
in stunned silence at the cruelty of the demand,
meant to disable him as an archer for his whole life.

Eklavya did not protest, nor thought of his own future;
cheerfully he cut his right thumb, made the offering -
a sublime act of self-denial steeped in grace, humility,
stirred by loyalty to the guru who never trained him.
The Nishada boy stood tall; the royal master dwarfed.

*Eklavya - a character of Mahabharata