He was poor, and outcasted when he approached Dronacharya for learning Dhanurvidya (archery). Dronacharya was a royal Acharya (teacher) for both Pandavas and Kauravas. And Dronacharya ever thought that only Arjuna would be the great archer in the world and blessed him to be so.
Rejected by Dronacharya. Eklavya returned to his home. Made a statue of Dronacharya, mentally accepted him his guru, and started practicing archery in front of that statute.
Several years passed. One day Dronacharya happened to be in that Jungle with Pandavas and Kauravas where Eklavya lived. He saw a dog’s mouth filled with arrows and the dog wasn’t wounded — in amazement he walked around to see who did that. After some distance he found the same man, Eklavya, sitting near a handmade statue.
After knowing everything, Dronacharya thought Eklavya might be greater than Arjuna in Archery. And Dronacharya didn’t want to see that happening. So in guru dakshina (which is offered to a guru, when you consider someone your guru), Dronacharya asked Eklavya’s right hand thumb. Eklavya was a great guru bhakta (devotee), without any hesitation he cut his thumb down and lost his career in archery.
He couldn’t be a great archer like Arjuna, Karna and others. But due to his guru bhakti, you may find several temples of him in India.
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