Ekalavya - Is he really a Tribal?

Recently, the name of Ekalavya has come to the foreground when the leader of opposition has taken his name in the Parliament. 

So, Who was Ekalavya? 

It's a rhetorical question. Right? 

And what is the answer? I mostly get the rhetorical answer that Ekalavya was a tribal kid rejected by Dronacharya and gave his thumb to Dronacharya.

Unfortunately, this above image of Ekalavya based on what was shown in TV serials and movies was not true. It was too much of creative liberty (I would like to call it distortion) taken by our creative directors. 

So, who was Ekalavya? 

The answer is this. 

As per Udyoga Parva, Chapter 48 of the Vyasa Mahabharata, Ekalavya was born to Devashrava. Who is this Devashrava? He was a cousin for Vasudeva, father of Lord Krishna. 

This might be a revelation for many readers. But this was the reality. He was a cousin of Lord Krishna.

The reality doesn't end here. Ekalavya was abandoned at birth by his parents as they saw bad omens. He was adopted and raised by Hiranyadhanu, king of a Nishada kingdom called Shringbera. This Hiranyadhanu was  confidant and an army general of Jarasandha, the king of Magadha. 

So, why this reference to Jarasandha here? Keep reading to get an answer.

So, he was raised by Hiranyadhanu and as Hiranyadhanu observed Ekalavya excelling in archery, he suggested Ekalavya to go and get trained under Dronacharya. 

By the time Ekalavya approached, Dronacharya was already posted as royal guru for Pandavas and Kauravas. So, he was already associated with the Kuru dynasty which was in conflict with Magadha dynasty. Thus, Dronacharya rejected Ekalavya as he belongs to a person closely associated with the king of Magadha (Conflict of interest) and not on the basis of Ekalavya's caste as projected in many serials and movies. 

This might be shocking to many. But the end to these revelations is not even in sight. 

The obvious question after reading the above point will be, "If that was the case, why did Dronacharya ask for Ekalavya's right thumb?".

The answer comes again from Vyasa Mahabharata. 

Ekalavya didn't meet again Dronacharya as a kid. When he met Dronacharya for the second time, Ekalavya became the chief of army in the Magadha dynasty after Hiranyadhanu's death. 

Dronacharya, in the interest of the Kuru family played a political trick on Ekalavya and asked for the "guru dakshina" of his right thumb as it was the most important body part for an Archer.

(Was it fair to ask like that? That's a Dharma sukshma about Raja Dharma which has an answer in Vyasa Mahabharata and it makes another blogpost. I reserve it for another day).

So, what happened after Ekalavya gave away his right thumb? Does his story end there? 

The answer is, NO.

Ekalavya was still an Archer of excellence. 

After that, he waged a war against Mathura and got killed by Krishna. 

But, should we judge him? From a personal perspective, we can't judge Ekalavya by his personal traits as there was very little mentioned about him, apart from his excellency in archery. But his close association with the people like Jarasandha and Kauravas marred his character.

Finally, Ekalavya was not as innocent as portrayed in serials and movies and definitely not from a tribal community.

Note: The context of Mahabharata must be viewed from a third person perspective to understand the depth, scope and spirit of each character. It is not easy to judge something in Mahabharata from the perspective of modern ethics and social norms.

The bias of the makers of serials and movies make it more distorting. So, the names & characters from our epics in TV shows and movies must be watched without any prejudice or bearing on the original epics. 

Such change is possible only when the makers and producers of such shows and movies make an extra effort to remind the audience with a disclaimer at the beginning of every episode/show.