This episode of Mahabharata begins with Dronacharya giving Bhim and Duryodhan their first lesson in mace combat. Dronacharya warns both of them that striking anyone below the waist with a mace is considered dishonorable. The two princes start to practice.
Meanwhile, a boy is shown practicing archery on his own. When a dog’s barking interrupts his concentration, he fires arrows into its mouth, impaling it shut. When that dog runs away in fear, Dronacharya notices it and seeks out this archer. When he finds the boy who shot the dog, the boy says he is a hunter who learned archery by observing Dronacharya teach the Kuru princes from a distance. The boy even shows them all an effigy of Dronacharya that he venerates as an actual guru. When Dronacharya asks the boy to introduce himself, the boy says that he is Ekalavya, the son of Magadh king Jarasandh’s General. Dronacharya demands that Ekalavya gives him a traditional guru’s dues - and asks for Ekalavya’s mutilated right thumb. When Ekalavya does this, he is now physically incapable of archery for the rest of his life. In an underhanded way, this ensures Arjun’s supremacy as an archer.
But the only archer who will ever challenge Arjun, the charioteer’s son Karna can’t be prevented from learning this skill. Because he has become Sage Parashuram’s student and is therefore beyond Dronacharya’s influence. Parashuram’s backstory is revealed, including his connection to Rama. Parashuram informs Karna that the knowledge of archery is imparted to be used to fight against tyrannical and unjust Kshatriyas, and should Karna behave dishonorably, this knowledge will be ripped away from him, leaving him vulnerable when he needs it most.
Shifting focus, in Ujjain, Krishna and Balaram have completed their education and are preparing to depart for Mathura. Before they leave, they must pay their teacher a “gurudakshina” or guru’s dues. They go on an offscreen quest and return with Sage Sandipani’s long lost son. The quest also results in Krishna obtaining a special conch.
In the last act, Dronacharya informs Bhishma that the Kuru princes have completed their education and that an arena must be prepared for them to showcase their combat skills. The arena is prepared and everyone except the princes arrive to much fanfare.
Tropes found here are
- Call-Forward: The curse that will doom Karna and the method by which Duryodhan is slain, are mentioned here.
- Fingore: Ekalavya is forced to cut off his right thumb as guru’s dues for having learned from Dronacharya via observing from afar.
- Kick the Dog: Ekalavya impales a dog’s maw shut with arrows. Don’t worry though, he gets some comeuppance for it.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Krishna and Balaram went into demons’ territory to find or rescue a long lost Brahmin boy and recovered a special conch. But do we get to see it? Nooooooo.....
- Pragmatic Villainy: Dronacharya demands that Ekalavya mutilate himself so as to render him incapable of archery because he is from the Magadh kingdom. Should hostilities have broken out between Magadh and Hastinapur, Ekalavya would have become a formidable enemy. Dronacharya prevented that by taking Ekalavya’s thumb.
