Mahabharata: Alternative Reading B
Image Details: Death of Drona, Source: Wikimedia
For this week, I read the comic book, “Drona: Valiant Archer, Supreme Teacher.”
This comic book discusses the origin of Drona and his importance in the Mahabharata.
Drona was born to the sage, Bharadwaja. Drona becomes good friends with the son
of the King, Drupada. Later on in the story, Drupada promises Drona that he
will allow him to live with Drupada in the palace. Drona becomes married and
has a son, Aswatthaman, whom he adores very much. Later on in the story, Aswatthaman
is tricked by his friends to drink powdered rice water instead of milk, mocking
his status and poverty. Drona goes to Drupada to help him, but Drupada act indifferently
towards him. This causes Drona to vow revenge against Drupada.
Drona possess great military skills and this
impresses Bhisma. Drona tells Bhisma that he wants to train pupils in order to
gain revenge against Drupada. Arjuna volunteers to be Drona’s pupil and becomes
Drona’s best student. The prince of the Nishada people, Ekalavya asks to become
Drona’s pupil. However, Drona refuses to train him as he could possibly excel
Arjuna. Ekalavya practices in the forest in front of a statue of Drona, believing
him to be his Guru. Drona hear of Ekalavya’s behavior asks for Ekalavya’s thumb
as a “guru fee.” Although Ekalavya
accepts Drona’s request, but this prevents him from becoming an archer.
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When the princes have finished their studies, Drona
asks them to attack Panchala and capture Drupada. Arjuna and the rest of the
Pandavas capture Drupada and Drona tells him that he will give back half of
Panchala so that they both will be kings and renew their friendship. Drupada
agrees with Drona’s request, but he longs for revenge against Drona.
Drona fights with Duryodhana’s side during the Mahabharata,
while Drupada fights with the Pandavas. However, Drona kills Drupada in battle.
In order to defeat Drona, The Pandavas lie that Drona’s son was dead. In order
to achieve this, they kill an elephant named Aswatthaman and tell Drona that
they killed him, without disclosing that they killed an elephant and not his
son. This causes Drona to become paralyzed with grief and he dies.
Drona’s story is very interesting as he is not the
most righteous character in the Mahabharata. Even though he is good friends
with the king, the fact that his son was insulted causes him to vow revenge
upon Drupada. The Mahabharata is a story of valor, courage, hatred, jealousy,
and cheating, and now we can better understand how Drona’s character and
actions affected the outcome of the story.
Bibliography: Drona: Valiant Archer, Supreme Teacher, Amar Chitra Katha, Vol 565.
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