Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c5.1038

c5.1038

(c) Ekalavya. Once Arjuna and the other disciples went to the forest for a hunt and there they met Ekalavya who was superior to Arjuna in archery. This Ekalavya had once approached Droṇa to learn archery from him. But it was against the rule for a Brahmin to teach a forester the art of fighting. So Ekalavya returned to the forest and making an earthen image of Droṇa worshipped it and began self-learning in archery. Now he had become superior to Arjuna in archery. The teacher had said that none would be equal to Arjuna in archery. Arjuna told Droṇa about Ekalavya. The teacher went to the forest and got the thumb of Ekalavya as the reward due to the teacher. Since then Ekalavya became a great archer though only of a lower level than Arjuna (See under Ekalavya).