Indian traditions, Nivedita and Coomaraswamy
Ekalavya
After Drona refuses him, Ekalavya retires to the forest and makes a clay image of the teacher. Reverence and persistent practice make him one of the land’s outstanding archers, even without admission to the royal school. Drona later claims a teacher’s fee and asks for Ekalavya’s right thumb. The young archer gives it without displaying sadness, but his exceptional ease of shooting is gone when he returns to practice.
Also known as Ekalavya the archer
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalAfter Drona refuses him, Ekalavya retires to the forest and makes a clay image of the teacher. Reverence and persistent practice make him one of the land’s outstanding archers, even without admission to the royal school.
Further detail
TraditionalDrona later claims a teacher’s fee and asks for Ekalavya’s right thumb. The young archer gives it without displaying sadness, but his exceptional ease of shooting is gone when he returns to practice.
Context & interpretation
The entry follows this collection’s Ekalavya episode. Its exclusionary racial and caste categories are historical language, not adopted judgements. The clay teacher and fee are traditional narrative details, and the account of self-injury is not presented as a practice to imitate.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
made a clay image of DronaOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Nivedita and Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 162
Exact passage checked against the active edition text and original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0162
- Original scan leaf
- 162
- Recorded leaf number
- 162
- Current Reader position
- 153
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
his marvellous lightness of hand was for ever vanishedOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Nivedita and Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 163
Exact passage checked against the active edition text and original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0163
- Original scan leaf
- 163
- Recorded leaf number
- 163
- Current Reader position
- 154
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Illustrations
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Bhima
The powerful Pandava whose rivalry with Duryodhana turns display towards violence.
Shared source pageDrona
The weapons teacher whose care for royal pupils sits beside a harsh exclusion.
Same subject and traditionArjuna
The Pandava archer whose skill and moral hesitation make him central to the Mahabharata.
Same subject and traditionBhagiratha
The royal descendant whose persistence brings Ganga to his ancestors’ ashes.