Ekalavya

In the Mahabharata, Ekalavya was the adopted son of Hiranyadhanus, the chief of the Nishadas, who found the former when he had been abandoned as an infant by Krishna's uncle and aunt. Ekalavya's adoptive father, Hiranyadhanus, was the commander of the most powerful king of the period, Jarasandha and Ekalavya himself served under King Jarasandha's army as a general. As a youth, Ekalavya beheld Drona teaching archery to the Kauravas and the Pandavas – the royal Kuru princes – and was taken by a desire to learn himself. He approached Drona and respectfully requested to be taken on as a student of archery. The high-born Kshatriya Kuru princes, who took Ekalavya for a forest-dweller outside Hindu varnas, mocked him for considering himself above his station in life, as a tribal, low-born person. Ekalavya leaves, and then watches from the forest when guru Drona teaches the princes. After they had left for the ashram, Ekalavya collected the mud on which his guru walked, as a symbolic gesture of reverence for his guru's knowledge and footsteps. He went into the forest and fashioned a statue of Drona under a large banyan tree. He began a disciplined program of self-study over many years. Accepting the statue as his guru, he practised before his guru every single day.

One day, Drona and his students go out into the forest, accompanied by the Kurus' dog, who starts barking incessantly but then suddenly stops. The Kurus find the dog unhurt but unable to bark due to arrows filling its mouth. This was harmless to the dog but prevented the dog from barking. Drona was amazed but also distressed as he had promised Arjuna that he would make him the greatest archer in the world. Wondering who such a fine archer could be, Drona and his students saw Ekalavya, with his bow. Upon seeing Drona, Ekalavya came and bowed to him.

Drona asked Ekalavya where he had learned archery. Ekalavya replied "under you, Guru", and showed Drona his statue while explaining what he had done. Arjuna is incensed and reminds Drona of his promise to make Arjuna the "greatest archer in the world". Drona decides that Ekalavya would have to pay guru dakshina. Readily, Ekalavya offers to do anything for Drona. Drona asks Ekalavya to cut off his right thumb as Guru Dakshina. Happy and smiling, Ekalavya cuts off the thumb and presents it as Gurudakshina to Dronacharya.[4]

The Bhagavata Purana mentions that Ekalavya assisted Jarasandha, when he attacked Mathura, to take revenge of the death of Kamsa.[5]