I am reading the Mahabharata by R. K. Narayan. One of my favorite stories in this section of
the Mahabharata is the story of Drona training the Pandavas, the Kauravas and
his son. I found that it was interesting
that Drona spent time secretly training his son, Ashwatthaman, in additional
methods of war that he did not teach the Pandavas or the Kauravas but Arjuna
saw them training and secretly learned the techniques. Karna when he was found out by the Brahmin who
was training him that Karna was not a Brahmin was cursed but Arjuna was never
discovered watching Drona and was not cursed as a result. Later when Drona has his life saved(a test)
by Arjuna when he is being attacked by a crocodile in a river and Drona then
teaches Arjuna a secret weapon but no indication is given that he also taught
his son. Prior to this event Drona had
set up an artificial bird as a target as a test and when Arjuna is the only one
to pass he is praised. It makes me
wonder if Arjuna had to some degree become something like a son to him because
Drona spent extra time training him and the Pandavas. The story of Drona and Drupada was also
interesting that Drona wanted get revenge on Drupada because he betrayed him in
a time of need. Drona, once Drupada was brought
to him by his pupils, had Drupada’s kingdom split in half, gave half to
Drupada, and said that they were still friends.
 |
| Drona testing his pupils (Source: wikipedia) |
No comments:
Post a Comment