Question : You said, “By this prideful and independent-minded spirit, he actually proved that Drona’s assessment was correct: Ekalavya was unfit to receive ksatriya training.”
If pride was a disqualification to become a student then how was Duryodhana qualified to become Drona’s student? How did Drona disregard Ekalavya’s respect for guru? It appears Drona was also in the bodily conception of life and differentiated Ekalavya based on his bodily appearance and his birth. Moreover, isn’t pride a quality of a ksatriya? Maybe all that needs to be done was to expand that pride from self-level to national level. Please answer my concerns about Drona’s decision not to have Ekalavya as a student.
Answer by Romapada Swami:
As far as pride is concerned, it is true that ksatriyas generally tend to be chivalrous in the wielding of their prowess. However, pride has no place in one’s relationship with one’s teachers. Ksatriyas are also required to be absolutely respectful of and submissive to brahminical culture; however powerful they were, ksatriyas were trained to always defer to the brahmanas. Although Duryodhana was so wicked and envious of his cousins, he was not arrogant towards his teachers. He may not have been the ideal student, but he wasn’t disqualified for ksatriya training. (We also see the common trait of pride in many of the demoniac kings killed by Krsna; they were actually very religious, charitable and apparently respectful to brahmanas, as a result of which they were very powerful kings. But their envy for Krsna deteriorated all other good qualities and brought about their doom.)
As explained before, Drona was competent to assess the character of his prospective student: neither by birth nor by qualities did Ekalavya exhibit ksatriya traits and that was his primary consideration. (Stated a different way, Ekalavya was not disqualified by his birth, but by his underlying lack of proper regard for his would-be teacher, Drona.) While it appeared by external examination that Ekalavya had full respect for Drona, from the discussion of the previous Q & A, we see that Ekalavya was actually not at all respectful to Drona; rather, he was the opposite. His so-called self-conceived worship of guru was merely external and even prideful.
This is very instructive for all of us to note that respect for guru is not just performing some external rituals or cultivating some sentimental feelings, although such rituals and feelings are important; real respect is essentially to cultivate a high regard for the spiritual master and his instructions, and abide by them.
