Drona: Virtue vs Envy

How much is a teacher responsible for shaping a student and how much of it is the student’s own making? How much does external training shape someone and how much is driven by internal traits and talent? How much of a student’s success and failure can a teacher be held accountable for?

These are questions with no easy answers in black and white. It was clear during the training period to Drona that some students shine and some don’t. Some build skills in some areas, some don’t. Some become teacher’s pets, some never gain that trust.

Arjuna was Dronacharya’s pet student – a fact that was evident to everyone, most of all to Drona himself and his son Ashwatthama too, apart from the Pandavas and Kauravas. A lot of that can be attributed to repeated instances of Arjuna passing, with flying colors, several tests that Drona subjected everyone to. Prominent among these tests was the alligator test when Drona pretended to be unable to free himself from an alligator and asked his students to rescue him. While everyone attempted to rescue Drona, there are no prizes for guessing who beat everyone to it by shooting arrows at the alligator. In another instance, Drona asked everyone to fetch him a pail of water and gave everyone vessels smaller than Ashwatthama, wanting his son to come first. Even in that case, with the help of divine weapons learnt from Drona himself, Arjuna fetched the water first on the spot. The best known instance is the one in which Drona asked all his students to shoot at a bird on a tree, and before they took a shot asked each of them what they saw. Again it was only Arjuna who gave him the answer he expected by saying that all he could see was the eye of the bird and nothing else – a story often told to students as an example of extreme concentration on the task at hand.

Dronacharya’s school, while being the training ground for all the princes, also ended up being the location where the first signs of growing animosity between the Pandavas and Kauravas were seen. One might wonder whether, for an excellent teacher like Drona, wasn’t this visible and couldn’t he have nipped it in the bud? Was he guilty, to however small an extent, of taking sides and sowing the seeds of competition and widening the chasm between the cousins? Like Drona is credited with creating a ward like Arjuna, wasn’t he responsible for the wayward Duryodhana?

These aren’t easy questions to answer but there is no doubt that teachers have some, but not entire, claim to their ward’s successes and failures. Many factors influence those, including what they were exposed to but most of all the ward’s own makeup, like those of Arjuna, Bhima, Yudhishthira and Duryodhana. Hence, to that extent, Drona’s role had its limitations, and centred around imparting skills equally without partiality, and hoping for the best outcome. Due to his consistent ability to do so, and not just for creating champions like Arjuna, Dronacharya was known as the best teacher of those times. It was a different matter that along with the virtuous Pandavas led by Yudhishthira, his wards also included the envious Kauravas, exemplified by Duryodhana. This battle of virtue and envy started from school and continued till the end of Dronacharya’s life.

The zenith of fulfillment for Dronacharya, like teachers even today, was when the students he had painstakingly trained over years were ready to graduate. Dhritarashtra acceded to Drona’s request of having a grand graduation day where all the Pandavas and Kauravas could display their skills and wow audiences with it. Citizens of Hastinapur were invited for this event hosted on a newly constructed stadium. Drona played host to the proceedings and asked his wards to demonstrate their skills as per their strengths. Yudhishthira with his spear, Bhima and Duryodhana with their maces, Arjuna with his bow and arrow were the star attractions, among many others. Things often took an ugly turn where some events became more than just friendly competition, especially with Bhima and Duryodhana with maces in hand. The audience was enthralled with the skills of Hastinapur’s princes and felt their future was in safe hands.

Little did they know, though, that the seeds of discord had already taken root and what appeared to be a harmless display of skills was also a measure of strength in their craft for serious fights and even wars in the future. This was exacerbated by an unexpected entry, or should it be called, gate crash in the event.

Towards the end of the event, a warrior entered the stadium uninvited, and requested that he be allowed to demonstrate his skills too. Technically, this was an event for the graduates of Dronacharya’s school, but the teacher was gracious enough to let him in and acceded to his request. From the first few minutes, it was clear that this gate crasher had a special talent. He then specifically asked that he be allowed to compete with Arjuna. But the other teacher Kripacharya intervened this time, and asked the ward to introduce himself, saying that competition happens between equals. That is when the visitor’s head hung in shame as he wasn’t a royal prince (so he thought then). He introduced himself as Karna, the son of Adirath, a charioteer, and given the rules that were in place, he was disallowed.

One might think things would pass from here, but the astute politician that Duryodhana was, felt otherwise. His eyes and ears were alert, and sensed an opportunity. In all his years of training, he knew that if the Pandavas turned out to be a threat to his succeeding his father to the throne of Hastinapur, he had a remedy to deal with everyone, except Arjuna. And in Karna, he saw that remedy. He wanted to get Karna on his side by any means. And politicians since time immemorial have used caste as a tool to serve their needs.

With that in mind, he challenged Kripacharya. Why should birth supercede merit, he asked? He was initially told that rules are rules, and why should they be bent for some arbitrary gate crasher? When a shrewd politician is asked a question, he asks another provocative question to divert attention. It worked well for Duryodhana. He then went to the extent of bringing up the unknown birth precedents of Drona, and also raising a question mark over the strange, unexplained forest births of the Pandavas themselves.

While one may feel that merit has its place and Karna had merit, then why shouldn’t he be allowed to compete? Well, one mustn’t forget that he gate crashed in the first place. Secondly, Duryodhana wasn’t championing Karna’s cause purely due to his merit. He wanted Karna on his side to meet his ends, and this was the shrewd politician’s way.

Even if he has merit, and if we neglect his birth, he is still not a prince, thundered Bhima. He is a charioteer and let him stay in his place, he declared with arrogant disdain. That was all that Duryodhana needed to display exemplary chivalry and seal Karna’s loyalty for life. Well, he may not be a prince, but can’t you see from his skills, his looks and his demeanour, that he can’t be but a prince? Can’t you see his armour and earrings? Duryodhana publicly questioned everyone. He was playing to the gallery and knew that he had achieved two birds in one stone. I am convinced but for your sake, let me make him the king of Anga right away, he said. On the spot, to Karna’s surprise and delight, Duryodhana got some priests to coronate him as the King of Anga.

There were no loose ends left. Karna had merit and now he was a king. He could now compete with Dronacharya’s boys and especially his blue eyed boy, Arjuna. But call it fate or the hand of God, the sunset happened then, and it marked the end of the day’s proceedings, and the duel didn’t happen for now. But Karna thanked Duryodhana profusely for fighting for his rights, and bestowing him with a kingdom. With gratitude, Karna asked Duryodhana what he can do for him. And like a shrewd politician, Duryodhana replied that all he wanted was his friendship. The seed had been sown, the sapling had been planted. He knew that the time for plucking the fruits would come, but it wasn’t now.

On the graduation day of Dronacharya’s wards, the Pandavas and Kauravas, the seeds of discord were out in the open. And an apparent outsider Karna was used as a tool in that festering discord. All that the teacher could do was to see his students fight. It was a battle between virtue and envy that wouldn’t end so soon.

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