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Mahābhārata The History of the Great India
<< 22 The Pandavas Accept Drona As Their Teacher >>
 |  | Sri Vaisampayana said:
When the mighty Drona was thus addressed by King Drupada, fury filled his heart, and he pondered for a moment. Setting his mind against the king of Pancala, the clever sage then journeyed to Hastinapura, the capital of the Kuru leaders.
| | | As he was arriving, the young Pandava princes, coming out of the city together, ran happily about, playing and batting a ball with a stick. As they sported, the ball fell into a well, and they could find no means to get the ball back. Seeing the boys trying to get their ball, powerful Drona chuckled at the scene and rebuked them in a friendly way.
| | | "Look at that!" Drona said. "Shame on your warrior strength! Shame on your skill with weapons! You who are born in the line of King Bharata cannot even get back your ball. Here is a handful of arrows made of reeds; I have empowered them by chanting military mantras. Now watch and see the strength of these arrows, which no other arrows possess. I shall pierce your ball with a reed-arrow, and I shall pierce that arrow with another, and that with another, till I form a chain connecting your ball to my hand."
| | | Eyes wide open with wonder, the boys looked on as Drona proceeded to pull up the ball.
| | | Having seen this, the boys said to the man who had rescued their ball with such skill, "O brahmana, we salute you; no one else can do that. Who are you? How shall we address you, and what can we do to serve you?"
| | | Sri Drona said:
Tell your grandfather Bhisma about me, what I look like, and what I have done. He is most intelligent and will correctly ascertain my identity.
| | | Sri Vaisampayana continued:
"So be it," they said, and they all went and told grandfather Bhisma exactly what the brahmana had said, and especially what he had done. Hearing from the boys, Bhisma knew that the brahmana was Drona, and he thought, "Such a qualified person is the right man to teach these boys."
| | | Grandfather Bhisma, the greatest of swordsmen, then personally fetched Drona with much honor and questioned him in a delicate manner. Drona submitted all the reasons for his coming to Hastinapura.
| | | "O unfailing Bhisma," Drona began, "in the past I went to the great saint Agni-vesya to get skill in weapons, for I wanted to master the military science. Anxious to acquire skill in the Dhanur Veda, I lived with him for a long time, many years in fact, as a humble and celibate student with matted locks of hair.
| | | "The son of the Pancala king, a powerful boy then named Yajna-sena, was also there, and we studied together under our guru with great endeavor and concentration. That boy became my dear friend, and he would always help me in any way he could. I was also attached to his friendship, and we kept company together for a long time, from our childhood up through our student years.
| | | "O Kauravya, he used to approach me to do kind things and speak kind words. He would say things, Bhisma, that made my affection for him grow. He would say, 'Drona, I am the most dear son of my father, and when he installs me on the royal throne of Pancala, then, I swear to you, my friend, the kingdom will be yours to enjoy. My property and wealth will be at your disposal, and my royal pleasures will also be yours.'
| | | "After I graduated from my study of weapons and left school to seek an income for my family, I heard that he had been installed as king. I thought, 'Now my purpose is fulfilled.' In a loving mood, I set out to see once more my dear friend. On the way I constantly remembered how we had lived together and all that he had promised me.
| | | "Approaching my old friend Drupada, as he was now called, I said, 'My lord, O tiger of men, it is I, your friend!'
| | | "As I stood there humbly, having come to him in a spirit of loving friendship, he laughed at me as if I were most insignificant and said, 'Brahmana, your understanding of things is not very mature, nor is at all sound, for you to come in such a forward manner and tell me that I am your intimate friend. Nowhere at all, O simple one, do we find such friendship between exalted monarchs and persons bereft of opulence and wealth. An unschooled man cannot be a friend to a scholar, nor a man with no chariot a friend to a chariot warrior. Kings do not fraternize with nonroyalty. What need is there for a friend of the past?'
| | | "When I was thus addressed by King Drupada, fury filled my heart, and I came straight here to the Kuru capital, Bhisma, anxious to find qualified royal students."
| | | Bhisma and the sons of Pandu accepted Drona as guru.
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