Ekalavya

Ekalavya is gifted archer whose devotion to learning ended in one of the epic's most debated acts of exclusion. Son of Nishada king Hiranyadhanus.

Denied formal instruction by Drona, he made a clay image of the teacher and trained himself in the forest.

His skill grew so great that he surpassed the royal pupils in a famous demonstration involving a barking dog.

To preserve his promise that Arjuna would be greatest, Drona demanded Ekalavya's right thumb as guru-dakshina.

Later traditions differ on his subsequent life and death, but his story remains central to debates on merit and social exclusion.