Shloka 31
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 132 — Duryodhana’s Instructions to Purocana at Vāraṇāvata
Lākṣāgṛha Planning
ततो निषादराजस्य हिरण्यधनुष: सुतः । एकलव्यो महाराज द्रोणमभ्याजगाम ह,महाराज! तदनन्तर निषादराज हिरण्यधनुका पुत्र एकलव्य द्रोणके पास आया
tato niṣādarājasya hiraṇyadhanuṣaḥ sutaḥ | ekalavyo mahārāja droṇam abhyājagāma ha ||
Then Ekalavya, the son of Hiraṇyadhanus, king of the Niṣādas, approached Droṇa. This marks the entry of a forest-born prince into the Kuru martial sphere, setting up a tension between personal devotion to learning and the social boundaries that regulate who may receive elite instruction.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse initiates a moral problem central to the Ekalavya episode: sincere aspiration for knowledge meets institutional boundaries of who is permitted formal instruction. It invites reflection on dharma in education—merit and devotion versus lineage-based access and the obligations of a teacher within a social-political order.
Vaiśampāyana narrates to King Janamejaya that Ekalavya, son of the Niṣāda king Hiraṇyadhanus, comes to Droṇa to seek training. This approach is the narrative trigger for the later events concerning Ekalavya’s discipleship and its consequences.