Humiliated by
King Drupad right before a full royal court, the fire of revenge kept consuming
Dronacharya. For few days, he was mulling next course of action. The diplomat
in him suggested that his objective would be better served by using another
powerful kingdom against the Panchals. And what could be better than Hastinapuri
for this purpose, he reasoned. Without a doubt, that kingdom was the strongest
on the earth. Besides, Kripacharya, his brother in law, was already the ‘Astra
Guru’ of the princes there and he was respected by one and all in that country.
He knew Kripacharya would only be too happy to see him there. So on one
auspicious day, he set out for the capital of the Kauravas.
By the time he
was in the vicinity of the city, the sun was in the mid sky. The entire brigade
of princes, Kauravas and Pandavas, were out on an excursion in that place. They
were playing with a metallic ball, which somehow escaped and fell into a deep
well. The princes thronged the mouth of the well and trying various tricks to
retrieve it without success. Dronacharya, who was passing by, observed their
actions with curiosity. Seeing the princes discomfited and resigned, he
provoked them – ‘Seems you have not learnt basics of archery. Can’t take a simple ball out of a
well?’ The princes felt humiliated but they had no fitting answer. A smart one
quipped as a face-saver, ‘Sir, it is easy to say as you have. But can you do it
yourself?’ At this the Master of archery smiled and said, ‘Just behold! See how
easy the task is.’ Before the assembly of the curious princes the Acharya took
a sharp-edged straw, and darted it inside the well. Surprisingly that straw
pierced the ball. Then he shot another straw that pierced the first one’s tail. Quickly he
built a chain of straws and using the chain easily pulled the ball out.’ This was the display of a
sublime skill that left the princes dumbfounded. To their further astonishment
now he threw a ring from his finger into the well and retrieved it by shooting
an arrow. The princes had never seen anything so wonderful till then. Whereas
few clung to the Acharya inquiring about his identity, the rest rushed to the
grandfather Bhisma to recount the story.
