A hunter's son who taught himself archery before a clay image of Drona, and gave his right thumb when Drona asked for it as his fee.
Appears in
The tournament of arms — Drona trains the princes to settle his own grudge, takes Ekalavya's thumb, and watches Karna crowned in Arjuna's arena.
Embodies
Birth and worth — Whether a man is measured by the womb he came from or the skill he can prove, argued in the epic by throwing the word suta-putra at him
Questions to explore
What does the text itself say about Drona's demand for Ekalavya's thumb?
How do modern readers read Ekalavya's story, and how is that different from the text?
