Dronacharya- Good or Bad

#ScienceOfGods

Dronacharya

He used my statue and learnt Archery. Means I am his guru. So he must pay his Fees. What should I ask for? Shall I ask for his thumb???

Asking Ekalavya to give his thumb will make him weak and unable to do Archery properly. Which will make easy way for his beloved Disciple Arjuna to prove his excellence and he will become the greatest Archer of all the time. That was the crucked moto of Dronacharya.

Since childhood you must have been hearing the same thing which makes Dronacharya's image as a Cunning Guru.

I don't believe this. Because there are always different dimensions for anything to see. Let's see this issue from a different angle.

In archery there are different patterns, right from holding the Bow till the release of the Arrow.

The most common method of drawing the bow string is Pinch Draw. End of the arrow is held between the thumb and index finger and the arrow is pulled to pull the Bow string. Here the grip is on the Arrow only. Most people use this grip naturally when they start shooting for the first time. The advantage of this draw is that the release is very clean. Famously known as Primary Draw.

In China, the same method is used with slight modification. Arrow is held with Thumb and Index finger, while Middle and Ring finger are used to pull the Bow string below arrow as addition. But in this technique the string becomes twisted while drawing and that affects the range. As the string doesn't remain straight, one has to normally use this grip with the arrow on the right side of the bow for a right-handed archer, and on the left side of the bow for a left-handed archer. Also, the Arrow needs support with the thumb to hold it on the bow which makes arrow unstable.

In Mongolia, they used the thumb only to grasp the string. The index and/or middle fingers close over the outside of the thumb to add to the grip. It causes easy release and allows longer draw length. But hurts the thumb.

Japanese also used similar technique. This draw tends to be very long compared to any other styles, pulling the string several inches past the archer's ear. But has the same problem; hurts the thumb and can't be used without specially made glove.

All these techniques are different according to person and country. One of the technique is where thumb is not used at all. This is accomplished by the index finger on the string above the arrow, and the middle and ring finger on the string below the arrow. Reason is to keep effort in the hand at a minimum. The only work the hand has to do is to keep the bow string on the fingers. Which is not in case of thumb method. When thumb is used, the Arrow has to be pulled along with Bow string, grip on arrow becomes loose. And this affects maximum effective range.

That's why, the better technique than all the others is the one with no thumb. This brings Arrow closer to the eye, facilitating point of aim. The arrow can be held on either side of the bow for release, which is not easy with other techniques. This technique doesn't give much strain to fingers and allows to hold the bow string for longer duration. That's why in the competitive archery like in Olympics, this method is used. Pulling out arrow from the quiver, setting on the bow and pulling the bow string takes least time with this technique, so it is considered the best one for Close Quarter Battle. That's why may it be John Rambo, Hawk Eye or Oliver Queen, everyone use this technique.

With the Primary Draw where Thumb and Index finger is used to hold the Arrow, the release is easy, but there are few problems. As the grip is on the Arrow only, grip becomes loose after a certain length. That reduces the Draw length. When the pull reaches a certain point, friction of fingers can no longer hold the arrow and it flies free. So this technique holds no good when one has to point at his target for long duration to aim.

Looking from distance, it is difficult to identify the Grip just by observing. In the forests when one has to aim at the target waiting for a long time, the primary thumb method doesn't hold good. Dronacharya must have noticed Ekalavya using thumb consistently and he couldn't loose the habit. And may be that's why he asked for his Thumb.

In school we were taught a story. A Handball team of Girls get the challenge to play Football with Boys team. The challenge is accepted, but while practice girls keep touching the Football with their hands, causing foul. Habit of playing Handball. Coach tried many things, but the habit stayed. Losing wasn't the issue, but somehow making repeated fouls in the game wasn't expected. So Coach tried another way. He have a coin in each hand of each player and told them not to drop it till the game ends. Girls don't win the game, but don't make foul either. The trick worked.

That tells one thing; taking thumb was to rectify the wrong technique to which Ekalavya was habitual to. Dronacharya was more than enough confident on the Greatness of Arjun's Archery skills. That's why if he just wanted to make Ekalavya weak, he could have asked for his Index and Middle finger, and made him unable to shoot arrow at all. Means no competition for Arjun. But he didn't do that.

I think you got the point of explaining all this.
Whatever Dronacharya did,
Wasn't for Greatness of Arjun,
But for excellence of Ekalavya.

©Vaidya Amit Pal.


31st Aug 2016
12:01:35 pm