Analysis of Meena Kandasmy's poem Eklavyam

 

                                            Eklavyam

                                                   - by Meena Kandasamy

          -:  Introduction of Meena kandasmy :- 

Meena kandasamy is a young Chennai based poet, fiction writer and translator.she is one of the 21 short fiction writers from South Asia featured in an anthology published by Zubaan, Delhi. Touch was her first book and It published in 2006. Two of her poems have won prizes in all India poetry competitions. Her poetry has been published in various journals like The Little Magazine, Kavya Bharati, Indian Horizons, Muse India and the Quarterly Literary review, Singapore. She edited the Dalit, a bi-monthly alternative English magazine of the Dalit Media Network in its first year of publication from 2001 to 2002. At present she is working on her doctorate on caste in the Indian Language classroom.

We all know Eklavya, here I'm sharing the story of Eklavya who is the character of Mahabharata :-

                          -: Story of Eklavya :- 

             Eklavya was the son of tribal chief in Hastinapur. Even though he was a hunter by birth, being the son of the chief of hunters in the forests of Hastinapur, he aspired to become a great archer and a brave warrior.

              So he went to Dronacharya, and requested him to teach him archery. Dronacharya was the teacher of the Royal family. In those days, as a rule, a teacher to the members of Royal family was not allowed to teach the state art to anybody else. It was forbidden to make anyone as powerful as the princes for the safety of the region.

             But Eklavya deeply desired to study under Dronacharya. Dronacharya, bound by the state law, could not accept him as his student. Eklavya in his heart had already accepted Dronacharya as his Guru. He went home and made a statue of his Guru. Over the following years, with sincerity and practice, he learnt archery and became better than the state princes at the art. He became so good at it that, he would hear the sound of the animal, shoot an arrow at it and claim the animal.

             One day, Arjuna, the prince found out about this talented archer. Making matters worse, he saw that Eklavya was far better than him. He went to Eklavya and asked him, ‘Who taught you archery?’

            ‘Dronacharya,’ said Eklavya.

             Hearing this, Arjuna was furious. He went up to Dronacharya and said angrily, ‘What is this? You have cheated us. What you have done is a crime. You were supposed to teach me exclusively, but you taught this man and made him more skillful than me.’ Dronacharya was baffled and confused at Arjuna’s allegations. He wondered who this student of his was, who had learned the art from him but whose name and identity he did not know! He thought hard but could not come up with an answer for Arjuna. He could not believe, this student was better than even Arjuna.

             Both, Dronacharya and Arjuna decided to meet the boy.

            Eklavya welcomed his master with great honor and love. He led both of them to the statue he had made of Dronacharya. Eklavya had practiced archery over all the years, considering and believing the statue to be his Guru.

             Eklavya welcomed his master with great honor and love. He led both of them to the statue he had made of Dronacharya. Eklavya had practiced archery over all the years, considering and believing the statue to be his Guru.

             In ancient times, a common practice in learning was- Guru Dakshina, where a student would give a token of gift or fee for the knowledge gained by the student. Dronacharya said, ‘Eklavya, you must give me some Guru Dakshina. You must give me the thumb of your right hand.’ Eklavya knew that without the thumb, archery could not be practiced.

             Eklavya without a second thought gave the thumb of his right hand to his Guru. In this story Dronacharya is commonly viewed as being cruel and self-centered. The perceived understanding is, this boy who has learned the skill on his own and is good at it, is made to give it up for the vested interest of Dronacharya.  But when one looks at it from the point of view of the wise, one finds, if it were not for this incident, nobody would have ever known Eklavya.

             Though on the outside, it seemed as if Dronacharya had done injustice to Eklavya, actually Dronacharya uplifted Eklavya from just being a student to becoming an epitome of discipleship. 

             Dronacharya blessed Eklavya with immortality by asking him for his thumb. So when people think of devotion, they think of Eklavya, and not Arjuna.

             This is the story of Eklavya. Now let's get idea about Meena kandasamy's poem Eklavya. So, here I'm present the analysis of the poem.

                 -: Analysis of the poem Ekalavyam :- 

             Ekalavyam is the poem of Meena Kandasamy. Here she presents condition of  Dalit and Hinduism in this poem through the character of Eklavya. Eklavya is the well-known character of Mahabharata we know that Dronacharya denied to teach archery to Ekalavya and when Ekalavya learned in his own way by making a statue of Dronacharya and considering it Guru, Dronacharya demanded the right thumb of Ekalavya as Gurudakshina. Though he know that archery cannot be practiced without right thumb, he gave thumb to Dronacharya.

             Meena Kandasamy write this poem as a consolation towards Ekalavya. She consoles Ekalavya that he could do so many things with his left hand and moreover he could not need the right thumb to pull a trigger or hurl a bomb.

             She presents new ways of reactions which are very powerful than old armours. Here the left hand also shows her support to communism which advocates equality and an organization worked for the upliftment of peripherals. She says that the new innovations of the world will help the Dalit to forget the old threats.

             In this short poem she presents a powerfull idea. She recalls Eklavya who vanished silently in the history and tried to give a new life to him. Moreover, she assumes the Dalit are modern counterparts of Eklavya. Here Dronacharya is a symbolic representation of fascism in the modern society.

  -: Meena Kandasmy's use of myth  in Ekalavyam :-

             Meena Kandasamy's poetry revolves around issues of caste, sexuality, political agendas, violence, gender oppression and language,her work mainly urges her readers to act.

             Meena Kandasamy has given a top notch hit about the violent resistance against the nationally ingrained prevailing caste system. She refers to the Hindu Mythology as the root cause for the caste system, in her much-acclaimed poem Eklavyam the untouchables are created by Indian society.

             Meena Kandasamy demythifies the mythical stories to drive home the social conditioning on the unprivileged sections of society. In "Eklavya", the skilled outcaste was demanded his thumb by his Guru for being a rival to the prince Arjuna in archery. Kandasamya reviews it from the subaltern perspective and proclaims that Eklavya was silenced in the name of loyalty. This kind of circulation of power and hegemony is exercised on the underprivileged in the past.

             In Eklavyam she relates the myth of Eklavya to the modern society. Eklavya here becomes a symbolic representation of the victims of Dalit community. She consoles Eklavya that he could not need the right thumb to pull a trigger or hurl a bomb. She presents new ways of reactions which are very powerful than old armours.

             Here the left hand also shows her support to communism which advocates equality and an organization worked for the upliftment of peripherals. She says that the new innovations of the world will help the Dalit to forget the old threats. In a short poem ane presents a powerful idea she recalls Eklavya who vanished silently in the history and tried to give a new life to him, Moreover, she assumes the Dalit are modern counterparts of Eklavya. Here Dronacharya is a symbolic representation of fascism in the modern society.

             Kandasmy uses her poetry as a means of violent resistance against the nationally ingrained and prevalent system of caste which enables dominant caste which enables dominant caste people to subjugate the non-dominant caste persons. In this poem she points out the starting of the caste system in Hindu Mythology where Dronacharya refuses to teach Eklavya. Dronacharya detaches against teaching him in order to teach the kshatriyas. Kandasamya critically comments upon this casteist practice soldered in mythical validation through this poem.

                              -: Conclusion :-

             Meena Kandasamy is a Dalit writer. She attacks on the Indian culture and Indian history through her poisonous language. In the poem Eklavyam she relates the myth of Eklavya with modern society. Eklavya represents as a victim of Dalit community. She also tries to crush the each and every icons of Hinduism. She points out the starting of caste system in Hindu mythology where Dronacharya denied to teach Eklavya in this poem. 

Thank you..... ✍️

                              -: Work Cited :- 

https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/poets-poems/poets/poet/102-9972_Kandasamy 

https://wisdom.srisriravishankar.org/story-eklavya-devotion/#:~:text=Eklavya%20was%20the%20son%20of,teacher%20of%20the%20Royal%20family.

https://brainly.in/question/3353465

   https://www.academia.edu/47788440/Meena_Kandasamys_Poetry_an_Angry_Young_Womans_Counter_Narrative

https://www.ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2002003.pdf

https://feminisminindia.com/2018/03/07/meena-kandasamy-poetry-tool-dissent/