Ekalavya was a son of a tribal chief. From a young age, he longed to learn archery. He requested Guru Dronacharya to accept him as a disciple. Guru Drona didn't accept Ekalavya as his disciple because Eklavya belonged to a low caste and Guru drona was from a high caste. He was Guru of Pandavas & kauravas only
Ekalavya was very firm in his will. He made a clay statue of Guru Drona and accepting him as a Guru, he started learning archery every day. In this way he moved forward to achieve his goal.
One day, the Pandavas and Kauravas along with Guru Drona were hunting in the forest and reached the place where Ekalavya was learning archery. Seeing Ekalavya, their dog started barking. As it disrupted his training, Ekalavya shot an arrow in the dog’s mouth in such a way that it stopped barking.
Seeing this, Guru Drona was very impressed. He asked Ekalavya, “Who is your Guru?” Showing the statue of Drona Ekalavya said, “You are my Guru.” To test Ekalavya further, Guru Drona asked him to fight all the princes. Ekalavya did as per the Guru’s request and defeated all the princes one by one.
Guru Drona was stunned seeing this. Of all the disciples, Arjun was the dearest to him and he wanted him to be the best archer. Guru Drona asked for Gurudakshina (fee given to the Guru). He asked Ekalavya to give his right hand thumb as Gurudakshina.
On hearing this Eklavya was very happy & ready to offer Gurudakshina. That meant that after cutting the thumb, Ekalavya would never be better archer than Arjun. Without hesitation Ekalavya cut his thumb with a knife and placed it at the Guru’s feet. Such was Ekalavya's loyalty and devotion towards his guru.
