Dharmyudh : The Rewritten Destiny

Origin Part 3 : Dronacharya

Dron, son of great Rishi Bharatdwaj, named so because he was born in a 'Drona' or vessel.

Rishi Bharatdwaj and Panchal naresh Prishata, were good friends. Their sons, Dron and Drupad studied the shastras together.

Dron being a brilliant and clever pupil, mastered Vedas soon enough, and Drupad always found himself inferior to his friend, though he never said anything.

After the education of Vedas, both the fathers decided to send their sons to Rishi Agnivesh, to learn science of arms and combat.

Drupad and his friend lived for many years in the ashram of guru Agnivesh, as their friendship grew with age, so did Drupad's insecurity, though he still managed to supress it.

As their training completed and both prepared to leave the ashram, Drupad promised Dron half of all his possessions, to which Dron promised to always respect their friendship, despite the circumstances in future.

Few years later, Drupad became king of Panchal after his father's death. Rishi Bharatdwaj too died, leaving all the responsibility of ashram to his son.
Dron married Kripi, twin sister of Kripacharya, and a son was born to them having a gem on his forehead. Dron named him Ashwatthama.

To his parents, Ashwatthama was a permanent source of delight.

One day, Dron heard the news that Lord Parsuram is giving away all the wealth he acquired.
Hearing this, Dron made haste to the abode of Parsuram, but the latter informed him that he is a bit late as all the wealth had already been given away to Devs.
But not wanting to return the glorious looking Brahman empty handed, Parsuram offered him all the weapons he possessed at the moment.

Having received the blessings from sage, Dron now became supreme among the divine weapon possessors on earth.

He returned home excitedly to share this with his wife and son, he saw Ashwatthama playing with his friends.
He noticed that other children were making fun of his son, mocking him when he asked them for some milk.

This incident opened Dron's eyes, making him realise that with their present financial status, he might not be able to provide his son with the kind of environment he wishes.

Along with his wife and son, Dron set out to meet his friend Drupad and ask for some help.
In the court of Drupad, Dron greeted him happily and narrated the sad tale, asking for a shelter and two cows.

But Drupad, instead of acknowledging his friend, insulted him in front of all the courtiers present, mocking his knowledge and training, and then arrogantly offered him a 100 cows and a mansion to live in.

Dron, cold with anger and humiliation, vowed to avenge his insult and teach a lesson to his friend about friendship.
He promised to train a student from that very knowledge and that student would be the one to defeat Drupad.

Then they proceeded to meet Kripacharya, who at the time, were teaching the Kuru princes about Vedas.

At Hastinapur, Bhism welcomed Dron with respect and assigned him the responsibility to train the 106 princes to be the warriors they were expected.

Rest continued in the story....

Next of our characters are,

=> Dronacharya.

=> Drupad.

=> Ashwatthama.

=> Kripacharya.