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Publishing-in-support-of,
EDUCREATION PUBLISHING
RZ 94, Sector - 6, Dwarka, New Delhi - 110075 Shubham Vihar, Mangla, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh - 495001
Website: www.educreation.in
________________________________________________________________
© Copyright, Authors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of its writer.
ISBN: 978-1-5457-0270-3
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The opinions/ contents expressed in this book are solely of the authors and do not represent the opinions/ standings/ thoughts of Educreation or the Editors .The book is released by using the services of self-publishing house.
Printed in India
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iii
The Unflinching
Legend
(The Story of Eklavya)
Prakrami Sharda
EDUCREATION PUBLISHING (Since 2011)
www.educreation.in
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vi
About Author
Prakrami Sharda is a versatile child. Since
his early days he has been very inquisitive
about anything and everything. While he
was studying in Standard sixth, he studied
Mahabharata in his school curriculum
and absorbed it thoroughly. One fine day
it struck into his mind that the epic of
Mahabharata, the character of Eklavya
has not been justified and thereby he reinvented and glorified the
character of Eklavya in his median book, “The Unflinching
Legend– Story of Eklavya”.
Prakrami is a boy who enjoys his childhood very much. He plays
football and basketball. He is an avid learner of Judo-Karate and has
won many laurels in interstate and inter-school karate
championships. He is first degree Brown belt holder and soon to be
be a Black belt in Karate. He loves to listen music and enjoys
travelling. He is a very helpful and caring child who has a keen
interest in a number of art forms, including singing. You can follow
him on instagram @prakramisharda
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vii
Dedicated To
Muma, Baba and Bobo
AND
Dedicated To Differently Abled People
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viii
Some quotes by Prakrami
“No obstacle has the power to overcome determination”
“To be the best you need to work hard without caring
about the rest”
“ If the branch is cut the whole tree doesn’t fall. It holds its
ground and continues to bear fruit.”
“To finally,taste courage, you must first taste fear.”
(Prakriti Sharda)
“There is victory in failure” (Prakriti Sharda)
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The Unflinching Legend
1
CHAPTER 1
THE BEGINNING
Eklavya was sitting and thinking, he was lost
in his thoughts when his father
Hiranyadhanus, the chief of Nishadha tribe
came and asked “Son, why are you not playing
with your friends? What thoughts are
disturbing you?”
Eklavya replied “Father, I want to be an
archer, an archer whose eyes always stay on
his target, I want to be an archer whose
arrows once leaves his bow always strive and
target to vanquish his enemies.” After
listening to these words Hiranyadhanus was
a little apprehensive, he knew that his son
must have thought through. He was a very
determined person and always did what he
wanted. He was willful and no one in this
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Prakrami Sharda
2
universe could have stopped him now. After a
long pause, he said “My dear son, I know that
with your hard work and willpower, you can
conquer anything in this world but as you
know, our society has different norms and
customs. They will surely try to bring you
down and discourage you; they will laugh at
your failure and will strike you when you
will be at the weakest state.” After listening
to his father‟s harsh, but true words, Eklavya
stood up confidently with a slight smile on his
face and said “Then father, I will need your
blessings to strike them back with my
success.” His father smiled back as he knew
that his son was heading towards a great
voyage. He blessed him and wished him good
luck for his journey ahead. In the next two
days Eklavya left for his journey. He knew
that it was not going to be easy, but he was
aiming for the best and was determined to
achieve what he desired. As Eklavya was
born in the forest and grew up here, he knew
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The Unflinching Legend
3
how to survive the forest life. He also knew
where to find food and shelter. After walking
for hours Eklavya reached the depth of the
forest.
When the sun set into the river and the
night came crawling the forest sunk in
darkness, a ferocious beast whose eyes were
as red as burning coal was in a great craving
for blood. Unaware of the beast‟s presence,
the tired Eklavya decided to rest for the day
and made arrangement to make a shelter by
using leaves and branches of trees. By using
stones and dried leaves, he lit a fire near his
shelter to keep the wild animals away. When
he went to sleep, he heard a sound. He
immediately stood up and looked at the
direction from where the sound was coming
from. He saw two sparkling eyes staring at
him from behind the bushes. It took just a few
seconds for him to realize that a wild beast
was getting ready to tear the flesh of his prey
and that was him. Without wasting any time,
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Prakrami Sharda
4
Eklavya picked up a sharp stone from the
ground and hid behind a tree. When the beast
came closer to the light of the fire, Eklavya
realized that the beast was the king of the
jungle, the lion. The lion was a shadow of
death, a single minute in his presence was
like spending an eternity in hell. His
movement was stable, he was confident and
ferocious. Attacking him was like inviting
death. Eklavya was very brave, but at the
same time he had a very kind heart.
He never harmed any being on purpose.
But now he had no choice except to attack the
lion in order to save his life. Eklavya thought
of a plan. He threw the stone in the opposite
direction to confuse the animal, as soon as the
lion turned Eklavya took a deep breath and
jumped on the lion‟s back, he caught hold of
the lion‟s ears and started pulling them. The
lion started roaring in agony and started
jumping here and there in an attempt to
throw Eklavya down on the ground. But all
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The Unflinching Legend
5
his attempts failed as he was not strong
enough to weaken the grip of a born warrior
like Eklavya. After a long struggle, the lion
realized his fate and dropped on the ground,
exhausted.
Eklavya was also extremely tired as he
was also struggling with the huge beast for
many hours. Now the huge beast that was a
shadow of death, the King of the jungle looked
nothing more than a well-trained pet. When
Eklavya regained his energy, he said with a
strong voice “Oh King of the jungle! Today
you are at my mercy, I spare your life, now
go live a little longer and always remember,
never attack a sleeping person because there
is no glory in defeating a person who is not
conscious enough to fight back.” The lion
accepted his defeat and walked away in
withdrawal. The next morning Eklavya was
again ready to continue his journey.
After the exhausting night Eklavya knew
there were going to be many more obstacles
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Prakrami Sharda
6
in his way and the past night has been just a
start.
After walking for several hours, Eklavya
reached the prosperous and powerful kingdom
„Sarashanpur‟, which was known for its
powerful army and mighty warriors. The city
was a flourishing center for trade and
commerce, every citizen was happy and there
was no sign of poverty in the kingdom. It was
a beautiful city and they all loved their king,
Sarashuna. Eklavya was wandering in the
streets of Sarashaunpur which was filled with
vendors trying to sell their products. Children
were practicing sword fighting with wooden
sticks and old people were sitting together
talking about common topics. Eklavya had a
different purpose and a mission. He came to
see King Sarashuna who was an Acharya and
who trained the finest archers of his army
himself. The palace was well fortified with
soldiers guarding it from everywhere. Not a
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The Unflinching Legend
7
pigeon was allowed in or out without
permission.
When Eklavya reached the gate of the
Palace, a soldier stopped him and asked
rudely “What do you want, boy? Don‟t you
know that outsiders are not allowed without
the permission of our King?”
After listening to the rude soldier Eklavya
replied in a strong voice “I am here to meet
your King and serve in his army. I know that
he himself trains the archers of his army and
I want to be an archer too”.
Listening to Eklavya‟s answer the guard
was amused and started laughing, but after
looking at the serious look on Eklavya‟s face,
he asked “What is your name?”
“My name is Eklavya.” The young boy
announced clearly.
The soldier then said “Well Eklavya I
admire your courage, but, son you are not old
enough to serve in the army. Go home to your
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Prakrami Sharda
8
mother and collect fire woods for her. Now is
not the time for you to die”. After listening to
such words from the soldier‟s mouth, Eklavya
was amused as he recalled the event from last
night, when he had defeated the lion.
Eklavya replied “You don‟t know what you
are saying, but I know that you mean
everything in good intention. But will you be
kind enough to pass on my message to your
King?”
Listening to this the soldier said “Okay,
whatever you say son,” The message was
delivered to the King. After listening to the
message King Sarashuna asked the soldier to
bring Eklavya inside the court. As Eklavya
entered the court, he bowed down in front of
the king and said “My most heartfelt
greetings to you, oh great warrior! I have
regarded you as my Guru and I request you
to teach me the art of warfare.”
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The Unflinching Legend
9
After listening to Eklavya King Sarashuna said
“My dear son, I am overwhelmed by your words,
but I only teach the art of warfare to the people of
my city.” to this Eklavya replied “Dear Sir, I am
willing to serve in the army of your city and I will
protect it at any cost if you make me your
disciple”.
King Sarashuna was impressed by
Eklavya‟s passion and was extremely curious
to know more about Eklavya. He asked
Eklavya “Who is your Father? From where do
you belong?”
Eklavya replied “I am the son of
Hiranyadhanus, the chief of the Nishadha
tribe.” Sarashuna replied “Eklavya, I can‟t
teach you as I cannot break my own rule of
not teaching an outsider. But if there is
anything else that I can do for you, I will be
more than happy to do it.”
Eklavya said “Oh Great king, I request you
to keep me in your palace and allow me to
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Prakrami Sharda
10
accompany you in every work you do so that
I can at least observe and learn.”
King Sarashuna agreed and so Eklavya
started living in the palace. He remained
with the king like a shadow, followed him
everywhere he went and observed him
carefully while he was practicing archery,
and while he taught other warriors. Eklavya
was a quick learner. He soon made his own
bow with wood and string. He made his
arrows by carving wood and by making its
edge sharp in order to increase its speed and
efficiency.
Eklavya used to watch the king
consistently and later used to practice all his
moves and tricks without failing.
Everyone who saw Eklavya practice was
amazed to see his skills. Without any
guidance or help he made his own weapons
and became extremely skillful.
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The Unflinching Legend
11
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