The Bird's Eye

Princes from faraway kingdoms began coming to Hastinapur to take lessons under this most distinguished guru. Dron taught them various warfare skills such as horse riding, elephant riding, javelin throwing, dueling, defense and offense, mace fighting, and archery. Charioteer Adhirath's son, Karn, also learned alongside the princes. Karn was always jealous of Arjun and never missed an opportunity to criticize him.

One day, Dronacharya decided to conduct an archery test for his students. He placed a bird-shaped doll on a tree branch and told his students, "I will summon you one by one. At my command, aim for the bird's eye."

Dron summoned Yudhishthir first. Yudhishthir stepped forward and nocked an arrow.

"Don't shoot until I tell you," Dron said. "First, tell me what you see."

"I can see the tree, the bird, my bow, my arrow, my hand, and you," answered Yudhishthir.

"Okay, you may go," Dron told Yudhishthir, then summoned Duryodhan. He asked him the same question and repeated the process with several other princes. All of them, including Karn, gave roughly the same answer as Yudhishthir, after which Dron told them to leave. 

Finally, he summoned Arjun. After Arjun nocked his arrow, Dron asked him, "What do you see? Do you see me, your classmates, or anything else?"

"I can't see anything except the bird's eye," replied Arjun.

"Excellent! Now, shoot," he instructed.

The arrow hit its target, and the doll fell to the ground. Dron hugged Arjun and said, "I have made you the best archer in the world. Promise me one thing."

"Anything, Gurudev."

"In the future, even if you face me in battle, fight to win and do not back down."

"I promise, Gurudev," replied Arjun.