When Drona was teaching the Pandavas and the Kauravas, he was also teaching his own son, Ashwatthama. Arjuna learnt all his own lessons, and then attended carefully to whatever Ashwatthama was taught. He became an expert in the use of the sword, mace, spear and the bow and arrow, and could fight with equal ease on foot, horse-back or on a chariot. One day, Drona tested the boys by fixing a wooden eagle on a high branch and asking each one in turn to shoot its right eye. Before the test, each student was asked what he saw. Some said they saw the entire scene around, the sky, the tree, the branch. He stopped all from shooting. When he asked Arjuna, the boy said he saw only the eye of the eagle. Drona asked him to shoot and Arjuna shot straight into the bird’s eye. Drona was overjoyed.
Arjuna’s Prowess
