7

Ekalavya

Look at the picture and answer the questions given below.

1. Who do you think is the man under the tree? What is he doing?
2. What is the difference between your school and the school you
see in the picture?
Listen to the introduction read by your teacher and answer the
questions given below.
1. What is the passage about?
2. Who was Dronacharya?
a. a Kaurava

c. a guru

b. a Pandava

d. a prince

3. What do you like about your school? Talk about your school in
your class.
Free distribution by A.P. Government

91

A. Reading

Ekalavya
Dronacharya was the royal teacher of the Pandavas and the Kauravas
of Hastinapura. He was the master of archery. Arjuna, one of the Pandavas,
was his favourite student. Arjuna worked hard and carried out every
command of his guru. Dronacharya was very much pleased with Arjuna
and said, I shall make you the greatest archer in the world.
Ekalavya was a young and active boy. He was the son of the chief of
the jungle tribes of Nishada. One day he watched Dronacharya teaching
archery to the princes of Hastinapura in gurukula. Ekalavya wished to
learn archery. So he met Dronacharya and fell at his feet.

92

Free distribution by A.P. Government

He said O great teacher, I have come to learn archery from you.

Kindly take me as your pupil.
Dronacharya was very pleased.
Who are you? Dronacharya asked.
I am the son of the chief of the Nishadas, said Ekalavya.
A tribes man? said Dronacharya, Dont you know, I teach only
the princes? You can go
back.
Ekalavya was very
disheartened. He obeyed
Dronacharya and returned
to the forest. There he
made a clay image of
Dronacharya and offered
prayers everyday. He
practised archery day and
night. In no time he
became very skillful in the
art of archery. Now he could shoot arrows even in the dark just by listening
to the sound of animals.
Years passed by. One day Dronacharya, the Pandavas and the Kauravas
came to the forest with a dog, for hunting. Suddenly the dog started barking
at something. At that time an arrow came from somewhere and struck the
mouth of the dog. Another arrow followed it, and another. Seven arrows
came one after the other.
Who might have shot the arrows?
The princes were surprised. One of them said,
Arjuna! Here is an archer more skillful than you. He has shot arrows
into the dogs mouth just by hearing its sound.
Free distribution by A.P. Government

93

Soon, they saw a young man with a bow and arrows.

Who are you? Dronacharya asked.
Sir, I am Ekalavya, the son of the Nishada Chief.
Have you shot these arrows at the dog?
Yes Sir, I have.
Who is your guru? said Dronacharya.
I am your humble disciple, Sir, said Ekalavya.
My disciple! How can that be? shouted Dronacharya, When did I
teach you?
I made a clay image of you and practised shooting arrows, answered
Ekalavya.
Dronacharya was excited and felt proud. But remembering his
promise to Arjuna, he had to harden his heart.
He said, If you are my disciple, give me my Guru Dakshina!
I am ready to give you anything you ask for, replied Ekalavya.
Then give me your
right thumb, said
Dronacharya.
Ekalavya knew that
if he cut his right thumb,
he could never shoot
arrows again. But, he
did not hesitate even for
a moment. He took an
arrow and cut off his
right thumb and placed
it at his gurus feet.
94

Free distribution by A.P. Government

Glossary
archery (n)

shooting

Nishada chief (n)

the head of the Nishada tribe

humble (adj)

polite

disciple (n)

student / pupil

royal (adj)

kingly

skilful (adj)

talented

Guru Dakshina (n)

something offered to a teacher at the end of

the course in olden days

hesitate (v)

doubt

Comprehension
I. Answer the following questions.
1. Why did Dronacharya not accept Ekalavya as his student?
2. How did Ekalavya practise archery?
3. What did Dronacharya ask Ekalavya as Guru Dakshina? Why?
4. Which character do you like the most- Arjuna, Dronacharya or
Ekalavya? Why?
II. Tick the qualities which Ekalavya has.
hard working

humble

lazy

skilful

disobedient

kind

determined

arrogant

devoted

obedient
Free distribution by A.P. Government

95

Vocabulary
I. Read the sentences given below.
Ekalavya was a young and active boy. He was the son of the chief of
the jungle tribes of Nishada. One day he watched Dronacharya teaching
archery to the princes of Hastinapura in gurukula.
Look at the underlined words. The words Ekalavya, Nishada,
Dronacharya and Hastinapura are the names of particular persons or
places. These are called Proper Nouns. The words boy, son, chief,
jungle tribes, archery, princes and gurukula are the common nouns
which can be used for a class of persons, places or things.
Now, pick out proper nouns and common nouns from the story
Ekalavya and write them in your notebook.
II. Ekalavya was a humble and an obedient student. What other
qualities do you think a good student should have? Write them
below.

Qualities of a
good student
Grammar
I. Read the following sentences from the story.
1. Ekalavya met Dronacharya and fell at his feet.
Ekalavya met Dronacharya.
Ekalavya fell at his feet.
96

Free distribution by A.P. Government

2. He obeyed Dronacharya and returned to the forest.

He obeyed Dronacharya.
He returned to the forest.
In the above examples, two sentences are combined into one sentence
by using and. As you can understand and has been used to combine
actions that happened sequentially (one after the other).
Pick out similar sentences with and from the story and write them in
your note book.
II. Combine the sentences using and and write them in the given
blanks.
1.

Rajesh took out his water bottle.

He drank water from it.
____________________________________________

2.

I will go to the temple first.

I will then go to my grandpas house later.
_____________________________________________

3.

She ran to meet her father.

She asked him why he was late.
_____________________________________________

4.

Vimala likes singing.

Vimala also like dancing.
_____________________________________________

5.

The post man got off his cycle.

The post man gave the letter to Aruna.
_____________________________________________
Free distribution by A.P. Government

97

Writing
I. Read the following sentences taken from the story.
A tribes man? said Dronacharya, Dont you know, I teach only the
princes? You can go back. Ekalavya was very disheartened. He obeyed
Dronacharya and returned to the forest.
What would Ekalavya be thinking at that time? Write his thoughts below.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

II. Ekalavya cut his thumb and offered it to Dronacharya. Then he

started walking back home. His father, the King of the jungle tribes
of Nishada, saw him. He came running to Ekalavya.
1. What would he ask Ekalavya?
2. What would Ekalavya answer?
3. Write the possible conversation between Ekalavya and his
father.
Father

Eklavya! Why is your hand bleeding?

Ekalavya :

________________________________________

Father

________________________________________

Ekalavya :

________________________________________

Father

________________________________________

Ekalavya :

________________________________________

98

Free distribution by A.P. Government

Oral Skills
Read the following conversation from the story.
Who are you? Dronacharya asked.
I am the son of the chief of the Nishadas, said Ekalavya.
This is how Ekalavya introduced himself in the story.
Look at the profile given below.
Sl.No

Name

Fathers name

1.

Arjuna

Pandu Raju

2.

Dhuryodhana

Dhrutharastra

3.

Bhima

Pandu Raju

4.

Sri Krishna

Vasudeva

5.

Abhimanyu

Arjuna

6.

Draupadi

Drupada

7.

Subhadra

Balaram

8.
If you were the characters given in the above profile, how
would you introduce yourself? Form a pair with your friend
and introduce yourself (by taking turn, using I am the son of .../
I am the daughter of .../ I am the sister of ...)

Fun Time
Q:

What did the pen say to the pencil?

A:

So, whats your point!

Q:

What object is the king of the classroom?

A:

The ruler.
Free distribution by A.P. Government

99

B. Reading

Our Lips and Ears

If your lips would keep from slips,
Five things observe with care:
Of whom you speak,
To whom you speak,
And how and when and where.
If your ears would save from jeers,
These things keep meekly hid:
Myself and I
And mine and my
And how I do and did.
-Anonymous

100

Free distribution by A.P. Government

Glossary
jeers (n)

meek (adj) :

rude speech
gentle

Comprehension
I. Answer the following questions.
1. What care do we need to take while speaking?
2. What are the ways suggested to escape from being laughed at?

II. Pick out phrases from the poem that suggest talking too much of
oneself and write them below.

Free distribution by A.P. Government

101

C. Reading

Honesty
While coming back from the school, Chinna went to Chachas shop
at the corner of the street. He wanted to buy some bells for his pet dog
Tommy. Chacha showed him some beautiful tinkling bells. Chinna liked
them a lot. He put his hand in his pocket and said, Oh, where is the
money grandfather gave me yesterday? He was shocked to find the money
missing. He searched all the pockets but did not find his money. Feeling
disappointed, he gave the bells back to Chacha and started walking home.
Kamala saw Chinna coming home. He seemed to be sad and angry.
Chinna kicked his shoes to a corner. Stamping his feet, he went into the
study room and dumped the school bag on the table and laid his head on
the table.
Kamala, who has been watching all this, came to Chinna and asked,
What happened Chinna? Why are you so sad? Kamala laid her hands
gently on his shoulders.
At once Chinna got up,
hugged his mother and
started crying. After a
while, he wiped his tears
with the shirt sleeves and
told her about the
missing money.
Very sorry dear.
Its ok, dont cry. Ill
give you money to buy
the bells. But, be careful
with money hereafter,
said Kamala.
102

Free distribution by A.P. Government

Sure Amma, said Chinna smiling.

Thats like my boy! Cheer up! Now, lets go to the market to buy
some fruits and vegetables, said Kamala.
Kamala and Chinna went to the market. They bought apples, grapes,
tomatoes and brinjals. Chinna wanted pine apples too. So they went to the
pine apple store.
What is the cost of the pine apples? Kamala asked.
Twenty rupees each, said the fruit seller.

Kamala bought two of them and gave him a fifty rupee note. She
told Chinna to take the remaining change and moved on. The fruit seller
gave Chinna, a twenty rupee note. Chinna ran to his mother.

Free distribution by A.P. Government

103

Amma, you know, the fruit seller gave ten rupees extra by mistake.
Can I buy chocolates with the money? whispered Chinna.
Chinna, thats very bad. It is stealing. How did you feel when you
found your money missing?
Felt very sad and angry! said Chinna.
The fruit seller will also feel the same when he comes to know.
Now be a good boy, said Kamala.
Chinna looked at his mother thoughtfully and ran to the fruit seller
to return his money.

Comprehension
Answer the following questions.
1. Why was Chinna sad and angry? How did Chinna express his anger?
2. Kamala said, Chinna, thats very bad. It is stealing. Was Kamala
right? Why?
3. What do you learn from the story?

Project Work
Read the instructions given below and make a paper rabbit of your
own.

104

Free distribution by A.P. Government

1. Take a square sheet of paper and fold it in half as shown below:

2. Fold the paper again upwards:

3. Cut the paper as shown below:

4. Fold the flaps downwards as shown in the picture:

Free distribution by A.P. Government

105

5. Draw its eyes on both sides and expand the pockets to show its
ears:

II. Now, write how you have made the paper rabbit.
I took a square sheet of paper.
_________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
How well did I understand this unit?
3) in the appropriate box.
Read and tick (3
Indicators

Yes Somewhat No

I listened to the story, understood and talked

about it.
I read and understood the texts:
1.Ekalavya.
2.Honesty.
I understood how to combine ideas using
and.
I read, understood and enjoyed the poem,
Our Lips and Ears.
I was able to write:
1. a description of Ekalavyas thoughts.
2. a conversation between Ekavyalavya
and his father.
106

Free distribution by A.P. Government