Drona, the valiant archer, was second only to Bheeshma among the respected elders of the Mahabharata.

Drona had studied together with Drupada, who later became the king of Panchala, in the ashram of Agnivesha. When he was unable to buy a glass of milk for his beloved son, he turned to his friend for help. But when Drupada humiliated him, he went to Hastinapura and became the teacher of military science to the Pandavas and Kauravas, believing that Arjuna alone, amongst all the Kuru princes, could avenge his shame.

He bestowed special attention on Arjuna, and, succumbing to his own motives of personal vendetta, he even demanded the thumb of Ekalavya, the great archer, despite the cruelty of this dastardly act.