A reader flagged this line and asked me to do more research.

“unlike the legendary warrior with a fragile sense of confidence (rip Ekalavya’s thumb).”

The scripture does not explicitly state that Arjuna told Drona to take the boy’s thumb.

I find that a bad faith argument.

Here is my math:

Drona may have held the Acharya title, but he did not always follow its dharma.

He was enraged at how the village kids teased Ashwatthama because he was the son of a poor brahmin.

So he made the choice to go seek a wealthy patron, the Kuru kingdom.

Ekalavya followed the dharma of a shishya even if his guru did not follow his. Drona rejected him yet he still dedicated a murthi regardless.

Arjuna could not handle Karna being better than him, let alone some no name boy outside the royal courts.

The man secured his paycheck.

How is a random dude on the internet held to more scrutiny than the saffron robes who get upset when you don’t touch their feet.