Once, Dronācharya, the teacher of the Kauravas and the Pandavas, wanted to test the archery skills of his students. He took a wooden bird and placed it on a tree branch. Dronācharya called all his disciples and said, “Look my children, a bird is sitting on that far-off tree. You have to hit the arrow exactly in its eye. Are you ready?”
Everyone nodded. First, the eldest Yudhisthira was invited to try his skill. He stretched his bow-string and was about to release the arrow when Dronācharya asked him a question, “O eldest son of Kunti, may I know what is visible to you at this point?”
Yudhisthira replied innocently, “Why, O Gurudev, I am seeing you, the tree, the people around me, and the bird!” Dronācharya asked him to forego trying to hit the bird’s eye and step aside.
Similar questions were put to Duryodhana, Bhima, Nakul, Sahadeva, and others, and Acharya Drona got the same answers as those given by Yudhisthira. The Acharya then asked them to step aside as it was obvious that with such poor concentration, they were sure to miss the target!
Lastly, it was the turn of Arjuna. He readied himself, his bow and arrow in perfect graceful harmony! When the Guru asked him, “O Arjuna, will you tell me what you are observing?”
Arjuna replied, ” At this point, I can see only the bird’s eye.” When asked by the teacher whether he was able to see the bird, the tree, and the people around, Arjuna replied in the negative, maintaining that he saw only the eye of the bird.
Arjuna closed his eyes and visualized only the bird’s eye. When he opened his eyes again, all he could see was the eye. He then shot the arrow, which went straight through the eye of the bird.
The hair on Drona’s body stood on end from delight.