Since Dro?a was not born from a womb, but from a vessel made of leaf, he was named 'Dro?a' which means 'vessel made of leaf'.

The story of Dro?a's birth is related dramatically to the Mahabharata. Bharadwaja rishi went with his companions to the Ganga River to perform his ablutions. There he was beheld by the beauty of a beautiful apsara named Ghritachi who had come to bathe. The sage was overcome by desire, causing him to produce semen involuntarily out of excitement. Bharadwaja Muni captured the semen in a vessel called a Dro?a, and Dro??charya himself sprang from the semen thus preserved. Dro??charya spent his youth in poverty, but studied Dharma and military arts such as archery, in which he gained expertise, together with the then prince of Panchala, Drupada in the gurukul of Rishi Bharadwaja. Drupada and Dro??charya became close friends.

Dro??charya married Kripi, the sister of Kripa, the royal teacher of the princes of Hastinapura. Like Drona himself, Kripi and her brother had not been gestated in a womb, but outside the human body. Kripi and Dro?a had a son, Ashwatthama; Dro?a did penance so that his son would be as valiant as Shiva.

Guru Parushuram

Learning that Parasurama was giving away his possessions to brahmanas, Dro?a approached him. Unfortunately, Parasurama only had his weapons left. He offered to give Dro?a the weapons as well as the knowledge of how to use them. Thus, Dro?a obtained all of his weapons, and his title of '?c?rya'.

Dro?a and Drupada

For the sake of his wife and son, Dro?a desired freedom from poverty. Remembering a childhood promise given by Drupada, he decided to approach him to ask for help. However, King Drupada refused to even recognize their friendship, saying friendship was possible only between persons of equal stature in life. As a child, he said, it was possible for him to be friends with Dro?a, because at that time they were equals. But now Drupada had become a king, while Dro??charya remained a luckless indigent. However, he said he would satisfy Dro??charya if he asked for alms befitting a Brahmin, rather than claiming his right as a friend. Dro?a went away silently, but in his heart he vowed revenge.

Drona decides to continue Parashurama's legacy by starting his own school. He uproots his family and begins wandering Northern India. While at Hastinapur, he comes across the Kuru princes at play, and is able to use his abilities to help the princes solve some of their problems. Amazed, the princes go to their patriarch Bhisma with news of this magician.

Bhishma instantly realized that this was Drona, and asked him to become the Guru of the Kuru princes, training them in advanced military arts.

Contrary to popular belief Karna was one of his students. Karna rejected Drona and went to Parsurama when Drona refused to give Karna the knowledge of the Bramhastra to him.

Arjuna, the favourite pupil

Of all the Kaurava and Pandava brothers training under Drona, Arjuna emerged as the most dedicated, hard-working and most naturally talented of them all, exceeding even Drona's own son Ashwatthama. Arjuna assiduously served his teacher, who was greatly impressed by his devoted pupil. Arjuna surpassed Drona's expectations in numerous challenges. As a reward, Drona gave Arjuna mantras to invoke the super-powerful divine weapon of Brahma known as Brahm?stra, but told Arjuna not to use this invincible weapon against any ordinary warrior.

When Arjuna, inspired by his brother Bhima's nocturnal eating, mastered archery in absolute darkness, Drona was moved. Drona was greatly impressed by Arjuna's concentration, determination, and drive, and promised him that he would become the greatest archer on earth. Drona gave Arjuna special knowledge of the divine Astras.

Drona was partial especially to Arjuna and Ashwatthama. Drona dearly loved his son Ashwatthama and as a guru, he loved Arjuna more than anyone.

Treatment of Ekalavya

Ekalavya

A strong criticism of Dronacharya springs from his behavior towards Ekalavya and his strong bias in favor of Arjuna.

Ekalavya was the son of a Nishadha chief , who came to Dronacharya for instruction. Dronacharya refused to train him along with the k?atriya princes because Ekalavya was not a k?atriya prince. In addition, Eklavya's father was a commander of the Kingdom of Magadha, which was ruled by Emperor Jarasandha. At that time, Jarasandha had been building an empire in East-India; relations between Hastinapur and Magadha were rough. Drona feared that he may become a traitor of Hastinapura by teaching him so Drona rejected the request of Eklavya to be his teacher. Ekalavya began study and practice by himself, having fashioned a clay image of Dronacharya. Solely by his determination, Ekalavya became a warrior of exceptional prowess.

One day, a dog's barking disturbed a focused Ekalavya. Without looking, Ekalavya fired arrows that sealed up the dog's mouth. The Kuru princes saw this dog running, and wondered who could have done such a feat. They saw Ekalavya, who announced himself as a pupil of Drona. When every person saw his un palled skilled in shutting the Dog, Drona saw his short temper and considered he may misuse his Astra Vidya so he demanded his right hand thumb.

Revenge upon Drupada

On completing their training, Dronacharya asked the Kauravas to bring him Drupada bound in chains. Duryodhana, Du???sana, Yuyutsu, Vikarna, and the remaining Kauravas attacked Panchal with the Hastinapur army. They failed to defeat the Panchal army, whereupon Dronacharya sent Arjuna and his brothers for the task. Arjuna defeated Drupada, as ordered.

Dronacharya took half of Drupada's kingdom, thus becoming his equal. He forgave Drupada for his misdeeds, but Drupada desired revenge. He performed a Yajña to have a son who would slay Dronacharya and a daughter who would marry Arjuna. His wish was eventually fulfilled and thus were born Dh????dyumna, the slayer of Dronacharya, and Draupad?, the consort of the Pandavas.

Drona held the invincible sword of Lord Brahma. Bhishma once told the story of this sword to Pandava prince Nakula. This sword was the primordial weapon created by the gods for the destruction of evil. The name of the sword was Asi, the personification and the primary energy behind all the weapons ever created. As per Bhishma, the constellation under which the sword was born is called Krittika, Agni is its deity, Rohini is its Gotra, Rudra is its high preceptor and whoever holds this weapon obtains sure victory.

Dronacharya had been the preceptor of most kings involved in the Kurukshetra War, on both sides. Dronacharya strongly condemned Duryodhana exiling the Pandavas, as well as the Kauravas' general abuse towards the Pandavas. But being a servant of Hastinapura, Dronacharya was duty-bound to fight for the Kauravas, and thus against his favorite Pandavas. After the fall of Bhishma on the tenth day, he became the Chief Commander of the Kuru Army.

Duryodhana manages to convince Drona to try and end the war by capturing Yudhishthira. Though he killed hundreds and thousands of Pandava soldiers, Drona failed to capture Yudhishthira on days eleven and twelve of the war, as Arjuna was always there to repel his advances.

Abhimanyu's killing

On the 13th day of battle, Dronacharya formed the Chakravyuha strategy to capture Yudhishtira, knowing that only Arjuna and Krishna would know how to penetrate it. The Trigartas were distracting Arjuna and Krishna into another part of the battlefield, allowing the main Kuru army to surge through the Pandava ranks.

Unknown to many, Arjuna's young son Abhimanyu had the knowledge to penetrate the formation but didn't know the way out. At the request of Yudhishthira, Abhimanyu agreed to lead the way for the Pandava army and was able to penetrate the formation. However, he was trapped when Jayadratha, the king of Sindhu, held the Pandava warriors who were following him, at bay. Abhimanyu did not know how to get out of the Chakra Vyuham, but embarked upon an all-out attack on the Kuru army, killing tens of thousands of warriors single-handedly. Drona is impressed with Abhimanyu and praises him endlessly, earning the ire of Duryodhana. With his army facing decimation, and spurred on by Duryodhana's criticisms, Drona asked the Kaurava maharathis to simultaneously attack Abhimanyu, to strike down his horses and his charioteer and to disable his chariot from different angles. Left without support, Abhimanyu began fighting from the ground.Exhausted after his long, prodigious feats, Abhimanyu was eventually killed by Karna.

All this was the violation of the rules of war, whereby a lone warrior may not be attacked by more than one, and not at all if he is disabled or without chariot. Drona is heavily criticized for allowing this violation in his army.^[8]

Fourteenth Day

The devious murder of his son enraged Arjuna, who swore to kill Jayadratha the next day or immolate himself. Drona constructed 3 combined vyuhas to protect Jayadratha, first was the Shakata vyuha then was Padma Vyuha and last was the Srigantaka vyuh and at its rear was Jayadratha and stood at the head of the box formation or shakata vyuh

In the early part of the day, Arjuna and he duel, and Arjuna is unable to bypass his preceptor. With Krishna's prodding, Arjuna circumvents Drona and manages to kill Jayadratha. Jayadratha was given a boon by his father that for whoever causes his son's head to fall to the ground, would be reduced to ashes so Arjuna made sure he shot many arrows constantly causing Jayadratha's head to fly and fall on his meditating father's lap and on seeing the head he stood up and the head fell down causing the death of Jayadratha's father also. When Duryodhana rages at Drona, Drona replies and that he intends to capture Yudhishthira while Arjuna is away and would only hasten their victory.^[11]

In a notable battle, Drona attempts to capture Yudhishthira, and is stopped by Dhristadyumna. Drona severely wounds his friend's son, disarming him and forcing him to retreat. When he attempts to chase after Dhristadyumna, he is checked by Satyaki, who insults his teacher's teacher and issues a challenge. Their combat is described as fierce and despite being able to hold off Drona for several hours, Satyaki eventually tires and has to be rescued by the Upapandavas.^[11]

Later in the day, Yudhishthira sends Satyaki to aid Arjuna. When Satyaki comes upon Drona, he circumvents him, saying he must follow in his teacher's footsteps. When Yudhishthira later sends Bhima, Drona recounts what happened with Arjuna and Satyaki, and hence makes sure he doesn't allow Bhima also to circumvent him. Angrily rebuking him, Bhima shatters Drona's chariot with his mace. Drona takes up another chariot, only for Bhima to smash that one as well. In total, Bhima smashes eight of Drona's chariots.