Have you heard the story of Karna, the great warrior in Mahabharata?
He is the son of Sun-God Surya & princess Pritha , also known as Kunti. He was born to Kunti before her marriage to
King Pandu. Afraid of being an unwed mother she places him in a basket and set
him afloat in the river. He was found by Adiratha, a charioteer in Hastinapur.
Adiratha and Radha brought up the boy as their own son and named him Vasusena.
He was also called Radheya.
This was to brief about him. But something about Karna’s
life always disturbs me, should I call it sympathy? His life clearly depicts the role of destiny.
No matter how good or bad, righteous or unrighteous you are, whatever is destined
has to happen. I am a firm believer in
destiny.
Karna was very courageous and generous. And he has always
been admired for that. His generosity was a mark of his acceptance to minus the
unrighteous deeds he will have to support. His generosity / charity helped him
pacify his mind for all the wrong.
Duryodhana’s friendship with Karna is always talked about because when everybody disowned him and
even insulted Karna, Duryodhan stood by him not only by considering him as an
equal but also by bestowing him a rajya for his capabilities in the great
mythology Mahabharata. But
I seldom think whether Karna ever realized Duryodhana’s friendship towards him
was also bound to the enmity with the Pandavas.
Was Duryodhana a true friend?
So the thought crosses my mind, was Karna happy in his life?
He is supposed to be a Prince, brought up as a common man’s son. Dronacharya refuses to take him as his
student for not being a Kshatriya. He
gets trained under Parashurama. He is cursed to forget all the knowledge required to wield the
divine weapon Brahmastra, at the moment of his greatest need. Karna never knew till before the Kurukshetra
war about his identity. Not knowing one’s identity in itself is such a pain. He
was a Kshatriya and a Brahmin but insulted at different phases of life because
it was unknown to anyone except Kunti.
Karna was also cursed that his chariot
wheels would get stuck in the ground in the battlefield. I don’t recall the
exact story for this curse.
At the war Karna was not allowed to enter the battlefield by
Bhishma until he was put down. Why, because Bhishma knew about his lineage. And how can anyone defeat the Pandavas when
the Lord himself is with them. Right
when the truth unfolds he promises to Kunti that she would still have 5 sons at
the end of the Kurukshetra war.
And even at his last moments the Divine lord in the disguise
of Brahmin asks Karna for his Dharma in the form of charity. And since he was
bound to give whatever is asked for. He does so. But the ultimate blessing is
when after all the pain & dejections, he gets to see the Lord in his Universal form.
People might say what more does one want if he gets to
see the Lord. True nothing can beat it. But come to think of it what was Karna’s
fault for his hidden identity. Unknown to his identity still he takes
all efforts and trains to be the best Archer & a great warrior, but falls
prey to wrong people. The one big
mistake he did was to accept Duryodhana’s friendship. It is to say, a decision taken in a weak
moment can decide a person’s future. So standby think. It may take a while but
at-least there can be some rightness in it.
Karna’s life always
makes me realize that nothing is truer than destiny. A famous quote that says ‘We
are not permitted to choose the frame of our Destiny, but what we put into it
is ours.’ So true! Amen!
