by Kotru, Umesh
Although the book is a fictionalised version of the lives and deeds of the various Mahabharata characters, we have endeavoured to keep it as close to the text as possible. But essentially this is our homage to Karna, whom we believe to be the real hero of Mahabharata since our respective childhoods, which happen to be a generation apart. We only hope that we succeed, at least in some measure, in portraying the wonderfully nuanced life story of this great tragic protagonist of India’s Great Epic.
Prologue
The flames of the fire in the Yajna Mandapa seemed to touch the sky. Under the influence of the powerful mantras recited by the Ritviks carefully selected by king of Hastinapura, Janamejaya, all snakes were getting drawn towards the raging fire of the Yajna. They arrived in droves and jumped into the fire to meet their own destruction. The burning flesh of the myriad serpents caused a terrible stench and smoke to spread in all directions. Even Vasuki, the king of snakes, could not resist the call of the powerful mantras. Sensing his approaching doom, Vasuki scrambled to his sister in a state of panic. Addressing his sister Jaratkaru he said, “Dear Sister, the time for fulfilling the life’s purpose of your son Astika has arrived. According to the boon granted by Lord Brahma to your son, he is the only one who can stop the Yajna Janamejaya is conducting for the destruction of snakes. Even though he is still a boy, he is well versed in the Vedas and is capable of fulfilling this task. I request you to call him in your presence and instruct him to proceed on this mission.”
Without wasting any time, Jaratkaru did what she was told by Vasuki. Before leaving for the venue of the Yajna, Astika asked, “Mother, why is Janamejaya conducting this sacrifice?” The innocent question of her son seemed to take Jaratkaru into the past. However, after a brief rumination, she was called back to the present by the gentle prodding of her inquisitive son. She took a deep breath and began the story.
“It all started with King Parikshit, grandson of the Pandava hero Arjuna. He was passionate about hunting and on one of those hunting expeditions he injured a deer which escaped into the jungle. Parikshit went after the deer deep into the jungle; but many hours of relentless pursuit brought no success. The King continued the search, which brought him to the doorstep of Maharishi Shamika’s ashram. The King enquired from the sage the whereabouts of the injured deer. On account of having taken a vow of silence (maunavrata), the Rishi did not respond despite repeated queries by the King.
“This seemingly deliberate silence of the Rishi, coupled with the stress on account of fatigue and hunger made the king mad with anger. Having lost his sense of discrimination, King Parikshit committed a grave act of disrespect towards the revered Rishi. He picked up a dead snake lying nearby with the tip of his bow and placed it on the shoulder of the Rishi before returning to his palace. The Rishi remained calm in spite of this humiliation.
“Maharishi Shamika had a son named Shringi, who was virtuous like his illustrious father, but was of a rather acerbic disposition. When he learnt about this incident from another member of the hermitage, Rishi Shringi lost his temper, particularly at the fact that the grievous act was committed by the king without any fault on the part of his saintly father. In a fit of rage he pronounced a sinister curse that the king will die in seven days time from the venomous bite of the serpent Takshaka. When Maharishi Shamika came to know about the King being cursed by his son, he immediately dispatched one of his disciples to warn the King.
“When the fateful day arrived, Takshaka started for the palace of King Parikshit with the intent to kill him. On the way he met a priest from the Kashyapa dynasty hurriedly walking in the same direction. The disguised Takshaka casually enquired from the priest as to where he was heading. The priest responded that he intended to visit the palace of King Parikshit with the objective of obtaining vast amounts of wealth from the king in return for saving his life on the strength of a potent mantra that could neutralize the venom of any snake. Takshaka’s ego was hurt at this claim of an antidote to his poison. Thereupon, taking his real form he challenged the Kashyapa to prove his point. Takshaka bit into a nearby large tree which, under the influence of the venom wilted and burned down to ashes.
“The Kashyapa immediately chanted the mantra and the tree soon recovered its original form. Seeing this, Takshaka felt humiliated and to avoid being shamed further and save his reputation as a venomous snake, he offered huge amounts of wealth to the priest and so managed to turn him back. Thus having overcome this obstacle, Takshaka managed to sneak into the palace of King Parikshit by reducing his size and hiding in a fruit basket, which was being carried for consumption by the King, and thereby the vengeful serpent reached the king. Takshaka lost no time in accomplishing his task. He bit the king and succeeded in killing him.
“However, it so happened that the entire conversation between Takshaka and the Kashyapa, including the burning of the tree, had been witnessed by a woodcutter who at that time was on the upper branch of the same tree and got killed and revived with the tree. He went and related the whole sequence in graphic detail to the king’s ministers, who in turn conveyed this message to Janamejaya, the now-enthroned son of King Parikshit.
“Janamejaya had gone through days of depression and melancholy, struggling to come to terms with his father’s untimely death. He could understand Rishi Shringi’s curse and Takshaka’s role in it but what he could not fathom was the reason why Takshaka would go to such an extent so as to prevent someone from reviving Parikshit once dead. Finally Janamejaya emerged from his solitude. His eyes displayed a renewed sense of purpose; to find Takshaka and kill him. He was advised by his priests and ministers to conduct a snake sacrifice Yajna called Sarpasatra.”
In the light of what his mother narrated to him, Astika understood the chain of events and what he was expected to do. He arrived at Janamejaya’s Yajna but was not allowed inside as it had been prophesied that an intruder would thwart the Yajna; as such, nobody was allowed inside the Mandapa. Astika started praising the Yajna from outside in a loud and sonorous voice. He compared the Yajna with other great Yajnas conducted in the past and declared that Janamejaya’s Yajna was among the all time great ones, like the Ashvamedha Yajna performed by Lord Rama. He also praised Janamejaya for his values and principles.
Hearing all this from Astika, Janamejaya was very pleased. He, therefore, decided to offer a boon to Astika. However, one of his Ritviks stopped Janamejaya from doing so, stating that the main purpose of the Yajna had not been achieved yet as Takshaka was still alive. Janamejaya was informed that Takshaka had fled to the palace of his friend Indra, and taken refuge under his throne. Janamejaya requested his Ritviks to invoke such mantras which would force both Indra and Takshaka to arrive at the place together, which they did.
Takshaka was hiding in the clothes of Indra, forcing angry Janamejaya again to ask his Ritviks to invoke mantras that would make both Takshaka and Indra fall into the fire of the Yajna. Seeing this, Indra got terrified and fled back to his palace, leaving Takshaka in an exposed and vulnerable position. The Ritviks began reciting mantras which started pulling helpless Takshaka towards the fire. At the same time, they started congratulating Janamejaya as the conclusion of the Yajna was about to be reached with the imminent death of Takshaka. It was now time for Janamejaya to grant a boon to Astika as he wished.
Janamejaya turned towards Astika and asked him to spell out his wish, promising the same would be granted. Seizing this opportunity, Astika told Janamejaya that he wanted the Yajna to be stopped immediately so that Takshaka and the remaining snakes could be saved. Janamejaya was taken aback at this and urged Astika to ask for something else, such as an immense amount of wealth. Janamejaya tried a lot to persuade Astika to change his mind but with no effect. While this discussion was going on between Janamejaya and Astika, the latter, using his Yogic power managed to keep Takshaka poised at one place, thereby preventing him from plunging into the fire of the Yajna under the influence of the powerful mantras being recited by the Ritviks. Ultimately Janamejaya had to relent
and the Yajna had to be stopped, leading to the snake species being saved from total extermination.
Just when the Yajna was thus prematurely concluded, Maharishi Vyasa along with a large retinue of his disciples arrived at the scene. After receiving Maharishi Vyasa with full reverence and offering a proper seat to him, Janamejaya requested him to recite the story of his ancestors (belonging to the Puru Dynasty) as contained in the Mahabharata composed by Maharishi Vyasa himself. Maharishi Vyasa informed Janamejaya that he had narrated the entire story to one of his chief disciples Vaishampayana and since he himself was getting old, he would like Vaishampayana to narrate the story to all while Vyasa himself would also listen in. Vaishampayana obeyed the instruction from his guru and started narrating the story to the entire gathering.
Vaishampayana began by providing details about evolution itself and informed the gathering about how various Devas, Asuras, Humans, Animals and other living beings were created. Before proceeding with narrating the entire story of Mahabharata in detail, he provided details about the Puru dynasty, also called the Puruvamsha, to Janamejaya. Addressing him he said, “O King, Puru, from whom your dynasty got its name was the son of Yayati from his second wife Sharmishtha. Yayati himself was a progeny of Daksha, one of the mind-born sons (Manasputra) of Lord Brahma. Much later in the same lineage there was a great king called Shantanu.”
Vaishampayana further explained, “Shantanu got married to Ganga and had eight sons from her, youngest of them being Devavrata. Subsequently Shantanu fell madly in love with Satyavati, who was a fisherman’s daughter. He wanted to marry her, but could not proceed further because of the unacceptable condition put forth by her father, which was that only her son would ascend the throne. When Devavrata heard about this condition, he took a vow that he will never marry or ascend the throne of Hastinapura, which enabled Shantanu to marry Satyavati. Because of these terrible (bheeshana) vows, he came to be known by the appellation, Bhishma, and was also blessed by his grateful father with the unique power to choose the time of his own death. Shantanu had two other sons with Satyavati, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Chitrangada died in a battle and Vichitravirya became the king. He had two wives Ambika and Ambalika. He also died before he could have any sons. Before her marriage to Shantanu, Satyavati had a son from Maharishi Parashara, who left for intense penance and promised his mother that he would present himself before her whenever she needed him. This son of Satyavati is none other than Maharishi Vyasa himself.”
Vaishampayana continued, “Consequent to the untimely death of her sons from Shantanu, Satyavati, after consulting the celibate Bhishma, asked her eldest son Maharishi Vyasa to beget sons from the wives of Vichitravirya, consistent with the ancient custom of Niyoga. Thus Maharishi Vyasa sired Dhritarashtra through Ambika; Pandu through Ambalika; and Vidura through a maidservant of Ambika. Dhritarashtra had hundred sons and a daughter from Gandhari and another son named Yuyutsu from a palace courtesan. Dhritarashtra’s children came to be known as Kauravas. Since Dhritarashtra was born blind, Pandu was crowned as the King.
“During her stay in her father’s palace before getting married to Pandu, Kunti had served Maharishi Durvasa with great dedication. Maharishi Durvasa, being very pleased with Kunti’s ministrations, granted her a powerful mantra through the use of which she could have a son from any of the Devatas. Her youthful curiosity led her to test the mantra on the sun-god Surya, resulting in her becoming an unwed mother of a handsome boy, who later came to be known as Karna. Besides being a very good king, Maharaja Pandu had a great passion for hunting. It was during one of his hunting expeditions that he inadvertently killed a Rishi who was in an intimate position with his wife. Before breathing his last, the Rishi cursed Pandu that he will die in a similar way if he ever tried to get intimate with any woman. By way of repentance for having killed a Rishi, Pandu gave up his kingdom in favour of his brother Dhritarashtra and retired to the forest, along with his two wives Kunti and Madri.
“The fact that he could not have children on account of the curse tormented Pandu, which reflected in his behaviour. Realising this inner turmoil Pandu was going through, Kunti informed him about the mantra she had received from Maharishi Durvasa. Therefore, to prevent the termination of the dynasty, Pandu asked Kunti to have sons from the deities Dharma, Vayu and Indra by the use of the mantra. Accordingly Yudhishthira, Bhimasena and Arjuna were born from Dharma, Vayu and Indra respectively. At Pandu’s behest, Kunti also passed on the mantra to Madri who invoked the Ashvini Kumaras, resulting in the birth of Nakula and Sahadeva.
One day after a long time, Pandu became passionate on seeing Madri and tried to be intimate with her despite her protests. Even Madri’s reminding him about the Rishi’s curse had no effect on him and, as a result he died. Madri blamed herself for the death of Pandu and sought death for herself by ascending the funeral pyre of her husband. Thereafter Kunti returned to Hastinapura with her sons and handed them over to the care of Bhishma, Vidura and the King Dhritarashtra. These five sons came to be known as the Pandavas. The Kauravas led by Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhritarashtra, never liked the Pandavas’ return to Hastinapura, and thus began a saga of intrigues which culminated in the great war of the Mahabharata.”
After recounting these details to King Janamejaya about his own ancestors, Vaishampayana continued narrating the entire story of Mahabharata to him and others who had gathered there during the Yajna.
The narration also brought out the whole fabulous story of how Karna, despite being the eldest Pandava by birth, landed in the lap of a charioteer of King Dhritarashtra and how the fascinating journey of his life – studded with tragedies, acts of extreme valour, sacrifices and unparalleled charities – came to an end in the war of Mahabharata.
Chapter-1
Birth of Karna
The two principal dynasties of that time were the Yadavas and the Purus. While the Yadavas descended from Yadu, one of the sons of Yayati by his first wife Devayani, the Purus descended from Puru, one of the sons of Yayati by his second wife, Sharmishtha.
Shurasena was one of the great kings in the Yadava dynasty. He fathered two children Pritha and Vasudeva (father of Sri Krishna). Shurasena’s aunt had a son named Kuntibhoja who did not have any children. Shurasena had, therefore, promised his aunt that he would allow Kuntibhoja to adopt his first child. Pritha being the first born, was given away to Kuntibhoja right after her birth, which is why she also came to be known as Kunti. King Kuntibhoja took great care of his adopted daughter and pampered her with all kinds of comforts that a king can provide to his daughter. Several Brahmins and Rishis would visit King Kuntibhoja’s palace and they would be taken good care of by the king and his daughter Kunti.
One day the awe-inspiring Maharishi Durvasa visited the palace of Kuntibhoja. He stayed there for almost a year. During his stay Kunti was given the responsibility of attending to his needs. Kunti served the Maharishi with great reverence without caring for her own comfort. Serving the mercurial Maharishi included attending to his eccentricities which included his vanishing acts and returning to the palace at odd hours. It was a well known fact that Maharishi Durvasa had a huge retinue of disciples, who went along wherever he chose to wander. Then there was the question of performance of elaborate austerities and other rituals for which the host had to make arrangements and be careful not to annoy the temperamental Maharishi. The sage was ever on a short fuse and given to pronouncing curses at the slightest provocation – propensities that made the task of attending on him a proposition dicey enough to keep any host on tenterhooks! The added problem was that he never gave advance notice of his movement in and out of Kuntibhoja’s palace. In this context and much to his astonishment, he always found Kunti rising to the occasion and ready to serve him at any odd time of day or night. The Mahabharata gives us no clue as to whether Maharishi Durvasa was actually testing the resolve and spirit of service on the part of Kunti or he expected every host to behave in like fashion. Even if he was testing Kunti he found no flaw in her
dedication to duty and quality of service. This recurrent theme of Kunti’s selfless service and the Maharishi’s antics continued till he decided to leave after a year’s stay at the palace.
Before his departure Maharishi Durvasa sent for King Kuntibhoja and addressed him thus: “Rajan, it has been almost a year for me to have enjoyed your hospitality. It is now time for me to move on and that is the reason for my summoning you here.” On hearing this, the King turned pale, fearing that some lapse in hospitality might have caused annoyance to the finicky sage. The mere thought of any such breach of protocol made him tremble with fear and he fell at the feet of Maharishi Durvasa, begging his forgiveness. At this the Maharishi had a hearty laugh and picked him up with the assurance that the King need not harbour any such apprehensions as he was more than happy and satisfied with King Kuntibhoja’s hospitality for the last one year. He said, “You should be aware that I rarely stay at one place for more than a few days; but in your case I made an exception primarily because of the services rendered by you and your daughter Kunti. Therefore, fear not; you have rightfully earned my blessings. In fact, I take this opportunity to thank you for everything you and Kunti have done for me during my long stay in your palace. Let me also inform you that I shall be leaving for my onward journey the day after tomorrow in the morning.”
After this King Kuntibhoja left the chamber of the Maharishi a very satisfied man and free of any worry. He lost no time in summoning Kunti to his private quarters and besides informing her about Maharishi Durvasa’s programme, asked her to ensure that the hospitality extended during the revered Maharishi’s remaining sojourn in the palace was free from any blemishes. To this Kunti replied: “Father, let me assure you that Dhatri and I will ensure that the Maharishi leaves our Kingdom a very satisfied man.” Kunti sent for Dhatri, her principal maid and close confidant and told her everything she had learnt from her father about Maharishi Durvasa. With that Kunti and Dhatri set about making arrangements for Maharishi Durvasa’s departure. The next morning Maharishi Durvasa called Kunti to his chambers and said, “Dear Rajkumari, by now you must be aware that I am leaving your palace tomorrow.” With folded hands Kunti replied in the affirmative. The Maharishi continued, “I have wandered all over the Bharatavarsha, met many people, seen many places; but never have I been more satisfied than here with the hospitality and that is because of you. I bless you.” At these words Kunti blushed and replied, “Maharishi, I am privileged and honoured but I don’t think that I deserve such high praise from a revered sage like you. It was my duty and part of my samskara (innate nature) to serve an honoured guest of your holy status.“ Maharishi Durvasa was highly impressed with these words of the princess. He replied, “Dear Rajkumari, as a token of my appreciation, please ask for a boon from me which I shall be too pleased to give.” Kunti said, “Maharishi, I am aware that there is nothing beyond your reach in this world which you cannot provide me; but my samskaras prevent me from expecting any reward for my services. Your satisfaction and blessings are the best reward I could have hoped for. I don’t want to trivialize the sacred services rendered to you by accepting any boon for my work which, otherwise, I consider as my solemn duty and in performance of which I derived tremendous pleasure and satisfaction.” After uttering these words, Kunti paid her obeisance to the Maharishi and left his presence, leaving him to marvel at this exceptional quality of selflessness on the part of the young princess – a quality the kind of which he had not previously seen in a worldly person. He simply was not used to this kind of behaviour from anybody. One part of him felt somewhat affronted at this rejection of his offer, while the other part felt highly impressed. He wrestled with these conflicting emotions for some time, but his irresolution about Kunti’s behaviour did not leave him. Sometimes he felt like cursing her, the art in which he was quite adept, but memories of the unstinted ministrations rendered by Kunti dictated the very opposite. Finally he had to resort to his yogic powers to resolve his uncertainty. While reading the future, the clairvoyant seer visualized that Kunti and the future of Bharatavarsha were intertwined to the extent that she was destined to play a stellar role in the history of the great land. He felt relieved at this yogic revelation and slept peacefully for the last time in the palace of King Kuntibhoja.