Karna -1

I have tried to write this post a couple of times in the past. Everytime I sit down to write, something happens and I discard the draft. So here is my third attempt....

The one story that makes me sad everytime I read is the story of Karna. He had such good luck but everytime lady luck smiled at him something went wrong.

Karna was the son of the Sun God and Kunti. He was born with a kavacha (divine armour) and kundala (divine earings). These made him immortal. He looked bright and handsome as the Sun God himself. But his mother, Kunti abandoned him to save herself from infamy. She set Karna afloat in a wooden box on the Ganga. This was the beginning of his cursed life.

The box with the child was found by Athiratha, a charioteer. Athiratha and his wife, Radha did not have any children of their own. They were more than happy to find this infant. They named the child Radheya. When Radheya was sixteen, he decided that he did not want to become a charioteer. He wanted to learn archery. He told his mother, Radha, about his desire. Radha then revealed to him that, he was not her son. She gave him permission to leave and go on his quest in search of knowledge in archery.

Radheya met many rishis and experts in archery. But no one was willing to teach a suthputra (Athiratha was born of a brahmin and kshatriya so was a suth) archery. Finally, Radheya met Bhargava (Parasurama) and fell at his feet and begged him to teach him archery. Radheya told Bhargava that he was a brahmin, a lie that would cost him his life.

Bhargava was very fond of Radheya and taught him everything he knew. One day Radheya was attending to Bhargava. It was noon time and it was hot. Bhargava felt tired and wanted to rest. Radheya offered his lap for his guru to lie down on. Bhargava was pleased and accepted it. Just as Bhargava went into deep sleep, an insect bit Radheya. The bite was so deep that the pain was immense and blood gushed out. Radheya bore the pain so as to not wake his guru up. But, the blood that flowed out, reached Bhargava's ear and woke him up.

Bhargava was shocked to see what happened. Immediately he realized that Radheya had lied to him. Only a kshatriya could bear the pain that Radheya bore. He pronounced a curse of Radheya that when the most important moment of his life came, Radheya would forget all that his guru taught him.

Radheya was distraught. He bowed silently and went away. Cursed by his guru, he had nothing left in this world. Misfortunes don't come single. As Radheya walked on the banks of Ganga thinking about what happened, something flashed in front of his eyes. He thought it was a deer and shot an arrow. When he went near he saw that he had killed a brahmin's cow. The brahmin immediately cursed Radheya, that when he will fight the most important battle in his life, the wheel of his chariot would get stuck in the earth and at that time he will lose his life.

Radheya could not help the curses. He felt that he was at the mercy of Fate. Fate is more powerful that anything in this world...