In the previous episode, we had witnessed Karna committing one of the most important blunders in his life by rejecting Bhagawan Krishna’s offer of switching sides to fight for the cause of “Dharma”. If Bhagawan Himself is calling Karna towards Him, what stopped Karna from going behind Bhagawan? On one hand, we witnessed Karna’s stance that if he switches sides at this crucial stage, it would be nothing less than opportunism. However, on the other hand, if Bhagawan Himself is calling, what is the relevance of opportunism here? This is where, even all of us make a mistake – As ardent devotees of Bhagawan Krishna, all of us should ask this question within ourselves – If Bhagawan comes up to us and gives an offer thus, “Oh my dear child! I’m very impressed with the way you’ve prayed to me and with the way you’ve served my other Bhaktas in this world! I’m wanting to take you with me and grant you the highest “Moksha” thereby! Are you ready to come with me now itself?”
If Bhagawan gives such an offer to us, what should ideally be our reaction? We should just follow His footsteps and proceed along with Him, isn’t it? But instead, what would be our reaction? Will we be totally ready to throw everything and come behind Bhagawan? The answer to this question is a definite “No” in most of our cases! So what will our answer to Bhagawan be? We would say thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Thank you for the offer! But we’re not ready to come with you at this moment! I’ve to earn more money! I’ve to take care of my family – Fund my child’s education, take care of my wife / husband and ensure that my health and their health conditions are stable! Moreover, I want to buy a lot of things which I desire and I want to visit more places where I would want to go! I want to consume some tasty food items….!” The list will go on and on, isn’t it? Hence, the real question here is that, are we prepared to leave behind all our worldly attachments and go behind Bhagawan with an empty hand, trusting that He would take care of us in all ways possible? This is called complete surrender (“Sharanagati”)! Vibhishana had this “Sharanagati” in him, and hence he left behind his luxurious life at Sri Lanka to come to Bhagawan Rama empty-handed! But in this context, is Karna ready to sacrifice his luxurious life as a king of Anga Desha and come to Bhagawan Krishna’s side?
We’ve to understand one thing clearly here – Karna might say that he doesn’t want to be an opportunist by ditching Duryodhana, but the real fact here is that, if Karna has to switch sides, he would lose the stature of a king. Or, he doesn’t know whether he would be allowed to continue as a king by Yudishtra. This is the innermost fear that Karna had in him, and this manifested through different reasons for not willing to switch sides! Thus, the desire to hold on to the throne, come what may, is going to pave the downfall for Karna in a lot of ways. Hence, rather than celebrating his ego and false prestige, if Karna would have switched sides, the entire equation of the war could have changed in a lot of ways – Maybe Duryodhana might have lost confidence in fighting the war without Karna’s presence, and probably his mindset could have changed for good! Maybe Duryodhana could have acceded to Bhagawan Krishna’s demand in the Hastinapura courtroom of giving atleast five villages to the Paandava brothers. It is only because of the confidence that Karna gave him, Duryodhana was totally reluctant to fall in line with Yudishtra’s expectations!
So for today, let us understand this point clearly and let us wait till the next episode to move on from here. Stay tuned for the next interesting accord wherein Bhagawan Krishna is going to meet the next important person! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 