In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya appreciating Arjuna for his astute expertise in bringing water for him to drink from beneath the ground. Training his guns towards Duryodhana for the n’th time now, Bhishmachaarya tries to make a comparison of Arjuna’s expertise with that of Duryodhana’s. He warns Duryodhana that if the war proceeds any further, more disasters are going to be in the anvil. Of course, the end-result of this warning is the same as usual – Duryodhana turns deaf ears to Bhishmachaarya’s words of wisdom and as all of them go back to their tents for the night, Karna comes alone to pay his respects to Bhishmachaarya. We’ve seen earlier that Bhishmachaarya and Karna are not in great terms with each other right from the beginning and this is reflected in the strategizing of the war as well. The “soft rule” within the two of them is that, at any given point in time, either one will only be present in the battlefield and one will not work under another! This is why when Bhishmachaarya was the Senapati till Day Ten of the war, Karna did not enter the battlefield even for a single moment.
Brushing aside all these, Karna now comes to see Bhishmachaarya. Upon seeing Bhishmachaarya in this state of affairs, Karna breaks down and bows under his feet. As Karna arrives, Bhishmachaarya straightaway says thus, “Oh Karna! You are someone who always thinks that I’m talking against you all the time! Under your impression, I’m somebody who is not a well-wisher for you. However, you’ve to know one thing clearly – It is only because I’m your well-wisher and your great grandfather, I tried to prevent you all the time to get into this disaster. Oh Karna! Please understand that I know your full life history. You are not a charioteer’s son (Raadheya) as everyone portrays you. Sage Vyaasa has already told me the truth behind you. You are Kunthi Devi’s son and you are part of the Paandava brothers. You are the eldest amongst the Paandavas, even elder than Yudishtra. However, the world doesn’t know this. Very few of us, including Bhagawan Krishna, know this. So Karna! You are a very good person with a noble heart. By talking harshly with you and by preventing you from coming to the battlefield, I only tried to protect you from getting into a disaster. You are not someone who has to be a scapegoat! Please understand – Duryodhana is using you to gain popularity and kingdom! By fighting the war on Duryodhana’s side, you may think that you’re doing a favor to your friend, but Duryodhana is someone who doesn’t deserve this! This is the reason why I tried my best to prevent you from entering the battlefield. Moreover, if at all you’ve to fight this war, you should be on Yudishtra’s side and that’s the right place for you biologically as well!”
Bhishmachaarya continues further thus, “Oh Karna! Sage Naarada has also told me this once – You are the divine son of Surya Bhagawan. You were born to Kunthi Devi with the divine “Anugraha” of Surya Bhagawan. You are someone who did not take birth because of a male-female relationship. You are a divine child. This is why I repeatedly kept telling you that you should not be in Duryodhana’s side. Instead, you should be on Yudishtra’s side and if Yudishtra comes to know this truth, he will readily accept you as his own elder brother. Oh Karna! Even now it is not too late! Please trudge towards Yudishtra and tell him all these things. He will definitely accept you. You are not an orphan like you think! You are the deserving son of Kunthi Devi and equally deserving as the Paandava brothers!”
As Bhishmachaarya says thus, tears roll down Karna’s eyes. Till that point, Karna wasn’t much aware about these aspects of his life. Of course we’ve seen earlier that Bhagawan Krishna tried to nudge Karna to bring him to the side of Yudishtra, but Bhagawan Krishna wasn’t so detailed in his accord about this truth when He negotiated with Karna. Hence, this is the first time that Karna is getting to know something about his past. So what is Karna’s reaction going to be? Is he going to pay heed to Bhishmachaarya’s words and switch sides, or, is he going to still honour Duryodhana’s friendship and fight for his cause? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 