In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the “Shalya Saarathyam”, wherein King Shalya is constantly demotivating Karna from advancing forward. Whenever Karna makes a stubborn pitch, King Shalya mocks him and pulls him down! This irks Karna beyond a point and gives it back to King Shalya. Karna replies back saying that by constantly demotivating him always, he is only trying to betray Duryodhana, who had entrusted him with the role of an able charioteer. Saying thus, Karna goes beyond his limits in starting to abuse King Shalya – He says that King Shalya’s Madra Desha is an extremely bad place with people of very bad character, and hence, what can be expected out of a king of such a bad territory! Thus, a fully-blown war of words erupts between Karna and King Shalya, as both of them hurt their respective egos!
As Karna abuses King Shalya, it is now time for King Shalya to return back the dues! He says thus, “Oh Karna! The way you’re abusing me and my territory exposes your complete incapability to achieve anything in life! I stand by my words – If Arjuna comes in front of you, you will not even be able to lift your bow in your hands! Anyway, now sit down! Let me narrate a story for you!” Saying thus, King Shalya continues thus, “Oh Karna! One day there was a crow, which was a pet for several people in the country. The crow was well-fed with all kinds of food items every passing day. That territory was full of people of the “Vaishya” community and they are extremely rich people. Hence, the standard of food that they consumed was of a very high level. Hence, the crow was fed with all sorts of food and drink that these people were having. As the crow is extremely healthy with a lot of high-quality food, the people who are feeding it everyday are also giving a lot of motivating talks! They say to the crow every day thus, “Oh my dear crow! Look how beautiful you are! You are the equivalent of a beautiful “Hamsa” (Swan) bird! Look at yourself in the mirror!”
As people say this to the crow every now and then, the crow eventually believes their words and thinks that it is extremely beautiful like several others. However, the reality is that it is black in colour and because of over-eating, it is not even able to fly for ten metres continuously! It has become extremely lazy! However, after a few months, there are a few real “Hamsa” birds that pass by that area. Upon seeing these “Hamsa” birds flying past, the crow meets them and says thus, “Oh Hamsa birds! Look at me! See how beautiful I am! I’m also like all of you in terms of colour, body structure, etc.!” As the “Hamsa” birds listen to this, their ego gets hurt! They immediately reply back thus, “Oh black crow! How can you even imagine in your wildest dreams that you are as beautiful as us? Have you even seen yourself once in front of the mirror? Do you know how black you are and do you see how white we are in colour? In spite of this, how do you even proclaim that you are as beautiful as us? Oh crow! Can you even compare the mobility that we have and the one that you have? We are currently coming from the mountain ranges of Maanasarovar amidst the Himalayas! We are on a mission to go around the entire world and come back to the same Maanasarovar mountains. Can you even imagine what we’re doing? Can you even fly for ten metres at a stretch? So how can you even compare yourself with us?”
Upon hearing this accord from the “Hamsa” birds, the crow replies back cleverly thus, “Oh Hamsa birds! Fine! I’m not like you! I agree! However, now let me change the narrative a bit – You are like me! :)” As the crow cleverly says thus, the Hamsa birds are surprised! They look up and down at the crow and reply back thus, “Oh crow! How can you even say this? Tell me one feature that resembles between you and us! You are completely a different breed of a bird, and we are totally different! We don’t even understand why you are making such weird comparisons!” As the Hamsa birds tell thus, the crow replies back – “Oh Hamsa birds! You’re not understanding my significance and hence you’re talking like this! You’ve not seen what my capability is! I can fly straight! I can fly in the reverse direction! I can fly in a circular format! I can fly upside down! I can fly vertically upwards towards the sky! I can similarly fly vertically downwards towards the ground! I’m extremely flexible with my physical body and my wings!”
Upon hearing this interesting accord from the crow, the Hamsa birds were astonished! This crow has been bestowed with a very nice art of speech and communication! 🙂 One of the Hamsa birds thought that this is the time for making the crow prove its arguments in real! Hence, the Hamsa bird wanted the crow to come for a competition! Accordingly, the Hamsa bird started to fly high in the air and slowly entered into the sea! It was flying for a long distance into the ocean waters! Now this is the time for the crow to prove all what it had proclaimed! It tries to fly vertically, horizontally, upwards, circularly, downwards, etc.! However, when the Hamsa bird flies into the ocean, the crow starts trembling with fear! If the crow becomes tired after flying for a while, where will it land and rest amidst the water? Thus, after a while, the crow accepts its limitations and seeks the Hamsa’s help to save itself from the ocean waters! Having compassion towards the crow thus, the Hamsa bird safely brings back the crow to the land!
Upon saying all this, King Shalya finally concludes thus, “Oh Karna! You are like this crow! 🙂 You are only good at proclaiming things, but when it comes to reality, you cannot do anything!” The moment King Shalya sarcastically mocks with the help of this story, Karna’s ego is extremely hurt and he starts fuming with anger! So what does Karna do next? Let us wait and witness in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 