Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata Read online

  Once again, Krishna came to Arjuna’s rescue. ‘You can kill yourself physically by harming your body or intellectually by praising yourself. For when a man praises himself, it is intellectual suicide.’

  So Arjuna decided to kill himself intellectually. He praised himself as the greatest of archers. And having embarrassed himself so, he thanked Krishna for finding clever ways to overpower awkward situations.

  Arjuna then apologized to his brother. Yudhishtira apologized too. Both realized they were overreacting to the situation. ‘Let us forget this ugly event. Let us focus on our duty. Let us restore justice. Let us kill Karna,’ they said. All issues resolved, the brothers returned to the battlefield ready to fight once more.

  As the war progresses, stress takes it toll. Vyasa describes many arguments in both battle camps. Karna and Shalya abuse each other until Duryodhana intervenes. Satyaki argues with Dhrishtadyumna forcing Bhima to restrain both parties. Karna argues with Kripa and comes to blows with Ashwatthama.

  This episode reveals Krishna’s ability to twist and turn the rules by looking at them from various angles. Here he divides the human body into physical, emotional and intellectual components and prescribes ways of killing each of these bodies. Insulting the other destroys the other’s emotional body; praising oneself destroys one’s intellectual body.

  87

  Wheel of Karna’s chariot

  On the seventeenth day, all energies of the Pandava camp were directed against Karna. Arjuna shot dead Karna’s son, Vrishasena, hoping to make Karna feel the pain he experienced when Abhimanyu was killed. Other sons of Karna were also killed by other Pandava warriors. Karna refused to mourn for his sons; he continued battling, determined to do his duty, help his friend, and kill that one brother of his, the one who taunted him all his life, the one who he was determined to hate—Arjuna.

  At long last, Karna came face to face with Arjuna. With his arrows, Arjuna was able to create a force that pushed Karna’s chariot back a hundred yards. Karna’s arrow was able to push Arjuna’s chariot barely ten yards and yet every time Karna did so, Krishna praised him ecstatically.

  An envious Arjuna asked, ‘But why do you shower him with praises when I push his chariot back by a hundred yards while he pushes mine barely ten yards?’

  Krishna replied, ‘Look carefully, Arjuna. On Karna’s chariot stand two men. But on your chariot sit Nara and Narayana and on your banner sits Hanuman. Surely pushing his chariot is easier than yours.’

  Karna shot arrow after arrow at Arjuna. At one point a serpent entered his quiver. This was the Naga Ashwasena whose family had been killed by Arjuna when he set ablaze Khandava-prastha. Arjuna’s arrows had pierced his mother but he had survived, for he was then still in her womb. He was determined to avenge the killing of his family so he turned himself into an arrow in Karna’s quiver. Karna mounted this arrow and shot it at Arjuna. Realizing that this was no ordinary arrow, Krishna pressed his feet against the floor of the chariot causing it to sink to the ground. As a result, the arrow, which could have split Arjuna’s head, struck and split Arjuna’s crown. Arjuna was taken by surprise, as his beautiful crown fell to the ground. He wondered who was the greater archer—he or Karna? ‘It is not so much the archer as much as it was the arrow that caused your crown to fall,’ said Krishna reassuringly.

  The Naga Ashwasena then ran to Karna and told him to shoot him again. Karna did not recognize the serpent. When he learnt that the serpent had taken the shape of his previous arrow, Karna said, ‘It is beneath my stature as warrior to shoot the same arrow twice. Find some other way to avenge your family. I do not need a Naga’s help to kill Arjuna.’

  Rejected by Karna, Ashwasena rushed towards Arjuna to kill him on his own. But he was no match for the great archer and was killed by a single dart. Arjuna, his crown shattered, tied a white cloth around his head and resumed his battle with Karna.

  The duel between Karna and Arjuna continued all day until just before the sun was about to set, Karna’s chariot wheel got stuck in the ground. At that moment, Karna knew he would soon die.

  Long ago, Karna had incurred the wrath of Bhoo-devi, the earth goddess. He had come across a little girl who was crying as she had dropped her glass of milk on the ground. To make her happy, Karna collected the milk-soaked soil and squeezed the milk back into the glass. This cheered the little girl but Bhoo-devi was not amused. She cursed Karna that she would one day squeeze him just as he had squeezed milk out of her. And on that day, Karna would surely die.

  Parashurama, Karna’s guru, had taught Karna a magical formula that could make a chariot pull itself out from the earth. Karna could not remember this formula no matter how hard he tried. He then remembered the curse of his guru: ‘Because you duped me into teaching you, you will forget what I taught you the day you need it most.’

  Karna asked Shalya to release the chariot wheel. Shalya refused saying that as a king he had never done such a chore. So Karna had no choice but to get down from the chariot and release the wheel himself. This was certain death for he would have to, in front of his enemy, lower his weapons and turn his back. ‘It is against the rule of war to strike an unarmed man in battle,’ said Karna before getting down to the task of releasing the wheel.

  As soon as his back was turned, Krishna told Arjuna, ‘Shoot him. This is your only chance.’ Arjuna hesitated, knowing that it was dishonourable to kill an unarmed, helpless man. To force Arjuna to action, Krishna taunted, ‘He is surely not as helpless as Draupadi was when they disrobed her in public.’ Thus reminded of that fateful day, Arjuna released his arrow which ripped through Karna’s heart.

  That day, it is said, the sun set faster to mourn for his son. Far away, in the Pandava battle camp, Kunti wept for her eldest son, the son she could never publicly acknowledge. The charioteers of the Pandava army and the charioteers of the Kaurava army, all stopped to mourn for that son of a charioteer who belonged nowhere. Duryodhana was inconsolable in his grief. Karna was dearer to him than his own brothers. He, who had not wept at the fall of Bhishma and Drona, broke down when he heard that his dear friend was no more. Even the death of his son was not as painful as the death of Karna. Suddenly, victory had no meaning. What was victory without Karna by his side?

  The story of Ashwasena reminds us how Arjuna’s past deeds return to haunt him in the battlefield. He is saved because of Krishna. But his descendant Parikshit is not so lucky for the Naga Takshaka succeeds where the Naga Ashwasena did not.

  Karna realizes the folly of having a king as charioteer when Shalya refuses to pull out the wheel claiming it to be beneath his royal dignity. Thus a decision taken to please the ego turns out to be dear in the long run.

  It is ironical that Karna seeks to disown his charioteer legacy, and become a warrior, while Krishna embraces his role of charioteer whole-heartedly, refusing to become a warrior in Kuru-kshetra.

  When Vishnu took the form of Ram, he took the side of Sugriva, son of Surya, and killed Vali, the son of Indra. As Krishna, Vishnu clearly sides with Arjuna, the son of Indra, against Karna, the son of Surya. Both Vali in the Ramayana and Karna in the Mahabharata are shot in the back. Thus balance is achieved across two lifetimes.

  Just before Karna was about to die, Krishna came to him disguised as a priest and asked him to give him some gold. A dying Karna broke his jaw and gave his teeth to Krishna, saying his teeth were covered with gold caps. Thus till his dying breath, Karna remained daan-veer, the great hero of charity.

  In Yakshagana, the bards say that in their previous life, Arjuna and Krishna were Nara and Narayana and they were called upon by the Devas to destroy an Asura who was blessed with a thousand impenetrable armours. To destroy each armour, one had to gather the strength of a thousand years of tapasya. It took another thousand years of fighting to actually break the armour. Nara and Narayana came up with a plan. While Nar meditated Narayana fought, and while Narayana meditated Nar fought. Thus, together they were able to destroy 999 armours of the demon. Before Nar could destro