The Truth
The preparations for battle were beginning to take form. It was only days away from the dreaded battle between Karna and the Pandavas. Tension filled the air as the warriors prepared for battle. Trying to act as a mediator, Krishna came to Hastinapura to speak with the king and try to stop the battle. However, his efforts were wasted as it was too late to stop or delay the battle. Desperate, Krishna decided to go to the last resort. When traveling back to his home, Krishna asked Karna to drop him in his chariot.
“Of course. I would be glad to take you back,” said Karna. As they were riding back home Krishna was apprehensive about how he was going to tell Karna the truth about his origin. I wonder how he is going to take the truth. How can you tell a man that his birth family is actually his sworn enemies? Karna noticed that his passenger was particularly quiet. "My lord, is everything alright? You seem very quiet." Krishna tried to avert his eyes from Karna’s intent gaze.
“Actually, Karna, there is something that I have been meaning to talk to you about.” Krishna turned his face towards Karna. If I’m going to tell him the truth, then I might as well look at his face when I tell him. Krishna drew in a deep breath. “Karna, I need to tell you the truth about something. I want you to listen to everything that I say with an open mind.”
Karna could sense that whatever Krishna was going to tell him was not going to be pleasant. “My lord, please don’t worry. I will listen to everything you have to say.” Karna stopped the chariot and turned to face Krishna. Well, I guess now’s the best time to tell him.
“Karna, you know that you were adopted by your parents.” Karna nodded his head and Krishna continued. “However, you don’t know who your real parents are. I think that it is time that you know who they are.” Karna’s face began to lighten. The question that he’s secretly held in heart was finally going to be answered. “Karna, you are the son of the sun king, Surya.”
Karna looked intently at Krishna. “And who is my mother?” Krishna took in a deep breath. “Karna, your mother is Kunti.” Karna’s face was filled with shock. It took him a minute to understand what he had just heard. He rested his hand on his forehead and looked down at the ground to regain his composure. “This would mean that I am related to the Pandavas. “
Krishna nodded his head. “You were the first born of Kunti. Since you were born out of wedlock, your mother had no choice but to give you up. You would have been seen and treated as an outcast. No one would be able to accept you.” Karna shook his head. “After all these years, I have been treated as an outcast. I have never been respected by anyone. I have been constantly berated about my upbringing and my origin. I have finally learned who I am, but for what purpose? It would have been better if I never knew the truth at all.”
Krishna shook his head. “Karna, believe me. I did not want to tell you the truth. I can imagine how painful this must be for you. However, you need to understand why I told you the truth. Karna, you are the elder brother of the Pandavas. You cannot kill your brothers as it will devastate your mother.”
Karna remained silent. What should I do? I have wanted to know the truth and now that I know the truth, what should I do? Should I betray my friend Duryodhana who has been with me through all the years? Who has trusted me and given me respect? Or should I listen to Krishna and protect my birth family? After thinking about what he should say to Krishna, Karna finally made up his mind. “Dear lord, I know why you told me the truth and I thank you for that. However, I cannot betray my friend Duryodhana. I cannot betray the trust that he has bestowed upon me because of the truth about my origin. It was my birth mother’s choice to give me up and I respect that. However, I cannot choose a family that I have never known and who have constantly disrespected me over my best friend.” Karna looked intently at Krishna. “I am sorry. I cannot respect your wish. “
Krishna nodded his head. “I had a feeling you were going to say that. All that I ask of you is that you think more about this. I don’t want you to make a mistake that you are going to regret. Moreover, I don’t want to fight against you.” Karna looked at Krishna, “Yes, my lord, I will think more about this if you would like.”
After dropping Krishna back to his home, Karna returned to Hastinapura. Karna was in disbelief over what he heard. As he was pondering over the truth about his origin, Karna ran into Duryodhana.
“My friend, you look like you have seen a ghost. Although, sitting with Krishna for hours is likely to cause anybody to have a headache.” Karna lightly chuckled at Duryodhana’s joke. Duryodhana noticed that something was wrong with Karna and he placed his hand on Karna’s shoulder. “My friend, is everything alright?”
Karna was still debating whether he should tell his friend the truth. Until this point, they have never had secrets between each other. Karna shook his head. “I have been thinking about the upcoming battle. You have done so much for me and I want to repay you for all your help.”
Duryodhana could not believe what he heard. “Karna, I don’t want you to repay me for anything. The only thing that I desire from you is your friendship. You are the only loyal friend that I have and without your friendship I have nothing.” Karna wiped the tears streaming from his eyes and Duryodhana gave him an embrace. Karna made his decision. I can never betray my friend. Even if means that I die or kill the Pandavas, I can never betray our friendship.
Author’s note: For my story, I wanted to delve more into the conversation between Krishna and Karna about his birth. I wrote a story earlier on in the semester that was an adaptation of the conversation that Karna and Kunti had about his birth. I find that in Narayan’s version of the Mahabharata, we don’t get to see more conversation between the two characters. I wanted Krishna to seem more sympathetic towards Karna. In the original story, Krishna tells Karna the truth about his mother in order to bring him over to the Pandava's side. However, Karna is very loyal to Duryodhana and he refuses to betray his friend. I wanted to add some more emotions to the characters of Karna and Krishna. Also, I wanted to express how devastated Karna was by finding out whom his real parents were and the dilemma that he had to choose who he was going to be loyal to. At the end of the story, I wanted to bring in the core of Duryodhana and Karna’s friendship and how it was rooted in the trust and loyalty that each character had for each other.
Bibliography:
1) R.K. Narayan, Mahabharata: A shortened modern prose version of the Indian epic, 1978.
2) Karna
Image Details: Krishna and Karna, Source: Wikimedia