97. YUDHISHTHIRA'S ANGUISH :

THE Pandavas performed the til and
water ceremonies for the peace of the
souls of the dead warriors and camped on
the bank of the Ganga for a month.
One day, Narada appeared before
Yudhishthira. "Son, through Krishna's
grace, the valor of Arjuna and the power
of your dharma, you were victorious and
you are the sovereign lord of the land. Are
you happy?" he asked.


Yudhishthira replied: "Bhagavan, it is true
the kingdom has come into my
possession. But my kinsmen are all gone.
We have lost sons that were dear. This
victory appears to me but a great defeat. O
Narada, we took our own brother for an
enemy and killed him, even Karna who
stood rooted like a rock in his honor and
at whose valor the world wondered. This
terrible act of slaying our own brothers
was the result of our sinful attachment to
our possessions. Karna, on the other hand,
kept the promise he gave to our mother
and abstained from killing us. Oh! I am a
sinner, a low fellow who murdered his
own brother. My mind is troubled greatly
at this thought. Karna's feet were so much
like our mother's feet. In the large hall,
when that great outrage was committed
and my anger rose, when I looked at his
feet, which were so much like Kunti's feet,
my wrath subsided. I remember that now
and my grief increases."


So saying, Yudhishthira heaved a deep
sigh. Narada told him all about Karna and
the curses that had been pronounced on
him on various occasions.


Once, when Karna saw that Arjuna was
superior to him in archery, he approached
Drona and entreated him to teach him how
to wield the Brahmastra. Drona declined
saying it was not open to him to instruct
any but a brahmana of faultless conduct or
a kshatriya who had purified himself by
much penance. Thereupon, Karna went to
the Mahendra hills and deceived
Parasurama by saying that he was a
brahmana and became his disciple. From
him he obtained instruction in archery and
the use of many astras.


One day, when Karna was practising with
his bow in the forest near Parasurama's
asrama, a brahmana's cow was
accidentally hit and killed. The brahmana
was angry and uttered a curse on Karna:
"In battle, your chariot wheels will stick in
the mud and you will be done to death,
even like this innocent cow which you
have killed."


Parasurama was exceedingly fond of
Karna and taught him all the archery he
knew and instructed him fully in the use
and the withdrawing of the Brahmastra.


One day, however, he discovered that the
disciple was not a brahmana. It happened
tha an an insect bit a hole into Karna's
thigh when one afternoon the teacher had
fallen asleep on Karna's lap. Karna bore
the acute pain quietly and did not stir, lest
the master should wake up. The warm
blood trickling from the wound woke up
Parasurama. When he saw what had
happened, he was angry.


"You are a kshatriya; otherwise you could
not have borne this physical pain without
stirring. Tell me the truth. You are not a
brahmana. You have deceived your
teacher. Fool! When your hour comes,
your knowledge of astras will fail you and
what you have learnt from me through
deception will not avail you."


Parasurama's wrath against kshatriyas is
well known and, when he discovered that
Karna was a kshatriya, he cursed him thus
in his anger.


Karna was free in making gifts. One day,
Indra, who was Arjuna's father, came in
the garb of a brahmana and begged of
Karna for a gift of the divine earrings and
armor with which he had been born.
Karna took them out and gave them away
accordingly. From that time, Karna's
strength was reduced.


"Karna's pledge to his mother Kunti that
he would not kill more than one of the
five of you, Parasurarna's curse, the anger
of the brahmana whose cow was killed by
Karna, the way in which his charioteer
Salya depressed him by underrating his
valor and Vasudeva's stratagems, these
combined to bring about Karna's end. Do
not grieve believing that you alone caused
his death." Thus said Narada, but


Yudhishthira was not consoled by these
words.
"Do not blame yourself, son, for Karna's,
death," said Kunti. "His father, the sun
lord himself, pleaded with him. He
begged of him to give up the wickedhearted
Duryodhana and join you. I too
tried hard. But he would not listen to us.
He brought his end on himself."
"You deceived us, mother" said


Yudhishthira, "by hiding the secret of his
birth from us. You became thus the cause
of this great sin. May women never be
able to keep a secret henceforth."


This is the poet's story of how
Yudhishthira cursed all women in his
anguish over having killed his own elder
brother. It is a common notion that
women cannot keep secrets. And this
story is a beautiful conception illustrating
that popular belief.


It may be that in worldly affairs, it is an
advantage to be able to keep secrets. But it
is not great virtue from the point of view
of moral character, and women need not
grieve over an incapacity of this kind, if
indeed Kunti's legacy still persists.


The affectionate temperament natural to
women may perhaps incline them to
openness. But some women do keep
secrets very well indeed, and not a man
possess this ability either. It is a fallacy to
attribute the differences that arise out of
training and occupation on nature itself
and imagine some qualities as peculiar to
a sex.


Next : 98. YUDHISHTHIRA COMFORTED


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