17th day.
Both armies came against each other on the battlefield. Pandav and Kaurav both had one aksoni of army today. On Kaurav side, Karna, Sakuni, Kripa acharya, Kritvarma, Ashwattama, Duryodone and his brothers were came. On Pandav side, five Pandavs, Krishna, Satyaki, Dhristdhumna,Ghatotkach and Megvarna came. Both armies started to fight.
Arjun took a vayoo arrow and threw Kripa acharya far away. Karna also took a vayoo arrow and threw Megvarna far away. Ashwattam fought against Yudhisteer, Satyaki and Kritvarma fought. Duryodone and Bhim fought, while Sakuni and Shadev fought. Karna fought with Arjun, Dhristdhumna, and Nakul. Karna shot arrows and drove all of them back. Arjun used parvat astra but Karna countered it with vajra astra. Arjun and Karna were countering each others weapons. Karna shot mohestra arrows and made Dhristdhumna and Nakul unconscious.
Arjun used vajra astra and sent Karna's chariot many feet back. Karna used vajra astra and sent Arjun's chariot only few inches back. Both, had divya and unbreakable chariots so the chariots could not break.
Krishna - Karna, you are a great warrior.
Arjun - Krishna, why are you praising Karna, when I am sending his chariot back further.
Krishna - Arjun, on his chariot you can see that only Karna and Shalya are there, while on your chariot Hanumanji and I are sitting on it. Still, Karna is pushing it backward. Now, what if we were not on your chariot, than what will Karna do?
Arjun realized how powerful Karna really was and if Krishna was not there, Karna could never be beaten by him. Karna used mohestra astra and made Arjun unconscious. Ghatotkach saw this and came to help Arjun. Ghatotkach fought Karna by using maya and threw boulders. Karna used vajra astra and broke all the boulders that Ghatotkach threw. Ghatotkach disappeared and appeared again so Karna could not shoot at him properly. But, Karna used Shiv mantra and the arrow circled his chariot so Ghatotkach could not come closer. Ghatotkach threw other weapons at Karna but Karna shot arrows and broke all the weapons. Ghatotkach created deadly thunder and wind but Karna used shital astra to make it disappear. Ghatotkach created many other rakshas, but Karna used Shiv mantra and made them all disappear. Ghatotkach started to disappear and fight. Krishna also made Ghatotkach stronger so Krarna's weapons could not harm him. Karna saw that his weapons were not harming Ghatotkach and Ghatotkach was destroying the Kaurav army. Duryodone approached Karna and asked him to destroy Ghatotkach as soon as possible. Karna summoned the Shakti that was given to him by Indra and threw it at Ghatotkach. Ghatotkach died when he was hit by Shakti weapon. Shadev shot arrows at Shakuni and made him unconscious.
Now, Krishna knew that Karna could only use the shakti weapon once and Arjun was awake so brought the chariot infront of Karna. Dhristdhumana, Nakul and Shadev also came to help Arjun. All these warriors together attacked Karna but Karna was too powerful. With agnito mantra he shot arrows at Pandavs. It was almost end of the day, the Brahmin's curse took place and Karna's chariot wheel was stuck in the ground. Shalya tried to drive the chariot but it was useless.
Karna - King Shalya, the wheel is stuck. Go out and pull the wheel out.
Shalya - I am not your slave. You pull the whell out.
By saying this, Shalya threw the reins and left Karna's chariot. Karna, now was trapped. Karna shot mohestra arrows with agnito mantra and made the Pandav warriors unconscious. After that Karna got out of the chariot and tried to pull the wheel out. The curse was strong and Karna could not pull the wheel out, even though he used his great strength. Baghwan Krishna saw this and used miracle to wake Arjun.
Krishna - Arjun, shoot Karna now.
Arjun - Krishna, how can I shoot him. He is not holding weapons in his hands, and he is on the ground.
Krishna - Arjun, he is out of his chariot. Indra has given him a boon that as long as he is in his chariot, he cannot die. Shoot now, if he gets back in his chariot, you will not be able to kill him.
Arjun placed a shakti mantra on an arrow and shot it at Karna. The arrow hit Karna in the chest and Karna fell. Karna kept on praying to Ram and Krishna while he fell. When seeing Karna fell, Duryodone and his brothers ran away from the battlefield. Pandav army was standing by the sthumb and were declared the winner for that day.
Now it was almost night time but Karna even though wounded was still alive. A Brahmin approached Karna.
Brahmin - Are you Karna, the great dann veer?
Karna - I am Karna and whatever you may want you can take it from my chariot.
Brahmin - Look at your chariot, thieves have already taken everything except your weapons. What can I do with your weapons? I need some wealth. If you are a true dann veer, give me some wealth.
Karna - My father Suryadev had told me that in my teeth there are diamonds. I can give you those diamonds in daan.
Karna takes a small stone and hits inside his mouth with it and breaks his teeth. Karna gives it to the Brhamin.
Brahamin - You have taken these diamonds out of your mouth. Will you give an unclean daan?
Karna - Sorry, Brahmin devata. Give me water so I can wash these diamonds.
Brahmin - There is no one around in this battlefield. The water is worth more than your diamonds. If I give you water, it is trading not giving daan.
Karna - Sorry, give me my weapons and I will wash the daan.
Brahmin - You are making me do the work.
Karna is unable to get up because he is wounded. Karna slides on the ground with difficulty and reaches his chariot. Karna grabs his chariot and goes inside. Inside the chariot, Karna finds his bow and arrows which Karna takes and comes out of the chariot very slowly. Karna comes where the Brahmin by moving very slowly on the ground. Karna takes an arrow and places ganga astra mantra on it and shoot it on the ground. ( Same as Arjun, who shot it to give water to Bhisma ) ( In this version, Karna's curse was not to forget the knowledge, but to fall on the battlefield on the second day so he still knew the mantras. ) Ganga water came out of the ground and Karna washed the diamonds and gave it to the Brahmin.
As soon as Karna gave the diamonds to the Brahmin, the Brahmin turned into Lord Krishna. ( When Karna was ready to donate his body to Krishna, he had asked for a boon that let me see you at the time of my death )
Krishna - Karna, you are the greatest dann veer, I have seen. Ask me anything you want.
Karna - Lord, I do not wish to ask for any maya. I wish to ask for 5 things.
Krishna - Go ahead, you may ask for anything you like.
Karna - Let me have a tilak from Brahmins. ( In Kaliyug, people like to place tilak by themselves to show off. The right tilak is placed by Brahmin for giving them donations or performing a seva )
Karna - Let me receive food from mother's hand. ( In Kaliyug, people forget motherly love and enjoy it more if girlfriends or wives surve. )
Karna - Let son cremate in next life. ( This way Karna knew that his son was alive to take the responsibility of the family )
Karna - In my body, please reside there all the time. ( Baghwan is also inside us, not just in temples. )
Karna - In this life, please cremate my body yourself and for next life give me your bhakti.
Karna did not ask for moksha because the great bhakts do not ask for moksha but bhakti from Bahgwan. Krishna showed Karna the virat form. ( same as the one he showed Arjun. ) ( Earlier on Devki, Vassudev, Nandji, Yasodha, Uddhav, Arjun, Rukmani, Balram had seen his virat form ) Karna felt great as seeing Krishna in his virat form and freed his soul from his body. Krishna sent his soul to Vaikunth and took Karna's body on his shoulder. Krishna stopped at Tapi river, near Surat and cremated Karna's body. ( There is a small temple at this site stating that Karna was cremated by Krishna here. )
Sanjay,
ReplyDeleteNice post.
Brahman part was awesome.
Keep posting.
Jai Shri Krishna. I also liked above incident - the brahmin part. I also observed Shri Krishna praising Karna when he moved Arjunas chariot with his arrow. I understand this is also mentioned in the north indian version of mahabharata. Could I know more about the north indian version ie who wrote it ?
ReplyDeleteBest regards
Niraj