Karna- The Hero Chosen by the Gods

Convincing Lord Parshuram

From Sage Ved Vyas Karna came to know that Lord Parshuram was living in Mahendragiri Parvat. He took blessings from both Ved Vyas and Devguru and then used the mantra taught by Ved Vyas to reach Mahendragiri Parvat.

Mahendragiri Parvat

The mountain was very beautiful. There was a calm aura around everywhere and  Karna was lost in the beauty of nature. Suddenly he heard a 'Hush' sound and he jumped on the other side and caught an arrow in his hand. Then he saw the person whom he worshipped since childhood, Lord Parshuram.

Lord Parshuram, 'Who are you? How dare you to come in this mountain? Don't you know that it is forbidden for mortals to come in this place?'

Karna folded his hand and bowed to Lord Parshuram. He said .'Prabhu my name is Karna, I came here to learn archery from you.'

Lord Parshuram, 'And what tells you that I am going to teach you? Do you think that you are worthy of my time? Let me guess, you are a brahmin or Kshatriya son of a king or a priest who thinks that he is the best of their kingdom. Thus you have all rights to come here and disturb me.'

Karna. 'No my Lord. I am not a Brahmin or Kshatriya. I am a Suta by Gotra. My father is a poor charioteer. I know that I am not worthy. I have no proper training as well but I want to learn from you. I will try my best to make myself worthy of your presence.'

Lord Parshuram (thinking) This boy is humble, not arrogant like those stupid princes disturbed me for training. He is also talented as it is not possible for everybody to catch my arrow. But before teaching him I need to test his resolve. I don't want to repeat my mistakes as I did in the case of Bheesm and Drona.'

Lord Parshuram (aloud) A Sutputra, how dare you come here for weapon training. Don't you know it is illegal to touch weapons for the Sutas.'

Krana, 'Please forgive me my Lord but according to Shastra, there is no such law. If you don't want to teach me as I don't have talent then I can understand. But I don't think my birth has anything with my training.'

Lord Parshuram, 'It seems like you read Shastra as well. Who taught you that?'

Karna, 'Devguru Brihaspati gave me Shastra lesson my Lord.'

Lord Parshuram (thinking), 'This boy must have something unique in him. That is why Devguru himself gave him education. His aura is also different. But still, I need to test him.'

Lord Parshuram, 'No I will not give you any training. Go away'

Karna (in mind) I will not go away empty-handed. I will please you.'

Next Day

Lord Parshuram came out from his hut and saw that Karna was still sitting there. He tried to ignore Karna but Karna tried to help him in his works. So Lord Parshuram allowed him to stay. But instead of training him, he asked him to do all the household chores. He tried to make everything very hard for Karna. Sometimes he asked him to wake up all night and massage his feet, sometimes he gave him food only once a day. He even sometimes gave him some impossible tasks like cleaning the field in one hour. If Karna failed to do so, he humiliated him badly but Karna never expressed his anger or disrespect. He dutifully bear all humiliations and again started to serve his teacher. 

Thus an entire year passed. Lord Parshuram expected confrontation from Karna to teach him about weapons but Karna never complained even for once. He patiently waited for his teacher to start his training.

One day Lord Parshuram asked Karna, 'I am sleepy but my bed was broken. So I am going to rest for a while keeping my head on your lap. I don't want any disturbance in my sleep.'

Karna humbly replied 'Yes my Lord. I will not let anything or anyone disturb you.'

When Lord Parshuram was asleep then suddenly Karna saw a scorpion was moving toward Lord Parshuram. Silently without moving much Karna grabbed the scorpion and threw it away. But the scorpion stung him. Karna's hand started bleeding and his entire body turned blue because of the poison. He somehow swallowed his cry and steeled himself.

Karna (in mind) 'I shall not move otherwise my Lord will wake up. I have to be as still as possible.' But the poison was spreading all over his body, Seeing his condition in Suryalok Devi Sangya started crying. Karna was feeling dizzy but he tried not to move.

Karna (praying) 'O God Neelkanth, please help me so that I can tolerate the effect of the poison at least till my Guru wakes up. Please Lord I am not afraid to die but don't make me disturb my Guru's rest. Please help me so that I can follow his order.'

In Kailash

Lord Mahadev, 'Putra you are a remarkable person. You did not ask to save yourself. All you want is to obey your teacher's order. I God Neelkanth is blessing you. No poison can ever harm you.'

In Mahendragiri

Lord Parshuram woke up and saw Karna's condition. As an Avatar of Lord Vishnu, he also knew what exactly happened. He smiled and said 'Putra Karna you have passed your test. I am taking this test just to see your resolve. I had two great disciples Bheesm and Dron but both of them disappointed me. Instead of using their training for the betterment of mankind, they are blindly following the Adhami king and his family. The biggest Dharam is to do what is right for humanity not to stupidly bind oneself in politics that you yourselves cannot stop the sinners. Putra Karn, you are humble, not egoistic like my other disciples. Now you are going to be my weapon to teach Bheesm and Dron a lesson.'  

Karna touched his Guru's feet.

Lord Parshuram,' From tomorrow your training will start'.