KARNANANYA

7. ADHIRATHI RADHEY KARN

In the lush green meadow of Ganga, with crystal blue sky painted in shades of red and orange ;in a gushing stream of water is Karn placed in a basket decorated with various lotuses. The music of the meadow along with giggles from the 7-day old could warm even the coldest heart. But what would catch one's attention at an instant is the two Devi's perching on the diwan made of water and meticulously looking after the new born as well as chattering . The two Himavanputris are engrossed in pleasing the little baby to the extent that they have lost the measure of time. They are more than esctatic hearing the giggles and laughter escaping Karn's lips , basking in, the bliss of motherhood & enjoying their sisterhood.

DEVI SHAKTI'S POV:
Destiny sure works in strange way..
I , the mother of the universe have procastinated all my responsibilities in the love of this munchkin. Well I don't mind it. It actually feels good to forget everything and enjoy myself. It's been quite some hundred years I have had such a wonderful time with my jiji. It feels like my maiden days are back. Those days where I & jiji would talk endlessly about anything and everything sitting on the garden swings.

Having a baby is a special feeling for a woman but, I could never support one in my womb. When Kartikeya was born, I had to leave him with Kritikas for his safety and benefit of the world & Vinayak was born as a boy of 5. Although he somewhat appeased my motherhood but in the deepest corner of my heart , I still longed for their infant stage. Feeding , cooing , pampering & playing with them. Making those funny & weird faces & laughing to see my child laugh. Singing lullaby to the sleeping infant in my arm. Changing his clothes and adorning him. Talking to him in baby language and trying to understand his moods.... (With teary eyes & slight smile)... & Look , now after thousands of years my wish has been fulfilled and that too.. by this little angel. I would be forever indebted to u Karn(looking at Karn) for the bliss of motherhood u have honoured me with.
I look at Ganga jiji who is busy playing with Karn , is giggling at his antics . Mahadev was right . He would be a lady charmer.
Out of nowhere Karn stops his antics and looks somewhere with .... amazement. I too look in the direction to see Mahadev looking at him smilingly . Out of nowhere Karn begins to cry and throws his hand towards Mahadev... as if asking him to pick him up. Nothing new ... everytime Mahadev visits him Karn cries to go in his arms and immediately stops crying when embraced by him. But what everytime amazes me is how gracefully Dev picks him up and coos him. I know he never shows but he adores our little munchkin a lot. And this little traitor loves him more ....
Karn takes a hold of Dev's Rudrakshamala & looks at it in complete wonder. Mahadev knows what it likes about it or may be he likes it because Mahadev wears it , specially the Saptamukhi Rudraksha. The Brahma muhurat was ending and anytime from now Karn would reach Radha , his deserving mother, in Hastinapur.
I wanted Karn to reach them in presence of Bhishm and Karn to free Bhishm from his shackles. Bhishm wasn't like this always , he was so righteous that he even fought his father to protect the Rakhshas who seeked refuge. But now...I hope this ray of sun can drive away my nephew's darkness and make him Devrata again.

Devi Ganga:I don't know how I'm gonna hand him over to someone else . Although we spent very minimal time with each other , yet he has become very special to me ...& to u too.

True!! He has become very crucial part of mine and Mahadev's life. Everyday coming to earth just to feed & play with him has brought both of us immense pleasure and refreshed the blissful feeling of parenthood...I can't return the favor Karn did by fulfilling my desires but I can definitely give him something, something that will always be with him. Something that will always show him the righteous path, something that will guide him, provide him joy and connect him to his soul.

With my eyes closed I summoned his gift. It was a gold trident locket. I chained it around his neck with Mahadev holding him securely. We knew time was running , therefore , with heavy heart as we were about to hand him to Jiji, Karn started crying and held Mahadev's Rudraksha tightly. I don't know what came over Dev but he suddenly broke his mala & got that particular Saptamukhi Rudraksha out & attached it to the trident locket....thus making it a blessing of both Shivshakti & making Karn invincible even by his Trident.
Karn stopped crying & looked at the locket smilingly and was soon playing with it. No doubt he loves Mahadev more.
At an instant , the waves started roaring and jiji bend down to collect something and everything went back to its calm state.
I looked at jiji questioningly and she opened her palms to show a small but beautifully crafted diamond...She looked at us and then attached it to the locket. Soon the first ray of sun hit us and it formed a small ball at the base of the locket. No doubt it's the blessing of Devi Sandhya & Devi Chaya for their son.