Travelling Worlds to Save Us (A Karna-Arjun story)

The world of light

There was a time during the Dwapar Yug, when only happiness and contentment reigned in the heart of the Aryan Kingdom, ruled by King Shantanu's descendants. Half the kingdom served the King of Hastinapur, King Duryodhan, and the other half, his cousin King Yudhishthir. 

Duryodhan was the eldest amongst his hundred brothers, but Yudhishthir, among their six, was not. His elder brother had been born to their mother Kunti before her marriage, hence he was 'technically' not part of King Shantanu's bloodline. One could argue that none of the six brothers were 'technically' part of the bloodline, since they were all demigods--the oldest was from the Sun God; Yudhishthir came next, from the Dharma God, the third was from the Wind God, the fourth from the very King of Gods. Last came the twins, born to the Asvins.

Suryadev's son, Karna, had never wanted to be King. Some people whispered he could not be King since he was a 'royal bastard', but no one ever dared whisper that in front of the King and his brothers. There was a story dating back ten years, when Bheem and Arjun, the third and fourth of the brothers, were but seventeen and sixteen respectively.

They had gone out for a walk around the city gates and stopped at a flower fair on a whim of Nakul's. Right from his childhood, Nakul had had a passionate admiration for beauty and the flower display with rows upon rows splashed with colours was truly a sight to behold.

While Nakul wanted to buy a pot of hydrangea, Sahadev coveted a cactus.

"How much are these for?" asked Yudhishthir.

One of the florists in charge smiled. "They are not for sale, Prince, but our royal family can certainly have them, free of cost."

As Yudhishthir opened his mouth to insist they pay at least, Karna asked the twins, "Do you want anything else? What about this?" He picked up a vase with a most interesting-looking plant.

"Uh," said another florist. "Only our true royalty can have them, not royal bastards."

Karna looked up.

A moment later, the florist found two arrows sticking out on the wall on either side of his head and a mace poised an inch from his head.

"You have ten seconds to take it back," snarled Bheem.

"S-s-sorry," stuttered the florist even as Karna and Yudhishthir pulled back Arjun and Bheem respectively.

"Behave yourselves, Bheem, Arjun," Karna told them sternly. "Is this the kind of example you want to set as the royal family?"

"Did you hear what he said, jyesht?" demanded Arjun.

"Indeed I did," said Karna. "But what people with narrow minds say is of no importance to me. It should not be to anyone, including you two."

The florist spread the story far and wide, and nobody dared speak a word against Suryadev's son, lest Bheem or Arjun--or worse still, both--happened to overhear.

******************

While Hastinapur was sometimes considered to be the 'greater' kingdom amongst the two, possibly since King Shantanu's son Devavrat Bhisma resided there--and King Yudhishthir revered Bhisma as the greatest of his guides--the superior army was Indraprastha's by far. In number and ordinary skill, they might be comparable; in royal strength too, they were comparable, but for two archers in their ranks, they were untouchable.

All the royal princes had been taught at the same gurukul, but it was Karna and Arjun who had made the most of their guru's skill in archery. It was, to both of them, a gift from god. Arjun was Dronacharya's personal favourite, but that had a lot to do with the lessons Arjun had received from his older brother when Karna used to come home during holidays, and Arjun was too young to attend training.

Their mother, Kunti, thought it irresponsible of his oldest son.

"What at all is the need to teach a seven-year-old archery, Karna?"

"Look at him, Maa," Karna used to defend. "Look at how he wields the bow. Does he look like a seven-year-old to you? Half the students cannot be so precise even at the time of graduation."

Arjun beamed up at his brother.

Later, Kunti used to take Karna aside and say, "Someday your doting will get to his head, Karna. It already has; he would not listen to a single rebuke without calling upon you."

Even if he had tried, Karna could not have hidden how pleased he was at that very fact.

What were younger brothers for, if not to dote upon?

*****************

Karna set Arjun his first moving target when he was eight. It took him days to build it in the woods near their home; a wooden pendulum sensitive to wind and light rays, hanging from the distant branch of a tall tree, constantly in motion in all three directions.

All his brothers kept him company while it was being constructed. Bheem and Nakul devoured berries by the dozen while Sahadev, all of seven years, solemnly gave advice regarding where the strings should be attached. Yudhishthir did most of the running with messages to and from their mother. Arjun stuck to Karna's side like a faithful shadow, climbing trees when he did and chopping wood when he did.

When it was finally ready, Karna handed Arjun his bow and knelt down to position his arms.

"Can you see it?"

"Yes."

"Follow its motion. Do not shoot hastily. Shoot only when you have understood its motion completely."

Arjun nodded. He shot after a full minute.

It missed.

It was the first target he had ever missed due to a reason other than haste or tiredness. 

"It's all right," said Karna. "It is far too difficult to begin with, even for moving targets.

Arjun tilted his head and studied the target. "I will not sleep till I hit it."

"If you wish." 

Karna settled down on a bough as Arjun shot arrow after arrow after arrow. Dusk fell. Night arrived. All the others left around dinnertime. Yudhishthir came back to call them home; when they refused, Kunti came out herself.

"Not now," Arjun told her without taking his eyes off the target.

"Oh yes, young man, you will come right now," said Kunti, making to grab his elbow.

"Maa!" protested Arjun. "Jyesht, she is breaking my concentration!"

"Leave him, Maa," said Karna. "Don't worry, I will stay with him," he told aside to her.

"And will you encourage him to stay the whole night if he so wishes?"

"He is set on the target," said Karna, frowning. "You should be proud of his dedication, Maa."

Kunti shook her head and left.

Arjun finally managed to hit the moving pendulum at the break of dawn and was ecstatic. But Karna's sense of achievement much exceeded his brother's. He clapped him on the shoulder and began to drag him homeward at last. 

"That is over twice as fast as I managed that, Arjun."

"If I learn at twice your rate," said Arjun thoughtfully, "one day soon I will be better than you, jyesht."

Karna smiled and tousled Arjun's hair. "It would be the proudest day of my life."