Kurukshetra Vijayadhari

The Sacrifice

The universe was going to witness one of the greatest ever events of all times as an immortal among the Gods was asking for alms from a mere mortal . He was no ordinary God , but the king of the gods , the vanquisher of Vritra , the possessor of Vajra , the Lord of the heaven , Indra . But today he was neither of the above , as he was here as a father who needed to protect his son and assist the Preserver in their quest to uphold the righteousness . In front of him was his own nephew , the son of the sun , the King of Anga , the disciple of Parshurama and the possessor of the divine impregnable armour , Karna .

The son of Radha was on his way to perform his daily ritual of worshipping his unknown father , the lord of the solar system , Surya . He had made it a routine to offer his prayers and then donate his belongings to the needy whoever came for alms . Today there was a new visitor for him , perhaps one of the most venerable ones , the father of his archnemesis . Indra was here in disguise of a brahmin knowing very well that the great philanthropist had immense respect for the knowledgeable ones . As the king of Malini completed his prayers , the lord of the heavens was ready with his part in this act .

" O , great benevolent one , I am a poor brahmin in search of alms for my living . Having heard a lot about the chivalrous king of Anga , could not stop my feet for the hope of a handsome donation . Kindly grace myself with the luck of having my wish fulfilled , your majesty . " was the pleadings of the disguised son of Aditi .

" O , great knowledgeable one , I am myself just a governor on behalf of the crown prince of Hastinapur , by the grace of whom I am able to stand holding my heads high amidst the warriors of royal blood . I am grateful to you for your kind words and it would be a matter of great honour to able to help you . O , wise one , I promise to offer you any sort of help which is possible on my part . Please let me know what you desire . " was the reply of the smiling son of Adhiratha .

" Very well then , I desire for your divine earrings and the celestial armour which you are in possession of ever since your birth , your majesty. " responded the son of sage Kashyapa with a smirk growing in his face .

The smile faded away from the face of the king of Champa for a moment and realization dawned over him regarding the divine visitor . The mighty archer bowed before the king of Gods in reverence before uttering the words in his praise .

" My greetings to the Lord of the heavens . I am eternally grateful to you for having graced myself , a son of a charioteer with your auspicious presence in his lifetime . It would be perhaps my great fortune to have the opportunity to serve the revered leader of Gods and be etched in the sands of time as the one who offered alms to the glorious Deva raja . "

Karna's words alarmed the Devendra as the expression of pure horror displayed in his face which turned into shame as the illustrious son of Bhaskar proceeded with the act of great heart . Taking the dagger off his waistband the fearless bull amongst men cut-off his right earrings allowing blood to adorn his cloths . This was repeated with the left one too after which he washed off the blood stains from both of the earrings given to him by Lord Surya , before handing it over to his unknown uncle .

The Lord of Airavata hung his head as he took the offerings of his nephew . He hadn't lifted his head yet as a sharp masculine voice echoed throughout the surroundings . The heavens and the hell were together witnessing the heroic feat of the mighty car warrior who stabbed the dagger deep enough to  create crevices inside the impenetrable armour . The dagger went through incisively as the armour was shining in all its glory mixed with blood of its owner . Thereafter the son of Radha took the work onto his bare arms as he tore apart his armour with one loud roar trembling the whole of the universe which hailed the Braveheart with a shower of flowers .

The son of Adirath had lost his armour and his vigour as he cleaned the stains to pass on his birth gift as a charity to Indra deva . Words couldn't be formed by either , one due to pain and other due to remorse . When Indra hailed the Daana Veera , possibly he couldn't hear it as the superhuman effort had taken a toll on him with part of himself and his own very self leaving his body before he fell on the ground with a thud like a lifeless log of wood . Unbeknownst to the whole of the universe was the fact that this glorious sacrifice was perhaps the beginning of a new sunrise in the land of Anga .