A String Of Pearls

The Commencement of the War

Pitamaha Bheeshma had refused to fight in the war alongside Bhrata Karna. There had been an argument and Duryodhan had gone red with rage saying that he didn't need Pitamaha if he wouldn't agree to fight alongside Karna, but Bhrata Karna had stopped him and asked him to shut up and told him in no uncertain terms that he very much did need Pitamaha Bheeshma as his Commander in Chief. And then he had bitterly agreed not to fight.

Bhanumati could not believe it. It seemed like the whole Universe was conspiring against them before the war. Especially against Bhrata Karna. First his Kavach-Kundal was taken so that he would not have divine protection while fighting and now despite that, he could not even fight ?! And she knew that Pitamaha Bheeshma and Bhrata Karna didn't really get along well, but wasn't this a bit extreme?!

Duryodhan had tried his final hand by saying that if their ally Kings who knew exactly how powerful Karna was, courtesy of the fact that Karna had defeated most of them on his Digvijay Yatra, found that Karna could not fight because Pitamaha Bheeshma would not allow him, they might not be very happy. That they might consider the fact that one who defeated them was not being allowed to fight as a slight upon their own character and importance.

So the next day, Pitamaha Bheeshma and Karna staged an even greater argument than the one they had already had. In front of the Kings.

("Your friend is insolent, harsh, boastful and inferior. He incites you in this war against the Pandavas to seek his own glory! He claims that he is the best archer but he has nothing to show, given that he has been defeated by Arjun twice before! In truth, Karna is not a Maharathi, Atirathi or even a full Rathi! He is an Ardharathi and nothing more! Now he has given away his Kavach and Kundal and without those he won't survive the War against Arjun!" Bheeshma had sneered.

"I believe you are correct! We have all known him to retreat from battle!" Drona had exclaimed. "Karna is generous but he is distracted. It is my view too, that he is nothing more than half a Rathi!"

Karna had flown into a great rage at those words. "Pitamaha! As you wish, you pierce me with your words like arrows. You have always hated me for no reason, even though I am innocent. And do not claim that you started to hate me only in the past few years, for you have hated me since the very beginning. Now you claim that I am half a Rathi! I have tolerated all your barbed words for so long for Duryodhan's sake. No more! You support the Pandavas, and this is your way of reducing the morale in our camp, Pitamaha!"

"Hold your tongue!" Drona snarled while Bheeshma looked on, seeming surprisingly placid.

"No, I won't!" Karna lashed back. "You think I am incapable and a coward, Pitamaha! You insult me constantly. You have defined the meaning of Rathis and Maharathis according to your own inclinations! You attempt to reduce our energy before battle by inappropriately describing the qualities of all the Kings present here and highlighting only their demerits!! You have crossed all bounds. I refuse to fight under your flag! I will fight only once you have fallen, Pitamaha!")

Later Bhanumati said, "I understand that you needed to make sure that the other Kings were satisfied with the arrangements but now you have sunken in their eyes."

Bhrata Karna let out a caustic laugh from where he was lying down with his head on Vrushali di's lap in the tent.

"As if I could sink any lower. While some of them acknowledge my prowess since I defeated them and hence would have been offended if I had been exempted from battle by Pitamaha for no reason, nobody actually likes me. I am an unworthy Sutaputra after all." He said bitterly.

"Madra Raj for example, perhaps does not think me even worthy to hold a bow, let alone be an archer. Well of all the Kings, at least he'll be happy that I won't be entering the battlefield in three days."