Kurukshetra Vijayadhari

The Face-off

" Karna , friend Karna , just hide somewhere , they are here . " Duryodhana barged into my chambers in a disheveled state with a motive only to send me off to a relatively safe place according to him .

" What the hell has happened now ? Who are here ? And why are you so worried , my friend ? " I enquired as I got off my sleep quite late in the morning today .

" They are here , they are here in search of you . My teacher of mace wielding , Shreeman Balarama along with his trickster younger one . " the eldest Kaurava finally broke the news that was probably something that I had expected anyway if we chanced upon here .

" And why are the Dwarka duo in search of this random son of charioteer ? " I questioned despite knowing the answer .

" Gurudev is really agitated and wants to beat you to pulp for having widowed his only sister . And that cowherd is literally checking upon every room frantically to get at you for only God knows why . " Duryodhana expressed his anguish in front of me as I could see a face popping out of nowhere from the gap in the door of my chamber.

" You are right , crown prince . Only it's only the Gods who know why I am searching for him . By the way , aren't you afraid of elder brother for yourself. He isn't going to spare you if you don't give him the whereabouts of your dearest friend . " chirped in the Incarnation of the Preserver of the universe.

" Just stay away from my friend . Whatever he did was for protecting us . And ... I am ready to face any consequences to have my friend safe . " resolved my friend though fear was evident in his tone .

" Oh really , now the world's best archer needs the protection of a mace wielder for his survival . " Taunted the son of Devaki .

" Look who's saying this ? The one who does the same most often . " I returned the favors.

" Angaraja , the one who protects me is the one who does harbour the weight of the universe . You must worry as you have just stepped on the sore spot of the beast by snatching the loved one of his sister . " The tone of Krishna grew sterner .

" Well wasn't he the one to use violence against someone else's sister in some another one of his lives while protecting your very own wife ? " I countered his allegation as my friend was really confused about what was going on then .

" You seem to know a lot about us , perhaps more than you should . " The son of Basudev raised one of his eyebrows in amusement.

" Why should only you have all the fun ? " I winked at him as both of us shared a controlled laughter while Duryodhana was scratching his head unable to get anything.

" You go my friend . I am and will perhaps be safe . The cousin of your cousins is probably here for his cousin . I will handle him as effectively as ever . You just take care of your teacher . Or else I might be needed to pacify the angry bull . " I reassured my friend by nodding repeatedly as he left both of us alone .

" So I was presumably right . You aren't Karna but an imposter in his place . " pointed out the mystic legend as his face darkened .

" What makes you think that ? Is it because of that imposter of yourself who often roams around your city ? You can't always be right . I am the Vasusena you were looking for . " I threw a challenging look at him .

" You know very well . Karna wasn't supposed to be victorious in the Ghosha Yatra , he wasn't supposed to victorious at all . " Krishna justified his theory .

" Why the hell do you think that only your dear twin from past deserves a victory everytime ? Time is bigger than everyone , even both of us , cousin . " I countered his reasons .

" You know . You know about your birth isn't it ? Karna wasn't supposed to know that . " Another attack to disclose myself .

" And why do you think that I wouldn't be able to know about myself if you could about yourself even from your childhood ? " I pressed upon covering my identity.

" Don't just compare yourself with others . You perhaps aren't aware of what you are playing with. " threatened the lord of the universe as the thunder erupted in the sky .

" Unless we play with it , we would never know what it exactly is . Unless we compare , we would never know what we actually are capable of . " Another thunder boomed in contrast to the first .

" You really have some guts , man . You have killed the husband of my only sister whom I love dearly . Yet you are looking straight into my eyes without an ounce of fear . Perhaps you can't imagine to what extent we brothers can go protect our sister . " Krishna had a cold laughter trying to have an upper hand .

" Well what else to expect from him who got the only child of his foster mother killed to escape his uncle ? The one who abandoned his love and those who protected him during childhood for the sake of duty while getting married to loads of women in name of duty again . " I did my best to counterattack which is the best form of defense .

" Everything has a reason and the fate is something that can't be overruled . " lamented the great man as the memories of his past resurfaced.

" They why won't whatever that has been done by me have a reason as well ? Men are born to act and not to cry over destiny . Our actions define our destiny and not even the Gods have the right to seal our fate unless we give up . " my voice resonated in the chamber as the surprised ruler of Dwarka looked at me as if he was trying to read me .

" You are really someone special . A man of action isn't someone expected in this era . " the skeptical God expressed his disbelief yet again.

" The era will change once the change ensues within us . You aren't going to get anything here , cousin . Perhaps you are wasting your time . " I had got a presumption about his intentions and hence was thinking about dealing with him .

" You have stolen the vessel containing the nectar of life . It doesn't belong to you . Give it back to the Gods . " He came straight to the point .

" They took my wives away , I took their life away . Serves them right , isn't it ? " a smirk developed in my face .

" Fine then , just prove that you are the great philanthropist Karna . You haven't donated anything today isn't it ? Just hand over the Amrita that you had taken back from Swarga as the alms of today . " Krishna demanded as he got up irritated by my stubbornness.

" Beggars aren't the choosers . Moreover you tone doesn't seem like you are in need of my alms . I would prefer donating anyone who sounds needy . " I declared quite amused by his frustration.

" O great Daanveera, kindly grace ourselves with the vessel of Amrita for which we shall be ever grateful to you . " Krishna dramatically begged before myself with an extra sweet smile as if an employee was pleading for a leave .

" As you wish , younger cousin . But neither you , nor your so called fellow beings would irritate me thereafter . If you do promise then you may have this vessel of Sura . Or else you know me better now . " I presented before him the desired object which he wanted .

" Promise . We won't ever give a damn to you ever again . " Krishna literally snatched the vessel from my hands and disappeared from my chambers almost instantly making me chuckle as finally the Gods did have the vessel of Amrita back in heaven , but without a drop of it inside .