Raghukul: Mahabharat

Chapter 5: KalaPradarshan

The battle between Karna and Bhishma began with a fierce exchange of arrows. Bhishma fired the Agni Astra, and in response, Karna countered with the Varun Astra. This continued for a few hours until Karna finally broke Bhishma's bowstring and bound him with the Nagpash. Shakuni, seeing this, got scared and said, "I... I give up." Saying this, he got on his knees. Karna walked up to Shakuni, took off his Mukut, and said, "From now on, Gandhar is under Suryavansh."

The next day, Bhishma, along with Shakuni and the Hastinapur army, left for Hastinapur. Karna chose a trustworthy advisor from Gandhar to rule in his absence. He stayed there for a week to get things under control but then started his journey to the Himalayas. After reaching the Himalayas, Karna found a cave and went inside. There, he began a penance for the Tridev and Tridevia.

4 Years Later

His penance complete, Karna heard a divine voice, "Open your eyes, Putra." When he opened his eyes, he saw the Tridev and Tridevia. He closed his hands in front of him and said, "Pranipat Tridev, Pranipat Tridevia."

The Tridev smiled at this and said in unison, "Kalyan ho."

Then, Mata Lakshmi said, "Is this the way you meet your mother after so long?" Mata Parvati and Sarasvati joined in the gentle scolding.

Karna replied, "Matao, I was doing penance to gain boons from all of you. I couldn't just receive boons from you because you are my Mata."

Hearing this, everyone smiled. Mahadev then said, "What do you want, Putra?"

Karna said, "Mahadev, from you, I want all of your Astras. Narayan, from you, I want all of your Astras and something that I will tell later. Brahmdev, from you, I want all of your Astras. Matao, from all of you, I want a mother's love and anything you think I deserve."

Everyone smiled and said, "Tathastu."

Narayan then said, "What do you want, Putra?"

Karna said, "PitaShree, from you and Mata, I want a special chain with two objects representing both of you, each object made out of your and Mata's energy, so whenever I want, both of you would be with me."

Narayan and Lakshmi smiled and said, "Putra, for this, you just had to come to us." Then, Mata Lakshmi gave him a chain made out of gold with a bow made out of blue diamond and a lotus made out of pink diamond. Lakshmi said, "Putra, with these, we would always be with you."

Then, all of them left. Karna emerged from the cave, summoned his divine Rath, and headed towards Ayodhya.

Karna reached Ayodhya within a week. Once inside, he was warmly greeted by his sisters, Hanuman, and Maharaj Brihadbala. Brihadbala said, "Putra, now I want you to become the king. I want to spend the rest of my royal life with my daughter and, after their marriage, I will take Sanyas."

Karna nodded and said, "Kakashri, you just had to say, and I would have become the king earlier to help you."

Brihadbala smiled at Karna. On the suggestion of Kulguru Vashishta, they coronated Karna as Raja of Ayodhya within a week.

A month after his coronation, word spread that Ayodhya had a new king, though no one knew his name. One day, during Karna's morning SuryaPuja, he saw Devi Ganga approaching him. He said, "Devi, what are you doing here?"

Devi Ganga said, "Putra, I need your help."

Karna replied, "Tell me, Mata, I will help you as much as I can."

Mata Ganga said, "Putra, I want you to go to Hastinapur and help my Kul to come onto the path of Dharma."

Karna said, "Mata, I will do as much as I can within my power to help the Kurus."

A year after that, Karna received an invitation from Hastinapur stating that their Rajkumaras were returning, and they were hosting a KalaPradarshan for them. He saw this as a chance to go to Hastinapur and accepted the invitation, deciding to bring his sisters along with him.

Karna was on his chariot, Rashmi, a gift from Devguru. The silver chariot had gold outlines and a large red diamond set in the center of a sun emblem in front. It was pulled by seven milk-white horses, the largest anyone had ever seen. Karna was on this chariot along with his sisters.

As they entered Hastinapur, everyone, be it commoners or royals, looked their way, captivated by the beauty of the chariot. As they reached the Royal Palace, they could see the Royal Family elders waiting there. Bhishma and Shakuni, upon seeing him, paled.

When they got off their chariot, Karna said, "Pranipat Devvrat, Shakuni, Maharaj, Maharani, RajMata, Mahamantri."

Everyone there replied, "Pranipat."

Then Shakuni asked, "Who are these two, Ayodhya Naresh?"

Karna replied, "These two are my sisters, Rajkumari Avantika and Rajkumari Avanti of Ayodhya, and students of Kulguru Vashishta."

Avantika and Avanti said, "Pranipat."

The Hastinapur elders said, "Kalyan ho."

They stayed in the royal guest rooms for the night, and the next day, the day of the KalaPradarshan, arrived.

The KalaPradarshan started with 98 Kauravas fighting against each other. Then came Dushasana, who refused to fight against his elder brother and the eldest Kaurava, Duryodhana. At this, Karna and his sisters smiled, seeing the love almost akin to devotion in Dushasana's eyes towards Duryodhana.

Duryodhana then began his fight against the Pandavas, starting with the youngest, Nakul and Sahadev. He defeated Bhima using mental warfare and used the same technique against Yudhishthira. Finally, came Arjuna. Karna was angry; an archer against a mace fighter was an unfair match, but it happened anyway. After Arjuna froze Duryodhana, Drona declared, "My student Arjuna is the strongest and best archer in the world."

Hearing this, Karna had enough. This was an insult to him and his gurus, and he had promised to always retaliate when someone belittled him. He said, "ENOUGH, Drona, how dare you!"

Drona responded, "Who are you?"

Karna replied, "I, Ayodhya Naresh Karna, challenge Drona and his student Arjuna."

Bhishma stood up and asked, "But why?"

Karna replied, "He not only humiliated me but also my gurus, your gurus, and his own guru."

Drona, hearing this, said, "I did no such thing."

Karna retorted, "Oh, then tell me, can Arjuna defeat you? Can he defeat Mahamahim? Can he defeat Bhagwan Parshuram? Can he defeat Kulguru Vashishta? Leave them all, can he defeat the world's best archer, Mahadev?"

Hearing this, Drona stayed quiet, but then Arjuna spoke up, "I accept your challenge."

Karna said, "No, you are too weak. I challenge Drona and all of his students together."