Karna. Poem by Mary Thomas

Who was he /who is he?
check out Mahabharatha, The epic Indian tale.
It is one of the pillars of Hinduism
just like the Bible or the Quran.
the characters in it are as real
as today's battle field.
the fight between good and evil
or the blurry borders in between.

To this world he was born coz
his mom Kunti wanted to test her boon.
She could invoke any God
to bear a child.

Timid and brave,
thrilled to get the boon.
could not wait to invoke it.
She chose none other than Surya,
the Sun god.


Being unwed,
she bundled
the lil one
and set him
to the turbulent river.

Taken in by a chariot driver
and his kind wife.
He lived a lowly life.

His ambition knew no bounds.
He perfected all arts of warfare.
He reached the very top
when Duryodhan courted his friendship.

Duryodhan was the Eldest son of Dhrithiarashtra,
the king of Hastinapura.
He was the rightful heir.
Dhritarashtra being blind,
had to renounce his kingdom to his brother Pandu.

Kunti, Karna's mom wed Pandu.
Now Pandu had a problem.
he was cursed by an angry sage.
he could not have any kids.
So Kunti along with Madri, his other wife
bore the five Pandavas by invoking her boon.

After Pandu's death,
the Pandavas went on exile.
On their return would inherit Hastinapura.

That was the main dividing line
between the cousins Kaurvas
(sons of Dhrithiarashtra)
and Pandavas.
(Sons of Kunti and Gods she invoked) .
Out of the five sons, it was Arjun
who was the fiercest fighter.
He was the son of Lord Indra,
the leader of gods.

Karna, being brought up in low life.
was grateful to Duryodhan for the high life.

The battle drums beat.
Don't know who was slighted more.
Kaurvas, Pandavas or
Karna, the lone fighter.


So by twist of fate,
He had to fight his brother Arjun in the battlefield.
His mom pleaded to spare his brother and revealed his/her identity.

So the battle was really
between brother and brother.
The gods took sides, cheated and became sly.

In the End, the loyal and
generous Karna lost his life.

You can still read this story being retold
in different forms and different fold.

Mary Sept 2015