Chapter 300

“Karna said, ‘As thou, O lord of splendour, knowest me for thyworshipper, so also thou knowest that there is nothing which I cannotgive away in charity, O thou of fiery rays! Neither my wives, nor mysons, nor my own self, nor my friends, are so dear to me as thou, onaccount of the veneration I feel for thee, O lord of splendour! Thouknowest, O maker of light, that high-souled persons bear a loving regardfor their dear worshippers. Karna revereth me and is dear to me. Heknoweth no other deity in heaven,–thinking this thou hast, O lord, saidunto me what is for my benefit. Yet, O thou of bright rays, again do Ibeseech thee with bended head, again do I place myself in thy hands. Iwill repeat the answer I have already given. It behoveth thee to forgiveme! Death itself is not fraught with such terrors for me as untruth! Asregards especially the Brahmanas, again, I do not hesitate to yield up mylife even for them! And, O divine one, respecting what thou hast saidunto me of Phalguna, the son of Pandu, let thy grief born of thy anxietyof heart, O lord of splendour, be dispelled touching him and myself; forI shall surely conquer Arjuna in battle! Thou knowest, O deity, that Ihave great strength of weapons obtained from Jamadagnya and thehigh-souled Drona. Permit me now, O foremost of celestials, to observe myvow, so that unto him of the thunderbolt coming to beg of me, I may giveaway even my life!’

“Surya said, ‘If O son, thou givest away thy ear-rings to the wielder ofthe thunder-bolt, O thou of mighty strength, thou shouldst also, for thepurpose of securing victory, speak unto him, saying,–O thou of a hundredsacrifices, I shall give thee ear-rings under a condition.–Furnishedwith the ear-rings, thou art certainly incapable of being slain by anybeing. Therefore, it is, O son, that desirous of beholding thee slain inbattle by Arjuna, the destroyer of the Danavas desireth to deprive theeof thy ear-rings. Repeatedly adoring with truthful words that lord of thecelestials, viz., Purandara armed with weapons incapable of beingfrustrated, do thou also beseech him, saying, ‘Give me an infallible dartcapable of slaying all foes, and I will, O thousand-eyed deity, give theear-rings with the excellent coat of mail!’ On this condition shouldstthou give the ear-rings unto Sakra. With that dart, O Karna, thou wiltslay foes in battle: for, O mighty-armed one, that dart of the chief ofthe celestials doth not return to the hand that hurleth it, withoutslaying enemies by hundreds and by thousands!'”

Vaisampayana continued, “Having said this, the thousand-rayed deitysuddenly vanished away. The next day, after having told his prayers,Karna related his dream unto the Sun. And Vrisha related unto him thevision he had seen, and all that had passed between them in the night.Thereupon, having heard everything, that enemy of Swarbhanu, that lord,the resplendent and divine Surya, said unto him with a smile, ‘It is evenso!’ Then Radha’s son, that slayer of hostile heroes, knowing all aboutthe matter, and desirous of obtaining the dart, remained in expectationof Vasava.”