Chapter 307

Vaisampayana said, “And it came to pass that at this time a Suta namedAdhiratha, who was a friend of Dhritarashtra, came to the river Ganga,accompanied by his wife. And, O king, his wife named Radha wasunparalleled on earth for beauty. And although that highly blessed damehad made great endeavours to obtain a son, yet she had failed, Orepresser of foes, to obtain one. And on coming to the river Ganga, shebeheld a box drifting along the current. And containing articles capableof protecting from dangers and decked with unguents, that box was broughtbefore her by the waves of the Janhavi. And attracted by curiosity, thelady caused it to be seized. And she then related all unto Adhiratha ofthe charioteer caste. And hearing this Adhiratha took away the box fromthe water-side, and opened it by means of instruments. And then he behelda boy resembling the morning Sun. And the infant was furnished withgolden mail, and looked exceedingly beautiful with a face decked inear-rings. And thereupon the charioteer, together with his wife, wasstruck with such astonishment that their eyes expanded in wonder. Andtaking the infant on his lap, Adhiratha said unto his wife, ‘Ever since Iwas born, O timid lady, I had never seen such a wonder. This child thathath come to us must be of celestial birth. Surely, sonless as I am, itis the gods that have sent him unto me!’ Saying this, O lord of earth, hegave the infant to Radha. And thereat, Radha adopted, according to theordinance, that child of celestial form and divine origin, and possessedof the splendour of the filaments of the lotus and furnished withexcellent grace. And duly reared by her, that child endued with greatprowess began to grow up. And after Karna’s adoption, Adhiratha had othersons begotten by himself. And seeing the child furnished with bright mailand golden ear-rings, the twice-born ones named him Vasusena. And thusdid that child endued with great splendour and immeasurable prowessbecame the son of the charioteer, and came to be known as Vasusena andVrisha. And Pritha learnt through spies that her own son clad incelestial mail was growing up amongst the Angas as the eldest son of acharioteer (Adhiratha). And seeing that in process of time his son hadgrown up, Adhiratha sent him to the city named after the elephant. Andthere Karna put up with Drona, for the purpose of learning arms. And thatpowerful youth contracted a friendship with Duryodhana. And havingacquired all the four kinds of weapons from Drona, Kripa, and Rama, hebecame famous in the world as a mighty bowman. And after havingcontracted a friendship with Dhritarashtra’s son, he became intent oninjuring the sons of Pritha. And he was always desirous of fighting withthe high-souled Falguna. And, O king, ever since they first saw eachother, Karna always used to challenge Arjuna, and Arjuna, on his part,used to challenge him. This, O foremost of kings, was without doubt, thesecret known to the Sun, viz., begot by himself on Kunti, Karna was beingreared in the race of the Sutas. And beholding him decked with hisear-rings and mail, Yudhishthira thought him to be unslayable in fight,and was exceedingly pained at it. And when, O foremost of monarchs, Karnaafter rising from the water, used at mid-day to worship the effulgentSurya with joined hands, the Brahmanas used to solicit him for wealth.And at that time there was nothing that he would not give away to thetwice-born ones. And Indra, assuming the guise of a Brahmana, appearedbefore him (at such a time) and said, ‘Give me!’ And thereupon Radha’sson replied unto him, ‘Thou art welcome!'”