Chapter 308

Vaisampayana said, “And when the king of the celestials presented himselfin the guise of a Brahmana, beholding him, Kama said, ‘Welcome!’ And notknowing his intention, Adhiratha’s son addressed the Brahmana, saying,’Of a necklace of gold, and beauteous damsels, and villages with plentyof kine, which shall I give thee?’ Thereupon the Brahmana replied, ‘I askthee not to give me either a necklace of gold, or fair damsels, or anyother agreeable object. To those do thou give them that ask for them. If,O sinless one, thou art sincere in thy vow, then wilt thou, cutting off(from thy person) this coat of mail born with thy body, and theseear-rings also, bestow them on me! I desire, O chastiser of foes, thatthou mayst speedily give me these; for, this one gain of mine will beconsidered as superior to every other gain!’ Hearing these words, Kama,said, ‘O Brahmana, I will give thee homestead land, and fair damsels, andkine, and fields; but my mail and ear-rings I am unable to give thee!'”

Vaisampayana continued, “Although thus urged with various words by Karna,still, O chief of the Bharata race, that Brahmana did not ask for anyother boon. And although Karna sought to pacify him to the best of hispower, and worshipped him duly, yet that best of Brahmanas did not askfor any other boon. And when that foremost of Brahmanas did not ask forany other boon, Radha’s son again spake unto him with a smile, ‘My mail,O regenerate one, hath been born with my body, and this pair of ear-ringshath arisen from Amrita. It is for these that I am unslayable in theworlds. Therefore, I cannot part with them. Do thou, O bull amongBrahmanas, accept from me the entire kingdom of the earth, rid of enemiesand full of prosperity! O foremost of regenerate ones, if I am deprivedof my ear-rings, and the mail born with my body, I shall be liable to bevanquished by the foes!’

Vaisampayana continued, “When the illustrious slayer of Paka refused toask for any other boon, Kama with a smile again addressed him, saying, ‘Ogod of gods, even before this, I had recognised thee, O Lord! O Sakra, itis not proper for me to confer on thee any unprofitable boon, for thouart the very lord of the celestials! On the contrary, being as thou artthe Creator and lord of all beings, it is thou that shouldst confer boonson me! If, O god, I give thee this coat of mail and ear-rings, then I amsure to meet with destruction, and thou shalt also undergo ridicule!Therefore, O Sakra, take my earrings and excellent mail in exchange forsomething conferred by thee on me! Otherwise, I will not bestow them onthee!’ Thereupon Sakra replied, ‘Even before I had come to thee, Suryahad known of my purpose and without doubt, it is he that hath unfoldedeverything unto thee! O Karna, be it as thou wishest! O son, except thethunder-bolt alone, tell me what it is that thou desirest to have!'”

Vaisampayana continued, “Hearing these words of Indra, Karna was filledwith delight and seeing that his purpose was about to be accomplished heapproached Vasava, and intent upon obtaining a dart incapable of beingbaffled, he addressed Indra, saying, ‘Do thou, O Vasava, in exchange formy coat of mail and ear-rings, give me a dart incapable of being baffled,and competent to destroy hosts of enemies when arrayed in order ofbattle!’ Thereupon, O ruler of earth, fixing his mind for a moment on thedart (for bringing it there), Vasava thus spake unto Karna, ‘Do thou giveme thy ear-rings, and the coat of mail born with thy body, and in returntake this dart on these terms! When I encounter the Daitya in battle,this dart that is incapable of being baffled, hurled by my hand,destroyeth enemies by hundreds, and cometh back to my hand afterachieving its purpose. In thy hand, however, this dart, O son of Suta,will slay only one powerful enemy of thine. And having achieved thatfeat, it will, roaring and blazing, return to me!’ Thereat Karna said, ‘Idesire to slay in fierce fight even one enemy of mine, who roarethfiercely and is hot as fire, and of whom I am in fear!’ At this, Indrasaid, ‘Thou shall slay such a roaring and powerful foe in battle. Butthat one whom thou seekest to slay, is protected by an illustriouspersonage. Even He whom persons versed in the Vedas call ‘the invincibleBoar,’ and ‘the incomprehensible Narayana,’ even that Krishna himself, isprotecting him!’ Thereupon Karna replied, ‘Even if this be so, do thou, Oillustrious one give me the weapon that will destroy only one powerfulfoe! I shall, on my part, bestow on thee my mail and ear-rings, cuttingthem off my person. Do thou, however, grant that my body, thus wounded,may not be unsightly!’ Hearing this, Indra said, ‘As thou, O Karna, artbent upon observing the truth, thy person shall not be unsightly, orshall any scar remain on it. And, O thou best of those that are gracedwith speech, O Karna, thou shall be possessed of complexion and energy ofthy father him self. And if, maddened by wrath, thou hurlest this dart,while there are still other weapons with thee, and when thy life also isnot in imminent peril, it will fall even on thyself.’ Karna answered, ‘Asthou directest me, O Sakra, I shall hurl this Vasavi dart only when I amin imminent peril! Truly I tell thee this!'”

Vaisampayana continued, “Thereupon, O king, taking the blazing dart,Karna began to peel off his natural mail. And beholding Karna cutting hisown body, the entire host of celestials and men and Danavas set up aleonine roar. And Karna betrayed no contortions of face while peeling hismail. And beholding that hero among men thus cutting his body with anweapon, smiling ever and anon, celestial kettle-drums began to be playedupon and celestial flowers began to be showered on him. And Karna cuttingoff the excellent mail from his person, gave it to Vasava, stilldripping. And cutting off his ear-rings also from off his ears, he madethem over to Indra. And it is for this fact that he came to be calledKarna. And Sakra, having thus beguiled Karna that made him famous in theworld, thought with a smile that the business of the sons of Pandu hadalready been completed. And having done all this, he ascended to heaven.And hearing that Karna had been beguiled, all the sons of Dhritarashtrabecame distressed and shorn of pride. And the sons of Pritha, on theother hand, learning that such plight had befallen the son of thecharioteer, were filled with joy.”

Janamejaya said, “When were those heroes, the sons of Pandu, at thattime? And from whom did they hear this welcome news? And what also didthey do, when the twelfth year of their exile passed away? Do thou, Oillustrious one, tell me all this!”

Vaisampayana said, “Having defeated the chief of the Saindhavas, andrescued Krishna, and having outlived the entire term of their painfulexile in the woods, and having listened to the ancient stories about godsand Rishis recited by Markandeya, those heroes among men returned fromtheir asylum in Kamyaka to the sacred Dwaitavana, with all their cars,and followers, and accompanied by their charioteers, their kine, and thecitizens who had followed them.”