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KARNA THE UNSUNG HERO Of The MAHABHARATA Umesh Kotru Ashutosh Zutshi

First published in India 2015 by Frog Books An imprint of Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd 1 Level, Trade Centre Bandra Kurla Complex Bandra (East) Mumbai 400 051 India Telephone: +91-22-40700804 Fax: +91-22-40700800 Email: [email protected] www.leadstartcorp.com / www.frogbooks.net Sales Office: Unit No.25/26, Building No.A/1, Near Wadala RTO, Wadala (East), Mumbai – 400037 India Phone: +91 22 24046887 US Office: Axis Corp, 7845 E Oakbrook Circle Madison, WI 53717 USA Copyright © Umesh Kotru, Ashutosh Zutshi All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. ISBN 978-93-52013-04-3 Book Editor: Abhijit Basu Cover Artist: Champa Srinivas Layout: Chandravadan R. Shiroorkar Typeset in Book Antiqua Printed at Repro Knowledgecast Limited, Thane

II OM SHREE GANESHAAYA NAMAH II Dedicated to the fond memory of revered Mrs. Sheela Zutshi (Mother of Ashutosh and eldest sister of Umesh)

For Our beloved children Mrinalini, Siddhartha, Aditya and Nakul

BHARATAVARSHA AT THE TIME OF THE MAHABHARATA WAR

About the Authors

Umesh Chandra Kotru, a specialist in accounts and finance of the Government of India, retired in 2010 from the Ministry of Power, after a distinguished career spanning years of professional work in the Ministry of External Affairs; Indian Embassy in Washington; Ministry of Finance; and Ministry of Environment & Forests. An avid reader of books on Philosophy, Religion, Mythology and Fiction, and a passionate aficionado of Sports, Umesh now divides his time between his two pursuits of the mind and the body. Living in Noida with wife, also retired from Central Government Service, they have a daughter who is a doctor and a son who is an engineer with MBA, both married. Email: [email protected]

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Ashutosh Zutshi, like-minded nephew of Umesh Kotru, is a technocrat with a difference. An electronics & communication engineer, Ashutosh is engaged in higher-level corporate management as General Manager of a Japanese MNC in Delhi. At the same time, an inner urge for self-actualisation drives him to find some time – mostly in the weekends – to pursue his other interests, in music, in singing and of course, in serious reading. Ashutosh too lives in Noida with his wife, who works with the United Nations and two sons who are in school. Email: [email protected]

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Acknowledgements We owe this book to what we believe was a divine inspiration which came to both of us almost simultaneously. We, therefore, believe that it was the transcendental guidance of Shri Krishna himself that led us through the project. As is the case with divinity, we too had to undergo severe test of our resolve on many occasions. On the temporal front, we would like to record our special appreciation for Dr. Mrinalini Fotedar, whose immense encouragement and advice made it possible to give shape to our work. We are also highly grateful to our families for their support and valuable suggestions, particularly Rattan Kotru, Siddhartha Kotru and Ragini Zutshi, who took the pains to go through the manuscript in detail. Last but surely not the least, it would be highly remiss on our part if we do not acknowledge the contribution of the inexhaustible wealth of knowledge left by the great ancestors of our land in the shape of the Epics and Scriptures, of which we have been able to absorb only a tiny fraction. The central theme of this book is the life story of Karna – the self-made man, the ultimate exemplar of human effort. We will consider our work a success if it is of some help to even one individual to face and overcome the challenges thrown by life.

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Contents Authors’ Note����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������15 Prologue�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������23 Chapter-1:  Birth of Karna�������������������������������������������������������������������31 Chapter-2:  Kunti’s Dilemma�������������������������������������������������������������47 Chapter-3:  The Castaway�������������������������������������������������������������������53 Chapter-4:  Early Life���������������������������������������������������������������������������61 Chapter-5:  The Hero Emerges�����������������������������������������������������������77 Chapter-6:  Quest for Excellence��������������������������������������������������������87 Chapter-7:  The Outpouring of Inner Conflict���������������������������������98 Chapter-8:  The Svayamvara������������������������������������������������������������112 Chapter-9:  The Game of Dice����������������������������������������������������������122 Chapter-10: Arjuna seeks Divine Weapons�������������������������������������136 Chapter-11: Association with Evil����������������������������������������������������144 Chapter-12: Daanaveera���������������������������������������������������������������������152 Chapter-13: The Great Sacrifice���������������������������������������������������������160 Chapter-14: War Becomes Inevitable�����������������������������������������������169 Chapter-15: The Revelation���������������������������������������������������������������184 Chapter-16: A Mother reveals her Secret�����������������������������������������190 Chapter-17: Focus Shifts to Kurukshetra�����������������������������������������203 Chapter-18: Bhishma Finally Blesses Karna������������������������������������207

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Karna The Unsung Hero Of The Mahabharata

Chapter-19: Inner Turmoil Resolved������������������������������������������������216 Chapter-20: Scorching the Battlefield�����������������������������������������������227 Chapter-21: Karna in Command�������������������������������������������������������242 Chapter-22: The Curtain Falls�����������������������������������������������������������253 Epilogue������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������268 Character Profiles (Supporting Cast)�����������������������������������������������272 Glossary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������277

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Authors’ Note Like a vast majority of fellow Indians we have grown up listening to the stories from the greatest of Indian Epics – ‘The Mahabharata’ – from our elders, particularly our mothers. How could anybody be not fascinated by the seemingly never ending saga of intricately woven tales which appear to have no beginning or end? Despite the monumental stature of this ‘Great Epic of India’, keeping a copy of The Mahabharata at home is still considered inauspicious, as it is believed to bring conflict and turmoil in the family. Thankfully this was not the case in our families and our curiosity led us to explore the epic. In the process, we got exposure to a first hand experience of the delightful maze of interwoven stories contained in the Mahabharata. At an age when many of our age-group spent the best part of their spare time in play, we used to spend hours, absorbed in the pages of Mahabharata. Initially, like others, we thought Mahabharata to be just a tale describing a most destructive war between two branches of the Puru dynasty, namely the Kauravas and the Pandavas. But it turned out that the core story concerning the Puru dynasty named ‘Jaya’ or victory consists of only ten thousand verses which is but a fraction of the complete Mahabharata, comprising of more than one hundred thousand verses. It is said that whatever is not described in the Mahabharata does not exist. Obviously, the adage has its validity in the sense that the text takes us to the very beginning of time when life was evolving from a cosmic egg, till the recitation of the great epic in the court of King Janamejaya, the great grandson of Arjuna. Even the Ramayana and all the Puraanas are summarized in this epic. The greatest of all Puraanas, the Shrimadbhagavata Maha Puraana, branches off from the last seven days of King Parikshit’s (grandson of Arjuna) life, before he dies of snake bite. To us today’s readers, it is amazing to note the sheer number of larger-than-life characters around which various episodes in the epic have been woven. Shri Krishna, Bhishma, Dronacharya, Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Bhima, Kunti, Abhimanyu, Duryodhana, 15

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