THE MAHABHARATAM : 7. Swami Advayananda Acharyaji

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Sunday, March 20, 2022. 19:00.

Prelude to the Bhagavad Geeta :

Meditation on the Bhagavad Geeta.

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In 18 Episodes : 

Episode 1: How the Writing Began

Episode 2: The Story of Bhishma

Episode 3: Amba Seeks Revenge on Bhishma

Episode 4: The Story of Vidhura

Episode 5: The Story of Queen Kunti

Episode 6: The Young Princes Grow Up Together 

Episode 7: The Development of Karna :

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Reflections by Swami Gurubhaktananda on the Series of 13 Lectures by Swami Advayananda Acharyaji, 15th Batch Vedanta Course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Powai, Mumbai Mahabharata: October 8th – October 18th , 2012 (10 Lectures) Geeta Dhyanam: October 25th– October 27th, 2012 (3 Lectures).

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Adi Shankaracharya Swami Sivananda Swami Tapovanji Swami Chinmayananda

SERVE  LOVE  GIVE  PURIFY  MEDITATE  REALISE

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Episode 7: The Development of Karna :

From that day, Karna had sold his soul to Duryodhana.

Duryodhana’s desire to get rid of the Pandavas never left him. Years later when the princes were no longer boys, but had grown into young men, Duryodhana’s plotting mind was at work again on a very big scheme…

The complexity we see in the Mahabharata makes the Ramayana look very simple. In the Mahabharata the characters are very complex. No one is a totally bad person, nor is there anyone who is totally good. In this regard Duryodhana was once sent out to find a single good man and Yudhisthira to find a single wicked man. Both returned in failure! This is when their Acharya knew the hearts of the 

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"A good man will always see some good in another, and a wicked man will always see wickedness in another."

Karna always had to live with the stigma of having a “low birth”. The Mahabharata brings out the irony of such distinction by placing the child of the Sun-god into this category. The drama that unfolds as a result brings tears to the eyes of any reader of this epic. Karna’s story is a story of the interplay of irony and fate.

No teacher would take Karna as a student, as he was known to be a poor Brahmana boy. Karna heard of Parasurama’s hatred for Kshatriyas, and decided to go to him as a student. Seeing such a radiant youth and hearing of his birth, Parasurama accepted him.

Parasurama had in mind that Karna, being a Brahmana, would fit in well with his own plans to bring the might of the Kshatriyas to the ground. So he trained Karna well in the art of archery. He also trained him in the use of divine weapons, including the Brahma-Astra. As Parasurama’s faith in Karna increased, he went on teaching him more and more skills.

One day Parasurama was resting blissfully in the forest with Karna as his pillow. The Acharya was fast asleep. A bedbug attacked Karna right on the lap on which Parasurama was sleeping. It started burrowing deep into the flesh of Karna. Blood began oozing out, but brave Karna would not budge, for fear of awakening his Guru. Eventually it was the flowing blood that woke Parasurama up.

When Parasurama got up and saw what was happening to Karna, he looked straight into the eyes of his student and said, “Tell me, who are you? Tell me the truth about your parentage. A Brahmana cannot bear such pain as you are bearing. Who are you? You are a Kshatriya, are you not?”

Karna had to speak the truth now, and tell of his own ignorance of who he was. Parasurama was angry that he was not told the truth at first. He cursed his brilliant student that when he would most need to use the Brahma-Astra, he will not be able to remember the Mantra for it. This actually happened when Karna was facing Arjuna in the Mahabharata battle. Such are the ways of destiny

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Next - Episode 8: The “Wax Palace”

To be continued ....

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