Karna

Karna

I am the experimental result

Of my mother's curiosity;

A prime example of

A birth by accident,

Not by choice!

In the river she set me afloat

Just when my eyes were waiting

To be filled with the sight of her

She was gone and, I was...

Abandoned and forgotten

Fortunately, I survived!

I was raised as a charioteer's son

Now I am the price she has to pay

For I represent her grave mistake

It was Duryodhana alone

Who saved me from humiliation

He was the only one, who stood by me,

Put his hand over my shoulder

And generously gifted a kingdom

Without a second thought

When I was facing

Nothing but disgust

It was he, who took my hand

And offered nothing more,

But friendship

When everyone else,

Had forsaken me

For not being of royal blood

Now,
Only in the hour of need,

Only during the time of peril

You come to me

Afraid that my brothers - my enemy -

Will be slain by my own hands

Then, be it so!

Nothing will change my mind,

I won't change my stand

I know he is in the wrong path

But I will not deceive him;

If I do, I lie to my instinct

I won't be a prey of treachery

As nothing can be more

Hideous and cruel

Than betrayal

I will abide by my duty

And it is my moral right

To serve a true friend

I will not fail him at any cost!

I know death awaits me

For I am also in the wrong path

I will die, not as a coward

But as a hero, fighting for a noble friend

I will not dishonor the generosity

Of love and trust he has bestowed upon me

Thus, I will die for friendship

This is how my loyalty will be repaid

Which is due all long

And this is how the world will

Remember me!

Notes:

Karna is one of the most powerful characters in the Hindu mythological epic: Mahabharata. This poem is the retelling of Karna's words when Bhishma, badly wounded by the enemy forces, laying on a bed of arrows, tries to convince him to end the war by making peace with the Pandavas.

October 21, 2013