Storytelling Week 7: Karna, You Are the Brother

Shikhandin, a warrior born a woman, but transformed into a man, sought Bhishma in battle.  Bhishma could not bare to fight a woman, even if she was a man now.  He refused to bring his A game and was not expecting much out of this encounter.  However, Shikhandin had every intention of battling Bhishma.  Within minutes of their battle Shikhandin struck him with multiple arrows and he immediately fell to the ground near his death.

Everyone was called to come visit Bhishma as he lied on his death bed.  Most visitors he wished to speak with one on one.  He had several visitors including all of the princes and princesses in the land, but there was one visitor in particular he knew he had to have a serious moment with, and he wanted this visitor to be the last to bid him farewell.  Bhishma called young Karna to come visit him before he passed, to tell him some news he would never be prepared to hear.

When Karna heard the news that Bhishma had summoned him his stomach was in knots.  He wondered what in the world he could have to tell him that was so important that he wanted it to be his last words on Earth.  Karna nervously walked to see him.  His jaw was clinching, he was profusely sweating, and a million thoughts were running through his head.  As he approached Bhishma lying in a pile of leaves, he took a deep breath and said, "to what do I owe the honor, Bhishma?"

Bhishma was weak.  He could not sit up, he could hardly talk, and his face was as white as snow.  "Come closer, boy,"  he said as he signaled to Karna to take a seat next to him on the ground.  "I urge you to make peace, my boy," he said, "I promise you, you do not want to fight Arjuna.  He is like family to you."

"Family to me?  I cannot stand the man and I am going to take him down!" Karna said angrily, "Why would you even suggest such a thing?!" Bhishma had tears in his eyes, and Karna knew it must be very serious.  "Tell me the news, Bhishma.  I cannot wait any longer, just tell me."

Bhishma put his hand on Karna's shoulder while looking at him in dismay.  "You mustn't fight Arjuna for he is your brother.  The charioteer was nothing but a foster father to you. You were the first born son of Kunti, but she had to give you away.  Arjuna is your family, and you can't kill family.  Please, do not kill your family." And with that Bhishma peacefully passed away.

Battle (Wikimedia Commons)

Karna was upset, but more furious.  Why would nobody tell him this until now?  Why would his mother give him away?  Was he supposed to feel differently about killing Arjuna?  Because right now he didn't.  He ran through the woods looking for the rest of the Pandavas, trying to find an explanation for the madness.  He finally came across none other than Arjuna.  Karna approached him, and for the first time he had the feeling like he could not be angry with him.  "Arjuna, we cannot go through with this battle,"  he said.

"What? You're chickening out? HA! I had a feeling you weren't as tough as you pretend to be,"  Arjuna said laughing.

"No..."  Karna said, "We can't go through with this because you... you are my brother. I was the first born son of Kunti, but she could not raise me at the time, so she gave me away.  Bhishma just told me this on his death bed.  His last dying wish was for us to end the battle and bring peace again."

Arjuna was silent for what seemed like an eternity.  "This is not possible,"  he said, "you are a savage, you are not my brother."  And with anger in his heart Arjuna turned around and struck Karna, instantly killing him.   He stood above Karna as he passed away, and realized what he had done.  "My brother," he wept, "I just killed my brother.  What kind of man am I?"  Arjuna lied there next to his brother Karna crying, begging for the forgiveness of the gods and his family.  He knew he had done a horrible thing.



Author's Note:  This reading came from Wilson's Five Tall Sons of Pandu.  I chose to base my story off of section 9 of this reading.  I stuck with the same general plot of the original story, but I knew I wanted to change it up a bit.  First of all, in the original story the Pandavas shoot the arrow that killed Bhishma, not Shikhandin.  I also made a bigger emphasis on Bhishma's death.  I wanted to make it seem that it was a much bigger deal, so I elaborated on his visitors.  I made the scene of Bhishma summoning Karna and breaking the news to him much more dramatic because I felt that it should have been.  I also changed the ending up a bit.  I decided I wanted Karna to see the light and decide he did not want to fight his brother.  In the original story Karna is still determined to fight Arjuna, they go to battle without Karna telling him they are brothers and Arjuna kills him.  I felt this story would be a great addition to my portfolio because it is dramatic like many of my other stories.  I love taking intense scenes from our reading and making them a little more detailed and dramatic.  


Five Tall Sons of Pandu

Week 7: Reading Diary B

This week I chose to read Wilson's shortened version of the Mahabharata.  This version was interesting to me because there are no gods, celestial powers, or anything like that which we have seen in the past. This version strictly focuses on the humans, which I actually liked.  This version felt more modern and real to me.  The story begins with Pandu being dead and his blind brother becoming king.  Drona begins to train Pandu's sons (the Pandavas).  Once Drona felt the Pandavas had been adequately trained, he organized a tournament between them and their cousins, King Dhritarashtra's sons. The boys are engaging in pretty harmless battles, some getting a little out of hand but Drona keeping everything under control for the most part.

We then meet Karna, who challenges Arjuna, one of the most talented, to battle.  Nobody knows this Karna character, and he cannot even identify himself or his heritage or line of family when asked.  A charioteer then comes sweeping in and Karna bows to him as his father, which makes many of the boys furious, particularly Bhima.  However, after this little episode the boys come to realize just how powerful Karna must be and that he really is a fair match for Arjuna.

One of the major changes in the plot Wilson introduced was the story of Arjuna and Draupadi.  In this version, Kunti tells her son that he should not have won the prize after the archery contest and that it should go to her eldest son, Yudhishthira, making him the husband of Draupadi instead of Arjuna.  The previous version we read had Kunti declaring that all of the brothers should share the prize, making all five of her sons the husbands of Draupadi.

There were a few slight little changes in how and why the Pandavas were sent into exile, but this section stuck pretty close to the original.  The are sent to be exiled to the forest for 12 years, with the 13th year being spent in disguise.  Draupadi joins them.

Arjuna (wikimedia commons)

I loved the scene of Bhishma laying on his death bed telling Karna that the charioteer was only his foster father, and that he was actually Kunti's first born child.  Bhishma pleads for peace explaining that Arjuna is his brother, so they should not go through with battling each other, but Karna does not really care.  He is still determined he is going to bring him down.  However, upon an intense battle between the two, Arjuna eventually shoots the deadly bow to kill Karna.  I will likely base my story this week on this scene because I think it will go nicely with my theme.  I like the really dramatic scenes of the stories we read so I can elaborate on them and make them even more dramatic.

The Five Tall Sons by Wilson