Loyalty

 

As Kunti said to Karna that one’s highest religious duty is to satisfy his mother & father in all respects, Karna replied: My dear Kunti, I do not agree that obedience to you is my highest duty, because you abandoned me after my birth. By thus depriving me of the honor that accompanies a kshatriya birth, you acted as my enemy. Never before have you shown me any motherly affection & so how is it that you are appealing to me now? For this reason, I can understand that you have approached me only out of self-interest

 

Besides, since I already vowed to help Duryodhana, everyone would think that I deserted him out of fear. After being practically worshiped by the Kaurava king for so many years, how can I betray his friendship & frustrate his cherished hope of defeating the Pandavas with my help?

 

O Kunti, I don’t want to pacify you with false assurances & so I am telling you the truth in a straightforward manner. I will not desert Duryodhana, and I will fight against the enemy to the best of my ability. But, because your visit to me should not be in vain, I hereby make the following promise: I will not kill Yudhisthira, Bhima, Nakula or Sahadev. It is only with Arjuna that I will fight to death. You can thus be assured that five of your sons will survive the battle, for either I will kill Arjuna or he will kill me

 

Being very pleased to hear this, Kunti embraced Kama & urged: My dear son, make sure you remember this promise during the heat of battle. Karna assured Kunti that he would do so & then departed for home. Meanwhile, upon His return to Upaplavya, Sri Krsna described to Pandavas all that had transpired at Hastinapur & then rested. In the evening after the Pandavas had dismissed all the other kings and were saying their prayers with minds absorbed in Him, Lord Krsna came and sat down in their midst

 

Maharaja Yudhisthira requested Krsna to relate in greater detail all that had happened at the Kuru's royal court. The Lord replied: O King!  After I had addressed the assembled kings, making an earnest plea for a peaceful settlement, Duryodhana responded by laughing out loud. Bhisma became very angry at this display of arrogance and so he chastised Duryodhana. The Grandsire then narrated to Duryodhana the history of how the Kuru dynasty had almost become extinct with the death of Vichitravirya

 

Bhisma concluded by saying, O King of the Kauravas, you should make peace with the sons of Pandu, so that the dynasty that has been so carefully fostered will not be extinguished

 

At any given point of time, place or circumstances, our loyalty should be to the principles enumerated in our scriptures and not to specific person/s

 

Loyalty should always be to principles and to the people who follow those principles

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife

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