Vedic Wisdom Talks

Law of Karma! After telling the story of a crow & swan, Salya said to Karna: The crow became puffed up, thinking himself superior due to being fed the remnants from Vaishya’s children’s plate. Similarly, you consider yourself superior due to receiving remnants from sons of Dhritrāshtra   Don’t you remember how Arjun vanquished you at Virāta’s kingdom? Have you forgotten how you were first to run away from battlefield when Gandharvas attacked Kurus? Knowing that Arjun will very soon quell your false pride once & for all, you should desist from boasting any further   Karna was not about to give up his great pride after hearing Salya’s words, but they did make him somewhat thoughtful. Karna then confided to Salya a great fear that he had never expressed to anyone   Karna said: O King! Once, long ago, I approached Parasurāma in the guise of a Brāhmana, hoping to acquire his celestial weapons. For that purpose, I remained with him for some time, serving h...

  Story of Crow & Swan!   As Salya provoked Karna repeatedly, he harshly replied: My claims are factual as I’ve a special arrow that I have been worshipping for years. After killing Krsna & Arjun with that arrow I’ll take great pleasure in killing you with your relatives. Why do you take such pride in yourself, thinking that you come from a royal family? Your subjects, the Madrakas, have habits like those of mleccchas & you’re son of such a Madraka women. I’ll not kill you right now despite your harsh words, for I want to avoid displeasing Duryodhana. Still, if you continue to anger me with your insulting words, I’ll surely crush you to death with my mace   Despite this warning, Salya said: O Karna! You’re speaking like a madman! My dynasty is amongst the most exalted Kshatriya families. In fact, befitting my aristocratic lineage, I’ll continue driving your chariot & thus keep my promise intact, despite your cruel words   Salya told Karna ...

  Provocation!   As Karna set out on the battlefield, Kaurava soldiers felt great confidence, but then many inauspicious omens became manifest. Suddenly Karna’s horses stumbled and fell to the ground. A frightening shower of bones rained from the sky & all the Kauravas’ animals were seen shedding tears   Still, because the Kaurava warriors were in the grips of destiny, they ignored these fearful signs & continued to proceed cheerfully, confident that Karna would lead them to victory   Karna praised himself again by saying: O Salya, now that Bhisma & Drona are gone, I’m only one remaining that is competent to fearlessly face Arjun in battle. In response Salya simply laughed. Then, in an attempt to curb Karna’s swelling pride, he replied: O suta’s son, Arjun is far superior to you & the proof is the innumerable heroic deeds he performed. You can rest be assured that today’s battle has been arranged for your destruction   This time, ...

  Make or break!   When Salya agreed to drive Karna’s chariot only on condition that he must be allowed to speak freely whatever he likes, Duryodhana and Karna readily agreed & thus a contract was made. Duryodhana flattered Salya by comparing him to Lord Brahmā, who formerly became Shiva’s charioteer at the time of destroying Tripura   Duryodhana concluded his long talk by saying: Dear Salya, Parasurāma delivered the entire science of weapons to Karna. Therefore, we must intelligently conclude that Karna cannot really be a sutā’s son. He must be the offspring of a demigod born in a Kshatriya family & then abandoned at infancy. Otherwise, why would Parasurāma agreed to instruct him in the complete use of weapons?   Salya replied: I have heard on numerous occasions the story of how Lord Brahmā became Lord Siva’s charioteer. You should not place so much faith in your plans, because even if Arjun is killed, Sri Krsna will exterminate the entire Kaurav...

  Genuine praise! Maharaj Yudhisthira fought with Duryodhana with all his might & nearly killed him. Arjun also defeated many Kaurav warriors & killed few of them eg. Satyasena & Susarma. As the sun sank below the horizon, both armies retired to their camp Back in Kaurava camp, all the leading warriors were very aggrieved because of their defeat at the hands of Arjun. With great anger all of them swore to kill him the next day without fail At dawn of the next morning, Karna went to Duryodhana & vowed: O King! Today I will kill Arjun or else be killed by him. Arjun is not my equal in terms of strength, skill or courage & my Vijaya bow is the foremost of its kind. Visvakarma made this bow specifically for Indra, and with it the king of heaven was able to vanquish the demons. Thereafter, Indra gave the Vijay bow to Parasurama. After using it to annihilate the Kshatriyas 21 times, the great warrior-brahmana handed it over to me O king, my bow is superior to the Gand...

  Promise Krsna makes!   As Arjun proceeded to vanquish Samsaptakas, Magadha king Dandadhara intercepted him. Arjun quickly retaliated by breaking his bow & severing his head. He also killed his brother Danda, who attacked to gain revenge. Arjun then quickly slaughtered the Samsaptakas, so that he can get down to the real business of killing Karna as advised by Sri Krsna   As they proceeded towards Karna & approached him, a loud roar of anguish could be heard coming from the Kaurava ranks. When Sri Krsna & Arjun saw how the Pāndava warrior Pāndya, was creating an unprecedented massacre of Kaurava soldiers, they were amazed to witness his prowess   Dhritrāshtra said: Mt dear Sanjay, there are certainly many great warriors on both sides, but the name Pāndya has never been mentioned as being amongst the foremost. Sanjay said: Although Bhima, Drona, Krpā, Karna, Asvattāma, Arjun & Krsna are regarded by everyone as being the foremost of chariot...

Choice! At the sun rise, Karna arranged the Kaurava army in a makara formation. While gazing upon the enemy array, Maharāj Yudhisthira said: My dear Arjun, the depleted Kaurava army has only one supremely powerful warrior, Karna. If he can somehow be killed, victory will surely be ours   Arjun counter-arrayed the Pāndava army in a half-moon formation and as the two forces joyfully rushed at each other, fierce fighting resumed. While riding upon an elephant, Bhima inflicted the Kaurava army with heavy losses. At the same time Karna slaughtered innumerable Pāndava soldiers   Asvattāma rushed to confront Bhima and as they proceeded to furiously fight, neither could gain the upper hand. As the two incomparable heroes battled, it appeared that two great masses of cloud poured torrents of arrows upon one another   Finally, desirous of killing each other, both Bhima & Asvattāma picked up powerful arrows & drew their bowstrings back to their ears. After bein...