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 him like a humble disciple

 

One day, Parasurāma rested while placing his head upon my thigh. At that time Indra took form of a worm & began eating thro’ my leg. Even though I felt excruciating pain & blood flowed from my wound, I was determined not to disturb my guru & so I didn’t move even an inch. Finally, when Parasurāma woke up & saw the wonderful patience I had exhibited, he declared: O Disciple, you cannot be a Brāhmana! I demand that you immediately disclose your real identity

 

I fearfully admitted that I was in reality the son of a Suta. Hearing this, Parasurāma angrily cursed me, saying: O wretch! Because of your duplicity, time will come when you’ll be unable to remember mantras for invoking Brahmāstra while facing an extreme danger on battlefield. In fact, because of this lapse of memory, you’ll be killed!

 

O Salya, I’m still confident that Arjun will not be able to escape irresistible Brahmāstra arrow. If the time predicted by Parasurāma has not yet arrived, I should be able to strike off his head this very day, but there is something else that I fear even more than this curse–that my chariot wheels may sink into mud

 

Once, long ago, while roaming in forest, practicing with my Vijaya bow, I mistakenly killed a calf belonging to a Brāhmana. When he found out what had happened, He angrily cursed me, saying: O Killer of cows, one day you’ll experience great fear on battlefield when one of your chariot wheel sinks into earth

 

My dear Salya, I tried to induce the Brāhmana to retract his curse by offering him thousands of cows & vast amounts of wealth. He refused all my gifts & replied: I’m unwilling to allow my words to prove false. By suffering consequence of my curse, you’ll properly atone for the sinful killing of my calf

 

O Salya, despite your criticizing me so harshly, I’ve disclosed all this as an expression of friendship. Because your words can never frighten me, I’m willing to forgive you for speaking so harshly

 

Despite Karna’s conciliatory speech, Salya continued to abuse him

 

The Law of Karma catches us sooner or later. What we sow is what we reap. Karmic law is to teach us, how it is extremely important for us to evaluate our actions, weigh them against dharmic injunctions & then act. Krsna says:

 

karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ

 

The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore, one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is and what inaction is

 

If one is serious about liberation from material bondage, one has to understand the distinctions between action, inaction and unauthorized actions. One has to apply oneself to such an analysis of action, reaction and perverted actions because it is a very difficult subject matter

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife