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, Karna became angry upon hearing Salya’s insults. When he saw this, the Madraka king thought it best to leave well enough alone for the time being. Thereafter Karna proceeded to slaughter innumerable Pāndava soldiers while ranging over the battlefield in search of Arjun

 

At that time Karna addressed all those he saw before him: O warriors of the Pāndava army, I will reward with immense wealth anyone who pints out Arjun to me so that I can kill him this very day. I am prepared to give gold, jewels, villages, servants, wives, chariots, elephants, horses & whatever else may be imagined to anyone who tells me where I can find my lifelong enemy

 

After saying this, Karna impetuously blew his conch shell, giving great joy to Duryodhana & the other Kaurava warriors. Salya scornfully laughed & said: O Karna, you should save your wealth. Even if you do not search for him, Arjun will soon come to you of his own accord. How can you dare boast like this? Have you heard of a fox capable of killing two lions? Your attempt to kill the Pāndava can be likened to a man who tries to swim across the ocean after tying a heavy stone around his neck

 

Karna replied: O Salya, I can now understand that you are an enemy disguised as a friend. Still, I do not mind, because all your attempts to frighten me are fruitless. You had thus better stop wasting your valuable breath

 

Despite Karna’s suggestion, Salya wanted to further provoke him so he said: O Suta’s son, I can assure you that you will soon very bitterly lament after being pierced by Arjuna’s arrows. Take my good advice & do not challenge Arjun alone, and thus meet with certain destruction. The fact is that your rushing toward Arjun is something like a snake challenging Garuda. Your foolish attempts to compare yourself with Arjun are like trying to claim that a jackal is equal to a lion, a rabbit is equal to an elephant, or poison is same as the nectar

 

Karna anger was building up and he started losing control over self & to what he was supposed to do on the battlefield

 

Those who anger us conquer us. Anger is a natural reaction when things which are important to us are attacked. Though anger is natural but the way we express it is not always desirable. If we act indiscriminately possessed by our anger, we give others inordinate control over us. They can, by pressing the buttons that drive us wild, make us act self-destructively

 

Krsna says:

dambho darpo ’bhimānaś ca krodhaḥ pāruṣyam eva ca
ajñānaṁ cābhijātasya pārtha sampadam āsurīm

Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance – these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature, O son of Pṛthā

 

Anger characterizes the ungodly. This means more we are detached from the Supreme Lord, the more we become vulnerable to anger. But the more we are closer to God, more we can channel constructively the energy underlying our anger. By our regular devotional practices, we can be strongly rooted in our relationship to God

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife