Episode 22
Karna as an
Emperor
Immediately after the coronation, Karna
and his Queens stood in the open balcony of the Hastinapur palace and the
greetings from the people reverberated. The Sun showered all his jasmine laced
rays over the ground. The joy all around was boundless. Karna waved his hands before the retreat.
After an exchange of royal greetings,
Karna requested all the guests to stand in silence for a minute as a mark of
respect to all those martyred in the battle. Karna ordered that the battlefield
of Kurukshetra be blessed by spraying GOMUTRA and COWDUNG collected from
Dwaraka’s brown cows.
Karna went to the strong room in the
palace with Sage Vyasa and matured Vidhura and held key discussions.
Vidura was appointed as the Prime
Minister.
Kripacharya became the Head Priest of
the new Empire.
Bhimasena was handed over the baton of
the Commander of the Hastinapur Empire.
Indraprastha was converted into a War
Widows Welfare Zone under the able and kind supervision of Maa Kunti. Nakula
opted to assist Kunti.
Yudhistira preferred to look after the welfare of the people, and Arjuna wished to replace Dronacharya as the coach.
Sahadeva was entrusted with the animal
infantry.
A long discussion was held about the
role of Duryodhana in the changed scenario. Duryodhana volunteered to go with
Sage Vyasa to the Ashram as he needed counselling. Dhritarashtra and Gandhari
too wished to be with Duryodhana in this crucial transformational period. All
the three left the palace with sage Vyasa. The Kauravi widows did not attend
their farewell as a mark of displeasure. They were not happy with Gandhari and
Bhanumati as they were deserting them, while Kunti had come forward to take
care of them.
But, the fate of Ashwattaama was a
million-dollar question to Karna. Heart in heart, he did not wish to lose such
a talented person. The Pandavas too were in a dilemma as Ashwattaama was the brave
and deserving son of their Guru Dronacharya. Bhimasena was bent upon taking
revenge against Ashwattaama, not only for his disgusting cowardly act but
also, for his control of powerful Astra’s and Mantras. Draupadi and other
Pandavi’s stood firm with Bhimasena.
Sage Vyasa and Vidhura realised that
the presence of Ashwattaama would be detrimental to the Empire in the long run
and that he would not leave any stone unturned to lead a Kurukshetra war 2.
They also took into account the long-lasting anger of Bhimasena. They very much
wanted to give vent to his anger. It was decided that Bhimasena should throw
Ashwattaama out of Hastinapur Empire, as far as he can, as a punishment.
As the dusk began to dawn, in presence
of all, Bhimasena pulled the “mani”(a small bump) from Ashwattaama’s forehead
with all his might, lifted him up, swirled around and with a big heave threw
him. Ashwattaama became an unidentified flying object in the sky and continued
to float in outer space breathing air and licking the moisture. The red blood
flowing from his forehead reflected daily during the sunset.
Did Draupadi
marry Karna?
How was the
welcome back to Krishna and Balarama? In the next episode 23.
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