The Broken Bond

My Skills, Your Wish

Duryadhan's voice rang through the arena,

“I ask my friend Anga-raj Karna to fight for me.”

Karna slowly got up and stepped forward, somehow feeling that he was again standing in the arena in front of the people of Hastinapur, trying to defend his right to the bow. Although now everything was different:

instead of the roar of the crowd, there was silence, and the sun burned with an angry heat, and did not caress with the usual native warmth. Karna's back was wet, and he tossed his head, looking into the face of Surya-deva.

I swear by the grace of Surya-deva, given to me since birth, that I will do everything in my power so that Duryodhana does not commit any more sins.

So he said to Prince Yudhishthira, and then repeated the oath on the banks of the Ganges. And now Duryodhana wanted them to act contrary to dharma for the sake of a beneficial political union for Hastinapur. King Shakuni argued that it was not a sin that even the great Bhishma found it possible to win wives for Prince Vichitravirya at swayamvara. But King Shakuni did not know what dharma was and always wrote out verbal patterns with ease, masking his misunderstanding, and the great Bhishma...

The great Bhishma was wrong.

Duryodhana's hand rested on Karna's shoulder, and he shuddered a little. Duryodhana looked at him with calm contentment, anticipating an undeniable victory. Duryodhana never doubted Karna's abilities, from that very day at the competitions in Hastinapur - not once, not for a moment, and generously gave opportunities to prove these abilities to the whole world.

Why didn't Karna tell him that the great Bhishma was wrong? That it is impossible to win a wife by proxy, because a woman must make a choice herself, and make it for the groom, and not his friends? Why didn't he say as soon as the offer was made? Now Karna did not comprehend what force had bound his tongue at a moment when it was still possible to correct something.

Duryodhana trusted him implicitly, and Karna could not kill this trust now, publicly, in front of everyone, rejecting the request of his friend. He began to slowly descend the steps to the bow, which was reclining on four pillars, and the mirror, in which the reflection of the celestial fish splashed.

I swear by the grace of Surya-deva, given to me since birth, that I will do everything in my power so that Duryodhana does not commit any more sins.

The rays of the sun continued to burn his shoulders in an unusual and unpleasant way, for the first time in his life, Surya-dev made him understand about his discontent, deserved discontent, and this frightened Karna, he did not know what to do now

He could not back down, because he would have dishonored a friend who trusted him.

He did not have to condone sin, because he swore and because friends do not leave friends who have stumbled to drown in a swamp.

He had no idea how to reconcile these two contradictory things.

Bowing slowly and respectfully to the marvelous weapon, Karna approached it and held out his hand. His palm rested over the smooth white shaft, his fingers aching with the desire to pick up the bow and draw the string. For a moment, Karna even forgot that he was on swayamvara and was about to either break the word given to Surya Deva, or inflict an undeserved wound on Duryodhana. The bow sang to him, menacingly and sternly, the bow challenged him, demanding to prove his art, and Karna's heart fluttered in response.

“I beg your pardon, Anga-raj. But we can't let you do that.”

Prince Dhrishtadyumna's voice lashed him, lashing across his shoulders and face, bringing old bitterness to boil. All of them, these kings, none of whom could even lift a bow for several days, did not want to allow him, the son of a charioteer, to prove his superiority over them.