A Different Path

Discussion

"Your father will understand." Krishna said, reading his thoughts expertly.

"The ones who love us will eventually forgive us. But it takes a little longer for us to forgive ourselves." He mumbled, his eyes not leaving the horizon where the last vestiges of the sun shone even as darkness creeped up in the sky.

"Only a conscientious mind cares for the hurt that it causes others. The cruel, the wicked, the evil do not spend a single thought on these matters."

"What's worse, Krishna? To be truly evil? Or to know the difference between right and wrong and still choose the path of adharma?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know. I feel like I know nothing. What am I even doing? Why are you taking me back to Hastinapura? Why do you insist upon my presence?"

"Hastinapura needs its heroes. It is your duty, your dharma, to protect it."

Karna sighed. He couldn't argue against that logic.

"Have the Kauravas asked for my help? Have they asked the Pandavas? By what right will we fight for Hastinapura if the crown wouldn't recognize us?"

"King Dhritarashtra will formally acknowledge all of you in the presence of the other kings and warriors who will be supporting us. Do not fret over these little things, I have the king in my confidence."

"You have everyone in your confidence.", He said, and Krishna rewarded him with a dazzling smile.

"But what about Duryodhana? Dushasan? And the others? Surely they wouldn't...."

"Duryodhana has resigned from his position as the Crown Prince. He barely leaves his room. If he had any objections to the Pandavas' presence he has not expressed them yet."

Krishna must have noticed his trepidation, must have known his anxiety at having to go back since he took a step forward and squeezed his shoulders .Karna couldn't help but wonder why this was happening now. He had thought, he had hoped that after him leaving, the war would come to an end and peace would prevail. 

And it had. For one full year there had been no bloody wars, no ambitious conquests, no unforeseen sieges; for one year everything had come to a standstill. But of course, a Kshatriya cannot sit around idle, the lust for war and an even greater lust for power can never be satiated by the tranquility of peacetime.

Knowing that Hastinapura was at its weakest, a bunch of kingdoms led by Magadha had conspired to attack the kingdom and bring it down to its knees. Not everyone was happy that the war was over. Some felt that the Kauravas should have paid for their sins with blood for crossing the boundaries put forth by civilized society while others felt that the Pandavas had unjustly put the blame of Draupadi's vastraharan on the Kauravas completely disregarding Yudhisthira's foolishness. Some watching the horror unfold in Kurukshetra, had castigated them both for putting the whole of Aryavarta on the brink of extinction for their petty squabbles. The on-off struggle for power and kingship between Duryodhana and Yudhisthira spanning several decades had worn out the other kings who felt that this tussle and its subsequent consummation in Mahabharata could have been avoided.