This is the dream which popular TV host Roshan Kumar had got wherein he was interviewing Karna, yes Karna of the Mahabharat epic. This interview will try to dwell on various aspects of Karna's life, some sweet moments, some not so, some reflective, some introspective and so on.
So, without further ado, let's jump into the interview...
Roshan Kumar: Hello Mr.Karna, thanks for spending your precious time with me to take this interview.
Karna: Thanks for inviting me to your popular show.
Roshan Kumar: I plan to ask you many questions related to your personal life as well as your life as a warrior, are you comfortable answering them?
Karna: Yes, I am comfortable answering them, as I don't have any baggage now to carry with me.
Roshan Kumar: That's great, let me start by asking you about your birth?
Karna: I was born to Mata Kunti through the grace of Lord Surya when she chanted the divine mantra given to her by Sage Durvasa.
Roshan Kumar: How was your childhood?
Karna: My childhood was great, both my parents Radha Maa and Adirath Baba gave me immense love and treated me as their own and for that I would be ever grateful to them. My brothers and sisters always showered me with great love and treated me as their own eldest brother. So, the environment at home was great and we were a loving family. We were a well-to-do family as my father was a charioteer and friend of king Dhritarashtra and served the royal kingdom of Hastinapur.
Roshan Kumar: When did you realise that your adoptive parents Radha Maa and Adirath Baba were not your real ones?
Karna: I knew early in my childhood itself that Radha Maa and Adirath Baba were not my real parents as my facial features, complexion, and temperament was totally different to them and also I was born with natural armour and earrings. I constantly heard murmurs from my neighbours in the colony that I was left as an orphan on the river bank and it was Adirath baba who picked me up. As I said earlier, I would be ever grateful to my parents Radha Maa and Adhirath Baba, they gave me everything in their power to make me happy.
Roshan Kumar: Since, your father was a charioteer, so were you interested in it during your childhood?
Karna: Yes, of course. I loved it. Baba taught me various techniques of it and I became proficient at it by my early teens.
Roshan Kumar: I see, when did your interest in archery kicked-off?
Karna: It started when I saw Acharya Dron teaching the princes of Hastinapur in his Gurukul, so I was fascinated with bow and arrow.
Roshan Kumar: Ok, so you went to Acharya Dron for getting trained and he rejected you and then you went to train under Lord Parusharam, right?
Karna: No, that's not right. Yeah, I have been hearing it a lot these days and it seems like another popular opinion in your era. Not sure, who planted these stories. But, let me tell you the series of incidents which happened. It is a long story though...
Acharya Dron knew Adhirath Baba very well and when I pestered Baba to take me to Acharya Dron's ashram for getting trained in archery, he agreed. Baba would do anything for me, so let me remind you I was not short of parental love even though I was left off as as an orphan by my biological mother.
I joined Guru Dron's ashram and was training with the Hastinapur princes and along with them there were many other princes from different kingdoms of Aryavrat like from Dwaraka, Panchala and so on, who came to get trained under Acharya Dron. He was one of the best teachers during that era. During this time, I observed that a little boy would always be glued to the lessons taught by Acharya, and they both would be discussing on various things related to archery and this little boy was the apple of Acharya's eyes. Acharya Dron was so fond of this little boy that he forgot he had a son named Ashwathama.
I think by now you might know who that little boy was? Yes, he was Arjuna, and my rivalry started with him from those days itself. Even though I was about 12 years or so older than him but I felt envious of this little boy by seeing his natural ability with bow and arrow and his amazing powers of concentration and more than anything else I hated how Acharya Dron always used to praise him in front of everyone.
Since, I always wanted to compete with Arjuna, so one day I asked Acharya Dron to teach me the divine and potent weapon named Brahmastra, but he refused to teach me and said one should work hard for long time, then pass a series of tests conducted by the teacher to become eligible to get such divine weapons. Acharya said that divine weapons like Brahmastra have the potential to cause catastrophe to the entire world, so those have to be taught only after the student is thought to be eligible for it. Since I was a hot-tempered person who most of the times failed to think calmly and kept his composure, so I was enraged by the refusal and that was my last day at Acharya Dron's ashram.
I then went to Guru Parushuram to get trained with advanced weaponry and went in the disguise of a Brahmana, as Guru Parushuram taught only Brahmanas. I served him with total dedication and learnt all the advanced techniques of archery, various methods of warfare, and he was happy with my progress and devotion, so he blessed me with various divine weapons including Brahmastra. You might know about this famous incident where I was cursed, Guru Parushuram was sleeping on my lap in the ashram, so when an insect bit me on my thigh, I withstood the pain even though blood was oozing to not disturb the sleep of my Guru. After a while, Guru had woken up and saw the blood and was able to figure out that I was not a Brahmana, so he cursed me that I will forget about the mantra to invoke the divine weapon when I would need it the most. I fell on his feet and asked for pardon, but he said he cannot take back the curse and duping a teacher will have the repercussions. Thus, with a broken heart I returned to Hastinapur.
