Eleven years were passed
Hastinapur won the Aryavart except for a few kingdoms like Dwarka, Kuntibhoj, etc. Shakuni tried to force him to attack Dwarka but Karna strongly denied it.
Karna, 'I cannot fight with Shri Krishna. What do you want Gandharraj? Do you want to destroy the entire Kuru family along with your nephews? Shri Krishna and Haladhar Balram are the Avtar of Narayan and Sheshnag. You want me to fight my Pravu?'
Shakuni, 'You are Hastinapur's servant. So it's your duty to fight whomever we want.'
Karna, 'No, I will not. For that, you can do whatever you want. And BTW Yuvraj, Haldhar Balram is your Guru. You want to fight your own teacher. What kind of student are you?'
Duryodhana, 'He is right mamasri. We will make an alliance with Dwarka.'
Karna, 'Then please let me handle the negotiation. After Devi Panchali's cheedharan, if you go there, Dau Balram will surely chop off your head.'
Dwarka
Karna sent a messenger to inform Dwarka about the alliance proposal. Both Krishna and Balram were happy and invited him. They welcomed him and took him to the palace.
Krishna, 'How are you Karna? I know about your feat in the Digvijaya. You proved the entire Aryavart that how true talent can never be suppressed.'
Karna, 'Thank you Pravu. It's all of your blessings that helped me to achieve my dreams.'
He spent some time with Krishna and his family. He also went to meet his own family. Radha was overwhelmed by his success but he was also worried about his health. But Karna assured him that he would soon come back to them.
Then Karna left for Hastinapur, Duryodhana was extremely happy for his friend. Hastinapur now had the entire Aryavart under their feet. He wanted to start a celebration but Karna said, 'Yuvraj you want to celebrate the victory it's fine. But I have to go to meet my Guru. It's been a long time I didn't see him. So if you please give me permission....
Duryodhana,' Mitra how can I stop you to meet your guru, but I also want you to come to Hastinapur so that I can honor you, give you rewards.'
Karna, 'It's your honor Yuvraj as you are the one who now has the entire Aryavart. Every war was won by the soldiers but the victory always goes to the king. So it is your victory not mine'
Duryodhana sadly, 'Mitra for these last eleven years, you never called me Mitra, never hugged me, never smiled at me. Can't you forgive me? I know I have committed a grave sin but even the greatest sinner can also be pardoned. Then why not me? Please Mitra, I cannot bear this punishment anymore. Please I don't want Arya Varta. Please come back to me. Please give me my old Karna back.'
Karna, 'A master and servant cannot be friends Yuvraj. Today I fulfilled your dream. But if you want to give me anything then now at least try to abolish the varnashrama in the entire Aryavart as you did in Hastinapur. It will be my reward. Pranipaat.'
Duryodhana returned Hastinapur with a heavy heart. When he left Bhanumati was pregnant and later she gave birth to Laxman and Laxmana. Duryodhana met them during the Digvijaya but now they were eleven years old. Duryodhana ordered to postpone all celebrations till Karna returned.
Mahendragiri Parvat,
Karna met Guru Parshuram and took his blessings.
Parshuram, 'Karna I blessed you be the Digvijayee. If I had any idea that my blessing will be a curse in yours and Avni's life, I will never do that.'
Karna, 'No Gurudev, it's all the circle of life we are suffering. So please don't blame yourself. I am happy that today I fulfilled your dream. Shakuni's conspiracy became a boon to me.'
Parshuram, 'Bur Karna how are you going to free yourself?'
Karna smiled, 'Now Shakuni will get the biggest shock of his life.'
Parshuram,'But putra, I have some news from Asurlok. Bhayankarasur's three sons got boons from Mahadev. I don't know what powers they had received but it must be something dangerous. So be careful.'
Hastinapur,
All the Kaurav brothers along with Duryodhana, Aswatthama and Shakuni were celebrating. All of them except Duryodhana were happy.
Shakuni was drunk, 'Now we have the entire country in our feet. We have our Brahmmastra....our Karna. With Karna as our servant, no one will dare to attack us. The Pandavas will rot in the Vanvaas and we will rule.'
Dusshasshan,'What if the Pandavas try to attack us?'
Aswatthama, 'How, they have no army, no kingdom. In fact entire Aryavary was against them as those who cannot protect themselves or their common wife, how could they become the Chakravarty.'
Vikarna, 'Yes, even the strongest supporters of Pandavas like Pitamaha, Guru Dron, Kakashri were also against them now.'
Shakuni, 'And Karna, he is the strongest warrior. He alone can defeat and kill them. You know Bhanje I just want to order him to attack and imprison those Panadavs. Oh..what a sight will that be. We will imprison them and then we will kill them all in front of all Kuru elders. No one can do anything as they were bound by their loyalties to Hastinapur.'
Duryodhana, 'No mamashri, I am not going to do anything like that.'
Shakuni, 'WHAT....WHY?'
Duryodhana, 'Because it will hurt my Mitra. Mamashri, I don't want to hurt him anymore. How could I order my mitra to kill his own brothers? When the exile will be over, I will just donate a few villages to those Pandavas to rule under Hastinapur. We will place a condition before them that they have to stay as Hastinapur's vassal. If they try to rebel against us then we will fight them. Otherwise, let them be.'
Shakuni, 'But you wanted to kill them all?'
Duryodhana, 'Yes Mamashri, but my lust for revenge is far less than my love for my Mitra. In these eleven years I understand one thing, my friend and my wife are the most important part of my life. I cannot see them unhappy. So when Karna will return, I will apologize to him.'
Aswatthama, 'Are you going to free him.'
Duryodhan was skeptical about that decision. Then Shakuni said, 'Don't you dare to think about it. If you free him, he will go to those Pandavas and together they will attack you.'
Duryodhana, 'No I will not let him go away. I have to keep him with me. And for that, if I have to fight with the entire world, then I will do that.'
The next day Karna returned to Hastinapur. Bhanumati along with Laxman and Laxmana came to meet him. Bhanu also regularly went to the forest to meet Avni. She purposefully ignored the Pandavas.
Bhanu, 'Bhrata, did you meet Avni?'
Karna, 'No Yuvrani but soon I will. BTW congratulation soon to be Samraggini.'
Bhanu, 'Bhrata, I don't want to be the empress whose kingdom stands on the tears of her best friend and suffering of her brother.'
Karna, 'Don't worry Bhanu. Soon everything will be alright.'
Karna went to Duryodhana's chamber
Karna, 'Yuvraj can you please come with me? I have something important thing to show you.'
Duryodhana, 'What is it Mitra?'
Karna, 'Please come, its important.'
Karna took the chariot and rode towards a barren land present in the easter part of the city. But when they reached there Duryodhana was stunned to see a marvelous palace.
Duryodhana, 'From where does this palace come from?'
Karna took him inside and showed him. The palace was magical just like Indraprastha palace but more beautiful than the former.
Duryodhana, 'Mitra whose palace is this?'
Karna, 'It's yours. I gave it to you.'
Duryodhana, 'What..but why?'
Karna, 'Why can I not give you anything?'
Duryodhana, 'You are the one who always gives me everything...love, friendship, loyalty, confidence. It's me who cannot return anything.'
Karna, 'Then promise me that you will accept my gift.'
Duryodhana, 'Okay I will. But how do you make this?'
Flashback
Karna was doing his Suryapuja in Mahendragiri parvat. Suddenly he saw a bright light and saw his father and mother.
Karna, 'Pitashri, Mata Pranipat. Why are you here?'
Suryadev, 'It's your birthday. My son won the entire Aryavart single-handedly. SO both of us wanted to give you something. Please tell me what do you want?
Karna, 'Pitashri, Mata I have your blessings, so I don't need anything.'
Sangya, 'No putra you have to ask for something.'
Karna, 'Then Mata can you please request Nanashri to make a palace near Hastinapur which is better than Indraprastha.'
Sangya, 'Putra I understand what you are doing. Okay, I will ask pitashri.'
Flashback ends
In the royal court
Duryodhana entered with Karna and Aswatthama. Dhritarashtra was overjoyed. Duryodhana praised Karna's valor but Dhritarashtra said, 'Come on my son. It's his duty after all.'
Bheesm, 'Maharaj, Karna kept his promises. Now you should let him go.'
Shakuni, 'Why will Maharaj do that? Hastinapur paid some heavy price for him and he is our slave. I know he finished the Digvijaya but now it's his duty to protect Hastinapur from every attacks.'
Dhritarashtra, 'Yes you are right Shakuni. We cannot let such an expensive servant go.'
Karna smiled, 'Pranipat Maharaj, Pranipat all the elders. Can I ask something to Mahamantriji?'
Vidur sadly, 'Yes my son go ahead.'
Karna, 'Mahamantriji for this entire Digvijaya I did not take a single help from Hastinapur. I provided all the supplies and soldiers, is that correct?'
Vidur, 'Yes.'
Karna, 'So now Mahamantriji, all the kingdoms we won and all the tributes we got from the kingdoms was earned by me, not by Hastinapur... right? And I gave all the wealth and Kingdoms to Hastinapur..is that also correct?'
Bheesm, 'Yes that's right.'
Dhritarashtra, 'Why is he asking those stupid questions?'
Karna, 'Mahamantriji, I think by now you calculated the amount of wealth you received from me. So is the amount equivalent to the wealth of the entire Indraprastha Kingdom?'
Then Vidur understood what Karna was trying to do. He jumped from his seat in excitement.
Vidur, 'The wealth you gave us is ten times than the entire Indraprastha.'
Karna, 'Now the Palace I gifted to Yuvraj. You saw that as well. Is that equivalent to Indraprastha Palace?'
Vidur, 'That is much more expensive than Indraprastha Palace.'
Karna, 'So I want to remind you all about the clause we have in the agreement. If the slave you bought, returns the price money with interest to his/her master within TWELVE years of his/her contract then the master has to free him/her...Am I right Mahamantriji?
There was a pin drop silence in the entire court. Everybody took some time to digest the fact Karna stated. Then the silence was broken by Shakuni's shriek, 'What kind of clause is that? We disagree with the clause.'
Vidur, 'We cannot Gabdharraj, It is the law. And there are still 9 months left to finish twelve years. Karna returned the price we paid for him to his father. In fact, he paid ten times more.'
Karna, 'So now I think I am free from Hastinapur's servitude.'
The entire sabha roared. The Kauravas except for Yuyutsu, Vikarna and Duryodhana were screaming. Shakuni was trying to prove that Karna cheated. Bheesm thought, 'So that's why you denied Hastinapur's help. I must say you are very intelligent. We all underestimated you.'
Dhritarashtra, 'Tatshri, why are you silent? Do something?'
Bheesm, 'I can't Maharaj, it's the law and we have to accept the payment given by Karna. We cannot deny it.'
Duryodhana sat completely numb, 'How is it possible? So now Karna will leave him.'
Duryodhana, 'Mitra, you want to leave me?'
Karna looked at Duryodhana. He looked sad but then he hardened his heart and said, 'Yuvraj, I warned you before, the day you committed a crime, you will lose me. You cheated your cousins, you tried to molest your Bhabhshri, you betrayed your friend and enslaved him. So what do you expect from me? Life-long loyalty? No Duryodhana now you get what you deserve.'
Saying that he tried to leave but Shakuni screamed, 'Arrest him.'
Karna turned and his radiance increased,
Karna roared, 'Try it Gandharraj Shakuni. Ask your soldiers to bind me, Till now you only show your strengths in torturing on helpless slaves and pulling Abla woman's pallu? Today you will face a warrior.'
Bheesm, 'Shakuni, how dare you? You cannot arrest an innocent citizen of Hastinapur.'
Dhritarashtra, 'Mahamahim, I command you, arrest him and put him in the dungeon. I know how to teach a lesson to such an impudent person.'
Karna had enough. He summoned his Surya Dhanush and shot nagpash which bind everyone. The nagpash was so strong that even Bheesm or Dron could not break it. Then Karna calmly moved towards Dhritarashtra and said, 'Maharaj, while taming a tiger always remember not to leave any chance to let it go free or keep his spirit up so that the tiger can fight back. Once a tiger freed himself, no strength on earth can stop him to take the revenge. Till now you all saw my loyalty, my obedience. Now you will face my venganance.'
Saying that he freed everyone from the Nagpashes effect. Noone dared to say anything against him.Then Karna was leaving the court but then Bhanumati stopped him.
Bhanu, 'Bhrata, please stop.'
Karna, 'Why Bhanu? Do you want me to stay here forever?'
Bhanu, 'No Bhrata, I stopped you so that you can take me to Kalinga. I don't want to raise my kids among those Adharmis.'
Gandhari, 'Me too putri, both me and Meenakshi will also go with you.'
Dhritarashtra, 'Gandhari, what are saying?'
Gandhari roared, 'I am leaving you. Arya, I gladly accept you, I never complained for the darkness of my life. But I cannot forgive you for your actions towards Draupadi and Karna. So today I am breaking all ties with you and your Adharmi sons. And if anyone tries to stop me, they will see the wrath of a Shiv Bhakt Sati today.'
Shakuni tried to stop them but then Duryodhana spoked in a broken manner, 'No, today no one is going to stop them. I know whatever I did, I lost my right to stay with Bhanu. I don't want to force anyone to stay. Bhanu you can go, I am assuring you no one will force you or disturb you.'
Nobody had seen Gandhari in such a rage. Everyone was silence and then Karna took Bhanu and her kids along with Gandhari and Meenakshi to Kalinga.
Next-Karn-Avni Vivah