Story Unfolds :
At Kailash :
A beautiful woman was looking at the floor. She was seeing the distress of a naive sixteen years old girl. In her own eyes. Her heart was breaking up in pieces. She considered this girl as her own. She was the person who had taken the girl into her arms after her unfortunate birth when her mother had died. At the time of childbirth. She was full of love for all of her own disciples. She was mother figure to all of her devotees. She was Jagat Janani or mother of all earthlings. She was Mata Parvati herself.
Mata Parvati (Wife of Lord Shiva)
All of a sudden another pretty lady had appeared before her. Out of blue. She was dressed as a sage woman. She bowed to her deeply. In respect.
"Pranipat (bow to you), Devi Parvati."
Mata Parvati looked at her. A pleasant smile formed in her lips. She nodded her head slowly in recognition. She knew that women.
Strange Sage Woman
"Jaiye. Aur Jake Putri Supriya ko apne Jiban ke uddeshya samjhaiye. Usse to aur bahat kuch sahan karna padega. Karna Sangini hona itna saral karya nahin. (Go and tell daughter Supriya that her test is just beginning. She has to bear more pain in her entire life. It is not an easy task to be the wife of Karna. She has to prepare herself. Embrace herself.)" Mata Parvati had instructed her.
She nodded her head and folded her palms to her. Then disappeared out of blue. In complete silence.
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At river bank of Ganges:
A girl of sixteen was sitting on a big stone. By putting her face on her own knees. She was thinking something absentmindedly. She was thinking of herself. About her future. She was none other than Devi Supriya herself.
A small smile escaped her lips. She had a sweet dreams yesterday. She dreamt that her God had came to her room. Yesterday. When she fell asleep. He never entered. But he was looking at her face intently. Alas!!! This naive girl did not know that she was not a bit dreaming!! It was truth!!! He really came to her yesterday!!!
Devi Supriya (2nd Karna Sangini)
With a sigh she took the flowers and tried to make a Garland. She wanted to make one for her idol. With lotus and Lily petals. She loved Lily while lotus was favorite of her husband. She knew Karna's choice. However she was so engrossed in thinking that the sui or needle poked into her left palm and blood came out instantly. She put the palm into her mouth to stop the blood.
One man was sitting upright in his own throne. He was in his royal court to decide some crucial matter. About his state. All of a sudden he felt that his thumb of left hand touched to any sharp object. Something pierced into his flesh. He lifted his thumb. It was a small red dot in it!! He narrowed his eyes to it. It was blood!! How came it happen?!! There was no such sharp needle like object in his throne if he was not Wrong!! Then?!! His brain seemed clouded in confusion. He was truly clueless of everything happening around him nowadays. He was none but Karna himself whose soul was so entangled with Supriya that every single pain she had endure, he had to feel to.
Anga Raj Karna
He looked at the direction of sky and asked his God "Yeah sab kya hain, Madhava?!! (What is this, O Lord Krishna?!!)" He seemed confused.
"Kuch samandh hamara soch se pade hain, Bade Bhaiya. Apki aur Bhabi Supriya ka samandh ek Bhakt aur us ke Bhagwan ke hain. Bhakt ka har dukh uske Bhagwan ko sahan karna padta hi hain. (There is some kind of relationship that is beyond our own imagination. Your and sister-in-law Supriya's relation is that of a deity and his devotee. Whenever a devotee is in pain, Her God has to endure it too. It is natural, elder brother.)" The loud and clear voice of his God rang in his eardrum.
In the meantime Supriya had already finished her Garland and put it on the clay idol made by herself. She left her own at Kalinga. But being a master sculptor she made another one in her wedding night. When she was waiting for him. She put the Garland around its neck and stared at it with pleasant look in her face. She was now happy to give him a Garland. From far!! She did not know what a miracle was going on with her God just now!!
He was thinking deep about this when a similar Garland (with pink lotus and white Lilly petals) was given to him too. With a jolt he lifted his eyes and saw his Prime Minister Sounak had put it in his own neck.
He arched his left eyebrow slightly in question mode. Why he was giving this to him?!! He did not understand a bit!!!
His loyal Minister slowly by folding his palms in respect replied to Karna "Hey Rajan, prajawo ke taraf se yeah tuchha bhent swikar Kare. Kalinga ke sath yudhha na karke aur unki Kanya se bibah karke apne jis budhhimatta ke parichay diya hain aur hamara pran ki raksha ki hain us liye apko Koti Koti dhanyabad. (O dear King, this is a gift on the behalf of your masses. You, by marrying the Princess of Kalinga, had avoided unwanted war and saved thousands of lives. So from their behalf I am thanking you. Thousand crore times. From bottom of my heart. Hail to you.)"
Prime Minister Shounak
Karna had looked at the old man. In greatful eyes. This man was like a father figure to him. He adored him like his son too. He lifted his palms and touched his minister's hands. In respect. Shounak bowed to him and touched his palms with his own head. This young man sacrificed so much to unite his state!! He felt overwhelmed yet proud of his King!! You can see how much Minister Shounak adored Karna!!!
His king's soft heart had been melting almost immediately. He was thinking of his own problems forgetting that of his masses. As a King it was forbidden. But his masses did not forget him!!! The corners of his doe shaped eyes now were glowing in tears. But he had iron like control over his nerves. The transformation from simple Radheya or Basusen to Anga King Karna was never an easy one. He suceeded!! He had to be!! He could not succumb to his own grief!! His demons were his own!! His problems were his own!! Not of his people!! A King was always of his masses!!! He had to control his emotions as a King!! He should stop thinking as Padma's Basusen or as Radhama's Radheya!! He decided to become Karna again!! Anga King!! His way was long and full of pain!! He had to endure it!! All alone!! He eventually stood up and calmly looked at the happy and rejoicing faces of his own people. He again put his mask!!! Of Karna!! This dilemma was with him till last breath!! When to become Radheya?!! When Basusen?!! And when Karna?!!
He looked like a God himself. In the Garland adorned look of him!! He did not know that he was really a God!!! Supriya's God!!!
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Again at River Bank:
A beautiful lady spotted sitted under a big teak tree. She was meditating to her God.
"Aum Namah Shivay..
Aum Namah Shivay..."
Supriya was then coming back to the home. After bathing in river Ganges. When she saw this sadhwi or sage woman. It was not a bit necessary for her to bath in the river as the palace had so many bathrooms. But as you know earlier None had told her that. Neither she minded a bit. She went to the river to pay tribute to her God and completed her bath there. But when she saw this woman she was taken aback by the positive aura of her. She realized her as an extraordinary lady who was here in some reason. She sat down at her feet and bowed deeply to her. She was coming back with a lamp in her hand. It was not a bit necessary too as it was morning time. The roads are not dark. But she lighted the lamp as a symbol of her loyalty to her fear husband. It was a symbol of her own "Patibrata".
"Mate, ap abhukt hain Kya?!! (Are you starving, mother?!!)" She asked the lady forgetting the fact that she was herself starved since yesterday. The day of wedding girls were not allowed to eat anything. And Padma was ill and bedridden. So none had taken care of her. Medha forgot to look for her.
The woman opened her eyes and then replied philophically "Is sansar main sab hi abhukt hain. Tum bhi aur ham bhi. (In this big world all are hungry. You too. Me too.)" Then she produced an empty plate from her bag and had closed her eyes tightly.
Supriya tilted her head to her. She had understood that this was not a simple lady!! She must have some reason to be here!! But what?!! That she did not comprehend!!! A bit!!
A miracle happened. The empty plate became full of food. Rice. Curry. Pudding. She looked at it intently. What was going on?!!
The lady made a ball of rice and curry and lifted her right palm to the girl's mouth. "Lo. Khao. (Come. Have a bite with me.)"
"Parantu... (But)" Supriya tried to open her mouth to protest but for no reason she stopped. Since her early childhood none had ever done that to her!! She lost her mother at her birth. None dared to Care so much for her. Only her elder sister Bhanu and her cousin Charu seldom did that. Her eyes got blurred in tears. She felt too happy. For no specific reason.
She opened her mouth and took the food. It smelled divine. It tasted great too. She chewed happily. She felt as if her own mother was forcing her to eat. At her own hand.
"Jivan nisthur hain, Putri. Jivan ki yeh jatra kathin hain. Aur atyant lambhi pidadayak bhi. Jivan path pe tujhe ab akele hi chal na padega. Koi sath bhi nahin dega. Yeah hi Teri niyati hain. (Life is painful, my dear daughter. And your life is full of misery and agony. You have to walk alone. None will go with you in that road. This is unfortunately your destiny.)" The lady told her.
Supriya had opened her eyes wide in sheer surprise. It seemed as if the lady could see the future!!!
"Ap kyon hain?!! (Who are you?!!)" She asked her. In shock. She wanted to know her identity.
"Tumhari Mata. (Your mother.)" The lady answered with a smile.
The lady did not utter a single word about herself. She wiped her tears and stretched her arms to her. Su had preferred this silence. She felt as if her mother was stretching her arms to her. She hugged her tightly while the lady embraced her and pecked on her forehead lovingly. She assured her to be in her side forever. As a loving mother. She knew that in coming future Supriya would need her help. Urgently.
After eating she slept on her lap. But when she woke up the lady was long gone. She was sleeping alone. She then looked here and there and then hurried to the Palace. She knew it in Her young heart how unwelcome was she there!!!
A lady appeared behind her. With a smile on her beautiful face. In her own original form. As Mata Laxmi. She was ordered by Mata Parvati to warn Supriya about the upcoming disaster in her marital life. She had completed her duty. She fed the girl who was starving!! In her hands!! She warned her!! Then with a big smile on her beautiful face with a glowing light she had disappeared in thin air. Her presence was not necessary now!! She had to inform Mata Parvati about the fulfilment of her responsibility!!!
Mata Maha Laxmi (Vishnu Priya)
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Will Karna admit Supriya as his own wife? Or he keeps neglecting his duty as a husband? What is in the fate of this naive girl who is unwelcomed in her own household? The answers are in the next chapters.
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