Discourses from the Mahabharata:
The Dialogue of Karna and Kunti
- Rabindranath Tagore
[from Rabindranath Tagore's Bengali original, Karna-Kunti Sambad]
Karna-Kunti
Sambad
- Rabindranath Tagore
Translation  ©Monish
R Chatterjee (2019)
[The eldest of the
Pandavas, the valiant warrior Karna (abandoned at birth up river by his mother,
Kunti, Queen of the Pandava clan), has a clandestine meeting with Kunti by the
shore of the Ganges on the eve of the epic battle in which he has joined ranks
with the Kauravas, the avowed rivals of the Pandavas]
Ka- Karna
Ku- Kunti
Ka. In the fading light at sunset by the shore
of the sacred Jahnavi
Am I engaged in devotions. Karna, the Suta-Putra, verily
Mine identity, else known also as
Radheya. Pray tell me,
Who might you be, venerable Mother?
Ku. Blessed son, on the very first dawn of
your life
Have I presented you to the living
world-
This day, abandoning all dishonor
and disgrace
Have I arrived here to reveal to you
my identity.
Ka. Devi- the kindly rays from your downcast
eyes
Melt the very core of my heart, as
do the snow-capped
Mountaintops when touched by the
sun's rays. Your voice,
Mother, stirs the pain of longing in
my ears, as though
Arrived from a preceding birth. Tell me, in what threads
Of mystery is my birth bound to you,
O mysterious one!
Ku. Be patient
But for a moment, dear. Wait until the Deva Divakara
Sinks in the western sea. Let the darkness of dusk
Grow deeper. Meanwhile, know this, O valiant one-
I am Kunti.
Ka. You are Kunti- Mother of Arjuna!
Ku. Arjuna's Mother, indeed! Judging thus, bear no envy
Dear child. I remember yet, on that day of the Weapons
Skills Test, in the royal city of
Hastinanagar
Quietly you arrived at the theater, radiating
youthful
Valor- like the newly risen sun
illuminating
The star-studded East. Of all the women out of sight,
There was one luckless and mute,
awakening a thousand
Cobras of hunger in her heart, with
her gaze smothered
You all over with blessed
kisses. Arjuna's Mother, 'twas!
And when Kripa arrived and asked you
to name your
Father, then spoke he with a smile-
"He that is born not
Of royal heritage, is qualified not
to take on Arjuna
In battle!" Your countenance reddened as your gaze was
Downcast- humiliated, you stood
there speechless; that
Shame lit a conflagration inside one
heart, the doomed
Heart of Arjuna's Mother 'twas. Duryodhana, bless his
Heart, anointed you then King of
Anga Rajya. Tears of joy
Flowed from mine eyes, intended as
sacred ablution
At your coronation. Just then, there arrived at the royal
Theater, Adhiratha the Suta, overcome by elation.
And, clad in royal vestments, before
the assembled onlookers
Your head wet from the sacred water
you planted in
Reverence at his feet, hailing him
as Father. The Pandava
Allies, then, collectively broke
into derisive laughter, and
Heaped scorn upon Father and
son. On that day, her heart
Brimming with pride, the lone woman
who hailed you as a
Valiant Warrior, and heaped
blessings upon you, O Heroic
One- it was I, Mother of Arjuna!
Ka. Offer I pranams to you, noble Arye!
Mother of Kings, why
Are you here, alone? Know you not, this is a battlefield
And I, commander of the Kuru army?
Ku. Son- I arrive hither with a plea-
Grant that I return not unfulfilled.
Ka. A plea- unto me, indeed? Beside my manhood or
The dictates of dharma, I shall lay at your feet
Anything you command.
Ku. My plea is to take you back with me.
Ka. Where do you wish to take me, Mother?
Ku. Unto my parched bosom, a Mother's lap.
Ka. You are Mother to five valiant sons, O
Blessed One-
I am but a meager potentate devoid
of pedigree
Where would you place me in your
domain?
Ku. At the very pinnacle of my household, my son
Your place shall be above all my
sons
You are, after all, the eldest, my
first-born.
Ka. With what drunken right shall I enter that
sacred precinct?
The brothers deprived of their
rightful ascension
To the helm of Empire- how could I
possibly claim
Even a portion of their right to the
sweet nectar
Of their Mother's love, pray tell me? Love that sells not
In a chess game, no matter the
wager; the mightiest arms
May not wrest the Mother's heart
away from her children.
That love is the gift of Destiny.
Ku. Son, dearest- as Destiny's child you had
arrived unto
My lap, endowed with the rights of a
son. Come back
Dearest, to reclaim that right; come
back, have no fear-
Take your rightful place among your
brothers; return, dear
To your Mother's lap.
Ka. Your words, Devi, sound in these ears as
though in a dream.
Behold- darkness has descended
everywhere, nothing is
Visible nigh the soundless
Bhagirathi. You have transported
Me back to a realm of Maya, a
distant refuge at the dawn of
My consciousness. Your words, like
the deepest truth from
My past, alight upon my admiring
heart. I feel as though
My earliest, unrevealed childhood is
arrived here, and
The darkness inside my Mother's womb
surrounds me.
Mother of Kings- be it true, be it a
dream, pray extend your
Right hand, place it upon mine
temple and chin. Growing
Up, I was told my Mother abandoned
me. Often at night
In my sleep I have beheld my Mother
walking in silent steps
Arrived to see her son. Reeling from unbearable agony, I have
Cried out, "Mother, remove your veil
so I might see you."
Instantly vanishes the dream every
time, shattering the last
Vestige of thirst and
eagerness. Is it that dream of mine
Arrived here today guised as the
Mother of the Pandavas
In the darkness past dusk, at the
battlefield by the Bhagirathi?
Behold, Devi, the lamps are lit in
the Pandava encampment
Across the river. On this shore, near the Kaurava garrison
We hear the clip-clop of
battle-ready horses' hooves.
At dawn on the morrow the great
battle shall commence.
Why tonight, then, did I hear my
Mother's voice in the words
Of Arjuna's Mother? Why did my name ring like the sweetest
Music- and my heart rush to the
Pandavas five to embrace
Them as brothers?
Ku: Then come away with me, my child. Come with me.
Ka: I shall come, Mother, I shall not ask
anything-
Shall suffer no apprehension, nor
any doubt.
Devi, you are my Mother! Your call has awakened my soul-
I hear not the bugles of war, nor
the triumphal blowing
Of the conch. Futile, it seems, the violent warlike
Exertions, the illusions of valor,
victories and losses.
Take me, Mother, wherever you will.
Ku: Come with me there, where the lamp is lit
upon
The silence of the impenetrable
darkness, there by the sandy
Shore of the Pandava encampment.
Ka: There forever, the motherless shall find
his Mother-
There your generous and beautiful
eyes shall behold
All night long Dhruva, the Pole
Star, hold vigil
In the skies. Pray tell me again, Mother, I am your son!
Ku: My dear son!
Ka: Why then did you cast me away so
ignominiously-
Bereft of identity, lineage, honor,
the mother's kindly
Eyes, utterly sightless in this
foreboding world? Why
Did you abandon me, and leave me
adrift in the currents
Of neglect my entire life? Why banish me from the company
Of my brothers? Why oh why did you keep Arjuna and me
Separated- and thence from childhood
an unseen bond
Of hatred and envy has tugged upon
the twain like a fatal
Attraction. Why Mother, why silent now? Your shame
I know pierces the darkness and
quietly wraps around me
Until I close my eyes. Fine, Mother, you need not tell me
Why it was you had abandoned
me. The most primal gift
Of fate upon the newborn, the gift
of a Mother's love, why
It is that you stole that divine
gift from this child- bother
Not to answer. But do tell me, then, why on this day
Have you arrived here to claim me
for the Mother's lap?
Ku: My son- may your rebuke, like a
hundred thunderbolts
Shatter this heart of mine into a
hundred pieces. One day
I had indeed abandoned you- the
curse from that misdeed
Despite the blessing of five royal
sons, has made me
Feel bereft of a son! Yet these arms of mine remain
Out-stretched, looking for you
everywhere in this world.
In penance for my deprived son, this
heart of mine lights
A flaming lamp to burn itself in
that fiery offering
To the divine. Destiny has blessed me today, hence I have
Had the fortune to behold you. Then, when the very first
Word had not escaped from your lips,
had I committed
A grievous offense; my child, with
those very lips, deliver
I pray, words of forgiveness for
your aberrant Mother. May
Those words of forgiveness light in
my heart a fire burning
Hotter than words of rebuke, and
burning my soul, thereby
Purify me.
Ka: Mother- anoint me with the dust off your
feet, the dust
Off your feet- accept the offering
of my tears.
Ku: That I shall receive you unto my eager
arms, son, I had not
Any pleasurable delusion of the
kind. I have arrived
Instead, to take you back to your
rightful place. Suta-Putra
You are not, you were born of royal
lineage. Cast aside
O Blessed one, every vestige of
derision, and come with me
To the company of your five
brothers.
Ka: The throne, Mother? To him who spurns the bond of
A Mother's sheltering embrace, to
him would you promise
The assurance of Kingdom? The greatest wealth you once
Denied this hapless son of yours,
Mother, restoring to him
That inheritance is beyond your
ability. Mother, brothers
Even my royal lineage, Mother, you
obliterated all in an
Instant at the dawn of my
birth. If I should deceive today
My Suta Mother and recognize instead
my Mother
The Queen; breaking my pledge to the
Kuru general if I
Should rush to ascend a throne-
shame, shame on me!
Ku: Blessed and heroic are you, my son! Alas, Dharma, such
Is your brutal retribution. Who would have known then
The helpless infant I abandoned
once, should acquire
Unmatched valor and skill and return
one day through
The darkness, and with his heartless
sword strike with
Utmost determination his own
Mother's sons. Such is
The curse of fate!
Ka: Mother, fear not!
Mark my word- the Pandavas shall
win. Upon the vast
Canvas of the firmament in starlight
I beheld writ tonight
The outcome of this war. In the absolute quiet
Of the moment descends from the
endless sky the music
Of striving futile, of enterprise
without hope- I foresee
Laid out before me the silence of
vanquished fate. Ask me
Not to abandon my brethren in battle
who are destined
To lose. May the Pandavas win, may they enthrone their
Sovereign. My place shall be with the futile and
hopeless.
On the night I was born you
abandoned me upon this earth
Nameless, homeless- I beg you, Mother,
abandon me
Likewise this day, abandon me to
ignoble, unremarkable
Vanquishment. Leave me, Mother, with only this blessing
May I never, for the lure of fortune
or fame, ever be deflected
From the righteous path of the
valiant.
Glossary:
Jahnavi, Bhagirathi- other names for the Ganges.
Suta-Putra- son of a charioteer, lesser in station than a Brahmin or a Kshatriya.
Adhiratha- charioteer by profession; adoptive father of Karna.
Radheya- of Radha, Karna's adoptive mother.
Deva Divakara- the Sun-god; literally, the day-maker.
Hastinanagar- the capital city of the Pandava clan.
Kripa- short for Kripacharya, one of the Kuru warriors.
Duryodhana- the eldest of the Kaurava brothers.
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