Tuesday, April 7, 2015

F for Faith



There can be no love without faith. It is said ‘feed your faith and all your doubts will starve to death, feed your doubts and see your faith wither away’.  Faith can be as delicate as glass or as strong as steel, depending on how you decide to treat it.

Here’s yet another tale from the Mahabharata that talks of faith, love and friendship, that will warm your heart just as it warmed mine.

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Karna had come to the royal palace to meet his friend, Duryodhana, the crown prince of Hastinapur. He asked the soldiers for an audience with his friend. Duryodhana was away and thus he was met by Duryodhana’s wife, Bhanumathi.

“Greetings, brother Karna! Your friend is away and will be back by evening,” said Bhanumathi, offering him a glass of flavored water.

“Oh, is it?  I would like to wait here till brother Duryodhana returns,” said Karna, “I have something very important to discuss with him.”

Bhanumathi thought for a moment and then asked, “Brother Karna, would you like to play a game of dice with me until my Swami comes home?”

“I would like that very much Bhabhisri”, said Karna. “What are you putting at stake?” he asked following her to her chamber.

After the stakes were decided, they settled for a game of dice. As the game progressed, Karna appeared to be winning.

“Ah! Bhabhisri,” said Karna rubbing the dice in his hands gleefully, “Get ready to lose, for I just need a twelve for a win.”

Bhanumathi was about to say something witty, when she saw her husband entering her chamber. Seeing him, she immediately got up to greet him. Karna, whose back was to the door, did not see Duryodhana coming and thought Bhanumathi was quitting the game to avoid the embarrassment of losing to him.

“Bhabhisri, you cannot escape thus,” he mocked, tugging at her drape that was studded with hundreds of white pearls. “You must complete the game.”

Tugged at by his powerful hands, the thread of the pearls snapped and the entire chain of pearls on her drape rolled out onto the floor.

Bhanumathi was stunned. Would her husband misunderstand her and Karna? Would it make him angry? Would she be blamed for no fault of hers?

Looking at Bhanumathi’s expressions, Karna, turned to see what had shocked her. He saw Duryodhana at the door and was suddenly distressed and embarrassed beyond words himself.

What would his friend think? He not only had the audacity to play dice with his friend’s wife in her chamber but he had also committed the unpardonable act of catching her drape.

He stood transfixed not knowing what to say. Duryodhana would surely not tolerate such immodesty. He would be punished and so would Bhanumathi. He stood silently with his head bowed waiting to be sentenced.

Duryodhana looked at the both of them and smiled. “Should I just collect these pearls or should I string them as well?” he asked tongue-in-cheek.

Karna and Bhanumathi were both relieved hearing Duryodhana’s words and also ashamed for having misjudged the mighty King. He not only had immense faith and great love for his queen Bhanumathi, but his faith in his friend Karna was even implicit.

A faith so strong, that Karna never had to think twice before standing in support of his friend and Bhanumathi never had to question her husband's motives. 

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 It takes great gumption to believe what you do not see, and to see what you believe, and that will become the basic foundation of faith.It is amazing how far a person can go when armed with someone’s love and unwavering faith.

Linking back to the A to Z challenge.

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This day....last year...F for Forgive




43 comments:

  1. I hadn't heard this story before. I thought that one was about the pandav brothers and betrayal and all. Hmm. and Krishna lecturing him before the fight because he didn't want to kill his half-brothers.

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    1. One of those lesser known stories I guess! thanks for reading!

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  2. Hi! Found your blog on A-Z. What an interesting story, thanks for sharing. Isn't faith just so beautiful?

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    1. Thanks for visiting Anne...what's love without faith!

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  3. That;s a lovely story. I loved the unexpected ending.

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  4. That was lovely! Faith !

    Never expected such polished behaviour from Duryodhana! He was a gentleman I suppose. Karna as we all know, is!

    A good take, never heard this from any books.! I guess post this A to Z challenge, we can string all these stories and publish a book named Titl's - Mahabharat!

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    1. Titli's mahabharat...wow! I didn't think of that! Thanks Aj!! Btw, my aim was to bring all the little-known stories from the great epic here...Duryodhana was a gentleman indeed..btw, did you know that he found his place in heaven? That's another story for another day!

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    2. That would be interesting !! waiting!

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  5. I love this story! Also, anything which depicts Duryodhana for the human that he was than just the man who was responsible for a war, gets my vote :)

    *Shailaja/Alternate Angles/A-Z*

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    1. Thanks Shailaja! Somehow even I have been fascinated by his humane side!

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  6. Titliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.. I wonder how I lost your blog :(

    But now I am back and am devouring post after post.

    I like the Duryodhana you have shown here. Very few people know this about him.

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  7. Duryodhana is considered to be a villain, but there were several positive traits in him too ... your story illustrates on of those :-)

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    1. Thats right! I guess the best of people have negative traits and the worst of people have positive ones...

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  8. Stories like these make me wonder if Duryodhana was really as bad as he is pictured or was their a gentle and kind side of him that we have missed reading about! Lovely story :)

    Few Things Left Unsaid

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    1. The epic is so full of such lesser known snippets! I am glad u liked reading it!

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  9. I have heard this story before. Your narration just brought it to life Little Princess. Simply amazing! Just shows that Duryodhana has a number of great qualities too and he wasn't all black as some writers paint :)

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    1. Thats the beauty of this epic...even gods and demigods have been shown to have human qualities...no one is fully black or white...we might have our 50 shades of grey right here!!

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  10. This is an amazing story. The little known side of Duryodhana! Beautiful narrative!

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  11. I loved this one. Trust is everything. :)

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  12. I have recently read a book on Karna and I got to know how great understanding and faith was between him n Duryodhana. Totally loved your story. If it wasn't greed Duryodhna was Suyodhana in real sense :)

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    1. Very well said!! Greed and hand holding by wrong people can make such a villian out of someone!

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  13. Duryodhna was good person.. but he was doomed because he made someone's else desire his own .. ( groomed that way may be ! ) !

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  14. I am coming back for more. Lovely story :)

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  15. Which is very rare these days! Loved the story and its depiction.

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  16. Well it takes all kinds to make the world doesn't it ? Duryodhana too had his positive and negative traits ! :)

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  17. One of my favorite stories from the Mahabharata! Loved your narration! :) Happy to find your space.

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  18. Agree. Faith moves mountains.
    I hadn't heard of this one. How do you know so many tales from our great epics?

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    1. Thankd Chicky! I have a fascination to keep digging out more from this epic!

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  19. I love this! Best line ever :D There are not enough stories about NOT jumping into conclusions about adultery...

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
    MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary

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    1. Indeed...Duryodhana would stand out in that list...!

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  20. Too good..one more lesser know facts about Duryodhana...and Mahabharata..

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At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person..deep gratitude for those who have lighted the flame within me!! your comments will be appreciated..

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