Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Mahabharata by Sister Nivedita
The story begins in a very intense scene that had been
building up many stories before this one. Karna and Arjuna are in the midst of
a duel. The two cousins are butting heads and are fighting over the crown for
the kingdom of Agna. Arjuna is known for his strength and power, especially
when using a bow and is thought to be the ideal image of a solider and a fighter.
All of this changes when Karna duels him and matches Arjunas every skill that
they perform. Once Karna wins the duel he is presented as king of Agna instead
of Arjuna. When asked where Karna comes from, he cannot respond because he does
not know his background or history. Little does he know that his actually mother
that abandoned him at birth was standing right next to him. I have never seen such
a large family feud in a storybook until this one. Not only do a few of the cousins
dislike each other but all of them hate each other. I wonder if this is a
common theme in this literature, families feuding, or if this is what makes the
story different. I also wonder if there was anything that could have been done
to reunite the family before the feud was taken so far. It is interesting to me
that Karna does not know who his mother is and that she has not told him yet
even though she is proud of him for becoming king. The style of writing in this
book is different from the stories I read in the previous weeks. It is more
descriptive and detailed about the characters and how the scene is set.
(Arjuna attacks Karna: Image from Wikimedia Commons)
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