Chapter 2: Birth of Karna
Princess Kunti was taken aback in surprise by the tone of the Sun God, "Ah, I apologize. I just wanted to test its powers. You can return. I promise that I won't call you again until I was ready."
This time, Lord Surya roared at her in anger, "you foolish princess. Don't you know that even gods are bound by that mantra? Now, unless I bless you a child, I can't return to my world."
Hearing that, Princess Kunti started to panic, "but I'm unmarried. What will people think of me? My father would be humiliated. No, I refuse it."
Lord Surya, who was brimming with anger replied, "If I don't return by the evening, there will be no more tomorrow for this world. Where there is no sun, there will be no life, Princess.
I don't want to put the entire world in danger because of your foolishness. Every act, whether it is good or bad, had its own karma. You can't get away from it. Whether you like it or not, you have to accept my blessing."
"No..." Princess Kunti started to tear up as she realized what kind of mistake she had made. Sage Dhurvasa's warning came to her head but it was too late.
"I, Surya, Lord of the Sun, hereby, bless you a child who will be born with my radiance along with my divine armor and earrings which will protect him always."
"No, no, no... please don't..." without hearing her pleadings, Lord Surya blessed her, and a golden beam of light released from his hand and entered her womb.
As Lord Surya disappeared, Princess Kunti cried at the banks of the river for so long before resigning to her fate and left for a safe place to hide from the rest of the world while taking a maid along with her.
Ten months passed away in a blink of an eye. The King and Queen were a little worried that their daughter hasn't returned to the palace and is still staying the wild even after the Sage left long ago. They even missed her birthday celebrations.
Thankfully, during this time, Princess Kunti's handmaiden Sulochana constantly sent letters to the King about the well-being of the princess. They don't know what is she doing, but since she doesn't want to return yet, they respected her choice and haven't sent the soldiers to look for her, not knowing that their unmarried daughter is pregnant, carrying the child of Lord Surya.
Eventually, a boy was finally born into the world.
Just like how Kunti envisioned, he was as radiant as the sun. She then saw divine armor and divine earrings were manifested onto his body and ears respectively, shocking the hell out of the handmaiden. Along with this miracle, one more miracle was followed.
She instantly regained her strength as if she became normal again even though she had just given birth. Maybe, it's the effect of the mantra or the blessing of Lord Surya. No one knows...
And then, came the moment, which changed the course of history, once again. A 17-year-old Princess is seen standing on the banks of river Aswa with a sleeping child in her arms. Tears flow down her cheek nonstop as she stared at her son.
Meanwhile, her handmaiden was arranging a tiny mattress, blanket, and lotus flowers in a basket.
"Princess, it is done." She informed Kunti, who then placed the newborn baby into it, "I'm sorry, my son. I don't have a choice. Please forgive this coward mother."
The Basket then was put into the river, which began to float along with the current.
All of a sudden, the sky became red and began to rumble, everyone in the world started feeling hotter. The volcanoes began to erupt, tsunamis began to occur in coastal areas, and natural disasters were seen all over the world, worrying the other gods in heaven.
Looking at the red hot sun, everyone knew that Sun God is very angry for some reason.
The villagers began to kneel on the ground and began to pray to the Sun God to calm down while others began praying to their gods to avert this disaster. They felt like the end of the world.
Meanwhile, at the banks of River Aswa, Princess Kunti collapsed on her feet as she saw the basket is floating away in front of her eyes. Regret and helplessness filled her face.
Because of the changes in the environment, as the river current got stronger, the basket started to wobble and the lid was even pushed away and the water hit the baby. The baby in the basket started to cry.
"No, my son." She attempted to get into the river to get her son back, sensing the danger. At that moment, the shaking of the earth, the strong river current, or the temperature in the surroundings, nothing mattered to the mother. Her eyes were only fixed on the helpless crying baby.
However, her handmaiden who was aware of the danger held her tightly, "princess, don't. It is dangerous."
"Leave me, Sulochana," Princess Kunti screamed at her. "My son is there in danger. Let me go..."
"No, the current is too strong. It will be suicide if you step inside. The boy was blessed with divine armor. Nothing can harm him." The handmaiden started to give out the reasons while trying to hold her at the river bank.
It was then, the basket toppled and the baby fell into the river.
"No," Kunti screamed on top of her lungs. She managed to push her Sulochana aside and got free.
Just as she was about to step inside, the earth stopped shaking, the raging current of the river calmed down, the natural disasters disappeared all over the world as if they never occurred in the first place.
The drowned baby protected by divine armor slowly flew out of the water with a bubble made of divine energy and continued to ascend for a while before Lord Surya appeared and caught him.
He took the baby boy into his hands, upon which the baby immediately stopped crying and opened his eyes. The baby stared at Lord Surya curiously. His divine armor retracted into his body.
Looking at the baby, Lord Surya mumbled to himself, "As time passed by, human nature began to change in a bad way. Now, society became so much crueler that a mother had to abandon her newborn child for the fear of losing dignity.
If this child grows up here, his gift will become his curse instead. No, I will not let that happen. Too bad that he was mortal and his fate was tied to this mortal realm. Well, then, let's just do as Goddess Ganga did it with her son."
Then, he disappeared and reappeared before Princess Kunti who had a look of shock on her face. There are tears of happiness flowing down her cheek when she saw her child was saved by none other than the Sun God himself.
"My child," The Princess rushed towards him to take her baby into her arms.
But then, Lord Surya raised his hand with his eyes being red, "stop, right there, Princess Kunti. This baby is no longer your child. The moment you abandoned my son in the river, you have lost the right to even touch him."
Princess Kunti was stunned at the spot, not knowing how to react to accusations. "I'm helpless. I..."
Before she even gave out her reasons, Lord Surya interrupted and continued, "If you are so worried about the society, you should have put him in some Orphanage somewhere far away from your kingdom. A princess of your stature has the ability to do that. But, you didn't.
Instead, you left him in a basket without even thinking what will happen to the child if he drowns on the way, what will happen to the child if no one else pick him up? How would he be able to feed himself? Did you even think of it? No. You have ashamed all the mothers in the world. For that, you should be punished."
Feeling that Lord Surya might really kill her, the handmaiden shielded the princess and hold her palms together, "please don't punish her, Lord Surya. I was the culprit. I suggested this method as I was worried that she might contact the child in the future. The child will not only harm the Princess' married life but also might harm the reputation of our King and the kingdom princess will go into."
Unlike Kunti, Sulochana didn't have any remorse for the act because she thinks it is better that way. She was even a lot calmer as she prepared herself to sacrifice for the sake of Kunti. It is what her duty is.
Unfortunately for her, she wasn't talking to a human who will lose their intelligence because of silly things like emotions. It was the Sun God.
Lord Surya dismissed her explanation by replying, "Can't believe that this is the same human society where my descendant, King Harishchandra once lived. There's him, who gave away his kingdom, sold his family, agreed to be a slave but never broke his promise to Vishwamitra for sticking to the path of truth.
And there's this princess standing in front of me who abandons her own child for the sake of her future, for the sake of dignity before her husband. I feel like I should curse you for your actions but even if it is against your will, you still carried him for ten months. That is why I won't punish you and leave it upon fate.
However, I will warn you though. No one can escape from Karma. Just like how you received a boon for your hard work, you will face the consequences for this action too. I'm taking my son with me. From now onwards, Suryaloka will be his home. You go and live your life as you wish."
Without waiting for her response, the Sun God disappeared from there and returned to his Abode, a Radiant Golden Palace in the Suryaloka, and looked at the baby. "Your divine armor can be hidden but not the divine earrings and its radiance. It will be your identity, my child. Hence, I name you, Karna."
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