Story 4: Kunti and Karna.

The unwanted baby.

When Kunti was just a teenage girl,  Sage Durvaasa had given her a magical mantra (that a spell). Using this mantra, she could ask any of the Gods to come to her and present her a child. Young as she was, Kunti doubted if such a mantra could ever work.

“Let me test it”, said Kunti to herself one evening. She uttered the magical mantra and called upon the Sun God, Surya. Surya came with a child in his hand. The extraordinary infant was radiant and powerful, as one would expect.  He was adorned with gold earrings and armour. Kunti was aghast!

“O Surya! I am myself a little girl. I only wanted to test the power of this mantra. I do not desire motherhood at all! Please forgive my mistake.” But Surya could not take the baby back, and Kunti could not keep it.

To keep this a secret, Kunti hid the newborn in a basket, and set it afloat on a river. She hoped that a kind family would chance upon the baby, and adopt it.

Luckily, that did happen. A childless charioteer named Adirath was passing by the river, when he saw a basket floating by. Curiously, he looked inside – and what should he find?? There was a baby in – adorned by glittering armour and earrings, and smiling peacefully. Adirath took this child as a gift from the Gods, and brought it home to his wife , Radha.

“IS this for real?”, Radha asked, with tears welling up in her eyes. “This child, will it be mine – forever? I’m supposed to his mother – Isn’t it?”. She was overwhelmed with happiness.

 Lovingly, the couple took care of the little baby, and gave him all the love that one would expect of parents. The baby was named ‘Karna’ – which means ears or earrings. Though born a prince to a glorious princess and a God himself, Karna  grew with his adopted parents- and respected them immensely. He was often called and mocked upon as a “Soot-putra” – son of a lowly worker. But his innate qualities made Karna a very important character in Mahabharata.