Well I didn’t know about this one. A very impressive story.

(source: Wikipedia)
Andhra folklore states that once Karna while riding his chariot in his kingdom of Anga, encountered a child who was crying over her pot of spilt ghee. On asking her the reason for her dismay, she stated that she feared her step mother who would be angry over her carelessness. Being generous enough Karna told her that he would give her new ghee (clarified butter). But, the child insisted that she wanted only the ghee that was mixed with the soil and refused to take the new ghee. Taking pity on the girl, Karna took the soil mixed with ghee in his fist and squeezed it with all his might to extract the ghee and pour it back into the pot. During this process, Karna heard the agonized voice of a woman. When he opened his fist, he realized that the voice was that of Bhoomidevi – the Earth goddess. Furious, she chastised Karna for inflicting enormous pain on Mother Earth for the sake of a mere child. So, the Earth goddess cursed him that in a very crucial battle of his life, she would trap his chariot wheel in the same way that he held the fistful of soil, thereby making him vulnerable to his enemy.

Well this story clears my doubt about Karna’s strength. Karna was as strong as Bhima. For he was undefeated in mace battle with bhima in the battle of Kurukshetra. In addition, he was amongst the few men such as Bhim, Duryodhana, Dau (Krishna’s elder brother) and Bhishma who could have killed Keechaka (a mighty and powerful warrior who was killed by bhima during agyatvasa). His knowledge about this fact led the Kauravas and Karna to attack Matsyadesh where the Pandavas were spending the year of their agyatvas.

Since class 8th when I first learnt about our ancient history in our ICSE text books, I have always wanted to learn about the complete history of India. We (with reference to the Hindu religious scriptures) have a very long and elaborately recorded “history” here in India, which, though broken (seems to have lost) at many vital places, provides a great story (in journalistic sense of the word) to tell. However, we are yet to prove that this history existed.

In my free time my mind dwells into thoughts that try to connect our mythology with our history. The questions that linger on my mind are:

- Was the war of Kurukshetra (from the epic Maharabharata) for real?
- Are the yugas as described by hindu scriptures for real?
- How can a religious or mythological epic have such vivid and mathematical descriptions of the war, the numbers (of participants, the dead and warrior kill stats etc)? Doesn’t it seem unnatural?
- Did people from ancient times really travelled to other planets (as mentioned in Mahabharata)
- So did they know whether other planets had life?
- What really was the power of the super weapon mentioned in these scriptures? Were they, in principle, similar to the ones nations use today?
- What was the position of other regions around the world at the “time” of Mahabharata? Were there advanced civilizations living there just as in Bharata?
- Was the mind of the person that wrote Bhagvada Gita really Human? It does not seem possible for a mortal to even imagine such discpline and knowledge, let alone putting it down so eloquently in verses

I feel sad that I am so tied up in my business ventures that I do not have the time to quench this innate thirst.

Note: Through this article I do not intend to endorse or promote any religion. This post is purely an effort to present some truly thought-provoking questions which should be read and reasoned upon, by all of us.

After reading this post, you might ask why did I name this post “Celestial Questions”. This is because these questions were asked to Yudhistra (Son of Pandu and the true heir to the kindgom of Hastinapur) by the Dharmaraj (God of Truth) in the great India epic Mahabharata. (Recommend reading a summary of the story before proceeding)

During the final year (the agyat-vaas) of their exile, the Pandavas (i.e. five brothers and their wife Draupadi) were moving away swiftly from Hastinapur to avoid being discovered by the spies of Duryodhana (the villain of the story). If they were to be discovered, they would have to spend another 13 years in exile.

One day, after a bout of tiresome walking through the forest, the Pandavas stop to take some rest. They spot a lake nearby and Nakul (one of the brothers) is asked to fetch some water for everybody.
When he reaches the lake and tries to drink the water, a demon (yaksha) warns him that if he drinks the water without answering some questions, he will face dire ramifications. Nakul ignores the warning and dies after drinking the water. His brothers Sahdev, Arjun and Bhim go to the lake one after the other and meet the same fate. However, when Yudhisthra arrives at the lake and sees his mighty brothers lying dead at the shore, he decides to remain calm and answer the demon’s questions. Here are the questions that the Demon asks:

1. What is heavier than Earth?
Ans. Mother

2. What is higher than the Sky?
Ans. Father

3. What is faster than the winds?
Ans. The Mind

4. What is more in number than the twigs?
Ans. Worry

5. Who is the friend of a person close to death?
Ans. Charity

6. Where does Religion, Success, Heaven and Happiness reside?
Ans. Religion resides in awareness, success in charity, Heaven in Truth and Happiness in Chastity

7. What is a man’s Soul?
Ans. His Son

8. What has covered the Earth?
Ans. Ignorance

9. What is laziness?
Ans. Ignorance of religion is Laziness

10. Who is truly happy?
Ans. One who is free of debt

11. What is true cleansing?
Ans. The cleansing of the Mind

12. What is darker than the eye black?
Ans. Disrepute

13. What is the best Religion?
Ans. Compassion

14. What can prevent sadness and mourning?
Ans. Control of Mind

15. What is shame?
Ans. Keeping away from unworthy things

16. What is pity?
Ans. Wishing happiness for all

17. What kills a nation?
Ans. Slavery

18. What is the true test of Brahminhood? Dynasty, Character, Teaching or Knowledge?
Ans. Character is the true test of Brahaminhood

19. Is Religion in Logic? Is it in the words of the Sages?
Ans. Religion is neither in logic nor in the words of the sages. Truth of a Religion is in the heart of the believer.

20. What is the greatest wonder?
Ans. The greatest wonder is that each individual knows that death is the ultimate truth yet he/she believes that his/her life’s ultimate truth may not be death.

Satisfied by Yudhistra’s responses, the demon reveals his true identity as Dharmaraj (the God of Truth) and says that by his conduct and character, Yudhistra had not just established control over his mind and body but also conquered the virtues of tolerance and the imperfections i.e. hunger, thirst, mourning, temptation and death.

I will not elucidate my thoughts regarding the above-mentioned questions and leave the forum open for reader discussions.