Live Positive Way - From my lockdown diaries (2)

Live Positive Way

“A real friend is one who walks-in when the rest of the world walks-out”. – Walter Winchell.

Yes! 'Friendship' is one factor in our life, which we all feel so important. I really pity those who say they don’t have any friends. This life can be felt as 'totally incomplete' if we are not with friends.

We can have so many people--- 'acquaintances'---whom we call as 'friends'. But are they our 'real friends'? 

Dude! Don’t get confused with the two contradicting statements above. I am not here to write about this new era of friendship. I want to talk about 'the friendship', which still stands out as 'unique' and validates the quote that I shared at the starting of this blog.

When I was young, my most favourite pass time with my dad was hearing bedtime stories. He always chose to tell me either Ramayana or Mahabharata stories in installments. Even the smallest character of the epic(s) wouldn't escape my dad’s narration. Those stories formed an integral part of my upbringing. When I fast-forward a few decades, and now, when I am watching the old Television episodes of Mahabharata---after a long gap of 30+ years---I feel delighted and feel a sense of gratitude permeating me fully for the valuable and quality time spent by my Dad in narrating those stories to me.

I register my gratitude and respect to my dad for spending his valuable time for me. Those were the days in which he used to be very tired, but still, he never ever had disappointed me by skipping the doses of narration from my favourite epic Mahabharata. May be it is now my favourite, but the truth is, he made me cultivate that fondness through his passionate narration. 

Oh! Guess this post is getting diverted now. I have infinite number of things to talk about my dad, which I can in my other posts, now coming back to “friendship”.

'Hinduism' is such a lovely religion in which each and every character, everything has some thing to teach us. I have always loved Mahabharata over Ramayana. My close associates know the reason. It is special because of my Shri Krishna's presence in it. My other reason is the Great character, eminent warrior, “Dhanveer”(a man who would never refuse the request for any donation), the most charming, sensible and extra-ordinary person “Karna” in the epic.

To the people who don’t know who he is… he is the eldest and spiritual son of Kunti (by the blessings of Surya, the Sun God) who got estranged from her immediately after birth. He later got identified by Duryodhan for his skills, and he gifted his small kingdom called “Anga” to him at a critical juncture. Duryodhan can be the main antagonist of Mahabharata but the love he had for Karna is also extraordinary. Some people say that it his selfishness to have someone so skilled like Karna at his side but I have never seen him as a coward Prince. He himself is a great warrior. It may be a boon that he got a great friend like  “Karna.” Karna’s friendship towards Duryodhan should be considered as an 'Epitome of Friendship' in my opinion.

Karna knew ‘Pandavas’ were his own brothers much before the Kurushetra war but he valued his friendship and honoured the trust his friend had in him and decided not to leave Duryodhan.

My dad used to say if he had expressed even once to Duryodhan that he is the elder brother of Pandavas, Mahabharath war might have never taken place and Duryodhan would have accepted his friend as his own brother and given up the plan to wage war and even sacrificed his throne for his friend Karna.

The amazing virtue possessed by Karna didn’t allowed him to disclose his birth secrets even to his wife. Just before the war his mother Kunti meets him and pleads to change his side, but he declines it by saying he cannot leave Duryodhan who gave him love and affection when the whole world degraded him. The greedy mother Kunti (sorry for saying so but it’s painful to see she didn’t accept him even after many years.) took a promise from him that he should only fight with Arjun and not with his other brothers and he should not attempt to kill any of them. She also pleaded with him to use “Nagastra” (divine weapon) only once on Arjun. He promised all that knowing well it will only led him towards death but still he stood by his friend and for the friendship. Somehow the North Indian version of Mahabharata narration misses out some beautiful aspects which we read in South Indian depiction of Mahabharata about the Karna-Duryodhan friendship. It was even recorded that Duryodhan mourned only for Karna in the entire loss.

We always miss out some positive qualities in antagonist since we get engrossed in the core story of the epic. But it is not that always a person will be bad with everyone. He can be an antagonist in the story, he can be against dharma or good people but that does not make them 'absolutely bad' either. If you happen to revisit Mahabharata via YouTube telecast or books don’t restrict yourself with Krishna-Arjun friendship and Gitasaar. See the unseen part of Karna-Duryadhana friendship too. That is the true example of unconditional love among friends and an Epitome of Friendship.

I wish to be a “Karna” to my friends, and I pray that I could always stand by those friends who need me in their lives, since…, ”A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.”

From my lockdown diaries… 2.0

- Suganthi Sankaran