Week 12: The Long Lost Son

The Long Lost Son

*I have updated this story for my portfolio project and the newer version is here on my website. I gave the story a new name as well. 

Cousins battling. Source: Wikimedia. 

“I can’t wait for the tournament,” Bhima announced loudly to his brother. The five Pandava brothers had been so excited all morning for this tournament. 

This tournament was between them and their cousins, the Kauravas. The purpose of the tournament was to see how much they had learned in their training from Kripacharya and Drona. Their skills would be tested today. Their talents would be exhibited in front of everyone including the royal family and the public. 

“I hope none of my sons get hurt today,” hoped Kunti. She had bene excited for the tournament as well. She knew her sons had all trained so hard. They had so much energy in them that she knew this would be a perfect way for them to exert all of that energy. 

At the tournament, all of the cousins had went and showcased the talents in front of the crowd. The one who stood out the most was her son, Arjuna. Everyone was stunned by his skills in archery and use of weapons. They watched in awe and admiration. She felt immense pride for her son. But then came along a man named Karna.

Karna said he had trained from Parshuram himself, so he wanted to challenge Arjuna. She watched as Karna surpassed all the feats Arjuna had made. She could tell from her son’s face that was getting angrier by the second. She watched as Arjuna refused to let Karna be crowned the victor.

Kunti couldn’t help but stare at Karna. For some reason, she felt a connection to this man. He looked familiar to her. She listened as Kripacharya stepped in and said they couldn’t let him fight if Karna wasn’t from a royal bloodline. They wanted to know his lineage.

“I don’t know about my lineage. All I know from my parents is that I was found in a basket floating down the river. I was brought up a charioteer and his wife, my mother. They are the only family I know,” explained Karna.

Kunti was in shock. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. “Could this… could he… is this… no, that’s not possible. But it can be. But how?” thought Kunti. She started to panic. She started to feel dizzy and her vision was getting darker. She lost consciousness the moment she realized that Karna was her firstborn. 

Author's Note: I based this story off of an interaction from an Epified: Mahabharata video. In the video, Karna becomes King, Kunti finds out for the first time that the man challenging Arjuna is actually her firstborn she had given up. In the video, the narrator focuses more on the tension between the men, and the part about Kunti fainting is briefly mentioned towards the end. I thought since I had already written a story about Kunti giving about baby Karna in her perspective, I would write this in her perspective as well. 

Bibliography:

Karna becomes King. Epified: Mahabharata.