| Story -
Real Charity |
 |
Once upon a time there lived a king called Dhritarashtra who ruled over Hastinapura. He had a vast empire and a hundred sons. His eldest son's name was
Duryodhana. Duryodhana had a friend called Karna who was the king of a small kingdom called Anga Desa.
Karna was very kindhearted and charitable. Anybody approaching him with a request was sure to get fulfilled, for Karna never said, 'no' to any one. He started his day with distribution of money, cattle, land etc., to people could be seen before his palace even before dawn. Getting what all they needed they used to return from the palace loudly praising the charitable nature of Karna. Duryodhana's palace lay on the way; so the lavishing praises bestowed on Karna daily reached his ears. And he began to grow jealous. He thought, "After all Karna is a petty king with small riches at his disposal. I am far richer than he is and I can give much more than he can give. So I will become more famous than he."
Thus resolving he started to give away a number of charities from the next day onwards. Soon he became famous and people began to praise him also. But he was not satisfied because Karna was held in greater esteem than himself.
Indra knew what passing through Duryodhana's mind and wanted to teach him a lesson. Therefore he came down to the earth disguised as a poor brahmin and went to the court of Duryodhana. With great pomp Duryodhana asked, "O Brahmin, what do you want of me. Ask anything, please, I am at your service to give. Do not hesitate even if it is a big thing for I can afford to give anything that you may need."
Laughing inwardly at the pompous words, the Brahmin replied, "Prince, I do not need much. I am going to perform a yajna shortly for which I require a lot of fuel. Please give me enough of fuel for the purpose. That will be enough for me."
Duryodhana laughed aloud and said, "O poor Brahmin, what can I speak of your luck? You come to great prince and ask for fuel. Let it be so. This is all your good luck. Take as much fuel as you please."
The Brahmin appeared very pleased and greatly praised Duryodhana. He said, "O charitable prince! My yajna will start in ten days. I will come and take the fuel on that day, for I do not have a place to store the fuel." Duryodhana agreed, and the
Brahmin left.
Now, Indra the king of gods, ordered the rains to pour down for the coming ten days.
And everything was drenched and not a single thing remained dry. The rains came to stop suddenly
on tenth day and the smiling sun rose as usual brightening the gloomy atmosphere. Indra disguised again as the poor Brahmin came to Duryodhana early in the morning. He requested, "Prince, my yajna will start today. Please give the promised fuel."
Duryodhana startled with dismay when he saw the Brahmin. Not that he did not want to give the fuel, but he was at that particular time helpless because no dry fuel was anywhere available. With an apologetic face he said, "Please excuse me Brahmin Because of these terrible rains, all the fuel was drenched. Not a piece of dry wood is available now. Please postpone your yajna for some days. As soon as the fuel is dry, I will give you as much as you need."
The Brahmin looked very disappointed. With a rueful face he exclaimed, "O Duryodhana, is this how great people keep their word?
How can I postpone the yajna to another day? It can be performed only on auspicious days. Today is best suited for the yajna. You have to
fulfill your promise."
Duryodhana was annoyed. He was feeling guilty within but he did not want to concede that he was in the wrong. The
Brahmin's insistence made the matters worse. He lost his temper and said, "Are you mad or what? How do you expect me to
fulfill a promise under these conditions? Go away from here if you can't listen to reason."
The Brahmin made a wry face and cried out, "Mad indeed! A pious Brahmin wishing to perform a yajna, appears to you as mad! Of course I must have been mad to have come to you with my request instead of going to Karna. He would never have broken a promise like you." So saying the Brahmin immediately left his palace and went to Karna. Duryodhana was very much chagrined, but he consoled himself thinking that even Karna won't be able to procure dry fuel.
As he was thus hopefully calculating, the Brahmin went and stood before Karna. Karna made obeisance to him and asked, "O Best of
Brahmins, how can I serve you?" The Brahmin blessed him and asked, "O Karna, I want fuel for performing yajna today. Please give me sufficient fuel."
Karna was thoughtful. Surely there should be some way to get what the Brahmin needed! Yajna was an auspicious sacrifice which can't be postponed. Thus thinking he lifted up his head when his glance fell on the rafters and beams supporting the roof. That at least was dry enough. In a flash it occurred to him to procure the dry fuel. He called his servants and ordered them to smash down one of the buildings in the palace compound and carefully gather the beams, rafters and the wooden portion of the roof.
Happy that he could give what the Brahmin wanted, he came to the Brahmin and said, "Good Sir, fuel is ready. Please instruct the men where to take it." Filled with great joy and admiration, the Brahmin blessed him and left loudly singing the praises of Karna.
As he passed by the palace of Duryodhana, Duryodhana eagerly came out to see how Karna fared. When he heard the
Brahmin's praises he was filled with surprise and could not believe his ears. He was very eager to know where Karna got the dry fuel. So swallowing his pride, he asked the Brahmin how Karna procured the fuel. The Brahmin told him how Karna got one of his buildings pulled down and gave him sufficient fuel for the yajna. In proof, he uncovered the skin wrappings on the carts and showed him the rafters and beams.
Then Duryodhana realised how truly charitable Karna was and how mea |
