Karma

Advent of Krishna, continued....


"And so it was," Kunti said, "that Lord Krishna appeared in the home of Nanda Maharaja of Vrindavana and was raised as the son of Yashoda."

Krishna in the house of Nanda and Yashoda

Astonished by the narrative of his mother, King Yudhisthira looked at her in amazement. "What you are telling me is beyond belief," he said. "You are saying that my cousin Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan Himself."

Krishna and Arjuna

"You are unaware of all these things," she replied, "since you know Him to be the friend of Arjuna. Your friendly relationship prevents you from understanding His true position."
"But how could you possibly know all these things?" He said.

Kunti Devi and Krishna

"Vasudeva is my brother. King Surasena was my father. He had great affection for King Kuntibhoja and felt I would do well being educated by him. So he gave me in adoption to  King Kuntibhoja, just as Krishna was given in adoption to Nanda Maharaja. Few people know of my family relation with Vasudeva, but as you have cursed me to have no secrets, I have revealed this family secret to you. I have related the events surrounding the advent of Krishna to you exactly as I have heard them from my brother Vasudeva.

The Five Pandavas and Draupadi

"You still have not explained why Karna, my brother, had to suffer so. If Krishna is God Himself, why couldn't he have given Karna a chance to defend Himself?"

Arjuna vs. Karna

"Karna was condemned by the karma of his former life," said Kunti. "In his former life, Karna was a powerful demon-king, Dambodbhava, who prayed to the sungod for immortality.  He was not given immortality, which of course, is impossible, but he was given a thousand armors to protect him. Only one who had performed penance for a thousand years could break his armor and that only one at a time. He became known as Sahasra-kavacha, or the thousand-armoured one.

No one could defeat him and he became a terrible tyrant. Finally the gods went to Visnhu for help. In his incarnation of Nara and Narayan, Vishnu defeated Sahasra-kavacha and destroyed 999 of his armours. But he was to be born again as the son of the sungod himself with an invincible armour. Only his death on the battlefield of Kurukshetra would save him from his past karma and redeem him for salvation. Because he lost his life at the hands of Krishna and Arjuna, he attained the highest salvation a warrior can achieve."

"Karna suffered through his entire life for his past deeds. He never gained the respect he so deserved. He had been cursed. He was cursed by Parashurama for lying about his past. Karna told Parashurama he was the son of a brahman and so gained entrance to his ashrama. When Parashuram discovered the truth, he cursed Karna to forget his knowledge of arms when he most needed it. Indra himself, posing as a brahmana, begged his divine armor. As Karna could refuse no brahmana he cut his armor from his body. He was  cursed by the brahman whose cow he accidentally killed that his chariot would fail him at the moment of truth. Karna's death was a result of his own karma. There was nothing you could do to prevent it, my son, it was foretold in the stars.

Arjuna vs. Karna

Kunti continued. "My dear Yudhisthira: you mustn't blame your cousin Krishna.  He may have used artifice to save you and your brothers from the awesome power of warriors like Karna, Drona, Bhishma, and Ashvatthama, but his purpose was to rid the world of terrible despots and powerful tyrants who were torturing the poor earth. Now that you are king you will surely learn from all this slaughter the true value of peace. Krishna is Govinda, protector of cows and earth. Remember that Krishna is God Himself dispensing divine justice upon the land.  You have been an instrument of that justice. Rule in peace."

Govinda