The Gall of Gammon

Disclaimer: This story is my humble attempt to write a fanfiction of the epic Mahabharata. My intention is not to hurt anyone's sentiment.

Aum Namah Shivay!!

Major Jayant Roy, SM is a fictitious character. Any similarity with any living person is merely a coincidence.

Chapter 33

Hastinapur, Dwapar Yuga

Kunti POV (continues)

Bheem and Duryodhana were facing each other in the arena. This was the most dreadful situation for me. Both Bheem and Duryodhana considered themselves the greatest enemies. I saw the looks on both my son and his cousin's eyes. Those looks meant the exact same thing. Now, in this arena, those two cousins would go for each other's blood.

Bheem charged at Duryodhana. The maces struck each other. The loud metallic sound was not less than the sound of thunder. Bheem landed a devastating blow in Duryodhana's torso. The blow was so powerful, that one blow landed Duryodhana on the ground.

"Jai Bheem! Jai Bheem!" the crowd was loudly cheering.

Duryodhana sprang up like a panther. His face was hard. His eyes were focused. Bheem again charged at him. Their maces struck each other again. Duryodhana was not physically stronger than Bheem. The powerful blow knocked down Duryodhana again. His mace fell down from his hand.

"What is happening, Kunti?" Jiji asked in an anxious voice. But before I could say anything to her, Dussala told her how Duryodhana knocked down for the second time by Bheem. Her face became sad after hearing that. I looked at my three sons sitting in the shade. Nakul and Yudhisthir were smiling. But when I saw Sahdeva, I was astonished to see his expressions. His expressions were full of fear.

I saw Duryodhana standing up again. His ego was so big, that it could not let him go down easily. But my Bheem would knock him down again.

Bheem charged at Duryodhana again. His mace was shining in the sunlight. His body language told me that he was going for the kill. But then, something happened that literally astonished all of us.

Duryodhana's body was flexible like a fish. He was literally dancing around Bheem. Bheem was trying to hit him, but with superior speed, Duryodhana was moving away from his way. Bheem, who basically always relied to his strength, was now failing to counter his fast enemy. Suddenly, Duryodhana landed a heavy blow on Bheem's upper torso. The blow was powerful. Bheem was going to fall on the ground, but he somehow maintained his balance. His face was full of shock and anger. Burning with this anger, he again charged at Duryodhana. The two maces struck each other again. Now Duryodhana landed another blow on Bheem. Bheem countered it by using his mace. The impact was so powerful, that both the maces landed on the ground. Bheem and Duryodhana both were unarmed now. The crowd of Hastinapur were cheering both the combatants.

"Jay Bheem! Jay Duryodhana!"

Suddenly, Bheem charged towards Duryodhana like a mad elephant. I didn't know what came in my head; I again looked at the face of my youngest son. I saw him sitting with a sad expression. He nodded his head negatively, and heaved a big sigh.

"I must ask him what is going on his mind." I thought to myself. Then I looked again at the arena. Both Bheem and Duryodhana were fighting bare-handed. Bheem was trying to grab his opponent, while Duryodhana's superior speed and agility again proved useful to him.

Suddenly, I heard Duryodhana's voice.

"What happened, fatty? Are you tired? It is very sad, because my mother has more stamina than you. Go, and eat something."

That vicious taunting of Duryodhana gave him his desired effect. Bheem, like an angry bull, charged again, and landed a punch on Duryodhana's face. That punch was very powerful. The impact of that punch made him tremble on his legs. But, then I saw the shocked face of Bheem. It was like he could not believe something. He was looking at his fist, then again at Duryodhana.

Then Duryodhana charged at him for the first time. His both hands were moving like a wheel. His hand landed punch after punch on his opponent. Bheem could not get the time to even move from those vicious blows. Duryodhana landed blow after blow on Bheem's hands and face.

I was astonished while observing the fighting. My second son was born with the blessings of the Pavan Devta. His body was strong as iron. But, then how could the punches of Duryodhana affect him?

Both the fighters were getting exhausted now. But still, they were not giving up. Suddenly, I saw both Dronacharya and Ashwatthama ran towards them.

"Enough is enough! Stop this fight right now! This fight is a draw. Now, go back to your shade, both of you. It's an order."

Both Bheem and Duryodhana looked at each other with red eyes. Then they both bowed to their teacher. They bowed to us and the elders, and went to their shades.

Dronacharya stood in the middle of the arena. His voice boomed, "Now Rajkumar Arjun will demonstrate his archery skills."

The name of Arjun made me smile. My heart was full with joy.

My third son, as handsome as Indra himself, entered the arena. He walked gracefully inside the arena. My eyes were full with tears of joy.

"Jiji, Arjun is soft like flower inside and hard like iron outside." I said.

"You are right, Kunti." Jiji said with a smile.

A lone drop of tear from my eye was falling down on the floor, but before it touched the ground, an arrow shot by Arjun came towards me. The teardrop fell on the arrow, and then came back to his archer. Arjun caught the arrow, and touched the arrowhead on his forehead.

His gesture made me proud. The crowd also started cheering.

"Jay Arjun! Jay Arjun!"

Suddenly, Arjun fired another arrow. The arrow went straight to the sky, and in a moment, the clear sky was covered by black clouds. Again, another arrow went to the sky, and a powerful blow of wind cleared the sky.

The crowd was cheering loudly.

Arjun fired another arrow. This time, he created a large hill in the arena. Then, another arrow went to the hill, and broke it into tiny pieces. He shot another arrow, and the broken pieces vanished in a moment. Then he shot another arrow in the sky. That single arrow multiplied itself, and one arrow landed on the ground in front of each elder present in the ground. It was the show of respect from the greatest archer to his elders.

I looked at Pitamah. His face was glowing with joy. Vidura was also happy. Kripacharya was happily smiling too. Dronacharya was standing with pride in his face.

Then I heard Arjun's voice.

"Gurudev, with your permission, I want to challenge Duryodhana in a duel." He spoke his words while looking at me. I smiled at him. If any of my sons could give a quick and swift defeat to Duryodhana, it would be only Arjun.

"Jai Arjun! Jai Arjun! Jai Duryodhana! Jai Duryodhana!" the crowd was now cheering both of them. I looked at Duryodhana. He stood up and took that metallic stick again. Both of them faced each other in the arena.

Arjun shot an arrow. Duryodhana easily jumped out of its way.

"I know my son. He is just playing with his opponent." I thought to myself.

In a moment, my thoughts proved correct. Two powerful arrows pierced Duryodhana's armour and struck into his both shoulders. Duryodhana trembled on his feet. He pulled out two bloodstained arrows, and threw them away.

He again tried to charge at Arjun, but another arrow came towards him, and bound him into a large block of ice. Duryodhana tried to move, but he failed.

"Jai Arjun! Jai Arjun! Jai Arjun!" The cheering of the crowd literally pierced my ears.

Dronacharya walked beside Arjun. His face was glowing with joy.

"Arjun, today you really make me proud. People of Hastinapur, today, I, Dronacharya announcing in front of you, that my disciple, Arjun is the greatest archer of all time. He is the best among not only the Aryavarta, but also the whole world. I am not saying this because he is my student. I am saying this because this is the truth. Arjun, release your cousin from the bound."

Arjun smiled with joy. He pointed to his bow to Duryodhana.

But then, suddenly I heard a loud crack of a bowstring. Then out of nowhere, an arrow came towards Duryodhana, and melted the ice. Then another arrow came, which struck the metal stick of Duryodhana. The stick jumped up in the air, and Duryodhana easily caught that.

An eerie silence came over the arena.

"What is happening Kunti?" Jiji asked in a shocked voice.

"Jiji, some other archer just set Duryodhana free." I couldn't mask the shock in my voice.

Then I heard Dronacharya's voice.

"Who shot this arrow? Who has the audacity to interrupt the competition of the Kuru Rajkumars? I order you, show yourself!"

There was a pin-drop silence for a moment. Then I heard a voice from the top of the arena.

"Acharya, one who tries to climb a mountain, must obtain the identity of it by himself. The mountain does not give his identity itself."

I turned my head to the source of voice. A tall man was standing there, alone. He had a bow in his right hand. The man jumped from the above, and skilfully landed on the ground. Now I could properly see his face.

His face had radiance like a Devta. He was walking gracefully, just like a king. He came in front of Duryodhana, and bowed to him.

"Rajkumar, can you recognise me?"

I looked at Duryodhana. His face was glowing with joy. He was smiling now.

"Ashwatthama, come here. Look who is back after so many years."

Ashwatthama walked towards that stranger. He looked at the stranger's face with shock.

"Radheya? Is that you?"

The name was familiar to me. Radheya was the son of charioteer Adhiratha. He was a friend of Duryodhana.

Suddenly, I heard the angry voice of Dronacharya.

"How dare you interrupt the competition? This competition was only for the Kuru Rajkumars."

Radheya turned towards the Acharya. His eyes were hard.

"I know that, Acharya. I was silently sitting in there while the competition was only for the Rajkumars. But when you declared Arjun as world's greatest archer, from that very moment, that competition becomes global. Now, as a part of the world, it's on me to save the dignity of the countless other archers on the world. So, either you declare that Arjun is best only among the Kuru Rajkumars, or order him to fight me, here now."

Arjun's face became crimson.

"Order me Gurudev. I am stitching the face of this blabbering fool with my arrows right now."

Dronacharya gestured him to stop. Then he again looked at Radheya.

"It seems that your teacher didn't teach you how to control your tongue. Tell me; is he also a loudmouth like you?"

Radheya looked at him with hard glare.

"Acharya, by saying that you insulted both your and Mahamahim Bhishma's guru. I am a disciple of the same guru who taught both of you. In front of you, the disciple of Bhargava Parashurama, Radheya Karna is standing now."

I looked at Dronacharya. His face was pale now.

Now, it was truly a situation of 'Dharma-sankata' (horns of a dilemma). I had faith on my son. But, when I looked at Radheya again, I felt something in my heart. There was a familiar feeling, which I couldn't understand.

Then I saw Kripacharya. He was silently observing the scene, now decided to speak.

"Radheya, to fight with Arjun, we must need a proper introduction. In front of you, Maharani Kunti's third son, Kuru Rajkumar Arjun is standing. Now, as per the tradition, only a Raja or a Rajkumar can challenge another Raja or Rajkumar in a duel. Now, give us your introduction."

I saw the man's face. The radiance decreased just like a setting sun. He hung his head in shame. I didn't know why, but my heart filled with a sudden sadness.

Then I heard Duryodhana's voice.

"Kulguru, you yourself taught me that kings are of three types. On who has born as a king, one who becomes a king by his courage and one who defeats a king and becoming king themselves. The kings of the second sort are not necessary to be Kshatriya. Valour is not the birthright of only Kshatriyas. Other men can be valiant as they are blessed by Mahadev. But if Arjun only want to fight a king, then so be it."

Every single one present in the arena was now silent. They were listening with bated breath. Duryodhana took a pause. His eyes focused on me, no, he directly looked into my eyes.

"What is he doing?" I thought to myself. I knew that every single one of them was thinking the same.

"Far away in the west, there is a small kingdom. The kingdom of Anga, beside Magadha is ours. Pitamah won that kingdom. But, now, there is no king. I am giving the kingdom to my Mitra, Radheya Karna, thus making him the King of Anga. Jai Angraaj Karna!! Jay Angraaj Karna!"

The total arena was shocked to its core. They were silent, unable to say any word.

Suddenly, I heard Mahamahim Bhishma. He stood up from his seat. His face became hard.

"Rajkumar, you don't have any right to the kingdom of Anga. To be honest, you don't have any right to give a pinpoint of soil." His voice roared like thunder.

Suddenly, Shakuni spoke up.

"Mahamahim Bhishma is right. But, Maharaja Dhritarashtra has that right."

That shrewd man! But he spoke the correct thing.

Maharaja Dhritarashtra stood up. Then as expected, he granted permission to his son's will. Duryodhana took some blood from his chest wound, and applied a tilak on Karna's forehead.

Karna's eyes were full of tears.

"Rajkumar, from today, I am indebted to you. I..."

Duryodhana interrupted him mid-sentence.

"Radheya, I am telling you for the first and last time. If you ever said that word 'indebted', I promise, I will break your teeth and make a necklace for your wife. You are my friend, my brother, just like Dussasan, Vikarna, Yuyutsu, Sahdeva and Ashwatthama. Don't you ever forget that. Now go, fight with Arjun."

Both Dronacharya and Arjun were standing in shock. Arjun touched his Guru's feet. Then both of them faced each other.

Karna fired an Agniastra. Arjun countered it with a Varunastra. Then Arjun fired an Andhakastra, which was countered by Karna with his Vayavastra.

The crowd was shocked. Even I was shocked too. This man, who came from nowhere, was clearly a powerful archer. He was clearly a match for Arjun.

Then I saw Arjun firing an arrow. That single arrow multiplied into five arrows. Karna stood in front of arrows. He did not lift his bow. He was not wearing any armour. In a moment, those arrows would pierce his body.

Then I saw something glowing in his body. That glow was familiar to me. But, I could not believe my eyes.

Karna was standing in the way of the arrows. I saw his body magically covered with golden armour. The armour was familiar to me. The arrows hit the armour and broke into pieces. Then, I saw his ears under his long, a bit curly hair. His ears had two large golden earrings in it.

My head started spinning. I knew who he was.

He was my firstborn son, born with the blessings of Surya Narayana. My son!

Now, two of my sons were fighting each other in front of my eyes. I didn't know what came over me; I gathered my every amount of strength to look at Duryodhana.

He was not watching the fight. He was looking at me. There was a taunting smile in his face. Our eyes met for a moment.

Darkness clouded my eyes and my mind. Before losing my sense, there was only one thought in my mind.

Duryodhana knew about my eldest son!

I didn't know how, but he knew.

Then, I lost my senses, and fall on the ground.

Suto va sut putro vayo vako ba bhavamyaham,

Deivayantam kule janmo, madayantam tu pourusham!!!

Suryaputra Karnaha, Parashurama shishaha!!!

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