36 A clue from the epics of the landscape

There is this story of Karna.

He was born to his unwed mother, a princess, in her alignment with the Sun God. She abandoned him by placing the infant in a basket and sending it adrift in the river. He was saved by a low-caste charioteer. However, by exact ancestry he belonged to the higher caste, Kshatriya. So, he had an inborn desire to go in for martial arts. He managed to get himself trained by the greatest martial arts teacher, Parashurama, who himself is an avatar (manifestation) of one among the Hindu trinities.

His mother later married a king and had children by other gods. That king’s brother was also a king, both sharing the kingship. He also had children. These two groups of cousins were inimical to each other. They were taught martial arts by a great martial arts teacher.

One of Karna’s maternal step-brothers was considered to be the greatest archer in the world. There was a martial arts display arranged by their teacher. People gathered to see it. The young prince’s expertise in archery was seen by all. It was a very fabulous display, more or less reaching to the levels of modern-day missile war and drone warfare.

The martial arts teacher made a proclamation that there is no one in the world who can defeat the young prince in archery. In fact, he made an open challenge that if there is anyone in the world who can do it, he could compete with the young prince.

On hearing this, Karna came forward and said that he could defeat the young prince in his forte. He then made a display of his expertise. It was quite evident that his proficiency was of much better quality.

Karna then said that he is ready to take up the challenge.

It was at this deeply troubling juncture that another higher teacher mentioned the cautions in the spiritual jurisprudence. That a prince can compete only with an equal. Competing with a lower stature person, even if he is more capable or of greater skill and expertise is not recommendable. Actually it is an action that would create rattling in the design view. And in the code view, there will be rapid shifting of code values.