Karna, the great Giver

Karna, the great Giver

There is a fine story about Karna. He was applying oil to his head, preliminary to his bath, from a jeweled cup.

Karna had taken the oil in his right hand and rubbed it well into his hair, when Krishna appeared and Karna rose to

revere Him. He said He had come to demand the cup from him as a gift! "I am surprised that You, the Master of the

Universe, have a desire for this paltry thing but who am I to ask you questions? Here is the cup, I gift it to You", he

said, and placed it in the Lord's right hand with his left hand. Krishna took him to ask for that error in dharma, offering a

gift with the left hand. But Karna said, "Pardon me, o Lord! My right hand is smeared with oil; I was afraid, that if I take

time to wash the hand and make it fit to give the cup, my wayward mind which now had agreed to the gift, might

discover some argument not to accede to Your request; I might therefore be deprived of the unique fortune, by the

fickle mind with which I am burdened. This is the reason why I acted immediately and passed it on to You, regardless of

the breach of a rule of etiquette; please sympathize with me and pardon me", Karna pleaded. Karna knew that the

mind is unsteady, but, as Krishna advised Arjuna, detachment and discipline can tame it.