This is an interesting anecdote from the great Indian epic Mahabharata.
Once, Lord Krishna and Arjuna were conversing. Krishna praised Karna for his charity. He said, “None can equal Karna in charity.” Arjuna became jealous and said that he can equal Karna in charity anytime.
Just then, a poor Brahmin came towards them. He said, “My wife has died. I am looking for sandalwood to cremate her. Can you help me?”
Arjuna asked a servant to arrange for the sandalwood. After some time, the servant returned empty handed along with the Brahmin. He said, “There is no stock of sandalwood anywhere, not even in the market.”
Arjuna excused himself saying that there was nothing more he could do.
The Brahmin then approached Karna. Karna too tried his best but sandalwood was not available anywhere. Karna did not feel like letting anyone go without giving them what they wanted. He remembered that the pillars of his palace were made of sandalwood. He ordered for an axe and started chopping the pillars. Sections of the palace collapsed but he continued chopping till he had enough sandalwood for the Brahmin.
Krishna and Arjuna met the Brahmin on his way back. Krishna enquired how he managed to get the sandalwood. The Brahmin replied, “The great Karna chopped off the pillars of his palace to give me this sandalwood.”
Krishna now turned to Arjuna and said, “Now, do you understand why I praised Karna?”
Arjuna understood Krishna’s point.
Image of the birth of Karna to Kunti with the blessings of the Sun God Surya is part of the Mahabharata sheetlet issued in 2017, courtesy https://exclusivecoins.blogspot.com/
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Ramayana. As the epic narrative of the Kurukshetra War between the Kaurava and the Pandava princes written between the 8th and 9th centuries BCE, it is the longest known epic poem and has been described as “the longest poem ever written”. Its longest version consists of over 100,000 shloka or over 200,000 individual verse lines (each shloka is a couplet), and long prose passages. About 1.8 million words in total, the Mahabharata is roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined, or about four times the length of the Ramayana.
Karna, one of the central characters in the Mahabharata epic, fought against misfortune throughout his life and kept his word under all circumstances. It is believed that Karna founded the city of Karnal, in present-day Haryana. He is often quoted for his sacrifice, courage, charity, valour and selflessness.
Image of Mahabhaarata sheetlet issued by India post in 2017, courtesy: https://eshop.tsposts.in/