The trees opened up as I finally crossed into the sacred land of Mahendragiri.
I got down from my horse, patted its neck, and took off its saddle and reins.
I set the horse free to roam the green valleys below, and I began the rest of my journey on foot.
One by one, I took off the rich jewelry that showed my royal status.
I removed the armlets, the rings, and the jeweled necklaces that belonged to the King of Anga.
I put them safely inside the hollow trunk of an old tree.
When I finally reached the lower hills where my guru, Lord Parashurama, lived, I did not go to his hut to greet him.
Remembering how our last meeting ended, I simply bowed my head with deep respect toward his home.
I paid my silent respects from far away.
Instead, I walked toward the hidden, rough back side of his mountain to start my Tapas.
Every person who does severe penance looks for a quiet place filled with spiritual peace.
They do this because even the smallest disturbance can break a person’s focus and make their Tapas fail.
However, if a person can maintain their Tapas even during a disturbance, their Tejas (spiritual fire) energy will increase at absolute speed.
But if they break their focus and come out of the Tapas, they will lose everything.
Even Arjuna traveled to the quiet heights of the Himalayas to do his penance.
I had chosen Mahendragiri for a very specific reason.
If anyone or anything tried to disturb my meditation, Lord Parashurama would protect this sacred ground out of his duty to Dharma.
He would do it even if he no longer wanted to protect me as my Guru.
Unlike Arjuna, who had Lord Krishna and King Indra to back him up from the heavens if something went wrong, I had no one.
I was entirely alone in this world.
Therefore, I had to use the presence of Parashurama as my invisible shield.
It took me three days of walking through the wild forest to reach the hidden part of the back side of the mountain.
Once I arrived, I searched around until I found clean water and excellent mud perfectly suited for shaping.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, I began to create a sacred Shiva Linga.
But this was not an ordinary idol.
I carefully made an Ardhanarishvara Linga, which represents Lord Shiva on one half and Mother Parvati on the other half.
In my heart, I always felt that without Mother Parvati, Lord Shiva is not complete, and without Lord Shiva, Mother Parvati is not complete.
Only when they are together is everything perfect.
So I made them into a single linga.
This was the first time I was creating a Shiva Linga myself.
It gave me a strange feeling of happiness.
I sat down in front of this Ardhanarishvara Linga and began my schedule for the penance.
For the first three months, I decided to take things slowly so my physical body could adapt.
I cut down my food until I was eating only a few wild fruits once a day.
Most importantly, I stopped using the newly awakened divine power of my Prana Vayu.
With that power, I could easily take energy directly from the air to keep my body strong.
But using that cheat would destroy the true point and the cleansing fire of this Tapas.
The rest of my time will spent in total stillness.
I will chant the sacred mantras of the Lord and the Divine Mother, slowly entering deep meditation.
Once my body was ready, I started full-time Tapas.
I will completely stop eating, stop sleeping, and fully entered deep meditation.
Tapas is a strict kind of discipline.
It is not a path everyone can walk.
It takes a massive amount of mental energy and willpower to withstand the strain on the mind and body.
Even if ordinary people do it for a few days, they cannot maintain it consistently.
As Karna started his spiritual training in the quiet depths of the mountain.
In his simple hut on the main hills, Lord Parashurama was in deep meditation.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.
He looked directly toward the back side of the mountain, right where the Ardhanarishvara Linga had been created.
Meanwhile, far away inside the stone walls of Hastinapur, a very different conversation was happening.
Duryodhana and Shakuni sat in a dimly lit room.
Shakuni was calmly playing with his dice across the table, looking closely at his nephew.
”Are you really going to do what Karna said?” Shakuni asked, his voice full of curiosity.
“Are you truly just going to wait for the Pandavas to make a mistake?”
Duryodhana stood near the balcony, his voice very calm.
“Karna has gone for a deep spiritual practice,”
Duryodhana answered.”For that kind of practice, a calm and quiet mind is very important.
If I tell him the truth that I am going to do something against the Pandavas now he will see it as adharma .
He will refuse to leave and stay right here to stop me.
He wouldn’t be able to concentrate on his practice at all.
“Duryodhana turned around, looking directly at his uncle.
“So, I pretended to agree with his advice just to make sure he would leave in peace.
I don’t want him to know anything about what we are going to do next.
His mind must stay free of our problems.”
A dangerous look appeared in Duryodhana’s eyes as he stepped closer to the table.
“But that does not mean we sit idle.
The fair way is over.
Now, we must find a secret way to remove the Pandavas from this world completely.”
Hearing his nephew’s strong words a evil smile spread across Shakuni’s face, and he started to laugh.
His sharp laugh echoed off the cold palace walls.
At the exact same time, in the kingdom of Anga, Prime Minister Vidhyadhar started his council.
He gathered all the ministers into a highly guarded room.
With a serious face, he told them about King Karna’s journey to Mahendragiri.
He ordered everyone to keep it a strict secret so enemy kingdoms would not find out.
”Every order and edict passed by His Majesty will proceed as usual,” Vidhyadhar said, his voice firm.
He looked at the military minister, Adhirupa, his expression turning sharp.
“Tell the army to increase vigilance to the highest level.
Watch the nobles closely so no one creates trouble, and increase guards at the borders.
Meanwhile, far away in Dwarka, Balarama and Krishna were eating their food together.
The atmosphere was peaceful, with a soft breeze coming from the ocean.
Suddenly, Krishna stopped eating.
A bright, happy smile appeared on his face, and he began to laugh softly.
Balarama stopped eating and looked at his younger brother with a confused face.
“What makes you so happy that you are laughing at the time of eating, Krishna”
Krishna simply picked up his food, his eyes shining with amusement as he looked out toward the distant horizon.
“Nothing, brother,” Krishna replied softly, his smile growing wide.
“I was just thinking…
the world is going to become a whole lot more interesting.”
At that exact moment, the two of them heard the voice of their mother, Yashoda, coming from behind them.
” balaram ,are you there ?,Did you see Krishna,the butter went missing in the store room And the soldiers are saying he was just inside the storeroom, but they claim they don’t know anything about the missing butter!”
Krishna’s eyes flickered in sudden panic.
He turned to his older brother and whispered quickly, “Brother, if Mother asks, you must tell her you didn’t see me, and that I didn’t take the butter at all!”
Before Balarama could even answer, Krishna ran and jumped right out of the open window.
Balarama just watched him go.
He had seen this happen so many times before that his face showed absolutely no surprise.
Still, he could not help but shake his head .
He thought to himself, When we were children, we used to steal butter from Mother in playfulness.
I accept that.
But now, we are grown men ruling a whole kingdom!
And he is still running to steal butter from Mother.
If he wants butter so badly, all he has to do is order it, and the servants will bring him piles of butter until he says he is full.
As Balarama was thinking this, Mother Yashoda marched into the room holding a thin stick.
When Balarama saw the stick, his mouth twitched.
He wondered, Can that tiny, thin stick really bring any actual pain to Krishna?
”Where is Krishna?
Where is he hiding?” Mother Yashoda asked loudly as she began to search the room.
“Is he hiding inside the cabinet?”
She searched the entire room but could not find Krishna anywhere.
Finally, she turned her sharp gaze toward her older son.
“Balarama!
You have to tell me where he is right now.
Are you also a culprit in stealing this butter with him?
I am telling you, you have already become a king, so you need to stop this kind of behavior, I will tell your wife to discipline you if you do this again”
As she spoke, her hand reached out and firmly pinched Balarama’s ear.
Feeling the pinch, Balarama sighed heavily and thought to himself, Krishna says the world is becoming interesting…
so why do things feel not interesting for me at all