Karna’s Appointment – The Sixteenth Day
When the Kauravas and their troops entered the plain of Kurukshetra at dawn on the sixteenth day, Karna was at their head.
The previous one had been truly disastrous for them and at night the remaining generals, all skeptical about the possibility of their final victory, had gathered in Duryodhana’s tent to discuss other strategies and above all to elect the new commander in chief. Everyone had proposed Asvatthama, confident that the hatred he bore towards the Pandavas would burden them sufficiently, especially the soldiers. But Drona’s son didn’t seem to agree.
“I believe that the most suitable person to lead us, after my father and Bhishma have fallen, is Karna. He is an experienced and capable general, and he hates the Pandavas so much that he can lead us to attack without mental reservations. So let’s elect him as our guide.”
Everyone accepted the advice and Karna, happy with the show of trust, was cheered by those present and then by the troops.
For this reason, when the sun rose for the sixteenth time since the beginning of the war, Karna, Vivasvan’s secret son, was at the head of the Kaurava army.
Only then that the opposing army was moving against them, Yudhisthira could realize how many good soldiers had fallen in the last fortnight and felt deeply saddened.
With the sound of their shells, Krishna and Arjuna gave the signal to the troops, who moved in the direction of the enemy.
Nothing in particular happened that day: Bhima and Arjuna on one side, Karna on the other dissolved the opposing ranks like a great fire spreading between cotton balls. Wherever they went, the scene did not change at all: for everyone and for everything the only possible alternatives were death and destruction.
An episode to remember was the clash between Nakula and Karna: the latter eventually spared Madri’s son for the promise made earlier to Kunti. Equally noteworthy was the duel that took place between the two kings, Yudhisthira and Duryodhana. The Pandava fought amazingly, and the soldiers were forced to take the Kaurava away in order to save his life.
And when evening fell, the survivors of yet another day of blood brought their weary and wounded limbs to rest.
Karna slipped into his tent without speaking to anyone. Before he learned of his birth, he had wished for nothing more than to be against the Pandavas on a battlefield, but now that his lifelong dreams had finally come true, he wished it never happened.
Disconsolate, he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.
Alone in his tent, Duryodhana was thoughtful. He had seen Karna defeat Nakula and then spare his life, and frankly he couldn’t give himself a reason. It was so strange that it made him agitated. He had had him in his full power, he had defeated him and deprived him of horses, of the chariot, of every weapon, he could have killed him easily and he had not done so: why? And he remembered that the same scene had already happened in the past days, when his friend had first Bhima and then Sahadeva at his mercy, inexplicably saving them too. It was a mystery, he just couldn’t find a rational explanation. With Bhishma and Drona it would have been normal: even before the hostilities began, they had specified that they would never kill Pandu’s children, but Karna? Why had he not done it? Yet he decided not to go to Karna to protest his unclear behavior: he was his best friend and he would never doubt him.
Duryodhana could not know the truth.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 2”.
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