Tag Archives: karna

Excellence is a habit!

Karna the great archer in Mahabharatha

Today’s post is about the one of the most wonderful characters in Mahabharatha, Karna!

Karna was known for his charity apart from being a great archer, warrior and a benevolent friend.

So it was no surprise that whenever the topic of Karna arose, Krishna never spared that opportunity to praise Karna as the most charitable man.

Arjuna would probably even take it about Karna being a warrior, he knows that but wanted to see Karna do charity and remove all his doubt.

As such Krishna too sensed this urge in Arjuna and told him to announce a charity drive for the poor, and when Arjuna asked him what was in store for charity, Krishna said there was a whole truck of gold that he would need to distribute in charity.

Thrilled at this Arjuna called his subordinates and told them this is the time he would defeat Karna in charity and made extensive arrangement to make the world know he is having a charity drive on a particular day.

The day arrived, and the whole of the town was in attendance to partake of Arjuna’s charity. Long queues of men and women with children waited patiently in line.

The day ended and still lay a heap of gold.. well Arjuna was helping the people with spoonfuls of gold dust and he was wondering how he is going to finish this off. So he told the drummers to go far and wide and announce that this charity drive is happening!

This went on for days and there was no chance of any gold dust getting any lesser…and some seven days later, Arjuna gave up… Krishna I don’t know what to do!

Krishna smiled and said come with me let me illustrate you something and please change yourself to a help in disguise.

So Arjuna accompanied Krishna in the guise of a farmer and they went on a small drive on a chariot.

A few minutes into the drive they came across Karna, and Krishna seizing the opportunity asked him where he was headed to.

Karna said he was going to meet Duryodhana, and Krishna told him he needed Karna’s help with some charity. Karna smiled and told him he is always game.

So Krishna pointed to the corner of the street and said there a heap of gold and Karna had to give that in charity. Karna looked at the corner and did see a heap of gold. He got down the chariot and as he was walking to the heap of gold, he saw two people working on the roadside.

He called them and asked if they can see the heap of gold? The nodded in affirmation. Karna then said share it equally among yourself and he left the place!

Arjuna was dumbfounded. He had no answers to this. What he had taken seven days and not completed Karna had done in few seconds. Since then Arjuna has held Karna in deep respect secretly though he would not show it to others.

So the management lesson here is excellence can never be an accident. Like What Karna did we need to ingrain in ourselves the best practices so that it comes naturally to us. Karna had the final goal in mind. That was charity, let us also have that very clear what is the final goal. We can be better ourselves in smart but firm and powerful way like Karna did if we live by what we want to do. You wont make it by doing an Arjuna trying to drum up his charity and still not making it happen. Sometimes if you do not know the end no matter how hard you work like Arjuna, you will be never make it. Processes are fine but ideally if they don’t take you to the destination please be aware of its shortcomings and earlier you understand the better!

managementlessonsfrommahabharatha #karna #charity #1of100posts

The Karna the best of the giver!

KarnaArjuna despite his best efforts after having got the choicest of weapons was always agitated and felt bad when people spoke highly of his opponent Karna. The one quality people would talk days and days would be how charitable Karna was. People would swear they can’t stop talking about it.

This often irritated Arjuna so much that one day in the course of conversation asked his dear friend Krishna.

‘Tell me my  Krishna, why do people talk of Karna as the  best when it comes to charity?’

Krishna could see the fire of doubt raging in his cousin’s mind and decided that he should be shown the truth and so Krishna diverted the topic and told Arjuna to give away a small mountain of gold dust in charity. Arjuna was so happy, this was his chance that he could now equal Karna in his charity.

Arjuna called his staff and told him to announce that Arjuna the warrior would be doing charity and the people are welcome to receive it.

And after the drums man had done his rounds in the city, when he returned there was a serpentine queue in front of Arjuna’s palace and he also saw Arjuna was giving each of the citizens a handful of gold dust. It continued for the first day, then went on to the second day and the third…

Arjuna saw that the gold dust wasn’t going to get over at the rate he was doing charity.

Even after a week of giving it to everyone he knew, Arjuna called Krishna and told him see how much I have given in charity. There was almost 80 percent of the gold dust.

Then Krishna said ‘My dear Arjuna,  the work is not over yet and for a change why don’t you come in a costume where people cannot identify you.’

‘Why do you want to do that? Krishna! ‘ asked Arjuna,

‘Just come over I shall show you something.’ and led form the front.

So both of them walked to the periphery of the town and they saw Karna was in some action.

Krishna asked Arjuna to stay back and watch what is happening.

Krishna then went to Karna and told him the same thing ‘Karna you have the chance to give a mountain of gold dust in charity.’

Karna hearing this said’ Oh Krishna, I am so delighted I have this opportunity to do it, so where is the mountain of gold?’

Krishna took him to the other side and showed him the small mountain of gold dust. Karna looked around and then called two laborers working in the field and asked them to come near him.

When they came near he pointed to the mountain of gold dust and told them, ‘Please share this between both of you.’ and walked off.

Arjuna was astonished beyond words and felt shameful, and for once he believed what he has been hearing: Karna was the best of the giver the world ever had.

Moral of the story its the way you look at things and the attitude that make the individual! You can make life simple or complex that’s left to you!

Cheers

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