Fifty-eight people. Three months. One winner.
It was time for the 42nd annual Dhamakas, and this time it was being held in Hastinapura, a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Two people from each state in India were randomly selected to compete in the Dhamakas, where they would have to live in a forest in exile for a year, fend for themselves, and do whatever needs to be done to stay alive. If a person who was selected was unfit to compete, or if someone else wanted to take their place, it was possible for someone else to volunteer to take their spot in this dangerous game.
One by one, names were picked from each state to compete in the Dhamakas. Finally, it was time for Dhritashtra, the ruler of Uttar Pradesh, to randomly select two people to compete in his kingdom's defense. He had a concoction of turmeric powder in his hand that he threw on the ground after chanting a certain mantra. The powder would reveal the name of the selected person on the ground, forming each letter in a yellow color. Dhritarashtra knew that one of his sons or nephews would be picked, as he had one hundred sons (the Kauravas) and five nephews (the Pandavas), so the chances of one of them getting selected was high. As he recited the mantra and threw the first fist of turmeric powder to the ground, everyone anxiously stared at the yellow mist forming. It revealed a name: Karna. He was the secret and illegitimate son of Surya and Kunthi. What everyone knew about him, however, was that he was an excellent warrior and would be able to defend himself and fight off others well. He also was considered one of the Kauravas, since nobody knew he was actually Kunthi's son. Now, it was time for the second name reveal. Dhritarashtra again recited the mantra and threw another fist of yellow to the ground. It seemed like it took years for the name to be revealed, but soon there it was: Yudhisthira.
It was the oldest Pandava brother.
Dhritarashtra's own nephew.
The king's favorite.
The future king.
Dhritarashtra had complete faith that his nephew was a great warrior, but he had never competed in a game such as this. He didn't want to give up the throne to his oldest son, Duryodhana, for fear that the power would ruin him. Meanwhile, Duryodhana and the rest of his brothers were pleasantly surprised, as they hoped one of their own would be king one day and having Yudhisthira out of the picture would mean just that. Yudhisthira calmly stood up and began walking to Dhristarashtra, but then someone else stood up. It was Arjuna, one of the Pandava brothers, and probably the best warrior India had ever seen. He could wield swords and shoot arrows better than anyone. Suddenly, he said "I volunteer as tribute. Let Yudhisthira stay here and guard our kingdom to his fullest. I will go and compete."
A sudden range of emotions and shouts immediately erupted. Most of the kingdom applauded Arjuna's bravery and loyalty to his brother. The Kauravas, on the other hand, showed their disappointment by charging at Arjuna. The rest of the Pandavas stood up and formed a circle around Arjuna while pulling out their weapons as if to guard their brother from any harm.
"SILENCE." Dhritarashtra spoke. "If Arjuna wants to take the place of Yudhisthira and he is clearly fit to take his spot in the Dhamakas, he can. I have the utmost confidence in Arjuna and his ability to defeat anyone that comes in his path. Arjuna and Karna will both represent our kingdom.
Each participant had one month to prepare for the Dhamakas, and then it was time. The second that the fifty-eight warriors stepped foot inside of the forest, they were on their own. Some of the representatives from each state stayed together, while some split up immediately upon arriving in the forest. Karna and Arjuna separated immediately. They were incredibly similar in how they hunted food, made abodes with twigs and tree branches, and killed anyone that was about to shoot them.
There were fifty-eight stars in the sky when the Dhamakas began, each representing one of the participants. One month later, there were thirty-two stars. Ten months later, there were only two. The last two.
One day, Karna looked up and saw those two stars. Could it be that Arjuna was the other? Or could it be that someone had defeated the mighty warrior of Hastinapura?
Deeper into the forest, Arjuna stood, also staring at the sky. Was he about to fight Karna again? They had been competing in a rivalry their whole lives, so why did this time feel so different?
Finally, the day came. Arjuna was taking rest and had just begun drinking water from the lake, when Karna stumbled onto the scene. Immediately, the brothers pulled out their weapons and fought. They fought for two weeks straight. No resting, no giving up, constantly fighting. Karna was possibly the only person capable of fighting Arjuna for that long, possibly because both were the sons of Kunthi and a God. Karna stepped in an area of mud right after missing a sharp blow from Arjuna. The mud closed around his legs and wouldn't let him escape. In this instance, Arjuna pulled out the brahmastra, one of the most powerful weapons in the history of India. Just as he was about to use it, he faltered. He forgot the mantra in order to use the brahmastra!*1 This one mistake led to his demise. Karna weakened his stance for only a second, but Arjuna was able to get through. He quickly shot three arrows at once into Karna's chest, killing him almost immediately.
Arjuna finally defeated Karna. The Dhamakas were over. He could finally go home to his family, his kingdom.
...Little did he know that Karna was his family. His own brother.
Source: This is what I imagine Arjuna to have looked like when he said he would take Yudhisthira's place in the Dhamakas. (I got the picture from the linked website, but I added the text myself)
*1 - The reason for this was mentioned in my version about the Mahabharata. Apparently Karna told Parshurama that he was a brahmin, so that he would train him in warfare. When he found out the truth, Parshurama cursed him and told him he would forget the words to the brahmastra when he needed it the most. As for the part where Karna got stuck in the mud, he was earlier cursed by a brahmin as well for accidentally killing his cow while he was practicing his shooting skills.
Bibliography: R. K. Narayan's Mahabharata.
Author's Note:
I thought of the Hunger Games theme when I was writing my reading notes for the Mahabharata. When I was reading the part where the Pandavas are exiled for 13 years and had to stay alive and hidden for the last year, I thought it would be cool to make it a competition. So many people die in the big battle at the end, which is not unlike the Hunger Games. I decided to have two people from each state of India, just like in the actual Hunger Games there are two people from every district that compete. I decided to revolve the story around Karna and Arjuna because I feel like they are extremely important and play an essential role in the Mahabharata. We see a lot of hatred between Duryodhana and Yudhisthira, but we never go into depth about the other brothers as much. I decided to keep their backgrounds the same, to where they didn't know they were brothers, as well as the part where Karna's chariot (in this story, his legs) got stuck and he forgot how to use the brahmastra. I kept that in there to show that Karna was just as good a warrior as Arjuna; the only thing that ended the battle was Karna's mistake long ago.
