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- Average
- Main course: £10
- Food spend: £22
Potters Heron sits inside an idyllic thatched rural building in Hampshire, serving a menu full of British classics and world cuisine. Boasting a restaurant and extensive bar, Potters Heron is full of plush seating, perfect for relaxing. The menu offers British favourites and international twists, with the bar serving a range of wines and local ales. Al fresco dining is available in the warmer months, and wedding receptions are specially catered for.
Potters Heron
Winchester Road, Ampfield, Romsey, SO51 9ZF
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Customer reviews for Potters Heron
- Food
- Value
- Ambience
- Location
- Service
- Drinks
(((** 15 December 2012 by Dimples from North Baddesley
Staff very friendly - menu was quite extensive but I felt that the vegetables were very overcooked and having masses of roast beef just piled on top of them did not look good. The Kebab which one of us ordered when then not available as the chef did not think it was good enough - very good of chef to say that. Chips of one of our party - some underdone. Felt that some sort of Christmas decorations could have been put in the little area we were in - you would not have known it was Christmas - a few christmas crackers even would have helped.
(((** 12 August 2012 by what from winchester
the salad with the main could do with more than just lettuce with 20 olives ie tomatos,red onion,cucumber ect pudding was expensive strawberry short cake was a 2 biscuits with ice cream
(**** 22 December 2011 by Paul from Eastleigh
Nice place just I would say they need a new chef, had the hamburger with cheese and bacon, burger was rank!!! And the chips were rock hard in the middle which tells me they wasn't cooked for long enough
((((* 19 December 2011 by shaunster from winchester
Nice lunch. Great beer and nice warm atmosphere, food good quality and reasonably priced.
((*** 17 December 2011 by Amapola from Romsey
Unfortunately we served by a friendly but foreign young girl who did not seem to understand anything we ordered or said. Food was dreadful value for money with only 2 items on the plate in my case which was plaice goujons and chips which were obviously awful frozen chips. Tap water arrived instead of bottled water. Overall an awful experience.
((((* 1 November 2011 by Mike from guildford
It was an excellent choise of restaurant but just a bit noisy. Service was excellent
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Earlier this week, Union minister Smriti Irani said she would leave politics the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi hangs up his boots. Lest this be interpreted as her alluding to the possibility of a premature closure of a breathtaking political career, she exuded confidence that Mr Modi would be around for "long years". But the moot point of her suo moto declaration is that she is active in politics and in the Bharatiya Janata Party chiefly because of personal loyalty and not out of commitment to an ideology or party programme. Another way of phrasing the declaration is that for Ms Irani, the leader is paramount over the party and what it stands for.
Fifteen years ago in December 2004, Ms Irani had threatened to fast unto death demanding the resignation of Mr Modi, then the chief minister of Gujarat. Although the protest, embarrassing for the party, was subsequently called off, it must be emphasised that she wished to embark on it on Christmas Day, which was also Atal Behari Vajpayee's birthday, as a mark of respect to him. Despite Mr Modi's homage, the political and personal divergence between him and Vajpayee has been well documented. When Ms Irani announced her protest, she was asked if permission had been taken from the party leadership: "Why do you think you need permission to do what you think is right. The BJP is a democratic party." Not many BJP leaders would be able to make such an assertion now without risking their stature and position.
This story needed retelling not for the transformation of Ms Irani, her changing loyalties and Mr Modi's spectacularly altered fortunes. These developments involving the same set of individuals, over a period of a decade and a half, underscores the party's transition. From being a "party with a difference" known for its ideology, loyalty towards its political fraternity and commitment to the party's programmes, the adhesive in the party is now focused mostly on an individual. From a time when party leaders used nationalist slogans as their battle cry, now, as recently seen in the Lok Sabha on Budget day, the name of a single leader has turned into the rallying point. Anyone who doesn't utter the incessant chant or who does not burst into a cackle of laughter when commanded, is pilloried — recall how defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman was panned when she did not find the joke cracked at the expense of Renuka Chaudhury any bit amusing. The BJP now, like all non-Communist parties, has one presiding deity, and anyone not paying obeisance is most likely to be marginalised, if not actually labelled anti-national.
When the BJP distinguished itself as party where policies and programmes were more important than any individual, its leaders took pride in the collegiate style of the BJP's working, where internal charcha or discussion was mandatory
before major decisions. In the years when the party moved from the political periphery to the centrestage before 2014, the party cadre boasted that the
organisation had the ability to carry ek mayan mein do talwarein — or two swords in one sheath — indicating to the Atal Behari Vajpayee-L.K. Advani duo. The two were at one level, two ends of the Hindutva spectrum, and locked in ceaseless competition. Yet they remained ideological brothers, never failing to close ranks whenever danger arose from outside. Barring the two main Communist parties and the "original" Janata Dal, the BJP was the closest one could get to a democratic party in Indian politics. Other parties, from the Congress to various factions of the Janata Parivar, which later branched out into family enterprises, even ideological parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party, remain merely personal bastions of insecure yet ambitious leaders.
The BJP has its roots in the Jan Sangh, which was controlled by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, especially after Syama Prasad Mookerjee's death. Deen Dayal Upadhyay, who fronted for the RSS, was, however, more of a Balasaheb Deoras loyalist than a blind admirer of M.S. Golwalkar. The two differed on the fundamental organisational credo — Golwalkar practised the principle of Ek Chalak Anuvartitva — or follow one leader, while Deoras stood for Sah Chalak Anuvartitva — or follow multiple leaders. Till 2014, this remained the party's organisational principle. In November 2015, the four sidelined party veterans — L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar — in a statement bemoaned the demise of this party tenet. They asked for a review of how "the party is being forced to kowtow to a handful, and how its consensual character has been destroyed". Issues raised in that note have never been addressed and the page has been turned.
The danger of what has happened to the BJP, how the Congress reoriented itself as chiefly a family hegemonised organisation after 1967 and how other parties became proprietary units has always lurked. In his concluding speech in the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1941, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar sounded three warnings for the emergent republic, of which the second is most pertinent in the context being discussed in this article. He quoted John Stuart Mill arguing that lawmakers and people must not "lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man, or to trust him with power which enables him to subvert their institutions".
Further ahead, he read out the words of another great patriot, the Irish leader Daniel O'Connel: "No man can be grateful at the cost of his honour, no woman can be grateful at the cost of her chastity and no nation can be grateful at the cost of its liberty." Finally, he recalled that Bhakti was a part of India's culture and religion for its capacity to be the road to salvation for many. However, "in politics Bhakti or hero worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship". There is little point in blaming anyone or pointing fingers at individuals responsible for the BJP's changed political values, but there is a need to be aware of this development and recall Ambedkar's forewarning....

subset: commoncrawl


text: Industry Insider Form Email Updates Show / Event Title:*Event Produced By:*When:*Where:* Street Address Address Line 2 City Province Application Deadline Date Format: MM slash DD slash YYYY If applicableBrief Synopsis in Third Person (ie, do not use "we", or "I" - stick to "they")Pertinent information about your event or call for submission. For Industry Insider newsletter submissions please limit to 50 words MAX; in third person.Is there a discount for QDF Members?Regular PriceQDF Member Price How to get tickets, register, apply, or get in contact with someone for the event?*If this does not apply to you, indicate N/ALinks ImagesTwitter HandleHashtag for Show / EventFacebookWebsite Please check this box if you would like us to promote this event/show on our social media pages.Make sure you leave us a site or event page that we can link to above. Yes, promote my event on social media


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The hilariously spectacular Fat Girls in Bike Shorts are back for Fringe 2017
Western Australian powerhouse duo Rosie Sitorus and Kellee Aberg will again bedazzle audiences on Australia's world renowned Fringe stages with their hilariously spectacular show Fat Girls in Bike Shorts.
With an array of show stopping costumes and the showiest of show tunes, Fat Girls in Bike Shorts, offers a hilarious glimpse into the life of two fat girls who are grabbing life by the 'handles' and holding on for the ride.
The show guarantees non-stop laughs and covers the 'all too true' lessons on why $8 at Kmart is all you need for a chafe-free summer, and why body shaming never made anyone like cake less.
Produced by arts production enterprise The Comedy Emporium, Fat Girls in Bike Shorts is one of the most successful Fringe shows coming out of regional Western Australia.
Last year the show received four stars for performances at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and Hubbub Mandurah, and sold out at Geraldton's award winning Fringe World hub, Funtavia.
The Comedy Emporium Ringleader Julian Canny said "If you love life as much as you do snacking unnecessarily between meals, do yourself a favour and book a ticket to this show."
This year Fat Girls in Bike Shorts will be performing at Fringe World's Hubbub in Mandurah on February 2 and 3 and Perth Town Hall on February 6 to 12.
Tickets are from $18 and are available online at www.fringeworld.com.au
Fringe audiences went wild for Fat Girls in Bike Shorts last year and with even more glitter, tighter bike shorts and showey-er show tunes set for this year's show, Fat Girls in Bike Shorts should definitely be on your must see list for Fringe 2017.
"insightful and incisive, and – most importantly – had the packed out theatre in hysterics from start to finish." -Rotunda Media
☆☆☆☆ - ripitup.com.au


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Discussion (11) ¬
Okay, you got me with a real LOL on this one. Good job!
I love the facial expression he has when he's watching tv.
HA! That's really funny, Adam. Nice work!
Error. Die. 🙂
ive considered this waay too many times. haha nice one!
Yup! This almost happened to me once… 😀
The strange thing about the sofa is that it's physically impossible to get it into that position without removing a section of the wall. But they won't cut it up and get rid of it until they figure out how it happened…
The Electric Monk believes you.
LOL Thats me!
lol this happened to my friend corbin for months
That's a pretty big chair.
He must be a La-Z-Boy.
Narrator: The apartment of the guy who gives up to easy when moving furniture


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Canon SELPHY CP800 Driver Download
Canon SELPHY CP800 Driver
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The Cathedral of St. Philip invites you to attend Choral Evensong and Eucharist on Sunday, January 22 at 4:00 pm. Bishop Keith Whitmore, assistant bishop of Atlanta, will preside and preach. The Cathedral Schola will sing at the service, which will be Bishop Whitmore's final service for the Diocese of Atlanta before his retirement. A reception in Bishop Whitmore's honor will follow.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: January 21Parking for March for Women and Social Justice
Later Event: January 24March for Women and Social Justice: Debriefing, Reflecting, Next Steps


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Huddle on the Sea Super Bowl Cruise 2018- Day 1| PrettyPRChickTV
Happy Thursday Fam! In this vlog we board the Carnival Elation for the 4th Annual Huddle on the Sea Super Bowl Cruise! Check out the meet & greet, cigar sail off party, a ratchet dinner night and game night! Join us on the 5th annual HOTS Cruise www.huddleonthesea.com
Where are you guys headed this Spring? Let me know in the comments. Don't forget to rate, comment and subscribe! XOXO
Music: Young Bodzy "Damilohun"
Song Link - https://soundcloud.com/bodzy/youngbodzy-damilohun-prod-vkillz
Buy it here https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/damilohun-single/id1181722769
Copyright free music used with the expressed written consent of the artist.
Get your first Uber ride FREE! https://get.uber.com/invite/brandih192
Contact Info:
For business inquiries ONLY such as sponsorships, brand endorsements or product reviews, please feel free to email me at firstname.lastname@example.com
Snapchat: PrettyPRChick
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Get quotes fast. Use our booking enquiry form to check availability and costs.
Are you looking to find a face painter for a charity fundraising event or children's party? We can offer all the usual favourite children's characters, tigers, cats, dogs, rabbits, teddy bears, pandas, butterflies, bugs, pokemon, flowers, tiaras as well as original patterns and designs for your event theme and different age groups.We use Snazaroo non-allergenic and washable paints. We can do glitter tattoos as well.With full Public Liability Insurance. We are based in North Yorkshire and willing to drive anywhere in Yorkshire and Humber as well as neighbouring counties or up and down the A1.
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text: Whistler 59 Posted June 19, 2018 (edited) I haven't seen this talked about on here yet, and it's not totally new to me, but this example is. I'm not sure people understand just how difficult it would be to create a suit even today that shows the muscles moving with grip and tension. This does not look like a suit, but actually skin. Here's an image that show's what I'm talking about. Let me know what you think... Cheers! Edited June 19, 2018 by Whistler Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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2019 Annual Campaign
2019 Annual Campaign
In 2010, Marie-Julie Dion suffered a spinal cord injury following a severe mountain fall that left her a paraplegic. Since her accident, she requires a wheelchair to get around. A few weeks ago, the Eastern Townships region saw its first snowflakes of the year, and for the first time in eight years, Marie-Julie was excited for winter to arrive because this year she will be participating in the adaptive alpine ski program offered by the Adaptive Sports Foundation (ASF) at Owl's Head.
"I would like to express my immense gratitude to the ASF for allowing me to experience these magical moments."—Marie-Julie Dion
This year is particularly special because it marks the 25th anniversary of the Foundation, which through adaptive sports, has improved the quality of life of thousands of people living with physical disabilities.
Thanks to donor support, we have grown from a small, local organization with limited resources to offer one of the largest adaptive sports programs in Quebec and Canada. Today, we serve 1500% more people than four years ago! Even with our donor's support, demand for our services far outstrips the Foundation's budget.
For our 25th anniversary, we have set higher fundraising goals in order to reach a greater number of people like Marie-Julie across Quebec. We cannot do this without your support. We have the knowledge and the dedication but need the funds to expand and to continue to provide our services in the Eastern Townships.
We hope that you will consider to further support ASF, especially in our 25th anniversary year, so that we can help reach our goals of providing more adaptive sporting opportunities for people living with physical disabilities.
Together, we can work toward a healthier, more inclusive future – bringing happiness, hope and magic to many people's lives!
Kind regards,
Margarita Gardiner
Chair, Fundraising Campaign 2019
Steve Charbonneau
Executive Director, Adaptive Sports Foundation


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Today was an interesting day. It rained last night and it rained for a huge part of the day. So I had to pick and choose my moving times. I did a good job until I got drenched(with an umbrella) on my third trip. I wasn't upset about it, I just laughed. I used it as my cue to take a break and eat lunch. Later a friend helped me turn what would have taken hours into ten minutes. What a difference a car makes. I was so thankful. So with a few more trips, I should be all set.
I woke up to an email from SP that really put my mind at ease. I do this thing where I jump to conclusions and basically make up stuff that hasn't happened and act as if they have happened. The awesome thing is, he is patient and he doesn't get upset about it. It was a really nice exchange and it only made me even happier about where we are headed. I am so thankful and grateful that we were brought back together. Ok that is an understatement. I am beyond blessed to have him in my life.
I ate a lot of food today and the weird thing is my stomach acts like I haven't eaten at all. I thought that huge bowl of oatmeal this morning would tide me over for awhile(nope wrong) but I will definitely have it again tomorrow. Yeah, sometimes when I make really good food, I think about the next time I will eat it. That may seem weird. I like food.
I am worn out(probably from all of the moving) so I am going to quickly email SP and then hit the hay. I hope you all had a wonderful day. Tomorrow night I am going to be participating in a podcast. This should be interesting.


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Wednesday, May 11, 2016
On not throwing away all the old books. Yet.
Never let it be said that I don't appreciate simplicity, uncluttered surfaces and broom-clean rooms. I like to tidy and purge as much as anyone. For months now my sister (mostly my sister) and I have been cleaning out the Orchard, the house where we grew up and where my father grew up. In 1922 my grandfather bought the Orchard: the house was big and lovely and old, but the barn was much bigger, and then there were also the lower barn and the ice house and the apple orchard, the fields and the woods. I don't know how much stuff was in the barns or the house when he bought it; I have heard differing versions, that include the sleigh, the distillery, the cider press, and skeletons. I feel confident we will never know for sure. All we know is that after almost a century of no one ever throwing anything away - not when there was this wonderful vast barn to store it in - the place is full of stuff: all kinds of stuff, farm equipment, office supplies, furniture, paintings good and bad, steamer trunks empty and full, things broken and not, worthless stuff and stuff that could well be a treasure, for the right person.
And now my father is dead, and now my mother can no longer remember where the mahogany room is or how my father died, so she has moved here with me, and not one of her five children will move into the Orchard, and so now it must be sold.
Because at least four native born Francophones (both grandmothers: one French, 0ne Belgian, Tante Madeleine, my mother) have lived there over the years, and because at least six students of French (my father, all five of my siblings and me) have lived there over the years, there are lots and lots of French books in the house and in the barn. Because - have I mentioned? - nothing ever gets thrown away. There are many other books of all ilks, from architectural history to gnostic gospels to textile waste to H.G. Wells, but I decided that I would make the French books my mission. I decided that the books needed to be gathered, listed and donated to a good home. Would I have felt differently about these smelly paperbacks if we lived in a French-speaking country? Would I have felt differently if I did not regard one grandmother (Belgian) with adoration, and the other (French) with chronic bewilderment?
So I collected all the French books I could find, confident that I had not found them all, that new stashes would be revealed over time. (And so they have.) I brought them all back here and made an alphabetical list. There were hundreds. The titles were heavily weighted toward Camus and Sartre, mais oui, along with the other workhorses of high school: French, Moliere, Racine, Montherlant, Gide. Then there were the novels, Simenon and Vian and Duhamel and Gary, that someone read 'for pleasure'. I purged the ones egregiously doodled and defaced by bored students. I neatly packed up the rest and started looking for a French school that would like them. You would be surprised how hard it is to give away books.
Some, though, I cannot bear to part with. They come with marginalia and inserts that bring memories, or beg questions. They are envoys from another century, from the cavernous barn, from all my dead family. From the hundreds of French books, I culled these ones that would not stop speaking to me, in their foreign tongue.
Now, the ziggurat of French books has stood on my desk for 3 months and 28 days. At 48 square inches, they take up 1/25th or 4% of the available space on my computer table. For three months they have inhabited that space, threatening to topple, and accomplished nothing. That is not entirely true: They smell of dust and attic mold and Tante Madeleine's lavender cologne. They prevent me from filling that space with unanswered letters, drill bits from CSB's pockets, tiny Lego pieces or Leda's psychologically redolent drawings. They remind me of Mademoiselle Baumlin at least once a day.
I was a disappointment to Mlle Baumlin. That is what I recall. She was our French teacher at the Girls' School. I should have been a stellar student, given that my mother and grandmother were Belgian and spoke French with me, and that I had attended a French kindergarten in Cairo and at the age of 4, so the story goes, my French was excellent and my English was accented. But I was not a stellar student. Even with such a head start, I was lazy about learning grammar. I was a daydreamer in any language.
Like so many of our teachers, Mlle Baumlin was a Miss, a Spinster, an Unmarried Lady of a Certain age: hers was a condition that we, her callous & entitled students, confidently believed we would never inhabit.
Yet Mademoiselle was a profound romantic. How often did she tell us of her sister's broken heart? As often as was necessary to counter our skepticism. It was early in 1941, and Mlle's sister, Roxane, was engaged to a young French soldier named Pierre. One day Roxane received the news that Pierre had been killed. She gasped and then fell into the arms of her sister, our teacher, and died. Just like that. She was young and healthy, and then she was dead. When they opened her up – because they must have performed an autopsy, though Mademoiselle never used that word so I don't know how to say autopsy in French – they discovered that her heart was broken in half. She had died of a broken heart. Literally. And who were we to doubt such a thing? When I think of Mlle Baumlin, I think of a heart broken in two. Ruptured into eternity.
At the top of the pile is Paul Claudel's L'annnonce Faite a Marie. It never ceases to delight me that all over America the curriculum for high school French classes rely heavily on readings of either 20th century existentialists or excessively devout Catholics. All over America, callow pimply youths discover being and nothingness in a romance language. But there was so much more we could have learned. There we were in a very Protestant New England prep school, reading Claudel's play about a young woman achieving salvation through leprosy. We never knew that Claudel's sister Camille was a great sculptor whom he committed to an asylum for life. We never knew that after the ultra-Catholic Claudel's pregnant mistress left him, he quickly married a woman named Reine. Inside this copy of L'annonce faite a Marie is an official discharge slip from Beth Israel Hospital, Room 445, at 11 am. The date is January 16, no year. The name of the patient was my beloved grandmother, Reine Brancart.
I did not read anything by Boris Vian in Mlle. Baumlin's class. So this must have been my mother's book, because for a long time she read as much in French as in English. Now we wonder if there will soon be time when she forgets her English altogether, along with her children and the principles of architecture, a time when she has only the fraying thread of her childhood French. I found three copies of the same postcard inside this copy of Boris Vian's L'arrache Coeur. All three portray a collage of happy vacationers at the "New" Hotel Herredura Inn in San Jose, Costa Rica. The hairstyles of the young men place them in the late 1970's. On the reverse of the car, you are encouraged to call or write Miss Sunshine for reservations.
My father must have stayed dozens of times at Hotel Herredura in San Jose, from the seventies through the nineties, when he started staying at the newer Hotel Cariari. Several times a year my father traveled to Costa Rica and Nicaragua for business, and sometimes my mother went with him. They usually stayed for one night in the capital and then went to the coffee farm in the mountains, or the sugar refinery in tropical Guanacaste. Dad loved being in the tropics, he loved the challenge of starting up new companies to process raw material no one else wanted (cotton seeds), he loved staying up all night belaboring coffee pruning or sugarcane varieties. He loved flying in small rickety planes over dense jungle, looking for more land to plant. In Nicaragua they stayed at the Intercontinental in Managua, the same hotel where Howard Hughes took over the top story, blacked out the windows, and watched old movies all day long in the nude. Until the earthquake, and then Hughes fled. Sometime in high school, a friend, most likely my boyfriend, the same one I later married, wanted to know if my father was in the CIA. What an odd question that was. It had never occurred to me, to any of us. My father was not a stealthy person. My father was a businessman who knew the world price of cotton, coffee and sugar over the last hundred years, the way I knew the poems of W.B. Yeats. Once I asked Dad if he was in the CIA, and he said, no, of course not. What else would he have said?
Did my mother read Boris Vian while she lounged by the pool in a French bikini, being admired by long haired young men on the postcard? While my father was negotiating the price of coffee futures with Swiss brokers, did she read happily and obliviously her French novels? Did she realize that the author was named for Boris Godunov? Would she have cared that young Boris's father was murdered by burglars in his own home? Did she know that in 1947, as the author of I Spit on Your Graves, Vian was sued for indecency in France? It was the first such suit since Gustave Flaubert was sued for immorality in Madame Bovary a century earlier.
Somewhere in the middle of the pile of books is Voltaire's Contes: Zadig and Micromégas. This copy belonged to Peter, the youngest of my three brothers, the only one who ever became fluent in French. On the frontispiece in Peter's recognizable script, written with what was surely a mechanical pencil, is the famous Voltairean riddle, Frederick's invitation to dine at the palace:
P ci
Venez à sans
(Venez souper à Sans Souci.)
With the answer: G a
(G grand. A petit = J'ai grand apetit.)
How much did we delight in knowing that riddle? Quite a lot.(We were an odd lot, but we had our moments of smugness.) Elsewhere in the book, in the same faint penciled script, Peter wrote: "The irony of Voltaire is frequent – notice it."
Among the hundreds of French books culled from all over the Orchard, there were five copies of Huis Clos, Sartre's iconic existential play, though all I can tell you about it now is: Hell is Other People. (L'enfer, c'est les autres.) How many years of high school French are reduced to that depressing quote? From the biblio-evidence, we can assume that all five of us studied Huis Clos in high school.
At least one of us expressed his feelings for the book on the flyleaf: Very unfortunately, because it is required in that dumb French class I am in this is my book. If found, don't return until you've read as much as you want. If you really want it, keep it. I abhor it. CPL
At the bottom of the pile is Henri Troyat's fat biography, Tolstoi. Our lives are full of family stories that get told and retold and implant themselves in our psyches. One of those was my mother's tale of the birth of her first child, my birth. She told us that she was reading Henry Troyat's biography of Tolstoy when she went into labor, and so she took the book with her to the hospital (MGH). All throughout her labor she continued reading Troyat's brilliant rendering of Tolstoy's tumultuous life. It was only when I became pregnant with my own first child, and then proceeded to have a protracted and difficult labor during which I could not have read a cereal box never mind a biography of Tolstoy, that I realized how amazing was this feat of my mother's.
Much much later than that, now that the daughter I first gave birth to has given birth to her own daughters, I find this copy of Troyat's Tolstoi, and read inside that it was first published in France in 1967. Five years after the birth of my mother's last child. Whatever she read when she was laboring to give birth, it was not Tolstoi. And now it is too late to ask her. So there it is at the bottom of the pile of books. It contains no suggestive marginalia. I keep it there to remind me to notice the irony.
Posted by Christine Lehner at 4:48 PM
Labels: Boris Vian, Claudel, Dementia, Francophones, Henry Troyat, Hotel Herredura, Huis Clos, Jean-Paul Sartre, San Jose, Tolstoy, Voltaire
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Sacred Art
That which makes you draw breath
But cannot be drawn by the breath,
That is the Self indeed,
This Self is YOU.
Original art works by Mishel Schwartz celebrate the sacred.
Available as originals and, coming soon, as prints.
To arrange for shipping of original artworks outside of the Toronto area, contact Mishel.
A Note from the Artist:
I am one of the fortunate ones. By this I mean I have spent my life surrounded by wise & knowledgeable beings, through my exquisite mother who has been on her own spiritual path since I was a child, and has taught me to honour my spirit, and MEDITATE, MEDITATE, always MEDITATE. And through my beautiful yogi-sister, Hali Schwartz, whose teachings and classes I have had the privilege of being a part of for the last 20 years.
My own form of personal expression has always been a visual one. For as long as I can remember I have felt the most peace when drawing or painting. The past 30 years I have enjoyed a wonderful career in the field of interior design, working in my family business which has taught me so much. Eight months ago an experience in my life brought me once again to the joys of painting, and it has been a magical and wonderful foray back into the world I love so very much. I am honoured to share my work on this beautiful site.
Mishel Schwartz


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"HoleRoll" is TM of exclusive roller blinds, which will become a real highlight of any interior. Once you roll it out and the room becomes involved into pleasant half-light, and outside the window appears a beautiful view of the night city or the night sky.
image source: HoleRoll
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image source: HoleRoll
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image source: HoleRoll
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by Dan M | Posted on Friday, September 22nd, 2017
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North Lincolnshire is committed to improving connectivity through increasing investment in infrastructure that creates the right conditions for sustainable economic growth and connects people, business and places.
Working with Grand Central trains the council are seeking the public's opinion on a direct rail service from North Lincolnshire to London via North Lincolnshire stations.
The survey, launched today and running to 21 May, will form part of the business case to detail the level of demand among residents and the business community for the service to London.
North Lincolnshire Council are supporting an application from Grand Central to the Rail Regulator for access to the line.
The proposal would see trains from London travel through Doncaster to North Lincolnshire including Scunthorpe, Barnetby and Crowle.
Cllr Rob Waltham (Brigg), Leader of the Council, had pledged to support Grand Central's application at a meeting in York two months ago.
He said: "We promised we would help support the business case and the survey is integral to that. It only takes a few minutes to fill out and gives residents and the business community a strong voice."
Cllr Waltham, a board member of Transport for the North – England's first sub-national Transport Body with statutory powers – also committed to making representations to the Department for Transport in support of the service.
He said: "Direct trains from North Lincolnshire to London would provide a significant boost to our local economy.
"North Lincolnshire already enjoys great rail connectivity with northern cities and to the south via Doncaster. But a direct London service would give another reason for businesses to set up or relocate here and increase opportunities for leisure travel.
The survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RK3WFHL
Alternatively, please send any comments to Direct London Service Survey, Business Development, Civic Centre, Ashby Road, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN16 1AB or email email@example.com
N.F. ADDS: Years ago there was a direct rail service from Grimsby to London, calling at Barnetby and taking the route from Lincoln to Newark to join the East Coast mainline. Pictured above is one of those trains. Our early 1970s view, from the Ken Fisher Collection, shows a Brush Type 4 (later Class 47) diesel thundering through North Kelsey station.


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Interested in my help? Great! I'd love to hear from you. Together we can determine which editorial service might best suit your needs and budget. Please note: I am currently scheduling projects 8–12 weeks in advance.
Using the form below, please provide a few details about your project.
I'll be in touch as soon as possible to request your full manuscript and to ask you to complete a questionnaire, so that I can ensure we're a good fit and provide you with an accurate estimate. Thanks!


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Our Difference
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About Hakuhodo
Our Work
Hakuhodo is one of the most highly decorated agencies in the world for creative work. Unique among Asian-based agencies, we have twice won the Cannes Grand Prix and were awarded a Special Lion commemorating Cannes Lions' 50th anniversary. A selection of our recent creative work that has received top awards at major international advertising competitions is shown here.
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10 Sec. Drama: The Stop Line of Love Campaign
Vegibus Inc.
DAIKI Angel Help Co., Ltd.
The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders
Japan Para Table Tennis Association (JPTTA)
The Most Challenging Pingpong Table
Takasaki City
Red Restaurants List
Save Street Child Sidoarjo
Clever Cash
American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus
Marathon With No Start Line
Society for Community Organization (SoCO)
Subdivided Flat in A Lane
NEXA (Maruti Suzuki India Limited)
Sound of NEXA Blue – Case Study
Hakuhodo Inc.
"Brain Drool 2016" Archive
Nissin Foods Holdings Co., Ltd.
The 60-year History of Nissin Foods
Star Flyer Inc.
Star Lullaby / Star Chorus
Bird Hearing Test
SIX Inc.
Lyric Speaker
AIG Japan Holdings KK
Pride Jersey
Osotspa Public Company Limited
Babi Mild: My Beloved Monster, Being a Mom is the Toughest and Hardest Work in the World
Sushi Sei
Flavourful Ocean – Salmon / Octopus
Osotspa Public Company Limited
Shark x The Rapper
Betagro Public Company Limited
Betagro Sausage
Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd.
Toyota Live Alive
Central Department Store
Shop Hard, Work Harder
Japan Philharmonic Orchestra
Sound-Free Concert
720 Hours of Youth
UHA Mikakuto Co., Ltd.
Sakeru Gummy
Moom Film Partners
Subaru Corporation
Your story with
Locomo Challenge Council
Locomo Challenge
Double A
Obsession for Smoothness
Jakarta Globe
Scars of Misery
Greenpeace Malaysia
Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
Gravity Cat
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
ProPILOT Park RYOKAN
Suntory Holdings Limited
Maker's Mark Iconic Gallery
Two Inc.
Hotel Highway
GU Hong Kong Apparel Limited
GU – Launch in Hong Kong
BEAMS Co., Ltd.
Tokyo Culture Story
NTT docomo, Inc.
24/7 Newscaster
Kaihara Co., Ltd.
Cruising Jeans
UMW Toyota Motor Sdn. Bhd.
Poster Wallet
PT. Telekomunikasi Selular
Ekspedisi Langit Nusantara (Indonesia Sky Expedition)
mixi, inc.
The Zodiac Re-Race
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation
Unkai Navi
TESS Co., Ltd.
Cogy wheelchair
Suntory Beverage & Food Limited
The next stage of Iyemon
Kappa Create Co., Ltd.
Kappa Sushi – Modern Pop Sushi Campaign
NTT docomo, Inc.
Voice Chocolate
U-CAN, Inc.
One Month "Daddy and Son-Days Without Mommy"
Texas Chicken (PTT Public Company Limited)
Kosanaarai (What is this commercial?)
Institut KAPAL Perempuan
Hidden Violence Photo
PT. Telekomunikasi Selular
Fake News
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.
Inakadate Village
Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd.
The Photogenic Beer
Toyota Motor Corporation
Loving Eyes
PT Sompo Insurance Indonesia
Prayer for Good
SoftBank Corp.
Personal Innovation Act
PT United Family Food
Sour-Faced Man/Woman
River Cleaning Activation
PT Kimia Farma (Persero) Tbk
Liquid Navy Seals
Yahoo! Japan
Hands on Search
Lotte Co., Ltd.
Digital Lullaby
Tiffany & Co.
Hand Meets Hand
KDDI au Unlimited Future Laboratory
Playful Sound Shoes "Fumm"
King Record Co., Ltd.
Native Mobile Music Video
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Intelligent Parking Chair
Matsumoto Apple Association
Oak Lawn Marketing, Inc.
Just By Falling Down Winter
HUG Mart
Talkable Vegetables
Azuma Makoto Kaju Kenkyusho (AMKK)
The Curator
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Waking up early with just a little bit of dew on the tent I stayed in the sleeping bag reading and just relaxing for some time enjoying the comforting sound from the river close by. What an awesome way to start a day, meditating to the sound of a natural stream with nothing to interrupt the…Read more Hike of 2016 – Day 6
easy going
Hike of 2016 – Day 4
I'd expected to sleep in after the extra 8km last night and was surprised to wake up at 7am. After some reading and meditation I had a lazy breakfast and took my time packing. Beautiful morning and no hurry is a good way to start a hiking day. Got moving around 10am and started slow,…Read more Hike of 2016 – Day 4


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Watch: Ariana Grande giving people advice for BBC Radio 1.
When she recently paid a visit to BBC Radio 1 to chat with Nick Grimshaw, Ariana Grande opened up an advice line on the show - where she gave people real advice, about their real problems.
Some of them are pretty ordinary, but the highlight is the dude who phones in to ask whether he should put cereal or milk in his bowl first - it's a pretty important problem.
Watch the hilarity unfold below…


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Water-Right® led the way in pioneering the chlorine generator, but we're always looking into different options for solving water problems.
That's why we developed our own Ozone Generator.
Ozone (O3) is nothing more than three oxygen atoms bound together. Yet, it is also one of the most powerful natural sterilants on the planet.
When ozone molecules come in contact with bacteria in a filtration system, the third oxygen atom attaches itself to the bacteria and continues to attack them until they are depleted. The only byproduct ozone leaves behind is pure oxygen (O2).
We developed our Ozone Generator to be easily implemented into many of Water-Right's existing air filtration systems. The generator is powered directly from the the control valve for installation that's as simple as plug-and-play. Just connect the kit to the back of the valve and program the board to turn it on.
This water treatment innovation is available to our WaterCare® and Evolve® dealer network as well as on our Impression® line of products.
We created our Ozone Generator to be simple and effective. It uses air to provide the oxygen supply which is then transformed into ozone through an electrical charge. The ozone is drawn into the water system's filter tank where it cleans the system.
After doing its job, the ozone dissipates within 30 minutes, leaving no unnatural byproduct behind. This ensures that it is both safe and is environmentally friendly.
The graphic below illustrates the science behind ozone disinfection.
If you're interested in joining our dealer program, or want to learn more about our Ozone Generator kits, use the contact form on this page to request information.


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Baron Karl von Hasenauer : biography
Baron Karl von Hasenauer ( ) (20 July 1833 – 4 January 1894) was an important Austrian architect and key representative of the Historismus school.
He created several Neo-Baroque monuments, many around near the Ringstraße in Vienna. He was also a student of August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. For his outstanding work, he was ennobled by Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1873, and given the Freiherr nobility title.
Hasenauer was the chief architect for the Vienna World's Fair in 1873. Together with Gottfried Semper he designed the complex with the Kunsthistorisches Museum (the Museum of Art History) and the Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum) (1871–1891), the Burgtheater (1874–1888), the Hermesvilla and the Neue Hofburg (1881–1894, completed in 1913).
After a conflict with his former business partner Semper he managed the building of the Hofburg alone. The conflict over attribution of their joint projects continues to this day between the supporters of Semper and Hasenauer. However, because the older master Semper is credited with the Semperoper in Dresden, Hasenauer receives more credit for the architecture in the Ringstraße.
The Burgtheater in Vienna, shortly after its completion, built by Karl von Hasenauer


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4 bedrooms / Sleeps 8
The Cottage
A pretty, rambling house tucked away to the rear of the Hall, Stable Cottage's recently-refurbished interiors are a winning mix of tradition and modernity. Contemporary bathrooms and kitchen and a log-burning stove guarantee warmth, luxury and comfort in an intimate setting. The property has its own entrance and a large, private walled garden.
Three double rooms
One twin room
Three bathrooms
Sitting Room with TV
Dining Room
Large, fully modernised kitchen with breakfast table
The Garden
Nearly an acre of lawn, trees and shrubs
Seating area


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Time for another happy hour! This Thurs June 16 at The Hangar, we'll have some new friends who will share about the Banyan Tamarind Initiative, part of the Phansad Project that works with the Chikani village to help preserve the Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary (~150 km from Mumbai). Extending over an area of about 53 sq. kilometers, the sanctuary supports the panther, sambar deer, wild boar, barking deer and hyena. The main attraction of the Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary, however, is the beautiful Giant Indian Squirrel, but given its shy disposition, catching a glimpse is not an easy prospect.
The Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary is regarded as a birders paradise and includes a large number of species like the Malabar Pied Hornbill, Black Eagle, Yellow Footed Green Pigeon, Pompadour Green Pigeon, Forest Wagtail, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Brahminy Kite, Spotted Owlet, Golden Oriole, Iora, Plum-headed Parakeet, Emerald Dove, Shikra and many more. Another fascinating feature about the sanctuary is that around 71 species of butterflies are found here.
To raise funds for their project, they are making delicious vegetarian food and for Thurs, they will prepare a Saigon Fresh Water Noodle Salad with Lemongrass Encrusted Tofu, Avocado & Mango Slices, Sprouts and Roasted Peanuts, dressed with River Sauce. All proceeds from the dish will go to their project. Their presentation will start at 8pm.


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Playing A Supporting Role For Someone Preparing For Exams/
The advent of Spring heralds not only weather changes and a reawakening of nature but also the call to put in place a good study regimen in order to be well prepared for year-end exams for both scholars and tertiary students.
Here are our tips to ensure that both the study phase and the exam writing yield optimum results.
Gently encourage and be available to assist in as calm a manner as possible. Create a harmonious and peaceful environment for the student.
Ensure that the student doesn't go into panic mode especially when the exams are imminent.
Ensure a good supply of quality water to hydrate the student and prevent headaches. Herbal teas or infusions are also good eg. Camomile tea is calming and helps to promote good sleep.
Ensure that the student gets sufficient sleep to allow the body to rest and repair to be energised for the intensity of the study periods and exam writing.
Provide nourishing whole natural foods at meal times with lots of natural fibre (mostly veggies) to ensure that the student's bowel is functioning optimally, thus eliminating toxins and ensuring that food is properly absorbed by the gut.
Smoothies are good as they have the fibre as well – it's a good idea to have a smoothie for breakfast.
Freshly extracted veggie juices feed the body deeply. Make sure that the juices have greens in them. This provides loads of chlorophyll thereby delivering much needed oxygen for all cellular processes to occur efficiently. Serving a juice with lunch works well. Alternatively, a veggie juice can be sipped during study periods. Suggestion: add lemon and or ginger to fresh veggie juices to cut through the "green" taste, and apple to add sweetness.
Create rainbow salads containing a variety of greens and other veggies. Serve with fermented vegetables (like sauerkraut or kimchi) to boost the friendly gut bacteria. We like to use Kombucha vinegar as a dressing. It's tangy and adds a touch of sweetness as well. Refer to our blog post on 31 March on Building the Perfect Salad.
To keep the brain deeply nourished it's imperative to have good fats like avocado (in salads) and coconut oil (in smoothies).
Soups are wonderful as all the nutrients can be retained during the cooking process. Try to use a low temperature to retain the integrity of the ingredients.
Avoid overfeeding. A good rule of thumb is that a meal should be approximately the size of three of the student's handfuls.
Encourage healthy study breaks - sitting on a veranda without lenses, or walking barefoot on lawn. Play calming music. During longer breaks encourage exercise like a walk or a run, or doing some yoga or stretching exercises. This oxygenates the lungs, and also relieves eye tension by changing the focal point.
Try to provide an early dinner around 6pm if possible (or before dark). This gives the digestive system a chance to complete its process before the student goes to bed, thereby allowing the body to deeply rest and repair itself during the night. The student then wakens the next morning feeling well-rested and energised to take on the next day.
Recipe Suggestions:
Smoothie Bowl
Start with a fruit base: one quarter of a papaya (excellent for digestion - add a couple of the black seeds), ripe banana (nutrient rich), a quarter cup of dried goji berries (super-food). Add some nuts or seeds: preferably a few brazil nuts or almonds, and hemp seeds (1 tablespoon) are highly nutritious.
Add: 2 pitted dates or a spoon of raw honey for sweetness
1 teaspoon coconut oil
a dash of vanilla powder
1 teaspoon raw cacao powder
2 tablespoons of chia seeds
1 teaspoon moringa powder
Half a bottle of coconut water
Blend all the above ingredients.
Now make a herbal tea infusion with your choice of the following herbs: dandelion, nettle, horsetail, chaga, buchu. I like to add honey to my tea. Add the warm tea to the blended ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl and leave the mixture to stand for 5 minutes so that the chia seeds can swell and thicken the smoothie.
Top your bowl with colourful berries especially blueberries.
Antonia's Minestrone Soup
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
½ onion, roughly chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and cubed
Black pepper to taste
Pan fry all the above ingredients in a pot until soft and lightly golden, then add:
3 tablespoons veggie stock powder
2 cups boiling water
1 cup chopped broccoli florets
2 diced tomatoes
1 cup diced baby marrows
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
Salt to taste
Slowly cook all the ingredients for an hour, adding water as necessary to achieve a soup like consistency.
Then add: ¾ cup red kidney beans (or any other beans)
½ cup chopped baby spinach
Remove soup from the heat and add a teaspoon of basil pesto and 2 tablespoons of Napoli sauce. This soup freezes well.
Ingredients can be sourced from Thrive (Kloof, KZN), Dischem , and Manolis, or from online stockists such as: Fresh Organics, Souring Free Super Foods, Faithful to Nature


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Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण written Karṇa in IAST transliteration) is one of the central characters in the epic Mahābhārata from ancient India. He was the King of Anga (present day Bhagalpur). Karna is considered to be one of the greatest warrior of Mahābhārata by authorities including Krishna and Bhishma, as stated in the original text by Maharishi Ved Vyasa.[1][2][3][4] He was the son of Surya (the Sun god) and Kunti. He was born to Kunti, before her marriage with Pandu. He is described as the closest friend of Duryodhana. Karna fought on his behalf against the Pandavas (his brothers) at the Kurukshetra war. Karna fought against misfortune throughout his life and kept his word under all circumstances. Many admire him for this courage and generosity. It is believed that Karna founded the city of Karnal.
Karna was born to his mother Kunti by his father the solar deity Surya. Karna was born, before his mother's marriage to prince Pandu. When Kunti was young, the sage Durvasa visited her father's palace. She served the sage with utmost care for an entire year. Pleased by her service and hospitality, the sage foresaw her future difficulty after marriage of not having a child through Pandu, and hence granted her a boon to overcome this difficulty. By this boon she could call upon any god of her choice, and beget a child. Out of curiosity, Kunti still being unmarried, decided to test the power of the boon. She invoked the mantra and called Surya. Bounded by the power of the mantra, Surya appeared before her and granted her a son, who was as radiant and robust as Surya himself. This baby was born with an armour ('Kavacha') and a pair of earrings ('Kundala') attached to him. Though Kunti retained her virginity, she was unwilling to face the world as an unwed mother. With the help of her maid Dhatri,she placed the baby Karna in a basket and set him afloat on the holy river Ganga in the hope that he would be taken in by another family.
The child Karna was found by Adhiratha-- a charioteer of the king Dhritarashtra. He and his wife Radha raised Karna as their own son and named him Vasusena. Karna also came to be known as Radheya - son of Radha (his foster mother) while his original name Karna meant 'ear', because according to legend, the baby Karna came out of Kunti's ear. The bond between Karna and his foster parents was filled with pure love, respect and affection. Karna lovingly performed his duties as their son, despite his rise as a king of Anga and the eventual revelation of his true birth. Thus, Karna remained faithful and loyal to his foster parents till his death. His wife's name was Vrushali, Ponnuruvi.
As regards his sons, Karna had several sons and the names of nine of his sons are mentioned. Of the nine, only one survived the Kurukshetra war. Vrasasena; Sudhama; Shatrunjaya; Dvipata; Sushena; Satyasea; Chitrasena; Susharma(Banasena); and Vrishakethu.
Sudhama died in the melee that followed Draupadi's swayamvara. Shatrunjaya and Dvipata died in the Kurukshetra war at the hands of Arjuna during the days when Drona commanded the Kaurava forces. Sushena was killed in the war by Bhima. Satyasena, Chitrasena and Susharma died at the hands of Nakula. Karna's eldest son Vrasasena died during the last days of the war when Karna commanded the battle forces. Vrishasena was killed by Arjuna.
Vrishasena's death is described in all its gruesome detail:
Vrishasena, angered at the death of Duhshasana and Chitrasena, rushed at Nakula, desiring to fight with his father's enemy. A fierce battle then ensued between those two heroes. Vrishasena managed to kill Nakula's horses and pierce him with many arrows. Descending from his chariot, Nakula took up his sword and shield, and making his way toward Vrishasena, he severed the heads of two thousand horsemen. Vrishasena, seeing Nakula coming towards him whirling that sword like a discus, shattered the sword and shield with four crescent shaped arrows. Nakula then quickly ascended Bhima's chariot. As Arjuna came near, Nakula requested him, "Please slay this sinful person." Arjuna then ordered Lord Krishna, "Proceed toward the son of Karna. I will kill him within his father's sight." Unsupported by anyone, Vrishasena challenged Arjuna releasing many different kinds of arrows. He pierced Arjuna's arm with ten arrows and Krishna also with ten. Arjuna became enraged, and exclaimed loudly to the Kaurava kings including Karna, "Today, O Karna, I will kill your son as you unfairly killed my son, Abhimanyu! Let all the warriors protect him if they can. I will kill him, and then, O fool, I will slay you; and Bhima will slay the wretched Duryodhana, whose evil policies have brought about the great battle."
Having threatened Karna, Arjuna struck Vrishasena with ten arrows that weakened him. With four razor headed arrows, Arjuna cut off his bow, his two arms and his head that was adorned with beautiful earrings. Beholding Vrishasena killed, Karna wept bitter tears, and his eyes were red with rage. He then proceeded toward Arjuna challenging him to fight.
Vrishakethu was the only son of Karna that survived the horrific slaughter called Kurukshetra war. He later came under the patronage of the Pandavas. During the campaign that preceded the Ashvamedha –yaga, Vrishakethu accompanied Arjuna and participated in the battles with Sudhava and Babruvahana. During that campaign Vrishakethu married the daughter of king Yavanatha (perhaps a king of the western regions). It is said, Arjuna developed great affection for Vrishakethu, his nephew.
As he grew up, Karna became more interested in the art of warfare than in being a charioteer like his father Adhirata. Karna met Dronacharya, who at that moment was an established teacher in the art of warfare. Dronacharya taught the Kuru princes, but refused to take Karna as his student, since Karna was a son of a charioteer and Drona only taught Kshatriyas.
After being refused by Drona, Karna decided to be self-taught with his brother Shona's help. But according to Indian culture when you have to learn an art, you must have a Guru(teacher),so Karna decided to make The Sun(God)his guru. Karna learnt all the arts without a Guru. During daytime, he gathered information about various ayudhas(Weapons) and then after sundown, he exercised them.
One day when Karna came to Hastinapur(capital of Kauravas)after a month of holiday, he heard from his friend Ashwathama(son of Drona) that last week Guru Dronacharya decided to test his students in their skill of archery. He hung a wooden bird from the branch of a tree and then summoned his students. He asked the first one to aim for the bird's eye but not shoot just yet. He then asked the student what he could see. The student replied that he could see the garden, the tree, flowers, etc. Drona asked him to step aside and not to shoot. He repeated the same process with a few other students. When it was Arjuna's turn, Arjuna told his Guru that the only thing he could see was the bird's eye. This satisfied the Guru and he allowed Arjuna to shoot the bird and Arjuna successfully hit the eye of that Parrot.
After listening to his brother's version of events, Karna told his brother that if Arjuna could hit the one eye of the parrot then he can hit both eyes of the parrot in a single shot. As they practiced in the night, Karna decided to shoot both eyes of the parrot the same night with the help of Palita(instrument used to lighten homes).As Karna instructed him ,Shona suspended the wooden parrot high above the tree and held the palita beneath. Karna strung the bow with two arrows (slightly changed their position one after the other) and as soon as he got signal from Shona, Karna successfully hit both eyes of the bird in a single shot. This was achieved within a short time's practice, this shows that Karna is the greatest archer in the world of all time.
In a very short period of time Karna was able to learn various arts. But, Karna becomes more interested to learn all the advanced skills of archery including the use of Divine weapons. After being refused by Drona, Karna decides to learn from Parashurama, the guru of Drona. Thus, Karna eventually approached Parashurama, who was known to teach only Brahmins[5]. He appeared before Parashurama as a Brahmin and requested that he be taken as his student. Parashurama accepted him and trained him to such a point, that he declared Karna to be equal to himself in the art of warfare and archery. Thus, Karna became a diligent student of Parashurama.
Karna was cursed by his guru Bhagvan Parashurama, a Brahmin and the Earth goddess as described below:
As Karna's training came to completion, Parashurama learnt the truth about Karna's origin. The legend goes that one afternoon Parashurama requested Karna to bring a pillow for him to sleep on in a tree's shade. Karna instead offered his teacher his lap. While Parashurama was asleep, a giant bee stung Karna's thigh. Despite the excruciating pain, Karna did not move so as not to disturb his Guru's sleep. As the bee bored deeper into Karna's thigh, the wound began to bleed. Parashurama was woken up by the blood from Karna's thigh. He deduced at once that Karna was a Kshatriya and not a Brahmin, as only a Kshatriya could have endured such intense pain. Thus, Parashurama, who had sworn vengeance against all Kshatriyas, concluded that Karna lied about being a Brahmin in order to learn from him. So, he cursed Karna that his martial skills including the use of Brahmastra would desert him when he needed them most. This in turn meant that Karna would forget all that he had learnt from Parashurama during his hour of crisis. Karna, who was as yet unaware of his royal lineage, pleaded with his Guru that any student in his place would have acted the same way and besides, he was the son of Vasusena, a mere charioteer and not a Kshatriya. While he regretted cursing Karna in a moment of anger, Parashurama's curse was irrevocable. He also gifted Karna a celestial weapon called Bhargavastra along with Parashurama's personal bow called Vijaya and blessed him that in the end, Karna would achieve what he wanted the most: everlasting glory and immortal fame.
Departing from Parashurama's ashram, Karna wandered for some time. On his way, while practicing the Shabdavedi Vidya (the ability to hit a target by just observing the sound), he mistook a cow for a wild animal and shot an arrow at it and killed it. Incensed by this incident, the Brahmin who owned the cow cursed him, stating that as he had killed a helpless animal, Karna too would be killed in the same way when he was most helpless with his concentration being diverted away from his enemy at that crucial moment.
Andhra folklore further states that once Karna while riding his chariot in his kingdom of Anga, encountered a child who was crying over her pot of spilt ghee. On asking her the reason for her dismay, she stated that she feared her step mother who would be angry over her carelessness. Being generous enough Karna told her that he would give her new ghee. But, the child insisted that she wanted only the ghee that was mixed with the soil and refused to take the new ghee. Taking pity on the girl, Karna took the soil mixed with ghee in his fist and squeezed it with all his might to extract the ghee and pour it back into the pot. During this process, Karna heard the agonized voice of a woman. When he opened his fist, he realized that the voice was that of Bhoomidevi- the Earth goddess. Furious, she chastized Karna for inflicting enormous pain on Mother Earth for the sake of a mere child. So, the Earth goddess cursed him that in a very crucial battle of his life, she would trap his chariot wheel in the same way that he held the fistful of soil,thereby making him vulnerable to his enemy.
Thus, Karna was cursed on three separate and independent occasions. Unfortunately, each of these curses became operational at the same crucial moment in the Kurukshetra war, later making him weaponless, left without a chariot and helpless.
Drona held a tournament at Hastinapura, to display the skills of the Kuru princes. Arjuna emerged in this tournament as a particularly gifted archer. Karna arrived at the tournament and after surpassing Arjuna's feats, challenged him to a duel. Kripacharya refused Karna his duel, asking first for his clan and kingdom - according to the rules of dueling, only a prince could challenge Arjuna who was a prince of the Kuru house. Duryodhana, the oldest of the Kauravas, who always knew that Pandavas were better than him and his brothers at warfare, saw Karna as his strongest chance against Pandavas and immediately offered him the throne of the kingdom Anga, making him a king and hence eligible to duel Arjuna. When Karna asks him what he can do to repay him, Duryodhana tells him all he wants is his friendship.
This event establishes key relationships in the Mahābhārata, namely, the strong bond between Duryodhana and Karna, the intense rivalry between Karna and Arjuna, and the enmity in general between the Pandavas as a whole and Karna.
Karna is spoken of as a loyal and true comrade to Duryodhana. While he was later party to the infamous game of dice to please Duryodhana, he was opposed to it to begin with. Karna disliked Shakuni, and advised Duryodhana continuously to use his prowess and skill to defeat his enemies, rather than deceit and trickery. When the attempt to kill the Pandavas in the house of lac fails, Karna chides Duryodhana in his despondence, telling him the ways of cowards are doomed to failure and exhorting him to be a warrior and obtain what he wants through valor. Karna aided Duryodhana in marrying the princess of Chitragandha. In her swayamvara, the princess rejected Duryodhana, who subsequently carried her away by force. The other kings present at the swayamvara pursued Duryodhana. However, Karna defeated them single-handedly. The defeated included Jarasandha, Shishupala, Dantavakra, Salya and Rukmi. As a token of his appreciation, Jarasandha gifted Karna a portion of Magadha. Bheema defeated Jarasandha with the help of Krishna but it was Karna who defeated Jarasandha earlier single-handedly. Karna was the first one to expose the weak point of Jarasandha about splitting him in two.
Following his accession to Anga's throne, Karna took an oath that anyone who approached him with a request at midday, when he worshipped the Sun, would not go away with his request unfulfilled. He would never let anyone leave empty-handed. This practice contributed to Karna's fame as well as to his downfall, as Indra took advantage of it. Further, Karna was cursed by Bhoomidevi when he tried to fulfill the request of a girl over ghee that fell in the soil.
Karna was a suitor for Draupadi at her swayamvara. Unlike most other contenders, he was easily able to wield and string the bow, but as he was ready to set aim, on Krishna's gesture, Draupadi restrained him from shooting the arrow by calling him a soot-putra (son of a charioteer). The Pandavas were also present in the swayamvara, disguised as brahmanas. Following the failure of the other princes, Arjuna stepped into the ring and successfully hit the target, winning Draupadi's hand. When Arjuna's identity was later revealed, Karna's feelings of rivalry further intensified.
After Shakuni had won the game of dice by trickery, the Pandavas' queen Draupadi was dragged into the court by Dushasana , Duryodhana and his brothers, attempted to strip her. Karna insulted Draupadi by saying that a woman with more than four husbands is nothing but a 'whore' and that the Pandavas were all like sesame seeds removed from the kernel and she should now find some other husbands.
On the spot, Bhima vowed that he will personally slaughter Duryodhana and his brothers in battle. Arjuna subsequently swore to kill Karna.
During the Pandavas' exile, Karna took upon himself the task of establishing Duryodhana as the Emperor of the World. Karna commanded an army to different parts of the country to subjugate kings and made them swear allegiance to Duryodhana, the king of Hastinapura or else die in battle. Karna succeded in all the battles. In this military adventure, Karna is stated to have waged wars and reduced to submission numerous kingdoms including those of the Kambojas, the Shakas, the Kekayas, the Avantyas, the Gandharas, the Madarakas, the Trigartas, the Tanganas, the Panchalas, the Videhas, the Suhmas, the Angas, the Vangas, the Nishadas, the Kalingas, the Vatsa, the Ashmakas, the Rishikas and numerous others including mlecchas and the forest tribes. (MBH 8.8.18-20).
Following the failed peace negotiations with Duryodhana, Krishna approaches Karna, who has come to be known Duryodhana's finest warrior. Krishna reveals to Karna his identity as the eldest Pandava and asks him to join their side. Krishna assures him that since he is the eldest Pandava, Yudhisthira would most certainly give the crown of Indraprastha to Karna who would become a great king.
Karna refuses the enormous offer because he swore fidelity to Duryodhana, and as such, was compelled to stay by his side despite his genetic ties to the Pandavas. He said that Yudhisthira was a righteous man, and knowing that Karna was older than him, Yudhisthira would immediately give up his crown to him. However, to repay his debt to Duryodhana, Karna would have to put the crown of Indraprastha on Duryodhana, which Karna thought was against Dharma. He also remarks to Krishna that as long as he is with Pandavas on the side of Truth, defeat is certain for himself. Krishna is saddened, but appreciating Karna's sense of loyalty, accepts his decision, promising Karna that his lineage would remain a secret. Krishna yet again appreciated Karna for his righteousness, and bowed to him- the one example when divinity bowed down to humanity.
Indra, king of the gods (Devas) and father of Arjuna, realized that Karna would be invincible and immortal in battle as long as he had the golden armour suit and earrings that he was born with. During the Pandavas' exile, when war was imminent, Indra took it upon himself to weaken Karna. He decided to approach Karna as a poor brahmin during his mid-day worship. Surya warned Karna of Indra's intentions, exhorting him not to give away his armour and earrings. Karna thanked Surya but explained he was bound by his word and could not send anyone from his door empty handed even if it meant his death. As Surya had predicted, a disguised Indra approached Karna and asked for his kavacha (body armour) and kundala (earrings) as alms. Karna readily gave them away, cutting the armor and earrings off his body. Indra, shamed into generosity by Karna's gesture, reciprocated by giving Karna the boon to use Indra's most powerful weapon, the Vasavi shakti, but only once. It is at this point that he earns the name Vaikartana, as he cut the armor off his body without flinching.
As the war approached, Kunti met Karna to reveal his true identity. She told him that she was his mother and that he was her son. Then, both of them shared a touching moment together. She told him to call himself 'Kaunteya' (son of Kunti) instead of 'Radheya', but Karna replied that he wanted the entire world to recognise him as a Radheya and not as a Kaunteya. Kunti asked Karna to join the Pandavas and become king. Karna refused and told Kunti that had she been willing to call him as Kaunteya many years ago when he appeared at the tournament, then things would have been very different. But it was too late now for him to make this change. He further stated that being a friend of Duryodhana, he could not betray the trust of his friend. However, he promised Kunti that he would not kill any of the Pandavas except Arjuna. Both Karna and Arjuna had sworn to kill each other, and thus one of them was bound to die. So, he told Kunti that she could only keep five sons- the fifth one being either him or Arjuna. Karna requested his mother to keep their relationship and his royal birth a secret until his death.
Kunti also sought another promise from Karna of not using an arrow / divine weapon more than once. Karna promised her this too. As a result, Karna could not use the Nagastra weapon more than once in the Kurukshetra war later.
Before the war begins, Bhishma, the commander-in-chief of the Kauravas refused Karna's participation in the Great war under his leadership. Duryodana requests Bhishma to consider Karna under his leadership, but Bhishma denies Karna's participation in the war under his leadership saying that Karna had insulted his Guru Parshuram by insulting Draupadi and nobody disrespecting his Guru can fight under his leadership. Bhishma also knew about Karna's true ancestary and did not want him to fight against his own brothers. Consequently, Karna enters the battlefield only on the eleventh day after the fall of Bheeshma (on the tenth day).
On the thirteenth day of the battle, Dronacharya (Drona) organized a special formation called the Chakravyuha/Padmavyuha to challenge the Pandavas. Only Krishna and Arjuna on the Pandavas's side knew how to break the scheme. However, both were purposely drawn far away from the battle field by two kings (brothers) who ruled the Trigartha kingdom on Duryodhana's side. Abhimanyu, Arjuna's son had partial knowledge of the Chakrvyuha formation having heard it while he was in his mother's womb when Arjun was narrating the Chakravyuha arrangement to his wife Subhadra. Subhadra had paid attention to only for the first part of the narration and then had fallen asleep, so Abhimanyu only knew how to enter the formation, but not how to extract himself out of it. Thus, the four Pandava brothers decide that Abhimanyu will lead them to enter the Chakravyuha in the absence of Arjuna and Krishna.
But, as soon as Abhimanyu enters the Chakravyuha, Jayadratha-- the sindhu king from the Kaurava army blocked it, thereby preventing other pandavas from entering the formation. Thus, Abhimanyu was left all alone in the middle of the enemy formation. Once inside, he fought valiantly and single-handedly defeated all the reputed generals of the Kauravas including Karna, Drona and Duryodhana. Duryodhana and Karna chose to assist in the elimination of Abhimanyu as per Drona's instructions. Karna shot arrows that broke Abhimanyu's bow and the reins of his chariot, while the Kauravas overwhelmed him. The battle ended with Abhimanyu's death. Arjuna on learning of the death of Abhimanyu at the hands of Kauravas, pledged to kill Jayadratha before sunset the next day, failing which he would immolate himself in a pyre of fire.
On the fourteenth day, the battle uncharacteristically extended over the night and Ghatotkacha, the half-asura son of Bhima began to decimate the Kaurava forces. Generally, the asuras become extraordinarily powerful at night. Duryodhana and Karna bravely stood and fought him. Finally when it seemed that Ghatotkacha would decimate all the Kaurava forces that very night, Duryodhana requested Karna to salvage the situation. Karna was forced to use the Shakti weapon on Ghatotkacha. This had been granted to him by Indra as a mark of respect for his peerless generosity (while donating his armour and earring to Indra). However, this shakti weapon could be used only once after which it would return to Indra. Thus, on using the shakti weapon on Ghatotkacha, Karna could not use the same on Arjuna later. When Karna spent the shakti weapon to slay Ghatotkacha, Krishna knew that victory was theirs for certain, as Karna did not have any divine weapons to fight Arjuna now.
The Mahabharat war fought on day 16 and day 17 is documented as Karna Parva where Karna is the commander of Kaurava army.
Here is what Lord Krishna says unto Arjuna before the war between Karna and Arjuna - "Hear in brief, O son of Pandu! I regard the mighty car-warrior Karna as thy equal, or perhaps, thy superior! With the greatest care and resolution shouldst thou slay him in great battle. In energy he is equal to Agni. As regards speed, he is equal to the impetuosity of the wind. In wrath, he resembles the Destroyer himself. Endued with might, he resembles a lion in the formation of his body. He is eight ratnis in stature. His arms are large. His chest is broad. He is invincible. He is sensitive. He is a hero. He is, again, the foremost of heroes. He is exceedingly handsome. Possessed of every accomplishment of a warrior, he is a dispeller of the fears of friends. Engaged in the good of Dhritarashtra's son, he always hates the sons of Pandu. No one, not even the gods with Vasava at their head, can slay the son of Radha, save thee, as I think. Slay, therefore, the Suta's son today. No one possessed of flesh and blood, not even the gods fighting with great care, not all the warriors (of the three worlds) fighting together can vanquish that car-warrior".
On the sixteenth day Karna fought as commander in chief of the Kaurava army. On the sixteenth day of the war Karna single-handedly defeated all the Pandavas. Firstly, Karna defeated Bhima but left him alive saying that as he (Karna) is elder to him (Bhima), he won't kill him. Then he went to Yudhisthira and also defeated him but left him alive by saying that "It seems that you have forgotten all the teachings which your guru has taught you, so first go and practice those and then come to fight". After that Karna defeated Nakula and Sahedeva but didn't kill them since he had promised his mother to spare the lives of all the Pandava brothers except Arjuna. After defeating all his brothers, Karna asked his charioteer, Shalya, to take his chariot in front of Arjuna. Seeing Arjuna in front of him, Karna took his powerful weapon, Nagastra and shot it at Arjuna. Krishna saved Arjuna from sure death by the Nagastra by his divine powers; by subtly lowering Arjuna's chariot into the earth, by a gentle pressure of his feet.
On the seventeenth day of the battle, the much awaited duel between Karna and Arjuna took place.
During the battle, when Arjuna's arrows struck Karna's chariot,it moved back by a few feet. However, when Karna's arrows struck Arjuna's chariot, it moved back only a few inches. Krishna praised Karna for this. But, Arjuna got astonished and asked him the reason for his praise, In response, Krishna told Arjuna that Karna's chariot bore only the weight of Karna and Shalya. On the other hand, Arjuna's chariot bore the weight of the entire universe since Krishna and Hanuman were on the chariot. Despite this, Karna was able to move it.
Karna cut the string of Arjuna's bow multiple times. But, at each instant he found that Arjuna was able to tie back the bow string in the wink of an eye (in an extremely short time). For this, Karna praised Arjuna and remarked to Shalya that now he understood why people called him the greatest archer in the world. Though the duel was initially held at a stalemate, Karna was hampered when his chariot wheel sank into the ground in loose wet soil (BhoomiDevi's curse thus came into effect). He also found himself unable to remember the incantations for divine weapons, as his teacher Parashurama had foretold. Descending from his chariot to remove the wheel, he requested Arjuna to wait until it is set right as per the rules of battle. Krishna told Arjuna that Karna has no right to refer to the rules at this point, after having violated the same himself while killing Abhimanyu. He urged Arjuna to kill Karna while he was helpless (The Brahman's curse came into effect here). Lord Krishna told Arjuna that if he did not kill Karna at this critical juncture of the war, he might never be able to kill him and the Pandavas may never win the war. Thus, Arjuna fatally injured Karna using a divine arrow.
Following the war, funeral rites were performed for all the fallen. Kunti then requested her sons to perform the rites for Karna as well. When they protested, saying he was a suta, she revealed the truth of his birth. The brothers were shocked to find they have committed fratricide. Yudhishtira in particular is furious with his mother, and curses all women to never be able to keep a secret from that point on.
Lord Krishna went to Gandhari to tell her Karna had died. Karna was the oldest son of Kunti and although he knew who he was, he still fought for Dhuryodhana. Gandhari told Lord Krishna, "you knew what was going to happen and you still could've prevented the war". Gandhari cursed Lord Krishna: "just as my entire family perished, your family will die the same way".
After the 18-day Mahabharata war at Kurukshetra ended, Lord Krishna asked Arjuna to step down from his chariot. When Arjuna did so, Krishna took Arjuna some distance away from the chariot. Then he signaled to Lord Hanuman seated on the chariot to get up. The moment Lord Hanuman jumped off the chariot, Arjuna's horses were burnt alive and his chariot exploded into pieces. Seeing this, Arjuna was shocked. Krishna then told him that the deadly astras of Bheeshma, Drona, Karna and Ashwattama had caused the destruction of Arjuna's horses and chariot. It was the divine presence of Lord Hanuman that maintained the chariot in a proper condition by postponing the effects of their divine weapons.
Even though Karna devoted his services to evil Duryodhana, he remains an adulated figure for millions of Hindus and Indians. Karna is always considered as a formidable warrior, perhaps the greatest warrior of all time, a courageous spirit who braved impossible odds in his life, and died with unique courage, valor and honor. Karna is especially adored for his generosity. He is also considered an example of how misjudgment renders all the fine qualities of an individual futile.
Many Hindus consider Karna as a man who fought against his misfortunes throughout his life without a single pause. He never got his due, but never gave up his efforts. Many of his contemporaries including Bheeshma and Lord Krishna conceded Karna was a noble spirit who rarely appears in the human race. He is idealized as an inspiration for struggling humanity to not lose heart. Karna is also a popular Hindu male name.
There are many incidents and quotes which indicate the might and greatness of Karna. One of those incidents is during Karna's war with Arjuna. When Arjuna's chariot was shifted a few inches back by the impact of one of the arrows shot by Karna, Krishna being Arjuna's Sarathi(charioteer) praised Karna. On his comment, Arjuna exclaimed that "while I hit Karna's chariot it moved miles behind so there is no reason to praise Karna on this". Krishna then explained to Arjuna that "On your chariot I, Lord Vishnu am present. I own the weight of entire universe and in addition to it your chariot is the chariot of Agni(the fire god) and it has the blessings of Hanuman in the form of a flag. If you remove these factors your chariot will fly away, revolving around the Earth".
There are also certain incidents those describe Karna's ethics in war as well. One of them is during his duel with Arjuna, when by the blow of Karna's arrow Arjuna fainted. At that moment the cobra king Ashwasen who was sheltered by Karna, crept out of hiding and requested Karna to use his poison against Arjuna because Arjuna had burnt his home(a forest) to the ground. Karna refused to use a snake against any human, saying that it would be treachery towards humanity.
Furthermore; at night on the day of his death as Karna lay dying on the Kurukshetra battlefield, in the Pandava camp Krishna lay saddened. When questioned by Arjuna as to why he was upset, Krishna replied that he was mourning the passing of a great man like Karna. Angered by Krishna's affection for Karna, Arjuna demanded to know why. Then Krishna took Arjuna towards Karna, disguised as two Brahmins; one younger and one older. Krishna, disguised as the older Brahmin, said to Karna
"Oh Karna, you are known to be extremely genenrous, hence I am here requesting something for my son's wedding, what can you give me?"
Karna replied saying "I do not have anything to give you as I lie here dying,i have only thing left is my golden teeth." And so Karna, using a nearby rock knocked his tooth out. In order to test Karna even more and in order to demonstrate to Arjuna Karna's generosity, Krishna scolded Karna for giving him something covered in blood which is not suitable for a brahmin to touch. Upon hearing this Karna began to cry and with his tears washed the tooth and gave it to Krishna. After this Krishna left and Arjuna followed. Krishna then told Arjuna that the passing of Karna from this world would mark the passing of generosity and other such qualities which Karna possesses; and hence he was mourning Karna's death.
Pleased with his supreme sacrifice,Krishna grants Karna the vision of himself seated on Garuda, accompanied by his wives Radha and Rukmini. The Lord promises Karna to grant him whatever boon he wishes. Karna says that, although he could ask Krishna to give victory to Duryodhana and bring his armies back to life, he does not want to do so. He then requests two things: firstly, that as soon as he dies, his mother Kunti shall be informed. She will rush to the battlefield and proclaim publicly that Karna is her son and that he is not of low caste. Secondly, in order to reach Krishna's feet (that is, the liberation of his soul from the cycle of births) Karna wants to fulfil the good deed of feeding others (annadanam). This is the only danam he has not been able to carry out in this life, because nobody wanted to eat in the house of a person of low caste. He asks Krishna to give him in his next births the means to be liberal and the opportunity to carry out annadanam. A moved Krishna grants Karna these favours and tells him that in his next life he will be reborn as Siruttontar Nayanar,(this is only a folk lore not authentic one ) famous for offering his own son as food to Lord Siva, after which he will attain moksham.
There are many parallels between Arjuna and Karna. Both were master archers, competed for Draupadi's hand, and had to fight their own brothers in the war. A deeper connection lies in the fact that the two felt strong ties to the Kaurava side both through friendship and through blood. Their decisions along with the corresponding consequences to themselves and their families, are used to emphasize the importance of doing one's duty as explained in the Bhagavad Gita by Krishna.
Karna serves as an excellent example of a gifted, generous, righteous and brave individual who was still doomed because of his loyalty towards Duryodhana. Karna had the five perfect qualities of a husband for Draupadi, but being with Duryodhana nullified these. Karna's affection for Duryodhana led him to, albeit unwillingly, assist his dear friend in all his actions against the Pandavas. Karna was aware of Duryodhana's malicious plans against the Pandavas. Karna was also aware of his own imminent downfall on assisting the evil against the good. While some maintain that he acquired a blemished image by his treatment of Draupadi at Dhritrashtra's court, others maintain that he was justified in this act, since it was Draupadi who first dishonored and humiliated him by unjustly denying him the opportunity to compete in her Swayamvara by insulting him with the soot-putra epithet (referring to him as being of a lower class background) in order to disqualify him; however, his role in the killing of an unarmed and outnumbered Abhimanyu can be interpreted as an act that more directly damaged him as an honorable warrior and doomed him to a similar fate. According to some interpretations of the Mahabharata, it was this deed that solidified Karna's status as a warrior on the wrong side of the war and sealed his fate of being killed by Arjuna in the same way, being unarmed, chariotless and with his back turned to Arjuna.
Karna used to pray his father Surya wherein argya is given to the Deity. This tradition of Praying Surya is still being carried out in parts of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in the form of Chhath Puja.
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