After thanking them and sending a return letter, Pandu went to the rishis and expressed his happiness on receiving a great piece of news on such a day when the traveling rishis came to his abode.
As for what it is that made him very happy, it is that Queen Gandhari had become Pregnant. And it is well known that she received a boon from Lord Shiva that she would be able to give birth to a hundred children.
However, his wives aren't as delightful as him.
Kunti suddenly remembered her son, who was taken away from her, and became sad. On the other hand, Madri was a little bit jealous of Gandhari, for she could never give birth due to the curse on her husband.
When he saw their expressions, Pandu felt guilty.
And his guilt became deeper just after a couple of weeks when a few sages who were going for Brahmaloka stopped by his place and told him that unless he fulfills his obligation to his forefathers by begetting a son, he cannot go to the heavenly regions.
He can't sleep with his wives or any woman of that matter, as it would result in his death because of the curse. So, he thought of opting for a different route.
The path of Niyoga, where a sage or superior personality, who was free from lust and passion, could impregnate a woman of a dead man's wife and beget her a child, and this child would be considered a lawful son of the man who has already passed away. It happened with Pandu and Dhritarashtra's respective mothers too, for they were impregnated by Maharishi Ved Vyasa, the illegitimate son of Queen Mother Satyavati, after the death of their husbands.
However, he was still alive. So, that path was closed. But for the sake of serving Hastinapur, he decided to sacrifice himself.
However, the wives immediately rejected it. As Pandu tried to convince them, Kunti decided to disclose the truth.
"Your Majesty, years ago, when Rishi Dhurvasa visited our kingdom, my father engaged me in providing hospitality to him. Impressed with my devotion, he blessed me with a boon of begetting a child from any god of my choosing. Once I chant the mantra and choose the god, the said god will have to appear before me and bless me with the part of their energy."
Pandu went ecstatic upon hearing it. After all, the gods were superior personalities, and considering there won't be any intercourse, he was more than willing to try it. Most importantly, he didn't have to die either.
"And when I was young, I..." Just as Kunti was about to reveal the remaining secret, her husband interrupted with a huge smile on his face, "Why didn't you tell me before? Kunti, I want you to invoke the god as soon as possible."
In the end, Pandu asked her to summon Lord Yama, as he wanted his son to be born with the quality to uphold the dharma all his life. And when Dhritarashtra's son becomes the king, then, with his knowledge, Pandu's eldest son can help his cousin to become a great ruler.
Ten months later, the birth of Yudhishthira took place.
Pandu's original intention is to help out his brother.
However, the material attachment to his child made him think about the child's future, and he continued to request Kunti to have more children.
A couple of months after the birth of the first son, Kunti invoked Vayu, the God of Wind, who, in return, blessed her with a baby with mighty strength. He was named Bhima.
Nine months later, a baby was born with an incredibly heavy weight. When Princess Madri delivered her and tried to lift him, she was unable to hold on, and the baby fell on the floor, only for a crack to appear, which shocked the three of them.
Meanwhile, at Gandharvaloka, a world just like Suryaloka, located somewhere in a corner of the realm of Devas.
Just like it was mentioned in the sacred scriptures, this world was inhabited by Gandharvas, the divine singers and divine dancers. Music is heard everywhere, and dance is seen everywhere. If a music lover or entertainment lover comes here, this place wouldn't be any paler than heaven to them.
And in the palace of the current Gandharva King Chitrasena, 12-year-old Karna is sitting before the veena, and a few divine dancers are in their positions.
Roshini, the youngest daughter of Chitrasena and Karna's fiancée, was watching as a spectator along with the other Gandharvas, including their King. She wasn't talented at dancing like other females. Instead, she was talented at cooking. So, she couldn't perform with other divine dancers.
After testing the Veena's strings, Karna finally nodded, and Chitrasena spoke, "Good, let's begin."
Karna closed his eyes and prayed to the God whom he worships every day, "O' Mahadeva, bless me just like always so that I won't make a mistake. It's one of your ragas, after all. Hara Hara Mahadeva Shambo Shankara."
Continuing to close his eyes, he opened his mouth, "sa sa ri sa ri~ ri sa.
Pa pa pa pa pa ga ma ga ri sa.
Pa pa pa pa ma ga ga ga ga ma ga ri ri ri ga ri sa sa sa sa sa."
As a smile appeared on King Chitrasena while listening to the beautiful melody, the flute music followed along with the tabla music, and the divine dancers started their performance.
After a few moments, Karna started to play the veena, exactly what he learned from his future father-in-law.
"ri ri thana na na ri thana ri thana ri thana ri thana dhim..."
Continuing to play the veena at a quick pace, he started to sing the raga. This is the divine healing music played by Lord Shiva to rescue the Gandharvas who fell unconscious, according to Sage Narada's plan, so that Lord Shiva and Goddess Sati could meet each other.
Right now, it was Karna who was playing.
And living up to the reputation, as the music is being played, the dried flowers in the palace gardens revived miraculously. The buds also bloom into flowers, the leaves on the trees rejuvenated, and the surrounding trees in ten kilometers range all seemed like they were healthy.
Meanwhile, the Gandharvas, who were the spectators, closed their eyes and enjoyed the music that was too pleasing to their ears. All of them couldn't help but smile too.
Soon, the raga was about to end, and Karna's pitch was at its peak.
His fingers, which were already moving at a terrifying speed, suddenly became even faster, and the divine dancers, including his fiancée Roshini, stopped dancing for a moment. The other musicians also couldn't keep up with him, and they too stopped and became spectators.
"How is this possible?" The Gandharva King, Chitrasena, stood on his feet as the music was getting faster and more powerful. The string looked like it could break at any time. Meanwhile, the air stirred around. the ground split and a fountain of water came up...
The others also followed the suit. He mumbled in surprise, "It is faster than even what I can manage, manipulating the very natural forces around. Among the mortals and demigods, only Ravana managed to attain this feat. However, Karna is only 12 years old and was even born to a human in this Dwapara Yuga."
Meanwhile, inside Karna's mind, it looked as if his soul was sucked into some random place. There were two figures. He was looking at two shadow figures in the sky. One appeared to be a male and the other, a female.
Although he couldn't see their faces, just by the outline of the male, Karna remembered the stories of Lord Shiva and recognized that it was him. That would mean the other will be Goddess Parvati?
On the outside, while he was playing the veena, inside his mind, he was staring at their dance and was astonished to see such beautiful art. As the raga came to the climax, the two shadow figures suddenly merged, and a blinding flash of light appeared.
Before he got to see the appearance of Ardhanadishvara, he returned to reality, where he was no longer playing the veena, and everyone was praising him.
"Well done." "Well done." "Your Majesty, your future son-in-law is really talented in music." "Yeah, it's as if Lord Shiva's blessing is on him." "Congratulations, Your Majesty"
Upon hearing the continuous praises of Karna, who seemed to be in confusion about what he had witnessed earlier, Roshini felt proud, and she was giggling by herself while staring at her future husband.
Meanwhile, at Kailasa;
Lord Shiva is in meditation, although with a smile on his face. Nandi is watching him curiously, wondering what might be the reason behind the smile. Goddess Parvati is nowhere to be seen, for she was busy talking to her parents.
"What is it, Nandi? Do you want to ask something?" Lord Shiva opened his eyes as he asked him.
"O' Mahadeva, I was just curious about your smile. After all, it was rare when you were in meditation. I wonder what might have happened." As the most trusted and the closest devotee of Lord Shiva, Nandi doesn't keep things in his heart.
Lord Shiva replied, "It's a devotee of mine. He's so young but has the dedication that Rishis earn after hundreds of years of Tapasya."