KARNA: Son of the Charioteer

Chapter 5

Almost every day, Radheya visits the horse stables and the carriage workshop located at the back of the palace.

His daily tasks revolve around cleaning the horse stables, feeding the horses, bathing them, cleaning the carriages, and other tasks related to horses and carriages.

Three weeks have passed since the incident with Drona, and Radheya has been trying not to remember it anymore. Living life as a charioteer has become his destiny.

"Radheya, come here," called a palace coachman. Radheya, who was brushing the horse's fur, left his work and ran towards the coachman. "Yes?"

"Give this cloth to the scribe from the back room of the palace library," said the coachman. "He hurriedly left it on his carriage."

"Okay," said Radheya, taking the folded cloth and quickly running towards the palace library through the servants' special route.

The palace library has two interconnected rooms: one room for the king, prince, and nobles to access, and the back room where the scribes work and exit without using the palace's special route.

Radheya arrived at the entrance to the back room and saw that the door was tightly closed. He tried calling the scribe several times but got no answer, so he decided to sit in front of the door and wait for the scribe to return.

Radheya's hand touched the cloth and noticed black scribbles inside. Curiously, he unfolded the cloth and saw writings on it.

A cloth book. Usually, people write on wood, stone, or leather, but for the wealthy, they can write on cloth to keep records. The palace library has many books made of leather and cloth. Radheya remembered, the poor Brahmin—who taught him about the Vedas and writing—had a cloth with notes about the Vedas. But that cloth seemed to be starting to deteriorate.

Radheya read the writing on the cloth, which contained information about the use of weapons and notes on their construction. Below the notes, there was the name Drona written.

This cloth book was meant to teach lessons to the princes. Karna eagerly read it and intended to memorize its contents. One of his fingers tried to write some difficult-to-understand words on the ground.

"Child!" shouted someone approaching him. "I was looking for that cloth book in the horse stables, and you were waiting here. What a waste of time."

Radheya jumped up and quickly stood, haphazardly closing the cloth. This reaction made the scribe look at him more closely, and then he noticed the writing on the ground.

"Can you read and write?" asked the scribe, who was a Brahmin.

Radheya nodded, handed the cloth book to him, and then attempted to run away.

"Wait," said the scribe, grabbing Radheya's hand. "What's your name?"

"Radheya, son of Adiratha, a charioteer."

"A charioteer? Come in first," said the scribe, opening the door and pulling Radheya into the back room of the library.

Radheya could see that the room was filled with scattered cloths on the floor along with cups containing green, yellow, red, and black liquids.

"Sit down," commanded the scribe, then hurriedly pulled out a cloth and placed it in front of Radheya. After that, he placed a cup with dark green liquid and a short bamboo with its end tied with animal feathers.

"Copy the contents of this cloth," the scribe said, placing a cloth book containing writings in front of Radheya.

Radheya, with no other choice, immediately copied the contents of the cloth as best as he could onto a new cloth. The scribe observed everything Radheya did, and after the cloth was finished, he nodded and handed over dozens of other cloth sheets. "Copy everything," he ordered.

"But I have to clean the stables," Radheya protested.

"I will arrange for another servant to clean it. I will ask your father to help me here," said the scribe, opening the door to leave. "The 105 princes each want a copy for themselves. We are short of scribes to make copies!"

Radheya watched the scribe leave him and simply go away. Radheya didn't actually mind doing the copying, as he could also learn about the art of war and various weapons.

He continued to transcribe sheet after sheet, and although he didn't want to remember the contents of the cloth, after copying it for the seventh time, he no longer needed to refer to the copy. He had memorized its entire contents.

Adhiratha agreed to Radheya working for the scribe. Partly because he couldn't refuse a request from a Brahmin scribe. Radheya himself enjoyed the work, and every afternoon after transcribing, he would immediately head into the forest near his home to practice what he had memorized.

Radheya wrote for almost a year, during which he learned all about weapons and the art of war. Drona had recorded in detail how to use weapons, so all Radheya needed to do was practice it every day.

He even copied various types of cloth books belonging to the kingdom as requested by the royal residents.

After that year, Radheya was returned to his job as a charioteer. The transcription work for Drona had stopped, and the scribe no longer needed additional copies. From the information gathered, the scribe mentioned that Drona had taught the princes higher-level knowledge orally, and there were no more written teachings.

During that year, Radheya also realized one thing: Drona only taught about the art of war and martial arts, which were already common lessons for all warrior castes. All the notes Radheya learned from him were nothing more than common knowledge.

Some cloth books on the art of war in the royal library were even better than the notes given by Drona. He had long lost interest in studying Drona's notes and was more interested in the military art books in the library.

At that stage, Radheya also realized that his love for the art of war was ingrained and unstoppable. He could no longer work as a charioteer if his mind was solely focused on the art of war and martial arts.

That very night, he bid farewell to Adihratha and Radha. Bowing to his parents, Radheya said, "I will wander in search of a teacher willing to teach me about the art of war and martial arts."

Radha cried, and Adhirtaha gave his blessing. "Go, my son, may the Almighty bless your journey."

Radheya left immediately and began his journey. He couldn't bear the sadness of staying with his parents any longer.