Is there something greater than duty?

                                                   कवच-कुंडल जिसने इंद्र को दिया दान था, मित्रता के खातिर सर्वस्व किया बलिदान था, धर्म मार्ग पर चलना जिसका स्वाभिमान था, हाँ, सही पहचाना वो सूर्यपुत्र कर्ण महान था.

This audacious, lion-hearted man comes from one of the greatest epics- Mahabharata. The Mahabharata is an epic of life that depicts the truth that life is a journey and its meaning is in the practice of dharma (Duty). Practicing Dharma is what is stipulated as the greatest and prodigious thing of one’s life. The one who performs his duty is opined as the greatest, but the one who doesn’t is a miscreant. 

However, to what extent is it true? Performing duty is the greatest? Well, I believe, relationships are greater than dharma. 

Karna, the unsung warrior of Mahabharat, devoted his entire life to friendship till his very last breath, he fought for friendship and not for dharma. He knew his position was morally dubious, but he kept going for his friend. It is his friendship and generosity that sets Karna apart. Even in his defeat, Karna teaches us the value of friendship by standing by what you believe in. Karna was blessed with a golden, gleaming armor that made him invincible. The only strategy left to the opposition was subterfuge. Karna was tricked by lord Indra himself to donate his golden armor when lord Indra appeared himself in front of him as an old beggar. Karna knew, that donating the armor will lead him vulnerable still he did it. For he was the greatest philanthropy of his generation. Today, though Karna is dead he will be immortalized for his friendship and his daanveerta till humanity exists. 

सूर्यपुत्र को मारे धरा पर ऐसा बाण कहाँ है, 

विजय स्वयं पीछे आती है चलता कर्ण जहाँ है.