n one enemy of mine, who roareth
fiercely and is hot as fire, and of whom I am in fear!' At this, Indra
said, 'Thou shall slay such a roaring and powerful foe in battle. But
that one whom thou seekest to slay, is protected by an illustrious
personage. Even He whom persons versed in the Vedas call '_the
invincible Boar_,' and '_the incomprehensible Narayana_,' even that
Krishna himself, is protecting him!' Thereupon Karna replied, 'Even if
this be so, do thou, O illustrious one give me the weapon that will
destroy only one powerful foe! I shall, on my part, bestow on thee my
mail and ear-rings, cutting them off my person. Do thou, however, grant
that my body, thus wounded, may not be unsightly!' Hearing this, Indra
said, 'As thou, O Karna, art bent upon observing the truth, thy person
shall not be unsightly, or shall any scar remain on it. And, O thou best
of those that are graced with speech, O Karna, thou shall be possessed
of complexion and energy of thy father himself. And if, maddened by
wrath, thou hurlest this dart, while there are still other weapons with
thee, and when thy life also is not in imminent peril, it will fall even
on thyself.' Karna answered, 'As thou directest me, O Sakra, I shall
hurl this _Vasavi_ dart only when I am in imminent peril! Truly I tell
thee this!'"

Vaisampayana continued, "Thereupon, O king, taking the blazing dart,
Karna began to peel off his natural mail. And beholding Karna cutting
his own body, the entire host of celestials and men and _Danavas_ set up
a leonine roar. And Karna betrayed no contortions of face while peeling
his mail. And beholding that hero among men thus cutting his body with
an weapon, smiling ever and anon, celestial kettle-drums began to be
played upon and celestial flowers began to be showered on him. And Karna
cutting off the excellent mail from his person, gave it to Vasava, still
dripping. And cutting off his ear-rings also from off his ears, he made
them over to Indra. And it is for this fact that he came to be called
Karna. And Sakra, having thus beguiled Karna that made him famous in the
world, thought with a smile that the business of the sons of Pandu had
already been completed. And having done all this, he ascended to heaven.
And hearing that Karna had been beguiled, all the sons of Dhritarashtra
became distressed and shorn of pride. And the sons of Pritha, on the
other hand, learning that such plight had befallen the son of the
charioteer, were fill