Six months passed in the blink of an eye;
In the kingdom of Kunti, a malnourished, pale-looking princess was staring at the sun through her window and was mumbling as if she were in a deep trance, "Lord Surya, please give my baby back to me."
After fainting away due to lack of food or water intake, Sulochana brought Kunti home.
She returned to the home for sure, but not in a normal state. Her eyes looked lifeless as if she had lost her world, and she didn't even open her mouth to speak to her parents, just stayed in her room, looking at the sun through the window.
The King questioned the handmaiden. Naturally, Sulochana was loyal to the princess and kept her lips tight-lipped.
The daughter won't say anything. And the handmaiden refuses to tell the truth. King Kuntibhoja became mad in frustration.
Despite being labeled as a righteous king, in the end, King Kuntibhoja had to resort to threats to spill out the truth from the handmaiden. He threw her and everyone in her family into prison for treason.
In the end, Sulochana couldn't keep her loyalty and revealed the truth to King Kuntibhoja.
The King was shocked to learn the truth, but he wasn't enraged towards anyone. He thought it was a pity and went to console his daughter.
Seven days after the return, Princess Kunti finally broke into tears while hugging her father, asking him to bring her baby back to her.
What could the helpless King do? His only adoptive daughter is everything to him. He cannot get angry at her for the act she had done unknowingly, even if it goes against the principles of society. And neither is he capable enough to face the Sun God.
What he can only do is bring happiness to her life. It can only happen with marriage. At least, that was the only thing he got in his mind. He thought once she became normal, he would arrange the swayamvara.
But it's been six months, and his daughter has yet to become normal. He tried his best and continued to wait while suppressing all the rumors.
Meanwhile, at Suryaloka;
"My son, come. Come to your mother..."
"Aah-ooh" "Da-da" "Ba-bu" "Bu-Aah"
Little Karna is crawling on the floor with a big laugh on his face as he follows Sangya, the goddess of clouds and the wife of the sun god.
The mother and son were playing with each other. Unknowingly, they reached the Shiva mandir located within the palace. Little Karna's eyes fell on a seven-foot Shivalinga. All of a sudden, he suddenly ignored his mother and started to crawl towards the idol and even sped up.
There are a lot of items down there for the offering, especially the oil lamps. So, she was worried that Karna might hurt himself. At the same time, she knew what he was going to do. It happened before, too. Because of the unique shape, it's a fascinating thing for a six-month-old baby. He'll try to climb it.
She hurriedly picked him up, "Karna, I told you many times. This is Lord Shiva. Don't look at it as a plaything."
"Uwaaa..." Karna started to cry loudly while flapping his arms.
"Calm down, my son." She hugged him and tried her best to stop it, but this time, Karna seemed stubborn.
In the end, she just let Karna touch the Shivalinga while continuing to hold him. Of course, she won't let him sit on it. That would be a huge disrespect to the Supreme God.
However, it was enough for Karna to stop crying and start laughing again.
After a while, she took him to her arms again and said, "Okay, now, hold your palms together and pay respects to Lord Shiva."
As she helped Karna to hold the palms together, it was just then that the little boy uttered his first word, "Shi… va..."
"Eh?" Sangya looked at him in surprise.
That day, while the entire Suryaloka was in celebration, Sangya started to become worried about his future. She knows that it's not a good thought, but she doesn't want Karna to become a great devotee of Lord Shiva or any other Supreme God.
It's because of the experience with her other children and her husband, who were also great devotees of either Lord Shiva or Lord Vishnu.
And by coincidence, they were in important positions and kept serving the universe endlessly without rest. She was worried that Karna would also follow in their footsteps, which she doesn't want.
He was only a mortal born at the end of the Dwapara yuga, where the maximum longevity has been reduced to 150-200 years. As a son of the Sun God, that divine radiance might give him another 50 or 100 years at best.
She wanted him to spend his life luxuriously for his whole life without bothering to have any duties, well, at least, not like her other children. So, she decided to keep him away from the Supreme Gods as much as possible.
One year has passed;
Kunti is getting better, but she still can't forget her son and keeps requesting the Sun God to at least show her how he is doing there at Suryaloka. She was fine to see him from far away. However, her requests went unanswered.
Meanwhile, at Suryaloka, Karna started to run around while giggling, and his mother was following from behind.
Another year passes away;
Twenty-year-old Kunti finally gave up on requesting Lord Surya and decided to move on with her life.
Meanwhile, at Suryaloka, Little Karna for the first time heard that he had elder brothers and sisters.
Seeing how interested he is, Sangya daily tells him the stories of them about Surya, Yama, Yami/Yamuna, Manu, Ashwini Kumaras, Shani, Tapti, etc...
One more year later;
On the earth, Kunti finally started to lead a normal life. And for the first time in four years, her birthday celebrations were also grandly arranged.
At the same time, the King purposely spread a rumor that Kunti was actually in a spiritual meditation for the past four years so that she could be blessed with a worthy husband. Making sense, the majority of the people believed it too.
Meanwhile, at Suryaloka, Karna heard that there were two Supreme Gods other than Lord Shiva. As Sangya always changes the subject whenever he asks about their stories, the little guy could only ask his father whenever the latter has time.
Unlike Sangya, who wanted to keep her son before her eyes, Lord Surya, on the other hand, wanted to turn his son into someone he could be proud of. After all, he is the son of Surya. Every member of Lord Surya's family is destined for something great. So, he didn't hesitate to give what Karna wished.
However, there's one question even he failed to give an answer to. Why can't someone become a devotee of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva at the same time, when a child can love his/her father and mother equally?
Just like every parent, Lord Surya told him that he would understand when he grew up, as the former didn't have an answer to it. And Karna didn't ask it ever again. But the question remained in his heart.