Karna held her gently. "I ate when I could, Mother. Slept when I needed. And I thought of you every day."
Surya stepped closer with a smile, "Now, shall we go inside first, dear? Or are you going to ask him all the questions right here in the front yard?"
Sangya laughed through her tears. She wiped her eyes and stepped back, still holding Karna's arm as if afraid he would vanish again.
"Come. Come inside. Everything is ready."
Karna turned to Chhaya.
He bowed respectfully and touched her feet, taking her blessing. "Aunt Chhaya… I hope you are well."
Chhaya looked down at him for a moment — expression tight.
Then she turned away quickly. "Welcome back, son. Come inside. We have all the time to talk."
Lord Surya frowned slightly, watching her go.
Sangya gave a bitter little smile. "Don't mind her. She has been in a bad mood these days. It has been a long time since Shani came to see her. So…"
Before Karna could reply, Surya spoke in a low voice but with a hint of displeasure. "Then tell her I have already sent a formal invitation to her son. He will arrive here after a couple of weeks."
Karna looked up in surprise. "Brother Shani is coming?"
Surya nodded once. "Not only him. All the Navagraha will come — along with Devraj Indra. We have much to discuss."
Karna's brows rose slightly. "Why?"
"You will know soon enough, son." Lord Surya gave a pat on his shoulder.
He glanced toward the palace doors, where Chhaya had disappeared. "Alright."
Sangya squeezed his arm gently. "Come. Let us go inside. You must be tired. And hungry. I made all your favorites."
Karna smiled warmly, "I could smell the kheer from the chariot, Mother."
They walked together, the mother holding her son's arm, and the father walking close behind. The palace doors closed softly behind them.
Later at lunchtime, the main dining hall in Suryaloka filled slowly with the warm smell of freshly cooked food.
Karna sat in a lotus position on the soft mat beside his father, legs folded comfortably, hands resting on his knees. Lord Surya sat across from him, watching his son with the kind of silence that needed no words. Karna glanced toward the open doorway for the third time. The hall felt too empty without his mother's presence.
"Father," Karna said quietly, "is Mother not going to join us? We used to eat together all the time when I was a child."
Lord Surya sighed, shaking his head, "Your mother… went a little overboard today. She insisted on preparing everything herself. I tried to tell her one or two dishes would be enough, but you know how she is when it comes to you."
Before Karna could reply, dozens of servants began to enter with trays balanced carefully in their hands, each one carrying something different.
Steaming bowls of dal, golden ghee rice, vegetable curries rich with spices, fresh rotis puffed and soft, small cups of rasam, plates of mango pickle, sweet payasam still bubbling gently, and at least ten kinds of sweets arranged like jewels — laddoos, jalebi, peda, halwa. The table filled quickly — layer upon layer of food until there was barely space left for their plates.
Karna stared at the spread, eyes widening slightly. "Father… are guests arriving today? You said Brother Shani and others will come next week or something."
Lord Surya shook his head with a small smile. "No guests, son. Just your mother being your mother."
At that moment, Sangya entered.
She looked flushed from the kitchen heat, but her eyes shone with happiness. She carried one final tray herself, a small silver bowl of kheer she had made especially for him, topped with saffron strands. She set it down carefully between Karna and Lord Surya, then sat beside her son, smoothing her sari with nervous hands.
Lord Surya looked at the table, then at her. "Dear… your son only has one stomach. How will all of this fit inside him?"
Sangya blinked, as if only now noticing how much she had prepared. Her face fell a little.
"Oh… I… I didn't realize. I just kept thinking — twelve years, he must have eaten simple fruits and root vegetables. I wanted him to taste everything he missed…"
Karna reached out immediately and covered her hand with his.
He smiled, "Mother, since you made it with your own hands, I will eat everything. Don't worry about it. Serve the food… and leave the rest to Mahadeva."
Sangya looked at him and then nodded slowly.
She began to serve, first a little rice on his banana leaf, then dal, then a piece of roti, then small portions of everything. Her movements were careful, loving, as if each spoonful carried twelve years of waiting.
Karna waited until she finished.
Then he joined his palms in Anjali mudra, closed his eyes, and spoke softly — not aloud, but inside his mind where only devotion could hear.
Om Namah Shivaya… O Lord Shiva, please bless this devotee of yours with an endless stomach just for a while, so I can make my mother happy.
Lord Surya and Karna performed Parisheshanam together — the quiet meal-time ritual most Brahmins and devas followed before eating. They circled their right hands over the food, murmuring the sacred words to purify and offer it upward.
Meanwhile, far away at Kailasa, Lord Shiva sat in deep meditation.
The cave around him was silent except for the faint drip of water from the rocks above.
His eyes remained closed, breath slow and even. Then a small voice reached him — not loud, not demanding — just sincere. A smile curved his lips, and he opened his eyes slowly. "Well… I suppose I must fulfill this simple request of my devotee."
Half an hour later, back in Suryaloka, the servants, Lord Surya, and Sangya could only stare in quiet amazement.
Karna ate steadily, one plate after another. Rice disappeared, dal vanished, rotis folded neatly and finished, sweets followed without pause. His movements remained calm, unhurried. No sign of strain. No sign of stopping. The pile of empty banana leaves grew beside him while the trays in front of him emptied one by one.
Sangya's hands flew to her mouth. "Karna… how…?"
Lord Surya watched with raised brows. He leaned back slightly, crossing his arms. "I wonder how he is even able to eat so much. He did not learn asta siddhi from me. Other than me, only those who have mastered it — like Lord Ganesha or Hanuman — can have such an endless stomach."
Karna paused just long enough to swallow.
He looked at his father with a small smile. "Didn't I tell you to leave everything to Mahadeva? Lord Shiva never disappoints his devotee."
Sangya's eyes filled with tears again, happy ones this time.
She reached out and touched his cheek gently. "My son… You still remember how to make your mother happy."
Karna covered her hand with his. "Always, Mother. If mother requests something, I can't fulfill… it cannot happen."
After the meal, Karna and Sangya sat together on the cushioned bench near the window.
Lord Surya joined them, settling on the other side. The afternoon light slanted through the arches, turning the room golden and warm.
Lord Surya spoke first, "Son… during your training at Lord Parashurama's ashram, I discussed something with Indra, who surprisingly accepted my request rather than reject it. After that, we brought it to the assembly of devas in Svargaloka. We all reached the same decision."
Karna looked at him in waiting. Sangya's hand tightened on his arm in nervousness as Lord Surya continued. "We have decided… to turn you into a deva."
Karna blinked once — surprise flickering across his face. "But… Father, I am a mortal human. A mortal cannot become a deva — an immortal. There is no such case before. Even if I carry your divine essence, even if I'm a demigod, I was born from the womb of a mortal princess. Even Amrit won't work on me."
Lord Surya nodded slowly. "I know. That is why we took a different route. It is not by Amrit alone, but by a special ritual. One that has never been attempted before. That is a yagna by all the Navagrahas, Devraj Indra, and you, to please all the three deities of the trinity and summon them. Upon completing it, they will bless you and remove the shackles of mortality from you and turn you into one of us. All the Devas had accepted my proposition. The only difficulty is that it can't be stopped in the middle at all costs, no matter how long it takes."
Sangya looked at her son and added, "We wanted to give you this gift. To take away the pain of mortality. To let you live among us forever… without fear of leaving us."
Karna remained silent for a long moment.
He looked down at his hands, at the faint glow of his divine armor beneath the skin. Then he looked up at them both.
"I… I don't know. I have lived the past twelve years knowing I am mortal and can die just like others. I have made peace with it. To change now… I..."
Sangya's grip on his arm loosened slightly. "Son… you always looked up to Yama and even Shani. Since childhood, you used to say that you wanted to become like them. If you become a true deva, you can have that opportunity. Don't you think you can do much more for the world as a deva than as some warrior? And seeing you in front of me all the time… there is nothing that can give me more happiness."
"This… Mother..." Karna became silent for a second. In the end, he said with a smile. "If that's your wish, Mother. I will do it."