Nanda Devi looked toward Dharani, who continued chanting peacefully. "I came because your heart is pure… but your actions have begun walking toward a path they should not."
Karna looked confused. "I do not understand, Mata."
"You created a divine barrier before, son."
"Yes."
"And today… you intended to create it once again."
Karna nodded honestly. "The winds upon this mountain are merciless. She has remained here for years. Look at her." His eyes filled with quiet concern as he looked toward the meditating woman. "Her body has become so cold that even snow gathers upon her shoulders. I merely wished to shield her from the freezing winds. At this rate… she may lose her life."
For several moments Nanda Devi remained silent. Then she asked gently, "Karna… have you yourself never performed tapasya?"
The question caught him by surprise. "I have, Mata. Not like this, but when I was a child, I used to do it every day, praying to Lord Shiva."
"Then tell me… was it comfortable?"
Karna lowered his gaze. "No."
"Did your body not ache?"
"It did."
"Were you not tested by hunger, exhaustion, heat and cold?"
"I was."
The Goddess slowly nodded. "Then why do you seek to remove those very hardships from Dharani?"
Karna fell silent.
Nanda Devi stepped closer, her voice remaining gentle. "There is no tapasya that blossoms within comfort, son. Just as gold must endure the furnace before it shines, the soul must endure hardship before it reaches the Divine. Every cold wind that touches her body, every snowfall that settles upon her shoulders, every discomfort she silently accepts… becomes another step toward Narayana."
She looked toward the vanished barrier. "When you sheltered her from those hardships, your love was genuine… but unknowingly, you also lessened the very austerity she had embraced."
Karna's expression slowly changed. The realization struck him like lightning.
"So…" His voice became barely a whisper. "I have unknowingly interfered with her tapasya."
He immediately bowed deeply once more. "Mata… a great mistake has occurred through these hands." His forehead touched the snow. "I ask forgiveness."
Nanda Devi's expression remained filled with maternal affection. "Whether you have committed a wrong or not… that judgment belongs to Dharani herself, not to me. I came only to prevent you from repeating it."
Karna remained silent for several breaths before speaking again. "Mata… if that is so… then please guide this helpless son." He slowly raised his head. "Narakasura's sins have crossed every limit. Entire kingdoms have fallen beneath him. The Matsya Purushas have vanished from this world because of his greed. I possessed the power to defeat him, but Lord Brahma's boon wouldn't let me end his life. Only Mata Dharani can end his life… and she remains absorbed in meditation. What path should I walk now?"
The Goddess smiled. It was neither mysterious nor distant—simply the smile of a mother reassuring her child.
"Karna…" She gently pointed toward the distant horizon where countless snow-covered peaks stretched endlessly beneath the heavens. "Tell me… does the sun rise because men command it to?"
He quietly shook his head.
"Does a fruit ripen because someone grows impatient?"
"No, Mata."
"Then why do you seek to hasten destiny?" Her eyes shone with quiet wisdom. "Believe in Mahadeva. Believe in destiny. Nothing in this creation arrives before its appointed hour. Nor does it arrive after. The Creator wastes neither a single moment nor a single breath. Everything unfolds when Time itself opens the door."
Her gaze rested upon Dharani. "When the moment destined by Mahadeva arrives… she shall awaken. When the time comes… Narakasura shall meet the one destined to end him. And when that day arrives… Dharma will ask you to raise your bow. Until then, you have to wait."
Silence returned to the sacred mountain. The icy winds continued sweeping across Nanda Parvat, yet Karna no longer felt their chill.
Then, she spoke again after a pause, now staring at him. "Do not try to shoulder the burden of the world, all alone, Karna. Focus on fulfilling the responsibilities that are on your shoulders."
He simply bowed deeply once more. "This son understands."
Nanda Devi blessed him one final time before her radiant form slowly dissolved into countless particles of golden light that drifted across the snowy peaks and vanished into the heavens.
Karna remained kneeling long after she had gone. Only when the mountain returned to complete silence did he rise. He looked toward Dharani one last time—no barrier, no intervention, only unwavering devotion.
"Mata Dharani, I pledged myself to serve you, to protect you from these harsh conditions so that your tapasya can go without difficulties, but it seems I was wrong to assume such a way. I apologize for that."
Dharani continued to pray for Narayana as if she hadn't heard his words at all.
Joining his palms respectfully, he offered a final bow from afar before quietly returning to his divine chariot.
The seven celestial horses neighed softly. Moments later, the golden chariot rose once again into the endless sky, leaving Nanda Parvat exactly as it had been… waiting patiently for the hour destiny had already chosen.
---
The seven celestial horses galloped effortlessly through the endless heavens, their golden hooves finding footing upon the empty sky itself.
Karna stood quietly upon the divine chariot.
His gaze remained fixed behind him for several long moments before he finally looked ahead. The freezing mountain winds had long disappeared, replaced by the gentle currents that flowed across the open skies. Yet the words spoken by Nanda Devi still echoed clearly within his heart.
"Believe in destiny. Believe in Mahadeva. Nothing in this creation arrives before its appointed hour."
A faint smile slowly appeared upon his face. "This son shall remember your teachings, Mata."
He gently rested his hand upon Vijaya. The legendary bow answered with a low, peaceful hum before becoming silent once more.
"To Anga."
The seven celestial horses neighed proudly. The divine chariot gradually turned toward the eastern horizon before streaking across the heavens like a golden comet.
Far away, beyond forests and rivers, beyond the kingdoms of men, stood the dark fortress of Pragjyotishapura.
Unlike the peaceful skies Karna now traveled beneath, the royal palace of Narakasura remained shrouded beneath heavy clouds.
Torches burned with green flames along endless corridors while armored Asuras silently guarded every entrance.
Deep beneath the palace itself, where sunlight had never reached, countless formations glowed faintly upon black stone walls.
Within a secluded chamber sat Shukracharya.
After Karna had left the city, Shukracharya had returned to Pragjyotishapur with Devavinashaka as his abode is no longer a suitable place for him, who had merged with the essence of Halahala.
The Shukra Loka isn't just his abode; it is one of the Navagrahas which dictate the destiny of humans.
If his abode gets damaged by Halahala, the humans will be the ones to suffer. While his ambition for dominance and rivalry with Devas force him to take many unseemly steps and he doesn't care much about the humans themselves, he still has to fulfill his dharma as the Lord of Shukra graha.
As a result, he brought back the demon to Narakasura's abode. In a promise to fortify Pragjyotishapur and empower his generals and the army, Devavinashaka was protected in the palace.
At present, the revered Guru of the Asuras remained perfectly motionless upon a stone seat. His breathing was so calm that he appeared almost lifeless. Before him floated a circular formation formed entirely of divine symbols. Within its center drifted shifting images of distant lands.
Slowly, the vision settled upon the skies above the Himalayas. It showed Karna's divine chariot disappearing farther and farther from Nanda Parvat.
Only after the chariot vanished beyond his sight did Shukracharya slowly open his eyes. His aged face revealed no emotion.
"So… you have found a solution, after all."